My Lux Render stuff doesn't even look that good. That is just amazing Bagginsbill!

Wood, yeah. I am looking since ages for a great Wood Mat. I try myself too with Matmatic to create Wood, but it looks crappy what I get out.

When finally this Plug In hit the store, this will be like Christmas and birthday :)

BagginsBill, some really great Stoneshaders would be great too. I mean not Jewels, real rock.

Quote - This is an experiment in using different finishes on the main tiles versus the accent tiles. I like this image because so many of the qualities of the tiles are subtle. Look at the use of squircles to get the slightly rounded corners on the main tile - the subtle use of mixed colors - the slight dip in the grout that occasionally catches the light.

This is breathtaking.

Snarlygribbly's "EZe" of use and bagginsbill's shader genius in one delightful package...  This might be the best thing to happen to Poser since Firefly. 

Can't wait to get back into modeling/rendering on a daily basis (still haven't emotionally recovered from my HD crash in August and losing 9 mos of work...).  That glossy shader makes me want to build a car just to try it.  What am I talking about, nearly every pic in this thread has made me want to model something specifically just to use these shaders!

Hey just thought I would ask here don't want to spoil the thread theam.

Can Ezimat or may be Eziskin create older mature mats for V4 say around 50 yr old?

cheers Rowlando

I just sent you a message about an error I am getting. I hope you can help me learn how to use these scripts you offer.

Quote - I was going through my archives of old shaders and dug up a few that I'll repackage as EZMat shaders. This is a neat one - galvanized aluminum. I forgot I had made it.

Gret shader, but you don't galvanize Aluminum, as it doesn't rust; Aluminum is anodized to increase the thickness of the protective oxide layer to make the surface more scratch resistant and reduce corrosion.  However, this is a good representation of hot galvanized sheet steel, where the steel is dipped in molten Zinc...

I don't understand. I got my reference images from articles showing galvanized aluminum or steel. Naturally I don't know if they're truthful, nor do I particularly know the difference and I could have called it galvanized steel and been just as happy.

Examples:

http://www.ehow.com/how_8664634_galvanize-aluminum.html

http://www.katom.com/229-BT1914.html

http://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Hot-galvanized-aluminium-square-pipe-for_1548818572.html

And...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hot-dip_galvanization

Quote - Hot-dip galvanization is a form of galvanization. It is the process of coating iron, steel or aluminium with a layer of zinc by immersing the metal in a bath of molten zinc at a temperature of around 860 °F (460 °C).

I've never encoundered any galvanized aluminum in my travels, only steel, but I haven't spec'ed anythign out in years.  Likewise, steel can be anodized, but I've never seen any treated that way, only aluminum...

You're both right. There is little reason to galvalize aluminium as the oxide forms a hard layer that is impermeable to oxygen. There may be occasions where a particularly corrosive environment may need a metal lighter than steel and hazardous to aluminium, so galvanizing would be appropriate, I just can't think of any. Put it this way, they don't galvanize warships and they're made from the stuff and just painted.

Regardless, the galv process sits on the surface, and so galvanized aluminium or steel will look the same, and as BB points out, some people DO make it (although for the life of me I don't know why, unless it is just some sales angle).

If I was to recommend anything, just call it galvanized metal. It all looks the same anyway (even galvanized gold would look like that).

Yes after studying the distinction, it's clear that galvanized whatever is covered in zinc. Apparently I made a crystallized zinc carbonate shader.

Still looks fantastic BB..

Late to the party but watching ;). I see some fantastic things already :D

Laurie

Good to see you back, Laurie.

they anodise aluminium.  electrolytic, rather than dipping it in molten metal.  also makes nice colours, e.g. gold or like that.

Believe it or not, there are a few good reasons to galvanize aluminum. it is done far more than you might think. There are two ways of doing it, dipping and electroplating.

One reason is to reflect radiant heat. That is why they do it to roofing. Aluminum is a great conductor of radiiant heat, and that is the last thing you want on a roof in an area that is always hot. Galvanizing it increases its reflectivity significantly. In this case, corrosion resistance has nothing to do with why it is done, unless it is a metal frame building. (It is also done to reduce electrolysis.)

Another, (which is related to the first) is that aluminum does not have a very good mass attenuation coefficient, ie, it doesn't block radiation very well. (xrays, gamma, etc). Electroplating it with zinc increases it's ability to block radiation over 2 times, use a mixture of zinc and lead it is over 6 times. Very handy in the medical field.

That thing they lay over you to do an xray would weigh far more if it was all lead. The machines would be far heavier if metals other than aluminum were used as well. Something has to shield the electronics in the machine from the emitter, and anything that can save weight is a welcome addition.

/back to thread....

I must admit I have not followed this thread, but I see a lot of beautiful things done here. MarvlousDEsigner geometries and textures from the loom; the ideal combination.  

Just curious if EZMat is available by now?

Oh I am so wanting this!

Too bad I couldn't have been a tester but just wasn't up to doing much lately.

I am curious too, any ETA?

Mazak

I'm more concerned about how SnarlyGribbly is doing?

Though I wouldn't mind an update on EZ Mat too. :)-

Hopefully he is doing well.

Quote - ...  Just curious if EZMat is available by now?

Apologize. I had not read the thread to the end. Sorry to hear about the situation.

Snarly, get well soon.

Snarly, my best wishes for your health.

When this product is ready, I am a guaranteed customer.

Hope you do start feeling better, SG... health is the most precious thing we have, isn't it!

Haven't heard anything lately.

Is snarly okay or is he still feelinin sick?

Hello.

First, thank you for your concern over my wellbeing.

Things have been tough lately, but things are better at the moment. I have been fortunate enough to be put on a trial for a fabulous new drug which has given me back my health. Unfortunately it is only a trial and the drug may not be available to the medical profession for several years. I don't know what happens when the year long trial comes to an end. I'm trying not to think about it too much :-)

Secondly, my apologies for not keeping in touch. Somehow I have completely lost track of time. It seemed as though I'd only been away for a couple of weeks or so, but I see I have abandoned this project for rather longer than that. My bad, and I'm sorry.

So .. .what about this EZMat thing then?

To be frank, it is unlikely that i will be able to devote the time to it that would be needed to see it through to being released as a commercial product, which was the original intention.

So you can have what I have done so far for free :-)
Yup, you can go grab it now. Even unfinished, it should still be fun to play with. It can still do a lot of cool things.

I might finish it sometime, and release a commercial version with the full planned feature set. And then again, I might not :-)

If anyone would like to create some documentation for it then I'd be glad to help and collaborate. I just don't have the energy to do it all myself.

I hope you get some fun out of it.
Post questions and bug reports here. Who knows - I might even do something about them :-)

All the downloads are at the usual place on my free site. Here's a direct link to the relevant post:

http://www.snarlygribbly.org/3d/forum/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=172

I have some more EZMat plugins based on BB's published shaders.
They include:

Asphalt, Glossy, Ice, Polka Dots, Puddles, Slime, Stripes and Suede

I shall ask BB if it is ok to make them available too, as even though his commercial plugins will no doubt surpass these versions these are pretty good too. It's not to hard to make your own ezmat plugins based on his forum posts, so I'm hopeful that he will sanction the distribution of these 'ready-made' versions :-)

Good luck, Snarly. There's a lot of people wishing good things for you.

Royston - glad to hear your heath has improved, and I hope that remains so. You have my best wishes and I'm sure that of many others in the community.

There can't be many Poser users who don't have and regularly use the tools you've created, so thank you not just for creating them but for your generosity in making them freely available to everyone.

Cheers, and take care ;)

Here are some very basic installation instructions ...

EZMat is a Poser addon and as such needs to be installed in the correct location. It can be installed to any runtime, so long as the correct folder structure is maintained.

EZMAT
If you extract the ezmat.zip to the parent folder of a runtime, using the option to retain folder names, then it will work correctly. The resultant folder structure should look like this:

runtime/python/addons/EZMat/init.pyc

Addons are only initialised when Poser starts, so if you had Poser open while installing then you will need to restart Poser.
EZMat can be launched from the WIndow/Addons/EZMat menu of Poser

Right clicking on the background of the user interface will reveal a popup menu where you can set the docking behaviour and the UI font size.

PLUGINS
These should be stored in any folder outside of the addons folder. It can be anywhere on your computer system. EZMat has an option to allow you to set the location of your plugin folder so that EZMat can find them. You can separate your plugins and put them in multiple folders, but only one folder can be active at any time, so you might find it more convenient to put all your plugins in one folder.

You, sir, are a true gentleman, SC! Where anyone else would simply abandon all when this sort of life-changing event comes crashing in, you rise above it to honour that sublime part of you nothing can ever take away: your creativity.

I am learning a valuable lesson tonight  from you (I live in Oz, so where you have morning, all is dark and still here, except for the odd koala snuffling in a tree in the back yard). I'm sure you had no intention of teaching anything, but please know that in me, at least, you have a very grateful pupil.

Thank you for this gift... and for ALL your gifts. I know you've done much more in life than just creating clever solutions for the Poser community, but for us you shine as one of Poser's greatest artists and contributors!

Oh Snarly :(

Laurie

Thank you.

I do hope your health gets better and medicine stays available for you.

Snarly, well, first of all, welcome back. Given circumstances, the news is not the worst of all, far from that :-)

"If anyone would like to create some documentation for it then I'd be glad to help and collaborate."

Let me try to squeeze this in into my ongoing Material Room demystification. You were part of that FAQ project as well, in case you missed the first results: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showthread.php?message_id=4150615&ebot_calc_page#top

It's all online / webpaged as well, by now. We'll keep in touch.

Glad to hear you're feeling better, Snarly. Having dealt with health problems myself, I know you have to take it one moment at a time. :)

Glad to hear you are doing better, and within hopes the meds which are improving your health be available when the trial expires. And cheers to many more years of well being.

GLad you're still here. Was wondering if I should bother you just to see if you're okay...

Glad you're on your way to being healed.

Now to the matter at hand. I've downloaded the EZMat and would love to give it a spin but I have a question about the plugins and documentations...

 Maybe I will contribute to the documentation of the add on. At least there are a few of them I am familiar with. (Heck! I'm familiar with all of them!)

I'm confused...can't get it to work.

I've followed the install instructions just posted here and it shows up in Poser dropdown menu but nothing happens if I click it.

Can anyone explain how to do it, please.

PS: got it, just had to study the situation a bit...lol.

Quote - I'm confused...can't get it to work.

I've followed the install instructions just posted here and it shows up in Poser dropdown menu but nothing happens if I click it.

Can anyone explain how to do it, please.

PS: got it, just had to study the situation a bit...lol.

Mind sharing with us what you did or how you got it to work???? It may be useful to the rest of us. We could put it together in some kind of comprendum (sp).

Thanks in advance.

I re-read snarly's instructions he just posted and placed the EZMAT folder here...runtime/python/addons/EZMat/init.pyc

and place all the plugins in the folder I made in menu scripts "snarlygribblyPlugins

Opened Poser and added a figure then used the drop down menu "Window" to activate it. :)

You do have to point it at the plugin folder.

Thanks, BluEcho, for sharing. Right now I don't have time to experiment with it.... Got to go food shopping for my feline mistress and her broods... :lol:

I can't figure out how to use the loom...sigh.

Best wishes for you Snarls!!!!

Giant Hugs Snarls!

We missed you!

I so hope this medication works for you! Thank you so much for all you've done and for letting us play with EZMat 1.0!

Yes, I got it working!

Had to edit the pyc file so the path was corrected.

The path was on C:destopTedetcets...you get what I mean.

My Poser is on a different drive and the MatMatic is in a different folder. :)

First I want to say welcome back, Snarly!  As a user of EZSkin I both admire your creativity and appreciate your generosity.

Since losing a year's work last August due to a HD crash I have slowly been trying to get myself back into Poser.  Longstanding usability issues such as constantly needing to redirect poser to import/export locations, repeatedly needing to specify compression values and re-type names of existing items really taxed my patience over the course of using Poser for two years aiding in a gov't occupational research project.  PP2014 + EZSkin briefly rekindled my enthusiasm, and I spent a few months excitedly giving each and every thing in my personal library a once-over toward being current with PP2014's new features.  I made and refit numerous items of clothing, adapted clothes to other figures, relit old environments, finally discovered the edge blend shader and then lost everything I'd done over 9 mos time (hardly lost any work related stuff, though - thank goodness!).

Seeing the potential of EZMat it felt almost like a new release of Poser was coming (if it were built in or included with the program it might even change everyone's perception of Poser).  I'm glad you've decided to share it with us, and I hope your enthusiasm returns for making the finished product you originally envisioned.  Wishing you the best of luck and health!