arrowhead42 opened this issue on May 30, 2020 ยท 9 posts
arrowhead42 posted Sat, 30 May 2020 at 8:32 PM
I have a feeling that this is likely something simple, but I need to ask....
I'm using Poser 11 and I found that when I created a procedural material file, Poser made it in .mt5 file format. But when I create a material file that is texture based, Poser sets it up in .mc6 format. Is this normal? And should I bother attempting to change my pre-existing .mt5's to .mc6's?
Here's the link to my freebies: https://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/?uid=493127
My cousin Jack can speak to beans. That's right.... Jack and the beans talk
SamTherapy posted Sat, 30 May 2020 at 8:43 PM
.mt5 is a single material which you can apply to any material zone on any figure.
.mc6 is a material collection which has all the info about all material zones on a specific figure.
Example, my Dalek models have lots of material zones so they can be made to have different colours in almost every area without it affecting any other. Even the skirt panels are set up to have - if desired - alternating colours, as are the hemispheres on the panels. I saved a bunch of single materials in various colours which I can then apply to any of the zones as I want. These are .mt5 files.
Assuming I set up one of the Daleks in a specific colour scheme, say, off white body with gold appendages, hemis and collars (such as an Imperial or Necros Dalek)* I can then save the whole thing out as a collection. This is a .mc6 file. All these are procedural materials, btw; the matter of texture files is neither here nor there, it's the fact that there are many material zones included in the file.
*Yes, I'm a Dalek geek. 
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
hborre posted Sat, 30 May 2020 at 8:44 PM
A .mc6 is basically a collection of textures that cover multiple material zones in a figure/prop and only be applied to that figure/prop or similar. A .mt5 usually is applicable to just material zone, so if you attempt to apply that file to a multi-material zone object, Poser will ask you which face to apply it to. You can still create a .mc6 file out of a procedural shader for a particular object. You should get a dialog box for selection when you initiate the save option.
SamTherapy posted Sat, 30 May 2020 at 8:50 PM
Addendum: You can make setting up a figure's appearance even simpler by including only a few, or even just one material in a .mc6. I've done this with guitar models. I use a lot of Mask-da's guitars (because they are awesome) and spent a lot of time making the colour schemes and materials look as good as possible. No disrespect to Mask, but his material setups aren't great and use a lot of fake reflection maps, which I do away with.
Anyhow, assuming I set up his Les Paul Standard to look just right, I can save that out as the default collection, Default.mc6. But, I may want to change the top colour from Sunburst to Bullion Gold. All I have to do is, once I changed the colour in the Material Room, is to save a collection named GoldTop, but only select the top from the list of available materials. This will ensure that when I click on it, only the top will change without it affecting any other materials. It is, however, specific to that model - or another with the same name material - so it won't work as a general use "paint colour". For that, you'd want to save it as a .mt5.
Coppula eam se non posit acceptera jocularum.
arrowhead42 posted Sat, 30 May 2020 at 10:59 PM
Ok, I understand now - thank you so much!
Here's the link to my freebies: https://www.renderosity.com/mod/freestuff/?uid=493127
My cousin Jack can speak to beans. That's right.... Jack and the beans talk
SamTherapy posted Sun, 31 May 2020 at 4:31 PM
ockham posted Tue, 02 June 2020 at 2:17 AM
FWIW, I have an old Python that converts in all directions between MC6 and MT5 and PZ2. It still works in P11.
http://ockhamsbungalow.com/Python/MC6%20-%20MT5%20-%20PZ2.zip
ockham posted Tue, 02 June 2020 at 2:19 AM
I haven't used it much; in general the selective approach that Sam describes is easier. There's no good reason to make a MT5 when you can select only one mat for a MC6.
an0malaus posted Wed, 03 June 2020 at 4:56 AM
there is one good reason for having an MT5 instead of an MC6. In the material room, you can apply an MT5 to the currently selected material, which you can't do with an MC6, since the mat room won't prompt you which material to apply it to, just apply it as it specifies.
Verbosity: Profusely promulgating Graham's number epics of complete and utter verbiage by the metric monkey barrel.
