Solved: New user to Quixel Suite 2.3 having some issues

obscuroarcanum

Hi!

I installed the Quixel Suite 2.3.1 trial tonight to see if it would work on my system and with models created for Poser, but I'm having trouble with getting it to work correctly.

I'm following along with the video posted on Youtube, DDO Painter for Beginners: Azog Breakdown and I have downloaded the assets and I'm loading the mesh and the attached Normal, AO and ColorID images and Quixel runs through the process of loading the images, appearing to behave normally as I have seen in videos, but after the message window saying my project has been created comes up and I click OK, I'm not getting the mesh to load in the 3DO preview window. Sometimes I'm taken back to the starting window of DDO as though nothing has been loaded - there are no mesh or images loaded.

The only thing I am not doing the same as the video is assigning the colour ID's to the model in Maya. I do not own Maya. At the moment, I only have a Student license to 3ds Max and I haven't had the opportunity to learn it, and it will be expiring soon, and when it does I will be working with modo, which is more in my price range. Is it necessary for my to apply the colour ID's to the model, even though there is a ColorID image supplied?

Trying to research this and troubleshoot what could be going wrong, I have read that DDO prefers Tri models, rather than Quads. I have also tried loading one of the sample scenes. I downloaded the Orc, extracted it from the .zip file and then loaded the Project.xml file without any issues. The textures loaded correctly and I was able to see the model in the 3DO preview pane.

I'm running Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit and Photoshop CS6 Extended.

I'm certain the issues I'm having are because I'm new to the program and I'm unfamiliar with how to get it to work correctly and my knowledge of modelling is very basic. (I have only dabbled with Zbrush so far, and even then they were only small morph corrections to Poser models.)

I am hoping someone can help me sort out this problem I'm having, if only to confirm the supplied files for the Azog video are correct and there is something I should be doing that I'm not.

Thank you.

Kat

Synaesthesia

Could I see a video of this happening for you? There's a good chance that I'll be able to figure it out with a clear video demonstrating the process leading up to the issue you're experiencing.

obscuroarcanum

That won't be a problem at all. I'll record a video for you now and upload it.

obscuroarcanum

I recorded my process of adding the mesh and the images, and 3 out of 4 times it worked fine for me. The issue with not getting the mesh to load in the 3DO preview was in the instance when I unchecked the "Optimise" box beside the mesh. In the videos I have watched on Quixel I haven't seen this option, so I wasn't sure what to do with it.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/es78y5e175hk94w/Loading%20Azog%20-%20Split%20Monitor_small.mp4?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/muvn8755zueq5si/Loading%20Azog%20-%20Split%20Monitors%2C%20not%20Optimised_small.mp4?dl=0

I feel more than a little foolish if that was the only reason why I was having trouble with it. And it only goes to prove that I shouldn't start working with new programs when I'm ill.

Synaesthesia

So leaving Optimize Mesh on solves this for you? That's great to hear! Long story short, Optimize Mesh literally does what it says - it takes your geo and converts it into a format that 3DO can handle easily. If you want a technical explanation, I can link you to the Assimp library that details it thoroughly, but even I don't quite understand all of it - it's definitely a programmer's realm, unfortunately.

If leaving OM on solves this, shall we consider this case closed? If so, please, don't hesitate to let me know if you need anything else going forward. If you're not already on our Tools Group on Facebook, shoot a request over and share your work with us!

obscuroarcanum

Yup! I can confirm that keeping the OM box checked does the trick. I tried it again just now, loading up the Orc mesh from the sample project and only attaching the Normal and ColorID images. Everything behaved normally - the maps for the project were generated and 3DO opens the mesh in the preview window the way it should.

A technical explanation won't be necessary, as I'm definitely not a programmer so I'm certain my eyes will glaze over by the third word! lol I'm more than happy with the simpler explanation you offered - it takes the geometry of the mesh and converts it into something 3DO can understand. This I can understand very well - keep the box checked!

We can definitely consider this case closed! Though I expect I will be returning from time to time as I spend more time with Quixel, assimilating it into my working pipeline, which might be a bit quirky when I will not only be working with models I create myself but also purchased content for Poser and Daz Studio. I'll do my best to work out as much as I can on my own though, so I don't become too bothersome with all of the questions.

I'm not on Facebook, otherwise I would do precisely that but I see there is a section on the forum where members can post their work, so I will drop by there from time to time and share my projects.

Thanks very much for your assistance!
I'm very excited to start working with Quixel and I'm super pleased that it actually works on my system. (I tried 3DCoat and it crashed every time I tried to open a menu after the program launched, so I was expecting the worst when I installed Quixel's trial. A powerful texturing program like this? It would be just my luck that it wouldn't work!)