New material database inbound!

[benn]

It's coming it's coming..

[_cheers_]

yeaaaaheuu, greaat!

[Stromberg]

Nice
Looking foward to this

[Whaat]

Looks great! One request:
Please incorporate an IGM validator so that garbage IGMs cannot be uploaded to the database. I think dougal2's old material database had this feature.

[neo0.]

Looking awesome, dude! Can't wait for it! Can we expect a few new basic material to go along? Transparent plastic maybe?

I just want to say something to all the exporter writers out there.. Loading a material should be as simple as clicking "load" and then clicking on the material that you want to load. Maybe some sort of a pigm loader? Many renderers use a material format which combines the texture and the shader in a away to allow easy loading by the user.. I've been a long time critical of user friendliness in many apps, and while I belive that the program shouldn't do your work for you, what's possible shouldn't be the main consideration, but rather is the most intuitive/requires the least amount of time. Just something to think about.

[Borgleader]

Looking awesome, dude! Can't wait for it! Can we expect a few new basic material to go along? Transparent plastic maybe?

Maybe you could make one? That'd be cool wouldnt it?

I just want to say something to all the exporter writers out there.. Loading a material should be as simple as clicking "load" and then clicking on the material that you want to load.

I dont know for other exporters but it is that way for Blendigo.

Maybe some sort of a pigm loader? Many renderers use a material format which combines the texture and the shader in a away to allow easy loading by the user..

In its current form, pigm is a compressed format which means youd have to decompress it before usage. The problem with your "loader" is that the pigm not only contains the .igm but also any related images. I seriously dont think "Right-click --> Extract here" is a waste of time. Id rather much have new features or more speed than the ability to use pigms without actually having to uncompress them.

[neo0.]

In its current form, pigm is a compressed format which means youd have to decompress it before usage. The problem with your "loader" is that the pigm not only contains the .igm but also any related images. I seriously dont think "Right-click --> Extract here" is a waste of time. Id rather much have new features or more speed than the ability to use pigms without actually having to uncompress them.

You're really convinced that indigo, is perfect in every imaginable way, aren't you? Indigo is awesome (and by far one of the best renderers), but everything always has improvement and criticism is the driving force for that process.

Read my post again, sure it is "possible to use" pigms right now, but it is arguably not the most user friendly approach. Having to repeatedly decompress them gets old really fast and it makes getting materials to work the focus instead of artistically using them, as it should be.

Material importing is also arguably a low level feature and thus it should be taken care of before more advanced features are added in imo. It's just like say "we should make the seats on a car comfortable before adding in a dvd player or something."

I dont know for other exporters but it is that way for Blendigo.

Well, then that's ever other exporter should take after Blendigo. Skingigo used to be that way as well. You would just click load and you could load the igm, which would load all the texture maps. This approach was better than the current one, as it updated all your shader settings visually to signify that the material loading was a success. It imbued confidence.

Still, look at kerkythea. No need to worry about file structure, material (shader and textures both) all come packed in a single file.. Simplicity is key imo.

[PureSpider]

Material importing is also arguably a low level feature and thus it should be taken care of before more advanced features are added in imo. It's just like say "we should make the seats on a car comfortable before adding in a dvd player or something."

No. It's like... "We've got a super awesome DVD player! Deliver seats with it for free or instead make the player even better?"

[arneoog]

Uh.. neo0..
Maybe you should start relying on yourself and not others? :]

[pixie]

I seriously dont think "Right-click --> Extract here" is a waste of time. Id rather much have new features or more speed than the ability to use pigms without actually having to uncompress them.

Seriously, what's the use of a pigm if I have to uncompress them?

[Borgleader]

I seriously dont think "Right-click --> Extract here" is a waste of time. Id rather much have new features or more speed than the ability to use pigms without actually having to uncompress them.

Seriously, what's the use of a pigm if I have to uncompress them?

Theyre made to contain multiple files. Its either that or download the igm and all he image files separately (in most cases i think its 4: 1 .igm, 1 diff texture, 1 spec, 1 bump).

[pixie]

I seriously dont think "Right-click --> Extract here" is a waste of time. Id rather much have new features or more speed than the ability to use pigms without actually having to uncompress them.

Seriously, what's the use of a pigm if I have to uncompress them?

Theyre made to contain multiple files. Its either that or download the igm and all he image files separately (in most cases i think its 4: 1 .igm, 1 diff texture, 1 spec, 1 bump).

Zip them all then, that's what regular joe does for ages, no need for indigo cerating a special format if it ain't going to use that.

[PureSpider]

It IS zipped... thats what Borg is trying to say.

[Borgleader]

Zip them all then, that's what regular joe does for ages, no need for indigo cerating a special format if it ain't going to use that.

it is a zip file...it just happens to have the pigm extension. I just dont see why this bugs you. You would rather unzip a .zip than a .pigm? I dont mind which extension it has the job is the same.

P.S: Purespider beat me to it

[benn]

All the plugins will support searching material database and using the materials with 'one click' at some stage over the next few months.