Answered: Quixel Suite 2 a big step backwards for me.

TJTAS

(legacy) dDo worked perfectly for me. DDO (pre 2.0) didn't work perfectly but I found ways around it. DDO (Suite 2.0) is a complete disaster from my perspective.  I've never managed to get one of my meshes to load since the change to 3DO. I'm still having this issue with the 2.0 version of 3DO and now it seems to rely on this to generate the curvature and cavity maps. In fact on generation 3DO hangs and will not proceed until I kill the window.
The "base" option is gone in DDO(2.0) I used to use this to create the basic cavity maps and simple layers for my materials.
There is no way to turn off the gloss and normal layers from generating.
DDO(2.0) keeps turning my Photoshop on and off which is playing havoc with my Cintiq.
DDO(2.0) Keeps disabling function from my Cintiq (this is totally unacceptable as I rely on the Cintiq to work)
No Support for 3d mouse in the 3DO window.
3DO does not display the created layers on the cube mesh (as mentioned before it will not load my messes even a simple box).
There needs to be a "Straight" option in the "Export target" options.
3DO doesn't have an option to access network drives unless they are mapped.

Veezen

What? Sure, dDo Legacy have some pretty good stuff, but after you learn basic of Suite 2.0 you realise how great this software is - painting directly on mesh, great materials library, 3DO2 with cool rendering options which can be used to rendering meshes for portfolio, and the best thing is that PSD document is solid, orderly, seperated on different textures (albedo, specular etc) which makes this software much faster than before (dDo Legacy).

repete

In fact on generation 3DO hangs and will not proceed until I kill the window.
I had the same issues because I did not have "add material" with the FBX file export in modo.

Synaesthesia

Thanks for the great feedback, Tjtas! I'll go over this point-by-point:

I'm a fan of dDo Legacy as well - I actually use it concurrently with dDo2.  I use dDoL to create masks that I load up into dDo2, so I get the best of both worlds - procedural texturing using scanned textures.

Regarding your mesh loading issue - can you be specific on what's happening there?

Map generation in 3DO can fail due to a few reasons. One of them involves using an integrated GPU instead of a dedicated GPU. If you're on a laptop, be sure to switch to high-power mode and use your dedicated card for 3DO2.exe.

The base option being the "base" texture in dDoL? You can get something similar by using the legacy Smart Materials - search for Base Definition in the Smart Material browser, or use the "base" texture in dDoL and copy that mask into DynaMask. If you need help, let me know.  

If you don't want gloss or normal maps, simply use the dDo menu --> Delete Active Map for the Normal and Gloss layers.

dDo and nDo will both minimize Photoshop as-needed to improve Photoshop's performance - I'm not sure how that could affect your Cintiq. Can you explain what's going on there?

How does dDo disable your Cintiq's functionality? Please let me know the specifics so I can forward this on to the developers on your behalf.  

3D mice may require specific support in 3DO - please let us know which one you're using so we can look into it further.

Displaying textures on the default meshes requires calling your PSDs BaseMaterial [Albedo].psd - replace [Albedo] with [Gloss] or [Specular], etc. That should fix it.

Can you be specific as to what "straight" would define for an export target?

3DO uses Unity for its file browser - we're working on getting it to load up the Windows interface instead of the Unity interface. Sorry about the trouble!

TJTAS

Hi Synesthesia,

Regarding Mesh loading. Well simply it fails to load the mesh. I have been reporting this since the change to 3DO (from the 3d window in legacy dDo). I am forced to use 3ds Max 8 for work. For some reason 3DO doesn't like meshes exported from this version as .obj files. I could get away without loading the mesh prior to DDO (2.0). However with the reliance on 3DO to generate some textures this is now back as a major issue.

I am using a desktop with (what was a couple of years ago ) a very good graphics card. I wouldn't be using the Cintiq on a laptop.

I do not see anything called base definition or Legacy smart materials in the "export to" menu. Only a list of I guess engines which it is to work for. I am not using any of these. I just need it to generate the Cavity, Curvature and base material layers without adding anything else. This is also what I mean by a "Straight" option.

Why can I not just disable the gloss and normal map generation as I was able to do in the previous version?.

I am not sure why the photoshop turning on and off is affecting my Cintiq. It simply doesn't seem to like it and after a few times of doing it all of the cintiq functionality stops working until I turn it off and on again. It stops the buttons, stylus and radials from responding. I used it in PS all day yesterday without issues until I started trying to work with DDO 2.

I use the 3d Connexion space navigator 3d mouse.

Ni idea what "Displaying textures on the default meshes requires calling your PSDs BaseMaterial [Albedo].psd - replace [Albedo] with [Gloss] or [Specular], etc. That should fix it." means. Its not a big issue if I can get my own meshes to work.

By "Straight" I mean simply create the materials layers plus cavity and curvature without trying to add any detail layers. This is how I liked to work in the Previous version. If I want detail layers (like dirt or smart materials) I will add them myself. As it is now I have to go into the materials layers and remove all the things I don't want.

Synaesthesia

Could you show me any error messages that you're getting with your mesh import problem? Also, perhaps showing your OBJ export settings would be helpful as well in troubleshooting this issue.

May I ask what graphics card you're using?

The materials I'm referring to are in the Smart Material browser. They're not an export function. You have to add materials before you export using the SUITE. Curvature and cavity maps are not exported by the SUITE - but can be generated by 3DO and saved independently of texture output from the dDo exporter.

We currently only support profiles which define the types of map for a profile - we'll be adding the ability to define what maps you'd like to start with soon. This hasn't been implemented earlier because the majority of users need to work with export profiles, not individual maps.

TJTAS

I don't get an error message with 3do. On generation when it opens the 3DO window it simply hangs and will not continue until I close the window manually. I have left it for over 30 minutes in the hung state in case it is still working. After that it will simply not show my meshes in 3DO.
These are my export settings. Same as I have been using since dDo Legacy first came out.

My Graphics card is a Nvidia GTX 960.

I have included the project I am working on here. For once its not confidential.

I am at a point where I really need to use this. Is there a way to roll back to the pre-2.0 version?.

repete

I loaded your files and had zero problems in quixel on my end. I presume that this is just a segment of a model.
What PS version are you using ?

TJTAS

CS6
Was 3DO able to load the mesh your end?.
Its not really part of a model at all. It is a dummy I'm using to create a part of a texture with. A more complex object will then be UV'd to this area.

Synaesthesia

This is what I see when I load your mesh, add a metal Smart Material, and use post-processing:



The object-space, curvature, and gradient maps were baked by 3DO.

The issue appears to be localized to your computer. Are your drivers up-to-date? Have you attempted a clean install of both Photoshop and Quixel SUITE? We don't support versions of Quixel SUITE prior to SUITE 2.0 - SUITE 1.X is incompatible with the current version of the software, but Legacy will function.

TJTAS

Well interested by Repete's comment I tried the project and got 3DO to work. I think I've worked out what the problem is. Networked Drive. I run 2 Computers for work. One which is dedicated to 3ds max and the other for PS, 3d Coat and DDO. I use a shared network drive to store my work on. If I try and run DDO on items in the network drive it fails. If I move them to a local drive it works.

Synaesthesia

I would definitely work from a local drive - the speed difference alone is pretty big. Glad to see you got it sorted out - is there anything else I can do to assist?  

TJTAS

I'm still trying to work out if there is an equivalent of the "Base and materials" in the previous version. The one which made groups for your materials and the "Base" group on top containing the Cavity, AO and Curvature.

TJTAS

Also having a problem where some of my materials are simply being ignored during generation. I have tried using the colours from quixel (in PS) i have tried using primary colours but neither seems to capture all my intended materials.

Synaesthesia

Every Smart Material generally creates a group. If it doesn't, you can add a group manually by selecting the layers you wish to work with and clicking the group function in dDo's main window. Cavity and curvature are not generated by dDo as individual maps within your *.PSDs. The SUITE will generate a curvature map from your normal map or from your normal map and low-poly mesh combined (if you choose the Bake in 3DO option) - the baked maps will be in your project folder and can be manually added to your *.PSD stack.

You can add Ambient Occlusion from the Base Definition Smart Material (this can be searched using the Smart Material browser).

You can also create a new clean layer and set the DynaMask input to Ambient Occlusion from the Advanced menu, and then invert it to create proper AO after you've set your material reflectance to black.

You can also simply paste an AO map into your diffuse/albedo *.PSD.

If your materials aren't being auto-added, you may not be using the correct color swatches - please use Quixel Colors (installed in Quixel SUITE 2.0\colors\) with 3DS Max 2014 Extension 1 or greater, or Maya, and bake your color IDs using that tool - otherwise you can sample the color values from the swatches.FBX file located inside of *\Quixel SUITE 2.0\ and manually create a color ID map in the method you prefer.  

You can also just add the materials you desire if your colors aren't auto-assigning materials. Right-click on a mesh group in 3DO and assign a material or a Smart Material to it.

flioink

Same thing, my computer just hangs and never starts a project.
It bogs down my system so badly that i need to reset.
Since this update i`m unable to work with ddo.
Very VERY disappointed.

Synaesthesia

I'll need more information in order to help you, Flioink. Please create a new thread and let me know what your full system specifications are, and any further information if you have it.