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We have a very extensive library of 3D objects we use in our normal production environment.  I understand that we will need to convert these objects into something Unigine can read.  How does one go about doing that and saving the materials that have been setup with that object too?  I don't mean just the export to FBX with materials.  I want the settings that will be setup in Unigine to be saved for future reference.

So that in a new world I could drag in the object and materials that have been setup and saved.  No way I would want to setup each and every material for all the objects I'll be using in my worlds.

Thanks for any guidance!

Edited by trey.coursey
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So think about an artist with a bunch of assets in a library they are use to dragging into a system and everything (materials) is setup.  That works well with a NATIVE format that the settings can be saved in.  To my knowledge the best way to get objects into Unigine is with FBX (which can embed texture maps in it) but the surfacing (gloss, reflection, metalness etc..etc..) is not saved in that format nor translated in Unigine.  So the artist will need to drag said object in FBX format into Unigine, and then setup each material with it's respective properties (emission and others as well).

This may add hundreds of material adjustments EACH and EVERY time an artist pulls from said library.  

So my question is how does everyone else handle this cumbersome pipeline?  Not saying it's bad, it's similar in Unity and others with no NATIVE format.  Just asking how others have found a good way to handle this situation.

A detailed explanation of this would be very beneficial.  I'm trying to save out my objects in FBX format, get the Unigine Material all setup and then somehow SAVE all of those files in a place that I can bring in at once.  But with some of these assets I may have 10's to hundreds of materials.  Kind of makes File Management a bit messy in my library (not Unigine)

Thoughts?

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@silent I read that Unigine has a native format, but the viewer/exporter is being depreciated?  What other ways do we have to get a native file format that would allow properties that Unigine understands saved into the file..mainly surfaces and materials.  So that a user can drag new content into a world and be ready to go without further adjustments and such?  Thanks.

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Hi Trey,

Unigine uses engine-specific material format stored in .mat files with XML structure. The current pipeline requires PBR materials (that we use) reconfiguration after export. But you need to do it once for a project. You also can copy .mat files from project to project but this could only be done manually. We're working on a tool that will ease this task for users, but it's hard to say when it'll be ready for production.

By the way, surface - is aslo an engine-specific term. Surfaces are created from polygons that share the same material assigned in 3D modeling soft.

Thanks!

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@morbid So for our workflow having many library items to bring into a "world" and re-surface would be terrible.  Think of having objects with 5-15 materials, each having 1-3 texture images (normal's etc).  Even just copying in the files to begin setting things up could be quite messy.

I understand this may not be the normal use case for Unigine.  I'm sure that time spent on much bigger projects/sims it's "ok" but for quicker turn projects, it's a disaster.  I feel you guys could take over the ArchViz industry with some improvements in a few key areas.

I'm hoping this is one that get's addressed very soon.  I personally would be just fine with an EXPORT to some Unigine Format after I've setup all the materials inside Unigine.  One file that get's exported that has everything inside it (similar to FBX).  Then I can IMPORT that object back into a World with it ready to go!

What is the suggested format/pipeline for the most efficient importing into Unigine.  Not all materials have textures, some just glossy and roughness...is this kept with any formats?

Thanks for more thoughts...

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Hi Trey,

sorry for the delay, we were busy with 2.7.2 release.

In the current SDK version, you can manually copy materials between projects in a manual mode. If material and textures are copied with all related .meta files everything should be fine. Probably, storing all your materials and textures in one folder could make it easier.

We will design an export tool for our projects (materials, nodes etc.) but I can't say when will it be ready for production.

On 8/8/2018 at 7:52 PM, trey.coursey said:

What is the suggested format/pipeline for the most efficient importing into Unigine.  Not all materials have textures, some just glossy and roughness...is this kept with any formats?

We can import materials from FBX and some CAD files. In most cases after importing you'll have to configure created materials in the Editor. We can get in automatic mode only basic things as albedo color and assigned diffuse\normal textures.

Thank you!

How to submit a good bug report
---
FTP server for test scenes and user uploads:

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