Topic: Materials Tool Palette?

[Kate M]

Can anyone send me/post the XTP file for the 2007 Materials Tool Palette? I've never needed it before, but I do today and I managed to permanently get rid of it somehow...

Pretty please and thank you.

[Josh Nieman]

I can't seem to locate the file, actually.  Do you know what folder I should be looking in?  I have 2008 installed, but still have 2007 on here as well, so maybe it's one of those files that gets deleted when installing '08, I dunno... I'll keep looking though.

[Josh Nieman]

I've found a bunch of *.atc files that seem to be for the tool palletes and such, but not an .xtp

[Kate M]

Yeah, that was my problem too. I must have deleted the palette from my original installation without backing it up first, and now all I can find are ATC files. Yet "import palette" requires an XTP. Maybe I have to reinstall...grr.

[Kate M]

<sigh> Maybe I'm just fooling myself here. Doesn't AutoCAD come with sample texture maps? All I want to do is be able to see "through" a brick wall...it doesn't seem like it should be that hard, and yet...

Found 'em...although why those and nothing else are under "all users" instead of my login...

[Josh Nieman]

<sigh> Maybe I'm just fooling myself here. Doesn't AutoCAD come with sample texture maps? All I want to do is be able to see "through" a brick wall...it doesn't seem like it should be that hard, and yet...

If you need an upload of the .jpg's that are used for bump maps or texture maps, that's different... those're just jpgs.  If you want pre-set materials already set up with texture maps assigned and all that... vanilla lacks that   All you'll have it "Advanced" "Advanced Metal" "Realistic" "Realistic Metal" or whatever generic variations they put in that year's release.

In '08, this is how I make a see-thru brick wall:

*will attach a SS of the material pallette and SS in a minute*

Obviously it looks a little weird when the material is applied to a wide flange beam, but you get the idea.

That's all I do.  You have the texture library, though, right?  You can see the file name on the button of the 'diffuse map'

[Kate M]

Okay, mine is NOT working like that. It just turns gray. My palette also looks a little different from yours.

[Josh Nieman]

Don't specify an opacity map.

The purpose of a map is to take the associated action, and use the image properties per pixel to specify the magnitude of the action.

In the opacity map situation, "opacity" is the action.  It uses the image in one of two ways.

The value of a pixel determines it's opacity.  For opacity, they either take the HUE or the LIGHTNESS (not sure which) as the scale of 'totally transparent' to 'solid'

or

The opacity map is overlaid upon the diffuse map and the degree of DIFFERENCE between the two dictates the magnitude of opacity, based upon either hue or darkness, normally... in this case, you would expect to see uniform opacity.

Now... oh wait...

Ok yea, I just looked more closely at your SS... (you should still delete the opacity map and just use the 0-100 % slider) ... does your "Realistic" have the proper setting for the material display?  It should be like mine (I'm 90% sure this didn't change in 2008)

If it doesn't have textures set to display, it'll show like you have it... it's not REALLY showing "GREY" but rather showing only a certain percentage of pixels.... hence the 'pattern' you see on the face of your objects.  It's the old way of showing transparency through a dithering type of method.

[Kate M]

Okay, opacity map is gone, realistic style is like yours (opacity is -60, otherwise the same)

I have four options under the "realistic" template: shininess, refraction index, translucency, self-illumination. Shininess is 50, RI, and SI are 0, translucency doesn't do anything.

I'm done with this for today -- if it means I'm gonna have to learn to render, I think I'll find another way to do it.

Thanks Josh...

[Josh Nieman]

ah yea, don't add transparency to the visual style... that will bork things, I'm sure.

You should have yours JUST like mine.  Note that opacity is not even turned on.  The value of -45 is in a greyed box, meaning it's disabled.  The screen shot I took was using the visual style I Screenshot'd you.

If you have the visual style use opacity, it'll apply opacity to ALL objects.  It's handy sometimes, but if you JUST want to see through JUST the brick wall, then you're best off defining the opacity in the material pallete, and not the visual style.  If you want EVERYTHING to show transparent, then using the visual style is ok go... but you should try to stick to one only, in my opinion.  Adds too many conflicts and hard to predict behavior.  That may be causing your oddly dithered semi-transparent greyness.

[Kate M]

I really don't understand why this doesn't work in 2007. The biggest tip-off right now is that I don't have an "opacity" slider under my Advanced material template.

I can get clear, and solid, but no transparent. The closest I've seen so far is the template for "Paper - translucent", but that turns the texture map grey.

And I can change the opacity setting in the VS manager regardless of any other settings.

Anybody still using 2007 that can explain this?

[Josh Nieman]

I really don't understand why this doesn't work in 2007. The biggest tip-off right now is that I don't have an "opacity" slider under my Advanced material template.

I can get clear, and solid, but no transparent. The closest I've seen so far is the template for "Paper - translucent", but that turns the texture map grey.

And I can change the opacity setting in the VS manager regardless of any other settings.

Anybody still using 2007 that can explain this?

Soon as I'm done mucking with an Inventor install I'll open 2007 up Kate... I apparently forgot how different '07 was, sorry.

[Kate M]

Hey, it's working! I didn't realize that there was a slider next to the "select image" under opacity -- it's just in a different place from 2008. I also didn't realize that I would have to render it -- I thought it would just show up on screen (I know, I know...I don't do this very often!)

[Kate M]

I'll need better resolution, but it's a start.