- Sun Jun 03, 2007 11:15 pm
#230845
There seems to be a lot of discussion regarding texture/ior file path issues especially in the Maya and Rhinoceros forums. It has been suggested (and is the model put forth by Maxwell's own materials database) to segregate textures into their own separate folder(s). I find this solution cumbersome especially as the number of materials and textures grows. On page 92 of the current 1.5 User Manual, there is a set of path rules (that I believe only applies to Studio and not the the individual plugins, etc., although I'm not certain of this) which outlines the current "pathing" strategy. I would like to suggest some modifications to these "rules" that would aid in both exchange and maintenance of materials and would apply to all modules.
Path Rules:
-1) Use the path the specified in the material file, but additionally allow for a relative path reference. That is, something like "./<texture name>", "../<texture name>" should be allowed in addition to a fully qualified name. In this manner, materials and their associated textures could easily be placed in the same directory, the parent directory, or a sub-directory. They could also be moved without necessitating any changes to the mxm file. I would also suggest that a texture name only (i.e. no path information) be allowed as well. This would be the default for material exchange. When no path info is specifed, then the following rules would come into play.
-2) Look for any specified texture files in the same directory as the material itself. Since the default would be to look in the same directory as the material, no path variables would need to be set as long as the texture is in the same directory as the material (or specified as a relative path in 1 above). This should make material exchange less problematic as well, since there wouldn't have to be any machine dependent paths put into the material files.
-3) If the associated file name is not found via 1 or 2, then use the PATH variables to look for the files. Same as the current methodology.
-4) If neither 1, 2, nor 3 produce a "hit", then search "down" from the paths specified in the PATH. In this manner, one can still segregate texture files by type (or any other nomenclature) -- e.g. metals, textiles, wovens, etc. -- and still have the files found. The advantage is that one does not have to delinate every single path. There should be some sort of limit (e.g. max search one or two levels down) to preclude using "C:" as the only PATH and then have Maxwell attempt to look everywhere.
Thank you for your consideration.
Saludos
Ken
Path Rules:
-1) Use the path the specified in the material file, but additionally allow for a relative path reference. That is, something like "./<texture name>", "../<texture name>" should be allowed in addition to a fully qualified name. In this manner, materials and their associated textures could easily be placed in the same directory, the parent directory, or a sub-directory. They could also be moved without necessitating any changes to the mxm file. I would also suggest that a texture name only (i.e. no path information) be allowed as well. This would be the default for material exchange. When no path info is specifed, then the following rules would come into play.
-2) Look for any specified texture files in the same directory as the material itself. Since the default would be to look in the same directory as the material, no path variables would need to be set as long as the texture is in the same directory as the material (or specified as a relative path in 1 above). This should make material exchange less problematic as well, since there wouldn't have to be any machine dependent paths put into the material files.
-3) If the associated file name is not found via 1 or 2, then use the PATH variables to look for the files. Same as the current methodology.
-4) If neither 1, 2, nor 3 produce a "hit", then search "down" from the paths specified in the PATH. In this manner, one can still segregate texture files by type (or any other nomenclature) -- e.g. metals, textiles, wovens, etc. -- and still have the files found. The advantage is that one does not have to delinate every single path. There should be some sort of limit (e.g. max search one or two levels down) to preclude using "C:" as the only PATH and then have Maxwell attempt to look everywhere.
Thank you for your consideration.
Saludos
Ken
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