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Night Texture file type

A

angelo1122

Messages
68
Country
us-rhodeisland
Hi Arno

I am using the development version in batch convertion and it is working great but the add night textures feature doesn't work.
I have the night texture file in the same folder with the day texture but it doesn't produce night texture.

Maybe I have the wrong...type of night texture?
I am converting scetchup models and I have no problem with the day textures only with the night textures.

I have spend hours trying all kinds of tricks but I can't get going.

When I try by importing only 1 file there is another problem,because in the material editor in difuse texture line it gives the folder\texture file name, but when I add the night texture it shows the texture file name only, as usual.
Thats why I only get the day dds in the texture folder.

In the old version 120 which I am using to add night textures there is no problem however I have to do 1 model at the time, no batching.

I apologize for the long message. but if you could help me I would appreciate it very much.

Angelo



Thanks
Angelo
 
Long message? You are kidding:).
I wondered if maybe anything was wrong with MCX after the latest updates but I found nothing wrong so do not ask Arno to check.
I happened to quickly make a shed earlier on and wanted to add some night textures to it once I found the day textures to my liking (see the thread in the showroom forum).
So I loaded my daytime texture into DXTBMP (because they are dds textures) and send them to my texture editor (GIMP). I darkened the texture and put some light effects on it and saved it in GIMP whereafter I reloaded it (reload after edit) into DXTBMP and saved it as XXX_LM.dds.
I then opened MCX and loaded my mdl, went to the material editor, and added my night texture to the night texture map slot.
I exported the mdl and everything works fine (I checked because you can see it when you click the night texture render mode).
 
Hi,

Since version 1.2 some changes have been made to the texture path handling, so that explains the difference between those version.

Let me see if I understand your problem. Do you already have the night texture DDS files already in the same folder as the day texture? Or did you make the night textures as JPG like the original textures?

The batch function should automatically add a reference to the night textures to all your models. But it does not place the texture files or so. That's something you have to do yourself.
 
Hi Arno

I have made the night textures from the jpg of the day texture.

Making a batch it works great but no night textures.
 
Hi,

So they are in the same folder as the JPG day textures?

In that case I think it should work. But make sure that assign night textures is above convert textures in the batch operator list.
 
I tried it.
It doesn't work.
It produces only 1 texture file.

I bieleve the problem is that it adds the folder name before the texture file name.

I tried just to import 1 dae, no batching, and there too it doesn't produce the night texture.
If I try to add the folder name in the nigth texture line, or after in the mass texture editor, the program quits.
It works great when no night texture is need.
I have made 100s of of models easily without night textures.
I have tried all kinds of tricks to make night textures but nothing.
It is a great program and I thank you very much for it, but it has a problem.

I am sure you have checked it...but what can I say?

Angelo
 
Hi Arno

After spending a 3 hours of trying different things I finaly was able to make the night textures by importing 1 dae at the time.
The problem was that my night jpgs were not named _lm but were just a copy of the day jpgs. (I know they should have been _lm, BUT in your 1.2.0 version were working fine).

One thing I did in the mass texture editor, when I renamed the textures by typing "material", because thats how the sketchup models mane the jpgs, I pressed match, and after that, everytime I went to rename I didn't have to retype "material" because was already there. This feature doesn't work in the 1.2.0 version. I had to type maybe 1000 times the word "material.


Still the batching is NOT working. When I put the "Add night textures" above the "Convert textures" it produces only the night textures.
When I invert them it doesn't produce textures.

Sorry for being a pain in the butt, but in my scenery I have hundreds of buildings about 100 of them with night textures because is so time consuming to go thru every model adding night textures one at the time.
Recently though upgrading my scnery with lighted roads and so on it looks much better with the buildings bright at night.

Any way, good thing you have made the convertor to be able to do it.

Thanks again
Angelo

If you want to see my work visit my site www.greekphotoscenery.com
 
I think you should assign the night textures in the Material Editor window in "nightmap texture". there isn't another way, there is ?
 
Hi,

Can you send me a sample object and the textures you use? Maybe I can reproduce the problem here in the batch wizard.

When using the add night texture option in the batch wizard the night textures need to be named _lm. That's a requirement of the batch tool.
 
Hi,

There was indeed a bug in the Add night texture function of the batch convert wizard. It did ignore the path of the texture if specified. That has been fixed now, so next time you should be able to add the night texture in batch mode.
 
Hi Arno, hi friends!
I've got a similar problem with night textures. I am a beginner in sketchup scenery, and so maybe a made a great mistake in building texture folders. A simple cube with six faces and then I put a simple texture on them (Material.bmp, Material0.bmp,-1, -2, -3). Without problems I can convert this cube with MCX and put in my FSX scenery.
Trying to convert in night scenery files (with wizard) batch doesn't work. Adding in material editor (night texture) +"_LM" doesn't work.
I only get the message "Failed to load texture: MATERIAL_LM.BMP"
Where is my fault?
I hope you can help me, because I never found a tutorial in those things.

greetings and happy landings
Christian
 
Last edited:
Thank you;
but I have made this night texture: A simple new cube in GSU with 1 Material "Cladding_Stucco_White_" on all faces. I darkened this jpg texture with DTXBmp and saved it to "Cladding_Stucco_White__LM". Both textures in the same folder. Then I imported the dae in MCX and tried to add the LM file in the night texture slot: log text: Failed to load texture: Cladding_Stucco_White__LM.bmp
I do not know what else I can or should do:confused:
By the way the day texture was ok!
 
Hi,

But are the textures you made jpg or bmp? It seems the model references a bmp file now so it must exist in that format.

Also be aware that sketchup uses relative paths. But when just adding the night texture it is not relative. So that means modelconverterx might not find it, but if you put your bgl and textures in FS it might work.
 
If using Vista or System 7 try right clicking the MCX icon or file name and choose Run as Administrator from one of the tabs.

Hope this helps,
 
Hi,
if I export the model from GSU to dae there is a new folder and in this folder was the texture in jpg format. Then I changed this file with paintnet (darken) and save this new file to _LM jpg format (the same name).
After import of the DAE in MCX I put the _LM jpg texture in the night texture slot (with the browse function). but now I get the warning Failed....
I tried to put the day texture in the night slot. It doesn't work: the same warning: Failed.... This I cannot understand. The same file works in the diffuse slot but not in the night slot:confused:

If it works in FsX in spite of it I have to try.

Why can I see folder and subfolder in the day slot but in the night slot only the file. If I add the folder (with backslash) this input vanish!
 
Hi,

You should be able to type the folder in front of the texture name, but the selecting form will only insert the file name, no folder indeed.

But it is weird that if you saved your darker texture as a jpg file, that you get a warning a bmp file could not be found.

I guess I should make it easier to add a night texture. Since a lot of people struggle with this. Maybe I can add a button or so that behaves like the option that is available in the batch wizard.
 
Hi,
thank you for the quick answer, but there is a misunderstanding.
If I try to put a bmp night texture in the night texture folder I get the warning: Failed to load texture: Cladding_Stucco_White__LM.bmp and if I try to put the same as jpg file I get the warning
Failed to load texture: Cladding_Stucco_White__LM.jpg . I can put any filetype I always get the same warning for this type in spite of the existing such a file in the right folder!
Is there a possibility to proof the path to the night texture slot?
 
Hi,

Are you sure you have not typed two underscores in the name before the lm?

It should work, as long as you add the texture\ in front, like in the day texture.
 
It's weird, I tried to assign night texture and choose any texture and worked , not warnings, try to import the night texture with the same format that the model have already.
 
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