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Prepar3D v4.4 PBR materials

If the X file has the PBR materials set from Max already, you can also load the X file in the GPW.
 
Hey Arno!

I have a problem with a ground model: I changed on of the parts to PBR for testing, the other parts are non-PBR. When I export the model as a 4.4 MDL the changes disappear. PBR is still on true but any other change I make in the material editor is reverted back to what it was. The same happens when I export as 4.4 BGL, none of the changes are kept...
 
What kind of changes are missing? Are you using the latest development release? Prior builds had some bugs.
 
Yes, I just downloaded that latest development release (I read about the bugs in this thread).
Destination Blend and Source Blend revert back to Zero and One when I wanted them to be InvSrcAlpha and SrcAlpha. Also No Shadow and No Z write revert back to False.
 
Is that for the PBR or the non-PBR material that they revert?
 
PBR materials have no source or destination blend setting. That's only for the normal material.
 
Ok, thanks, Arno. Do you know how to achieve a similar result with transparency then to see the layer underneath?
 
arno said:
I know I haven’t posted on this blog for a while, but it’s time for an announcement that needs to be here on this blog as well.

The development release of ModelConverterX does include support for the new Prepar3D v4.4 PBR materials. This means that MCX can now:

  • Read the material settings from a P3D v4.4 MDL file
  • Write the material settings to a P3D v4.4 MDL/BGL file
  • View and edit the material settings in the material editor

The preview image of MCX does not use the PBR settings, so the preview is still as before. For a pure PBR material it will probably look a bit weird. That’s something for a future update.

In the material editor I have added a special material view filter that will show you only the PBR related attributes. See the screenshot below. If you want to make a PBR material make sure you set the ‘Is PBR material’ attribute to true, else MCX will export as a normal P3D material.

Another thing you need to be aware of is that MCX can not automatically distinguis between the P3D v4.4 and previous v4 SDKs. This means you might manually have to check if the XtoMDL and BGLComp path for both versions are still correct. You can see them in the options.

Let me know if I forgot anything needed for PBR or if you find other issues. It was quite some refactoring to add this, so I might have broken something else by accident.

pbr.jpg


Continue reading...
Click to expand...
Hey Arno, does the convert and place wizard support the new PBR matl's yet, cause I am not seeing anything in the sim?
 
If you start with a mdl file that contains PBR materials, it should. If the model doesn't have PBR materials the wizard won't add them.
 
Can I just check, MCX can add pbr to an imported obj model.

I import the obj, add the parameters in material editor, like PBR is true, I export as mdl.

The imported mdl has remembered the settings. I export scenery as bgl. I see no changes to the model in the sim.

Importing that bgl back into mcx, the material settings seem to of been forgotten.

Not sure if problem lies with obj, my MCX, or my first attempts at saving a metalic material file. I am sure it will be my fault somehow...
 
Scratch that. I was selecting P3DV4 BGL and not V4.4 from the drop down selection box.

I am playing the 'head cold' card...
 
Hello!

I'm trying to use PBR Rendering with MCX since it came out. I got it working so far with all the bump ( normal map ), metalic and smoothness map....

I noticed one problem though. When I have a diffuse texture with an alpha channel MCX uses it fine until I convert the model into a P3D v4.4 mdl file. When I import the mdl backk into MCX, the alpha channel is gone.

IDK if this is caused by me or if its an issue with MCX.

Thanks for any reply!

Norvin.
 
Hi,

MCX will not change your textures, so the alpha channel should still be there. But the preview in MCX doesn't show the PBR settings, so the alpha channel will not be used when rendering the PBR material.
 
arno said:
Hi,

MCX will not change your textures, so the alpha channel should still be there. But the preview in MCX doesn't show the PBR settings, so the alpha channel will not be used when rendering the PBR material.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the reply!

The alpha channel is still there.... The exported textures are all fine, but in MCX as well as in P3D the alpha channel is not visible.

Norvin.
 
The normal material settings that apply to transparency do not apply to PBR materials. So you probably need to check your PBR settings again. MCX doesn't use them, but P3D will.
 
arno said:
The normal material settings that apply to transparency do not apply to PBR materials. So you probably need to check your PBR settings again. MCX doesn't use them, but P3D will.
Click to expand...

So is there a setting in the PBR Materials section that will use the alpha Channel?
 
I think so, but I'm not an expert on the PBR settings yet.
 
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