Mold-Tech (textured) Plastic Materials and the locked folder

DetroitVinylRob · March 30, 2017, 11:40:37 AM

I realize this issue has been raised more than once, and I am approaching it again, from possibly a different direction.

Having only opaque (dumb) plastic materials available with Mold-Tech textures is kind of like having half of an answer.

I understand from the business side MT wishing to detour the absconding and arbitrary use of their proprietary finishes. Yet many of us do actually employ Mold-Tech finishes on a regular basis, that ultimately wind up in plastic molded components of the products we create. And virtual rendering (as this community all too well understands) is key to communicating both internally and with our customers throughout the design/engineering process. So, we need some help here.

Wouldn't it be possible for MT and KeyShot to get together and perhaps allow for (smart) MT materials, say "dielectrics"? If so, many of us could then easily supply renderings with chromed, transparent/translucent, AND opaque plastic materials directly and accurately using the MT/Keyshot materials. (as everyone should be aware, injection molded plastics are sometimes opaque, AND often transparent/translucent, And many times have post process finishes applied on top of the MT textured surfaces.) This would be a Win-Win-Win!

Currently I for one, have created work-arounds for all these common automotive/consumer product finishes, though it continues to be a drag on my production timing and at times, has concluded in somewhat mixed results...

bdesign · March 30, 2017, 02:07:42 PM

Hey Rob-

There's a very simple solution to this. Just apply a Mold-Tech material to your geometry, then use the Material Type drop down menu to change to whatever type you prefer. Or, if you have an existing material with which you want to use the Mold-Tech texture, open the Material Graph, drag a Mold-Tech material into the window, delete the Mold-Tech material and apply the texture to whatever parameter you wish. You can also right-click and duplicate the texture if needed to apply to other parameters. Example render is default Mold-Tech changed to Translucent.

Cheers,
Eric

jhiker · March 31, 2017, 05:14:28 AM

Can somebody remind me please..
I've applied a Mold-Tech plastic to the material ball but the MT texture folder is still locked and inaccessible. How do I get to them?

DetroitVinylRob · March 31, 2017, 06:12:50 AM

Hi Eric,

Thank you for your comprehensive advice. This (first example) is in fact what I've been doing, though with somewhat mixed results. And as an added inconsistent artifact, the material ball does not update to properly portray the new material.

I like your material graph example, an eloquent approach! Well done sir. I think this will do the trick as the .lmt files from MT could not be added to a texture in a material otherwise. This gets around my issue. Notwithstanding the material graph is a very new labyrinth for me to wrap my mind around.

This forum (and more importantly it's members) ROCK! Thanks again.

jhiker · April 03, 2017, 01:20:20 AM

Quote from: jhiker on March 31, 2017, 05:14:28 AM
Can somebody remind me please..
I've applied a Mold-Tech plastic to the material ball but the MT texture folder is still locked and inaccessible. How do I get to them?

I've still not sorted this - I think I'm missing something - could somebody enlighten me please.

DetroitVinylRob · April 03, 2017, 07:03:31 AM

Jhiker, As I understand bdesign's work-around, it is irrelevant that MT textures folder is locked.

By first applying the MT texture you desire to any CAD body, then opening the material graph, right click (mb3) in the (open) work area within the graph window, and select from the drop-down menu the type of material you wish to attach the MT (texture) node to. By dragging the link of the MT (texture) node from the MT (material) node to the desired material node and connecting it to the bump port, and then deleting the leftover MT (material) node, you should now have the result you are after. Basically any MT texture node (which is the essential .lmt file) can be applied to any material node. Rename and save the unique material you have created, end of story!

So, no need to access the MT locked file. I am having great success with this method. Thanks again bdesign.

mattjgerard · April 03, 2017, 12:43:01 PM

Doesn't seem to user friendly, and why would it be locked for something that comes with the software that is supposed to be used? My MT folder doesn't appear to be locked, but it is messed up with a bunch of stuff missing, and textures scattered around all over the place. Probably a poor installation

jhiker · April 04, 2017, 01:02:47 AM

And why only five Mold-Tech textures with the current installation - didn't previous incarnations of Keyshot included many more?

richardfunnell · April 04, 2017, 06:50:17 AM

The old versions of KeyShot did include more Mold-Tech textures, but they came at the cost of a larger installer.

You can all of our Mold-Tech materials (and significantly more than were available in KeyShot 5) from the Cloud Library.

DetroitVinylRob · April 04, 2017, 09:34:33 AM

Thanks Richard.

jhiker · April 05, 2017, 01:35:49 AM

Thanks!

Robb63 · April 12, 2017, 07:13:37 AM

Hi Eric,
Thanks for posting screen shot of your material graph!
I have a couple of questions if you don't mind answering them?

Your are using the "Color Gradient" node to control the diffuse color, but how are you using the two colors of the gradient? Is one the main color, and the other color of the gradient what you see as a surface turns away from the camera?

In your example, what are the two color to number boxes doing for you, and how do you have them set? The "Color to number" thing always confuses me.

Thanks so much. Using your settings I can get close to what I want, but just wanted to know the finer points so I can understand better what I'm tweaking!

bdesign · April 21, 2017, 01:01:00 AM

Quote from: Robb63 on April 12, 2017, 07:13:37 AM
Hi Eric,
Thanks for posting screen shot of your material graph!
I have a couple of questions if you don't mind answering them?

Your are using the "Color Gradient" node to control the diffuse color, but how are you using the two colors of the gradient? Is one the main color, and the other color of the gradient what you see as a surface turns away from the camera?

In your example, what are the two color to number boxes doing for you, and how do you have them set? The "Color to number" thing always confuses me.

Thanks so much. Using your settings I can get close to what I want, but just wanted to know the finer points so I can understand better what I'm tweaking!

Hey Robb-

My apologies for the delayed response...lots of "life" stuff going on right now

Anyhow, here are some explanations and matGraph screenshots to show you how each node is affecting the material:

1. The Color Gradient node is using the LMT texture as a map, re-mapping the original black & white colors to darker and lighter values of the same hue of green (black = darker value, white = lighter value)

2. Color To Number node 1 (Specular Color): using the LMT texture as a specular map, where the "Input From" and "Input to" values (0 = black, 1 = white) are re-mapped to .2 and .9 for surface specular variation.

3. Color To Number node 2 (Roughness): same principal as Specular above, with the 0-1 values of the LMT texture re-mapped to .2 and .1 respectively for surface roughness variation.

I hope I explained this clearly.

Cheers,
Eric