Rendered color of attached material

[rbdome]

For my 3D Solids model (ACAD 04), I have attached various Materials such as: Sand Texture, Palm Frond, Olive Drab, etc. By Layer with the Color/Pattern Attribute set to Color By ACI (which I understand to mean the color of the attached material will be the color of the layer the material is attached to, or at least this is what I want to happen).
But instead, the color of the rendered material is the color of the material shown in Preview in the Modify Standard Material D.B.(ex: Sand Texture is a golden color). Modifying the Color Pattern for Value & Bitmap Blend makes some, but little difference.
Strangely, the Material Green Vines does change color more readily, depending on the color of the layer the material is attached to.
What is causing my problem?

[Mike.Perry]

For my 3D Solids model (ACAD 04), I have attached various Materials such as: Sand Texture, Palm Frond, Olive Drab, etc. By Layer with the Color/Pattern Attribute set to Color By ACI (which I understand to mean the color of the attached material will be the color of the layer the material is attached to, or at least this is what I want to happen).Hi

I think you have your understanding slightly wrong, below is taken directly from the AutoCAD Online Help File [F1] -

<snip>
Materials Dialog Box

By Layer

Displays the Attach by Layer dialog box, in which you can select a layer to attach a material to.
<snip>

Take a look at the "New or Modify Standard Material Dialog Box".

AutoCAD Online Help File [F1] -> Contents tab -> AutoCAD Online Manuals -> Command Reference -> R Commands -> RMAT

Have a good one, Mike

[jaberwok]

Hi.
If I understand correctly, you are expecting materials attached "by ACI" to alter the colour of a material assigned "by layer" ??

"by ACI" means "by colour" and is an alternative to "by layer".
If an object has no material attached it will be rendered in its acad colour. A material may be attached "by ACI" or "bylayer" or by selection "=by object". Attaching "by ACI" does not affect the colour of the material. You would need to create a new material combining the colour you want with the texture you want. Easiest done by starting with the textured material.

Clear as mud?

[jaberwok]

Mike.

You got in whilst I was composing my reply. :Oops:

[Mike.Perry]

Hi John

I get lucky sometimes....

:beer: Mike

ps John can you please drop me an E-mail....

[Ron Oldenbeuving]

Hi John

I get lucky sometimes....

:beer: Mike

ps John can you please drop me an E-mail....
What is this, a post office? ;-)

[scwegner]

Hi.
If I understand correctly, you are expecting materials attached "by ACI" to alter the colour of a material assigned "by layer" ?? I don't think that is what he's asking, guys. I think he's saying that he has created a material which has "by aci" in the Color/Pattern section of the New/Modify Materials dialog checked but that the material isn't rendering in the color he expects.

rbdome- I think your problem is that you're using materials which use a bitmap image. If "Bitmap blend" in the Color/Pattern section is set to 1, then you will see only the image and not the underlying color. You can blend the image with your color by controlling that setting. If you're just looking to tweak it a little that might be enough, but if the image has a strong color you may not be able to change it much and doing so will fade out the texture as well. For a more drastic change (say, swapping the colors in the checker pattern) you'll have to actually modify the image itself with an outside editor and use the modified image in a new material.

[jaberwok]

I don't think that is what he's asking, guys. I think he's saying that he has created a material which has "by aci" in the Color/Pattern section of the New/Modify Materials dialog checked but that the material isn't rendering in the color he expects.

On rereading, I think you're probably right. Now all we need is confirmation from rbdome.

[rbdome]

Scwenger just about nailed it. Here is what I should have said:

For my 3D Solids model (ACAD 04), I have attached various Materials such as: Sand Texture, Palm Frond, Olive Drab, etc. By Layer with the particular material modified in the Modify Standard Material DB with the Color/Pattern Attribute set to Color By ACI (which I understand to mean the color of the attached material will be the color of the layer the material is attached to, or at least this is what I want to happen).
But instead, the color of the rendered material is the color of the material shown in Preview in the Modify Standard Material D.B.(ex: Sand Texture is a golden color). Modifying the Color Pattern for Value & Bitmap Blend makes some, but little difference.
Strangely, the Material Green Vines does change color more readily, depending on the color of the layer the material is attached to.
What is causing my problem?

Scwenger has described in greater detail what I was describing in the last half of my post.
However, both GREEN VINES & SAND TEXTURE use bitmaps for the Color/Pattern Attribute & I can retain the texture of GREEN VINES & have it acquire the basic color of the layer I have attached it to if I lower the bitmap blend enough. But if I lower the bitmap blend for SAND TEXTURE too much, as Scwenger describes, I lose the texture & not only that, the color of the layer with the attached material is still muddied (grayed) by the golden color of SAND TEXTURE. I'd like to retain the texture of the material SAND TEXTURE for the layer I have attached it to, but keep the color assigned to that layer,
most importantly after the Render of the Scene.
Still no way?

[rbdome]

Sorry I mispelled your name numerous times in my last post, Scwegner!

[jaberwok]

Scwenger just about nailed it.

Good. At least that way makes sense.

I still think your answer is going to be to create (a) new material(s).
Start with the textured material, save to a new name then change the colour - possibly in Photoshop. Perhaps changing the image to greyscale would allow the colour blending to work better? Then one material would work better with different object colours.

[scwegner]

I still think your answer is going to be to create (a) new material(s).
Start with the textured material, save to a new name then change the colour - possibly in Photoshop. Perhaps changing the image to greyscale would allow the colour blending to work better? Then one material would work better with different object colours. John's right. The easiest way would be to open up the bitmap file in an another program and edit it directly. If you don't have photoshop, you can download IrfanView (http://www.irfanview.com) which is more than capable of handling that kind of editing and is very easy to use. In addition to changing to grey scale, i'd bump up the contrast as well so that the texture will stand up to blending better.

Simon

[rbdome]

As an alternative to using SAND TEXTURE to simulate a stucco finish on my exterior walls, I tried attaching the BLUE GOOSE material to my Wall layers & modified the material for the Color/Pattern, Ambient, & Reflection Attributes: By ACI & adjusted the Bitmap Blend to .22 & the result is acceptable: a rendered pattern & texture that resembles stucco, with accurate color retention of the layers I've assigned the walls to, although on a large wall surface the pattern appears too repetitive (I could adjust the Scale in the Adjust Material Bitmap Placement D.B.)

Perhaps SAND TEXTURE gave me such poor results because the bitmap used for that material has no "gaps" or open spaces ? the BLUE GOOSE material uses a bitmap (GOLD.TGA) that I suppose has a lot of "open space" in the bitmap pattern, thus letting the color of the layer the material is attached through show through?

waddya think?

[jaberwok]

Perhaps SAND TEXTURE gave me such poor results because the bitmap used for that material has no "gaps" or open spaces ? the BLUE GOOSE material uses a bitmap (GOLD.TGA) that I suppose has a lot of "open space" in the bitmap pattern, thus letting the color of the layer the material is attached through show through?

waddya think?

Possibly, but it doesn't "feel" right as an explanation. I can't speak from knowledge, though, on that point.

Still, at least you got an acceptable result. Good one.