Material Editor

[Fred Astair]

I am trying to figure out how to use the material editor in the April 2015 nightly build. I've searched high and low for some kind of instructions or documentation on how to use it, but cannot find any.

I want to take one of the existing skins from the program and "tweak" it to make it look more realistic and to fill in missing areas. I was hoping to use Blenders projection painting but that's not possible since if you move the rig to a position where you could do that, it only works in the exported pose and you can't get to places like under the arm pits etc...

So I thought I'd try adjusting the skin that is in MakeHuman already, and save it for use on all future models. Today I found out about the materials editor, but when I try to use it I can't see how it could possibly be of any help that way. I load my model and apply one of the skins from the materials tab and I can see my model, some statistics, and I can see the UV map. However, there doesn't seem to be a way to edit the UV map, or anything else for that matter. The UV map cannot be exported, the only options, when I click on the three dots, is to open a file. Is this actually meant to be for editing materials? Does it export and then import materials back in once you've edited them in a 2d program?

[duststorm]

I am trying to figure out how to use the material editor in the April 2015 nightly build. I've searched high and low for some kind of instructions or documentation on how to use it, but cannot find any.

Indeed, we see the MAterial Editor as a development tool, which is why it is hidden by default in releases.
We keep it in becasue we don't want to take it away from users who find it useful.
With documentation generally lacking behind, we feel it is more important to first document the core features of the software.

The material editor is not a texture editor or UV editor or does not have any modeling tools. It only allows you to compose materials and tune shader settings. It is an editor for material definitions, more or less like the material options/editor in blender, or any other render engine.

[Fred Astair]

I am trying to figure out how to use the material editor in the April 2015 nightly build. I've searched high and low for some kind of instructions or documentation on how to use it, but cannot find any.

Indeed, we see the MAterial Editor as a development tool, which is why it is hidden by default in releases.
We keep it in becasue we don't want to take it away from users who find it useful.
With documentation generally lacking behind, we feel it is more important to first document the core features of the software.

The material editor is not a texture editor or UV editor or does not have any modeling tools. It only allows you to compose materials and tune shader settings. It is an editor for material definitions, more or less like the material options/editor in blender, or any other render engine.

That's kind of what I thought. I knew it was in development and wouldn't be documented at this stage. I just wanted to establish that I had looked for documentation before I asked about it here in the forum.

Is it possible to use the editor to export the existing skins and then re-import them back into MakeHuman after they have been modified in third party software? That would be a very helpful thing if it were possible. I know how to export a model, modify the skins externally, and have them work the way I want to in Blender, but that is only good for that one model. I know that in earlier versions we could create our own skins and then bring them in and add them to MakeHuman and choose them the way we can do with custom clothes, but that documentation says it no longer applies to the latest mesh. There are a few choices now, but can we create some of our own and add them to the skins palette?

[Fred Astair]

Does anybody know the answer?

[duststorm]

You can add skins just like you did with the old makehuman: just add a texture and accompanying .mhmat file in your data/skins folder.
mhmat files are simple text files containing the material description. The material editor is a visual editor for those mhmat files.
You can copy mhmat files from existing skins to serve as a base for your own, just modify some details like the name and the filename of the texture you want to use. The mhmat files can also be edited in a text editor.

Also see here: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=11141&p=25768#p25768

[Fred Astair]

You can add skins just like you did with the old makehuman: just add a texture and accompanying .mhmat file in your data/skins folder.
mhmat files are simple text files containing the material description. The material editor is a visual editor for those mhmat files.
You can copy mhmat files from existing skins to serve as a base for your own, just modify some details like the name and the filename of the texture you want to use. The mhmat files can also be edited in a text editor.

Also see here: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=11141&p=25768#p25768

I've looked in the skins folder and it is empty. I've looked in the models folder and I find the .MHM files, but I've looked everywhere and I cannot find any .MHMAT files. Where are the material and texture files for the models stored when they are exported or saved?

Ok, hang on, I think I've figured out where the MHMAT files are. They are in the folder for the main MakeHuman program. I can't find any of the skins PNG files though. Where are they stored?

[duststorm]

Ok, hang on, I think I've figured out where the MHMAT files are. They are in the folder for the main MakeHuman program. I can't find any of the skins PNG files though. Where are they stored?

Exactly. User custom files go into my documents, files that come with MH by default go into the program folder.

Textures are in the data/skins/textures folder.

ls -Rl data/skins/
data/skins/:
total 324
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 614 Jan 3 00:27 benchmark.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 742 Jan 3 00:27 benchmark.thumb
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 609 Jan 3 00:27 default.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 99270 Jan 3 00:27 default.thumb
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_african_female
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_african_male
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_asian_female
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_asian_male
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_caucasian_female
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_caucasian_male
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 3632 Jan 3 00:27 notfound.thumb
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 old_african_female
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 old_african_male
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 old_asian_female
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 old_asian_male
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 old_caucasian_female
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 old_caucasian_male
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 763 Jan 3 00:27 testje.mhmat
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Feb 14 13:05 textures
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 toon01
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 516 Jan 3 00:27 xray.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 8412 Jan 3 00:27 xray.thumb
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 young_african_female
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 young_african_male
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 young_asian_female
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 young_asian_male
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 young_caucasian_female
drwxrwxr-x 2 duststorm duststorm 4096 Jan 3 00:27 young_caucasian_male

data/skins/middleage_african_female:
total 20
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 956 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_african_female.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 15884 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_african_female.thumb

data/skins/middleage_african_male:
total 20
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 949 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_african_male.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 16138 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_african_male.thumb

data/skins/middleage_asian_female:
total 24
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 952 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_asian_female.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 19150 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_asian_female.thumb

data/skins/middleage_asian_male:
total 24
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 947 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_asian_male.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 18218 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_asian_male.thumb

data/skins/middleage_caucasian_female:
total 24
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 959 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_caucasian_female.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 19242 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_caucasian_female.thumb

data/skins/middleage_caucasian_male:
total 24
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 953 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_caucasian_male.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 18162 Jan 3 00:27 middleage_caucasian_male.thumb

data/skins/old_african_female:
total 20
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 935 Jan 3 00:27 old_african_female.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 14417 Jan 3 00:27 old_african_female.thumb

data/skins/old_african_male:
total 24
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 928 Jan 3 00:27 old_african_male.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 16644 Jan 3 00:27 old_african_male.thumb

data/skins/old_asian_female:
total 24
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 934 Jan 3 00:27 old_asian_female.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 18979 Jan 3 00:27 old_asian_female.thumb

data/skins/old_asian_male:
total 24
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 926 Jan 3 00:27 old_asian_male.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 18626 Jan 3 00:27 old_asian_male.thumb

data/skins/old_caucasian_female:
total 24
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 941 Jan 3 00:27 old_caucasian_female.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 19186 Jan 3 00:27 old_caucasian_female.thumb

data/skins/old_caucasian_male:
total 28
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 933 Jan 3 00:27 old_caucasian_male.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 21225 Jan 3 00:27 old_caucasian_male.thumb

data/skins/textures:
total 233208
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 4315675 Feb 14 13:05 middleage_darkskinned_female_diffuse.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 4469352 Feb 14 13:05 middleage_darkskinned_male_diffuse.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 3935983 Feb 14 13:05 middleage_lightskinned_female_diffuse2.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 4495279 Feb 14 13:04 middleage_lightskinned_female_diffuse.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 5500460 Feb 14 13:05 middleage_lightskinned_male_diffuse2.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 5469432 Feb 14 13:05 middleage_lightskinned_male_diffuse.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 4355298 Feb 14 13:05 old_darkskinned_female_diffuse.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 4811922 Feb 14 13:05 old_darkskinned_male_diffuse.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 4908471 Feb 14 13:04 old_lightskinned_female_diffuse2.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 4835169 Feb 14 13:05 old_lightskinned_female_diffuse.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 5847867 Feb 14 13:05 old_lightskinned_male_diffuse2.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 5662061 Feb 14 13:05 old_lightskinned_male_diffuse.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 4535053 Feb 14 13:04 young_darkskinned_female_diffuse.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 4543647 Feb 14 13:04 young_darkskinned_male_diffuse.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 3859940 Feb 14 13:04 young_lightskinned_female_diffuse2.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 4032867 Feb 14 13:05 young_lightskinned_female_diffuse3.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 4509747 Feb 14 13:05 young_lightskinned_female_diffuse.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 5428250 Feb 14 13:05 young_lightskinned_male_diffuse2.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 5426639 Feb 14 13:05 young_lightskinned_male_diffuse3.png
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 5419345 Feb 14 13:04 young_lightskinned_male_diffuse.png

data/skins/toon01:
total 36
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 629 Jan 3 00:27 toon01.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 643 Jan 3 00:27 toon01.mhmat~
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 9836 Jan 3 00:27 toon01.thumb

data/skins/young_african_female:
total 228
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 988 Jan 3 00:27 young_african_female.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 15266 Jan 3 00:27 young_african_female.thumb

data/skins/young_african_male:
total 232
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 982 Jan 3 00:27 young_african_male.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 16265 Jan 3 00:27 young_african_male.thumb

data/skins/young_asian_female:
total 376
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 988 Jan 3 00:27 young_asian_female.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 17806 Jan 3 00:27 young_asian_female.thumb

data/skins/young_asian_male:
total 384
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 979 Jan 3 00:27 young_asian_male.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 18171 Jan 3 00:27 young_asian_male.thumb

data/skins/young_caucasian_female:
total 2244
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 949 Jan 3 00:27 young_caucasian_female2.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 18730 Jan 3 00:27 young_caucasian_female2.thumb
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 997 Jan 3 00:27 young_caucasian_female.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 20571 Jan 3 00:27 young_caucasian_female.thumb

data/skins/young_caucasian_male:
total 400
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 947 Jan 3 00:27 young_caucasian_male2.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 18642 Jan 3 00:27 young_caucasian_male2.thumb
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 992 Jan 3 00:27 young_caucasian_male.mhmat
-rw-rw-r-- 1 duststorm duststorm 16943 Jan 3 00:27 young_caucasian_male.thumb

[jimmy-jamjar]

As a newbie, I am also confused on how to use materials editor. I'm using 3d coat and I have a color map, an nmap and a specular map each in their own file. How exactly can I get my .png files assigned to the appropriate place in materials editor?

See attached picture. If I want to change the appearance of the skin, add bump map texturing, and control specularity, what would I choose on the left panel (shown) regarding shader? Given that a second panel appears on the right showing various options, and they are enabled/disabled based on the shader choice made on the left, what shader choice should I be using(from the left) and which of the relevant enabled options(on the right) should I be filling with my three file names?

Thank you for any enlightenment you can provide.

[duststorm]

On the right panel you can set the textures.
Availability of the texture properties depends on which shader is selected.\

The shaders are pretty much still a work in progress though, so not everything is supported yet.

I recommend you start from a material that is close to what you want to make. That means, you probably dont want the default skin (disable the "auto-ethnic skin" checkbox in the right panel and more options will become unlocked to you).

With "none" as shader (fixed function rendering) you can set all properties. But advanced things like normal map/AO/displacement/spec will not be previewed that way. Anyway it's a good way to complete your material (in the interest of exporting), even if you're chosing a different shader afterwards.
Then you'll want to make your choice, probably "phong" or "normalmap" are the more traditional choices. Anything that is available for the shader you selected will be available on the right. If set on the right, you can actually enable the feature on the shader on the left.
As I said, the shaders are pretty much a work in progress. "normalmap" and "phong" will in the future disappear in an "uber shader" where you can enable or disable normal mapping, along with any other combination of settings on the left.
People who know a bit of GLSL and want to help us out are always welcome.