MTKnife wrote:I never said the program was simple, but that the reason for not uploading extra MHMAT files is (and it is quite simple). MH is not a polished tool meant for the average computer user: the expectation is that you'll poke around and figure things out--and ask here when that doesn't work. It's not that the community is made up of a bunch of snooty geeks who look down on the less technically capable, but that adding polish and good documentation requires time and effort that's usually not available from volunteer labor.
Don't make the assumption that I'm talking about myself here. I do understand how to change the code in the MHMAT file to point to the other materials. I figured that out for myself when I was trying to troubleshoot your skirt that didn't work. I saw that you had an incomplete name for the material in that MHMAT file, although that didn't fix the larger issue, which you ultimately ended up doing yourself. I know full well how MH is put together team wise, as I have been a volunteer for the past year or so, and I have spent many "volunteer" hours writing and editing the documentation here, as that was the task asked of me. However, I have been told by Manuel to ask questions when I don't fully understand the hows and whys of a situation such as this one so that I can contribute something that is clear and finished and comprehensible to the average user. MH is striving to create a system whereby a model can be created with relative ease without having to delve into the intricacies of programming or modelling or computer science. It is true that it is meant to be used to create a "starting point" model that some advanced users and artists might use as a base model that they then expand upon, however, it is also meant to be able to create quick and simple and complete models that can be used 'as is' for a number of other purposes. In that capacity, the program needs to be simple and easy to use and nobody using it for that purpose should be "expected poke around and figure things out" themselves and then go to this forum to ask questions that should have been answered to begin with.
The user contribution area is presented in such a way that it "appears" as a catalog of contributions that are ready to simply be downloaded by the visitor. There is no indication up front that the visitor will need to mess around on the forum trying to figure out how to "recode" the MHMAT files for some of the materials, but not others. The fact that some of the items, such as those collars and chains that somebody uploaded work intermittently, confuses the issue, and since there are no clear instructions available, (the one that tells us what to do now that they're downloaded is quite incomplete), the visitor is forced, quite unnecessarily, to spend many an hour trying to figure out if they are the one making a mistake, or if the uploader simply uploaded some kind of incomplete crap that doesn't work, and can't be made to work by the end user, but only by the originator, who has dumped their contribution in the catalog and never bothered to return to read the feedback comments to find out that the thing doesn't work. It's even stated in the comments area that the end user shouldn't expect that anybody is bothering to read what they have to say.
What I am advocating is some clear information on this very simple page of contributions where there is no need for each and every "new to the contributions area visitor" to invest hours trying to understand how to use the contributions. There should also be a very good and clear way to insure that all of the contributions are "vetted", perhaps by a feed back button where the visitor can mark the item as "not working" or perhaps simply Joel checking out each item that's uploaded to see if it actually works (not loading at all is pretty easy to identify and takes only minutes). It wouldn't take someone like Joel very long to go through the catalog of current items and test them and delete those that are incomplete or don't work. He could check new entries on a weekly or bi-weekly basis and in a matter of minutes toss out the crap that doesn't work. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out why your skirt didn't work and in the end it was only you who could fix your own error and I had to send you a PM before you knew about it. I just tried those collars earlier today and the solid one doesn't work at all and the chain one works intermittently, applying itself to the model seemingly at random when it is picked, regardless of whether or not I try it on the stable version or the nightly. Those items should be tested by Joel and then pulled if he is getting the same results. There is no reason to leave them in the catalog for the next sucker who thinks that they actually work to download and spend hours on them only to find that they were junk uploads to begin with that they don't work. Perhaps you enjoy "poking around and asking questions", and that's fine, but I prefer to save that effort for "necessary learning". The same is true for pulling all the flaky items that have been uploaded already because unless this catalog of contributions is kept clean of the junk, nobody will want to use it anymore and then what was the point in setting it up to begin with? There is no value in having a great looking skirt or pair of shoes or some other item if the uploaded files are nonfunctional. That's why I originally gave your skirt a low score. It looked great in the sample image, but it didn't work, and that made it worthless. Unfortunately, there was no "button" available to send you any feedback about the problem.
). So it might take a few days, but it's not because I'm ignoring the thread.