Panels and Python and CSVs, oh my!

[Miss B]

Maya! Wow, MissB! I am thoroughly impressed. Not sure I'd venture there, although that is where the key 3D stuff happens. Thank you for the hierarchy editor tip: great idea.

Don't be Robyn, as I've only been doing online classes, or I wouldn't have a clue how to do it. I always wanted to know what it's all about, so when a friend said he had downloaded a 3-year educational version of 3DS Max, I figured I'd go check out if Autodesk also had one for Maya.

Now that I'm feeling more comfortable with where things are, I'm having fewer problems getting things done. I showed this to Satira a while ago, and it's the first little goodie I've actually finished, and actually like the way it came out, for the current class I'm taking.

Needless to say, I've brought it into Blender for UV Mapping, because it's what I'm used to. In fact, I often do that when I model something in Silo as well. Talk about liking what you're used to using.

As far as ZBrush, I did one tutorial of a Katana, but I never did like the way the curve came out. I couldn't get mine to be a subtle curve like a true Katana is. The only thing I use now is the ZRemesher, because remeshing in Blender is a PITA, and in ZBrush it's easy, peasy.

 

[Robynsveil]

Hmmm, rethinking error-trapping. When I started, the process was a bit ad-hoc, but I think I need to formalise it all a bit.

 

[Robynsveil]

That's really nicely done, MissB - love to see it textured. It already reels like one of those wooden toy trains...

 

[Robynsveil]

"Reels". Hmmm, proof-reading what I type, or lack thereof, has contributed to more nasty bugs than I care to admit to. I guess I don't hold the corner on the market, there, though.
I meant "feels". {{sigh}}

One of the 'benefits' to writing code is it helps you realise that oftentimes the problem you're chasing is not the one you think it is. I've "solved" more issues, i.e., created new problems thinking "AH! The error lies here! Now, to eradicate it!" when it was actually elsewhere. Fortunately, I don't make the mistake of completely deleting code that worked, replacing it with a kludge, but rather comment out what I thought was the offending stuff, then after I figure out it was actually something else, restore it to its rightful place.

 

[Miss B]

~LOL~ Don't worry Robyn, I figured that's what you meant, and yes, that's a toy train. I haven't finished UV mapping yet, so we shall see how it turns out when I do.

 

[Robynsveil]

Finally coming up for air.

In the middle of debugging in Windows. What I hope to be able to do is trap for as many "mistakes" users can make as possible. Of course, as I go along, I think of new, interesting errors and wonder "do I need to trap for that too, now..." and then think, I suppose I should do.

For example, in its current state, the script will allow the user to navigate to where the image files are (there's the image file path done), associate material areas with images and then paint the shaders on the figure after selecting it and deciding which the parent figure is. By 'parent figure', I mean: V4, Antonia, Mariko or Dawn... those are the ones I currently have created figure definitions for.

There are a lot of permutations and approaches I try to compensate for: for example, if there is no parm_list.csv, the script spits the dummy and asks the user to save settings so it will be created. If the user tries to load images from a folder where no association had been made with image to mat zone, it catches that as well. However, what do I do if the user wants to mix-n-match: use, say, the body textures from one developer and face textures from another. I reckon there's gotta be limits, you know?

Okay, uploading again... I think we're getting close. Hope Ken gets a moment to have a look at this.

 

[Miss B]

I have to wonder how someone could mix-n-match textures, as not all skin shading is the same, but then that's probably what you're after with your script.

I know some folks will use one character's textures (all of them) on a different character for the same base figure (e.g., V4), but if they're not close in color/shade, how do you mix-n-match, as there will be a visible edge around the neck, maybe even around the face, if the head texture isn't the same? Of course, that depends on the base character being used, as not all have separate face and head textures.

 

[DaremoK3]

I just downloaded the new version, and will test it tonight...

I was just re-testing the previous version before I came here, and I had complete success with no errors. The difference was in the set up, so I think you are correct in your assessment to try and error trap for things/work-flows you might not have thought of.

Where the Windows image path failed (and conversely, where it succeeded) seemed to lie with my usual work-flow of duplicating all objects in scene, because I don't work on the originals (modeling habit), and especially when macro scaling is involved (Poser scale - scaling up X10 for Blender).

This created all doubles that I was working with adding the .001 suffix. I believe this created the error. Once I removed the doubles, and decided to test only on the original objects with no suffixes, the addon worked perfectly, and all materials created successfully with the BSDF shaders.

Below are two screen-shots showing the error path with the doubles, and the successful loading on the original V4 object:

And, MissB, I concur, that is a beautiful looking toy train model. Can't wait to see it when you finish the mapping, and apply textures/shaders to it.

Still a big fan of your sculpted Katana...

 

[Robynsveil]

@MissB: I completely agree, so why should the program trap for something that Poser (and DS) users would never do? Yet, I did try it myself: loaded most images from one skin texture set, then loaded a face-w-makeup image from another, and the script threw a Python error. I suppose I should trap for it somehow, just in case someone does something weird.

@Ken: thank you for your superb testing. Actually, the program already traps for (and strips off) trailing .001, .002 etc... but as you posted a screenshot -- very helpful, indeed! - I can see you had the same issue I struggled with all afternoon: a duplicated path. That's not a duplicate figure doing that, it was an error in how I dealt with paths. Hopefully it's fixed, now. You should be able to have a duplicate figure (with identical mat zones, except with .001 as suffix) and no errors should occur. Hopefully, if I did this right, the duplicated figure should not have any shaders on it, but only the actually selected figure. Fingers crossed... I know, heck of a way to write software, hey?

 

[Robynsveil]

Ran things again, and another cockroach crept out from under the fridge... this time, if the user had loaded images from one source, applied the shaders, then decided she wanted to try another skin set, one that didn't have an image_list.csv in situ, the software merely painted the error into the fields. It now alerts the user that the parm_list.csv is pointing to a folder missing the image_list.csv file. Well, that's true, but it's not really the issue, so I'll have to adjust the error message a bit, but at least it's not a complete fail.

Changes have been uploaded to github, along with an updated make_shaders.zip file.

Time for bed... I think this little chicken needs sleep. I've been teaching new software to doctors all day, and, well, they say talk is cheap... they may be right, but boy-howdy, talking all day wears you out!

 

[DaremoK3]

Happy to report that everything is working fine with your addon. I tried both latest versions from your past two uploads, and neither one throws any errors, or is having any path related issues any longer.

I even retried the duplicate versions with the .001 suffixes, and no issues. You were right that this probably wasn't the issue, so what ever you did, you fixed it.

Regarding the doctors, I hope you were teaching them Blender!

Yeah, I know it was hospital related software (and probably something as boring as Access), but I want to keep the image in my mind of you schooling them all with Blender, so don't kill the illusion...

 

[Miss B]

Yeah, I know it was hospital related software (and probably something as boring as Access), but I want to keep the image in my mind of you schooling them all with Blender, so don't kill the illusion...

 

[Robynsveil]

Thank you for your report, Ken - glad everything is working well!

Teaching doctors is like herding cats: outcomes are unpredictable. In the evening, particularly after a day like today, I'm a bit numb just from the mental strain. Anaesthetists (anesthesiologists in the US) are creatures of habit, and springing software on them with the expectation they may have to rethink their cherished workflow a bit will result in long faces and truculent attitudes. Oh well, t'was to be expected.

Blender -- including scripting -- is the fun bit these days. On the way home, I came up with a cool idea on the next flavour of the software: making shader application for hair easier to do. I've found that only rarely are there more than two material zone types ... most hair is about the scalp, and the rest. I can think of only three hair creators who actually have even three mat zone types (involving 3 different image files) and even then, it's scalp and the other. So, shaderwise, it'll all be pretty straightforward to generate.

I was going to work on grouping skin nodes first -- one of those challenges that have been haunting me since day dot -- but it'll have to keep. When you import a figure, you want to skin the figure, do the hair, then the clothing. So, that's going to be the Figure Shader development path:

1) skin is roughed in, more elaborate shaders are in the works
2) hair
3) clothing, including perhaps shoes as either a separate item, or as part of clothing
4) sets... as in, buildings and water and such

Getting more and more excited about this!

 

[Miss B]

I can feel the excitement all the way "Up North".

 

[Robynsveil]

Just an FYI for Ken (and anyone else who might have been following my github page): the parmListRead branch has now been merged to master and is no more. FigureShaders in its current form is out of beta and is reasonably stable from everything I've been able to work out. The wiki pages have been updated to reflect the script's progress to version 0.6.0.

Enjoy!

On to hairShader development!!!

 

[Miss B]

Thanks for the FYI Robyn. I may just have to try it out when I have a free moment.

 

[Robynsveil]

Thank you, MissB. Fingers crossed, no issues, but please do let me know if I'm missing a step in the instructions or if you do - in the course of doing things - discover an issue. There shouldn't be a "right way" if software is robust enough, but there is always the possibility I've missed something.

Here is the link to the main download:
robinboncoeur/FigureShaders

and to the wiki (sort-of instructions and stuff):
robinboncoeur/FigureShaders

 

[Robynsveil]

Hmmm, revising the wiki has created questions of my own on functionality. I reckon this is a really powerful reason (incentive) for developers to write their own 'Help' files: it will enlighten them a bit to how the software is perceived from an end-user perspective.

 

[Miss B]

Not a problem Robyn. I'm just getting here today, as I've spent a few hours backing up a lot of stuff off this puppy to make room for new stuff.

Thanks for the links to the downloads. Not sure I'll get to it today, but will report anything I find when I do get to play with it.

 

[Robynsveil]

It's all good, MissB. Housekeeping is important... it's amazing how much stuff we accumulate over time. As in: gigabytes!!