OTOY Forums

Hello Everyone,

I love octane but I'm struggling with getting a grasp on how to use the materials in the Live DB.

For instance, when I've downloaded RedSpec's shaders, I only need to apply them to the specific parts of the scene and Octane uses the materials without deleting the textures.

However, if I attempt to do the same with (for instance) a skin material from the LiveDB (like TonySculptor) my texture disappears. Why is this?

I have attempted to use the nodegraph to load the textures, but it's not intuitive for me. I tried to follow along with the Octane video on materials, but that seems to be about applying them to a textureless figure.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

The RedSpec shaders use templates that make use of the already applied texture for a particular map type - normal, diffuse, bump, etc. You can find more about using them in this thread; viewtopic.php?f=44&t=54497

I haven't used many LiveDB materials, but I've not come across one that uses templates. The ones I have used always replace the entire material.

You can convert the loveDB materials to templated materials and save them as presets

However, if I attempt to do the same with (for instance) a skin material from the LiveDB (like TonySculptor) my texture disappears. Why is this?

You would need to manually set the TonySculptor Image nodes to the DAZStudio texturemaps - which would not be viable. Instead, try the RedSpec shaders.

Paul

Thanks for the replies, everyone.

face_off wrote:

However, if I attempt to do the same with (for instance) a skin material from the LiveDB (like TonySculptor) my texture disappears. Why is this?

You would need to manually set the TonySculptor Image nodes to the DAZStudio texturemaps - which would not be viable. Instead, try the RedSpec shaders.

Paul

Thanks, Paul. I have the Redspec shaders and they work great. I just though the LiveDB was a great resource for additional materials in case I want to experiment.

Yesterday I followed along with a tutorial over at thinkdrawart.com which helped me understand the nodes a little better. I guess I just need to keep experimenting.

Thought I'd join in on the discussion

Firstly: Thanks for your support for the RedSpec SSS shaders - it is greatly appreciated

To solve the problem at hand, I would go about the problem in a similar way as Dr. Hemulen describes it here.

1.) Load an easy prop in your DAZ Studio scene (like an orb or a box)
2.) Apply the Live DB Material to the prop
3.) Using the technique described in one of the links posted above you set up the image nodes as templating materials
4.) Save the now created templating material into your "My Presets"

Thanks, Razor! Do you know of any tutorials that tell one how to create a templating material? Do I just click the templating option in the node?