Am trying to learn DS. I converted some of the props I've made into standard *.obj models - with their associated textures. But when I import these into DS, the textures don't show. What am I doing wrong?

DS doesn't read the textures from an .MTL file, only material colors (if any). You have to apply the textures manually. DS will read textures from a Poser .PP2

Thanks nimrod89. Bummer!

What version of Studio are both of you using? DS 1.2 reads .MTL files

Yesterday, I downloaded what I had assumed was the latest version from the DAZ site. in just checking, my copy says that it is 1.2. However, it does not "automatically" read the mtl files: nimrod89 is generally correct. But not quite - that is a person will not have to "assign" the files in the sense of "mapping" a texture file exactly to the UV coordinates of a model. (Thankfully!) Now that I've explored it further, the files do have to be slected by hand using the Color (Pick a File) Portion of the Surfaces Tab. (Hmmm, not where I would have located such a basic operation....) DS "reads" the texture mapping info in the *.obj MTL file fairly accurately, it seems. It knows when there is more than one texture map applied to an object, and it seems to accurately read the UV mapping coordinates for each of those texture files. However, since you must select them manually, a drawback to this program is that there is no clue as to which of several texture files might be the _material1 and the _material2 and so forth. So a user has to guess, or in the case of a person who purchased some models from me, I am going to have to construct a list for him for each of mult-texture file 56 models. Ugh! BTW, I found the Manual ("Artist Guide") to be well-written on this subject. (With the slight failure to note the above problem.) In generally, it provides excellent plain-language explanations and illustrations for the subject of handling material and shader settings for any 3D program. The toolset for managing and applying these settings also appears to be well-done in DS. My thanks to nimrod89 and to Barrett James for helping me work this all out.

And thanks to you, A C C for forcing me to check the Version Number. That's always good to do, as that is very often the source of a problem such as mine.

For which app are you targeting your prop? Most generally, one doesn't load .obj files in D|S or Poser. They're loaded using library files (e.g. .pp2 for props). These apply the texture files when loading the figure. If you're targeting only D|S, you can apply the textures to the .obj and use File>Save As to save the textured prop as a scene, which will also load the textured figure.

Yes, you are right, PickersAngel. In general, I make a point to put all my models into the latest version of *.3ds format, so that they have the widest potential application. In this particular case, a good fellow - new to 3d - inadvertantly purchased my 56-piece Deck Kit in *.3ds format, without understanding that it would not be importable to DS. I was not familiar with DS either, so I downloaded a copy , and was trying to work out whether or not these models could be loaded into DS and whether they would be useful here. Despite the Artist Guide, I was stumped, until nimrod89 was kind enough to point me in the right direction. Since then, I've written a file format conversion program that allows all my models ("props") to be converted to *.obj format, so they all can potentially be put into DS. Converting them for use into Poser format is a much more complicated process, and given the multiple component pieces Poser needs, I haven't found a good way to spawn all these components without sometimes creating errors. So, I don't like to do this. Poser will "import" a *.3ds model, anyhow. But, I am reasonably impressed with the DS program. Its seems to be pretty good, and I wish all of you "smooth sailing."

I am encountering the same problem with some props I have created. How did you convert 3ds files into obj files? Is there any freeware program out there that does this?

At larryr, have you posed your question in the 3DS Forum??? May get a quicker response there. Just a thought.

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