[Josephus Holt]

I'm starting to use blocks to try to keep the file size down as well as reduce the ram required to render. I created an object (sloped brick sill) with Maxwell material and Real Scale mapping. If I want to insert this brick sill object into my model with the assigned material mapping, should I assign the material to the OBJECT (rather than layer) in the block reference file? I typically prefer to assign materials by layer, but that does not seem to be a good way to go when using blocks with pre-defined materials and mapping.

hmm, I tested bringing in the object into a new "fresh" file, and the mapping is wrong....this is getting really exasperating, to put it mildly. I feel like i should be able to assign the material and mapping in the Rhino plugin and then be able to insert as a block (instance) in any model without further ado...is that doable? I've tried materials with/without real scale and somehow the mapping gets lost in the block.

I need help...again

[JDHill]

Well, I've spent the last half-hour trying to duplicate this, but have been unable so far. I've got a document that has another document inserted as a linked block, which itself has another document inserted as a linked block, and my RS textures are working fine. I did the same without RS, instead used a Rhino cubic mapping, and where this used to be somewhat bugged (i.e. mappings vs. blocks), I'm on Rhino 4 SR7 now, and it looks to be working fine.

Do you have any more clues to help me duplicate the behavior? It might help to know what you mean when you say the mapping is 'wrong' when you insert the block - wrong in what way? What happens if you use the 'Refresh viewport Materials' button in the plugin's Functions toolbar?

[Josephus Holt]

Well, I've spent the last half-hour trying to duplicate this, but have been unable so far. I've got a document that has another document inserted as a linked block, which itself has another document inserted as a linked block, and my RS textures are working fine. I did the same without RS, instead used a Rhino cubic mapping, and where this used to be somewhat bugged (i.e. mappings vs. blocks), I'm on Rhino 4 SR7 now, and it looks to be working fine.

Do you have any more clues to help me duplicate the behavior? It might help to know what you mean when you say the mapping is 'wrong' when you insert the block - wrong in what way? What happens if you use the 'Refresh viewport Materials' button in the plugin's Functions toolbar?

I sure appreciate that JD. I'm using Rhino v5, but will also try w/v4. When I go to insert the block (mapped to object as mentioned earlier), the preview window shows the mapping correctly, but when I insert it into another file/model the mapping gets rotated 90 degrees (can not tell which axis).

Maybe to get me off on the right foot, in the block reference model, how do you suggest I apply the material, by layer, by plugin/to the object, or?

Does it make any difference when using the object as a block/instance if the mxm is linked?

SOME MORE INFO: (working in Rhino v5, but just verified same behavior w/v4), I'm losing the x and z 90 degree rotations with the insert block command...it comes in with x and z at 0.

[JDHill]

If you want the least fuss, what I would do is:

1. open a new document, draw some geometry
2. create a material (Link MXM disabled)
3. assign the material directly to your geometry
4. adjust your texture tile/offset as desired
5. if using RS, adjust texture rotation as desired
6. save the document

Now, go ahead and insert this into a new document as a linked block. The instances you create will be 'opaque', material-wise, as their material is assigned inside of the block definition, in the source document. This is somewhat less flexible than trying to use by-layer or by-parent material assignment, but it is also much simpler, and I think that is going to get you more predictable behavior across the board.

On your last edit, about losing rotations, those are just stored in simple strings on the object attributes - if they are lost, it has to be because Rhino is losing them somewhere along the way. I'm not seeing that here though yet.

[Josephus Holt]

If you want the least fuss, what I would do is:

1. open a new document, draw some geometry
2. create a material (Link MXM disabled)
3. assign the material directly to your geometry
4. adjust your texture tile/offset as desired
5. if using RS, adjust texture rotation as desired
6. save the document

Now, go ahead and insert this into a new document as a linked block. The instances you create will be 'opaque', material-wise, as their material is assigned inside of the block definition, in the source document. This is somewhat less flexible than trying to use by-layer or by-parent material assignment, but it is also much simpler, and I think that is going to get you more predictable behavior across the board.

On your last edit, about losing rotations, those are just stored in simple strings on the object attributes - if they are lost, it has to be because Rhino is losing them somewhere along the way. I'm not seeing that here though yet.

That worked for me here, I'll now go back and create my brick sill again and see how that goes...back in a bit.

[Josephus Holt]

ok, I followed your exact order and it worked fine here...we're back in business...have no idea what I did to mess it up before
thank you, thank you, thank you