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[patmarrnc]

After days of beating my head against the wall, I finally pieced clues from all over the WIKI and youtube and successfully imported a bunch of objects into Outerra. but no textures are visible. Here's what I'm doing step by step, maybe somebody can see what I'm doing wrong:

1 ) modelling in SILO 2.5.1 (a simple UVmapped cube with JPG texture... texture dimensions are 960x960p, divisible by 4)
2 ) model exported to OBJ then converted to FBX version 2013 by the Autodesk FBX conversion utility, (binary)
3 ) FBX and all textures were in the same directory when I opened it in Outerra
4 ) FBX converts to package without errors in Outerra environment. I exit all dialogs and Outerra.
5 ) I use GIMP (latest version) with the DDS plugin to convert the JPG to a DDS file, compression format DXT1
6 ) in the packages folder for the cube, I place the DDS texture file and make sure the MTL file "tex_diffuse" explicitly names the new DDS texture file
7 ) No other files in the folder are edited or changed
8 ) Re-open Outerra, F7 , select my object and place it in the scene. It is sized right... but no texture.
9 ) Video card is a GTX-1080 with 8 gigs ram and the latest drivers. AMD Ryzen 7 1800x CPU, 32 gigs of ram.  Windows 10 home

Any ideas? 

does the original texture format matter?
does it matter what model format precedes the FBX? (OBJ, DAE whatever?)
Does it matter what version of FBX is used? (The autodesk utility provides choice of versions from 2006 thru 2013, binary or ascii)

[KW71]

Hi, patmarrcn!

The easies way I can check what could be wron is if you send me:
1.- the .obj and the .fbx you converted... mmhh.. also the original .jpg file
2.- the object imported in OT: all the files included in the folder, in a zip.

Please send me the link with the sharing location (dropbox or something) here on ir a p.m.

[patmarrnc]

thanks! I'm travelling at the moment but as soon as I get home to the computer where all those files are stored, I'll zip 'em up and send them to you

[patmarrnc]

OK, just got back from travelling... tried to import a textured model again before sending you the files, and this time the textures followed the model into my scene!! Awesome! I don't know what I did differently,  but hopefully the procedure I used will continue to produce models with visible texture. Next stage will be to study how others are creating models that can be animated in Outerra

All of the examples I've looked at so far have been uvmapped such that one texture file services the whole model. Is it possible to have a model with components, each of which has its own texture?

[KW71]

All of the examples I've looked at so far have been uvmapped such that one texture file services the whole model. Is it possible to have a model with components, each of which has its own texture?

Yes, it is possible. Each component needs its own material applied.

[patmarrnc]

on a related note (textures not working):

I've been having fun downloading some of the awesome mods that have been generously provided by members of the Outerra community. What an amazing resource! (Thanks to all of you who have freely shared the fruit of your diligence!)

I notice that some of what I DL and place in the packages folder, the textures don't work... and it seems to be models that were uploaded as Collada. I'm guessing that since Outerra is constantly being developed and improved, something changed after the models were uploaded.

Is there a way to fix this? Some very good models by newS (his Scandinavian village and train set for example) all import without textures. His work is so good I would hate to delete it from the packages folder if there is a way to maybe edit some files to help Outerra find and apply the textures.

[KW71]

Send me one of the packs that are not showing the textures (or a link to download it) and I'll see if I can make it work...

[patmarrnc]

I emailed news and he said I must have installed it incorrectly.  I had placed it in the following location:
C:\users\Pat\Outerra\packages\newS\ (Scandinavian building folders).  This made the models available but not the textures.

I re-read his installation instructions, and they said to place the folders here:

C:\program files(x86)\Outerra\Anteworld\packages\news\...

and for the trains to place thumbnails in the following location:

C:\program files(x86)\Outerra\Anteworld\www\images\pkg\news\...

Moving the files to this location fixed the textures in the Scandinavian village cottages and houses. but not with the trains.  Here is a link to a copy of the RAR file I DLed and tried to install:
((files deleted from DropBox))

Thanks for your help! I am completely blown away by Outerra, and my enthusiasm is running faster than my ability to figure things out. But I'm taking notes, and hopefully I'll hang in there long enough to get it.

[KW71]

Sorry for the late reply. I have been very busy. You must always use your use your user folder; program files is for content direct from developers.

I opened the packs and seems they are using files that may be deprecated.

.matlib   now are   .mtl

Inside the .mtl file,   type:

 "color" : "1.0,1.0,1.0,1.0"         instead of    "diffuse" : "x,x,x,x".
"tex_albedo" :         instead of        "tex_diffuse" :

Open a working .mtl file and check for other differences... try to match them.
Also check .objdef in case there are differences too...

[patmarrnc]

Thanks! I created a template for the newer .mtl and .objdef so I can update older downloads that still have .matlib instead of .mtl

it works! Thanks for your help! I appreciate it!

[patmarrnc]

After a few months of relative success at getting models into Outerra, I notice differences between the quality of my models/textures as compared to the quality of other content. All of my models have shadows that don't appear on other models. This seems to be true whether its a model I've made from scratch or whether I've adapted a model from another source.

It was worse until Andfly taught me to check "create mipmaps" in my DDS files.

I remember a quote from somewhere on the forum saying that artefacts may appear if geometry is not sufficiently tessellated... is that what causes shadows on models? (I'm not talking about the normal shadows that occur from the sun's position in the sky... these are dark areas on surfaces that are getting enough sun not to have such shadows. 

[andfly]

I had similar problems when, believing I had understood and mastered the technique of constructing the textures maps (normal, roughness, opacity, reflectance, environment ...) I "let go" to fill my models with all these textures , built on their own with gimp, with the belief of enriching the model of better features.
I soon realized that it was not all that easy and immediate ...
The appearance of shadows, reflections and unwanted transparency made me desist from the experiment.
Now, if I'm not sure, I prefer to use only the "diffuse" texture, and, usually, I have no problems.
I use the additional textures only if they already have a model that I find on the web and that, therefore, I consider already tested by its creator.

In this case too, however, the recommendations of the developers of Outerra should be implemented in carrying out the appropriate conversions.

Textures must be converted into "dds" format with these characteristics:

albedo:        DXT1 format
normal:        DXT5 format
roughness:    BC4 / ATI1 format
opacity:         BC4 / ATI1 format
reflectance:   BC4 / ATI1 format
environment:DXT1 format (maybe not yet used)

and all accompanied by "mipmaps".

Another recommendation is to use textures with height and width values (in pixels) is multiple of four.
There should be no visualization problems, if you do not observe this last rule, but, surely, the speed and optimization of the renderig improves.

There are software that automatically create all the desired maps with excellent results (you can do a search on the web), but I have not found free programs and, as I am more interested in programming, for the moment I "postponed" this study and are not able to give advice.

( Just because I'm not very connoisseur of the topic, please anyone who has noticed that I gave inaccurate news, to correct me !)


I do not know if I have correctly interpreted your problem ...
I hope I was helpful.   

[patmarrnc]

thanks for once again taking time to answer one of my questions, Andfly! I appreciate your help!

To the best of my knowledge I am doing all of the things you mentioned in this reply. Maybe the problem is in my models, not in my textures. As an experiment I plan to increase the resolution on one of my dirty-looking models to see if that helps the way it catches light.

UPDATE: after some comparison experimentation, I can say that shadows are reduced when the surfaces are of higher resolution. Game engines usually prefer very low res models, so this leaves me wondering whether adding polygons to get a better finish will degrade the performance of my session... especially in scenes where I have lots of imported models.

[KW71]

Hi, patmarrnc!

Could you post a screenshot of one of yours models, showing the whaddows you talk about?

[patmarrnc]

Hi, patmarrnc!

Could you post a screenshot of one of yours models, showing the shadows you talk about?

yes, I can...
The first image shows the shadow. The sign is facing the sun, so there should be no shadow on the face, yet there is. This sign has a very low poly count

The second image is the same model after subdividing the sign. You can see that increasing the poly count had the effect of reducing the shadow