aFrInaTi0n

Studio: Metal elements not being rendered correctly / adjust Ldraw files directly as quickfix

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Hello,

I already looked through the pinned help topics but didn't find any related topic. Here is my problem:

I want the springs (u9409-f1.dat) of the 2909c03 shock absorbers to have customizable colour in Stud.io, because they are being rendered white.

What I already tried: Editing the .dat file directly and replacing the "16"/"24" color codes by "383" (colour code for "Chromed Silver" which would be my color of choice) and loading the adjusted part into PartDesigner (where the colour of the part in the UI changed) - but after exporting this to Stud.io it stays white and non-adjustable.

Documentations I found:

Any help appreciated, thanks in advance!

Edited by aFrInaTi0n

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Hi,

First, the way you say it, it seems you think replacing 16/24 with 383 would make the colour “adjustable.”  It’s the other way around.  16/24 are the special “I’m not a colour, please replace me” colours.  Lines (subparts or primitives) in those special colours get their colours from the file that use them.

So, for BL 2909c03, Studio uses 2909c03.dat as a 3D model.  2909c03.dat uses 74741-f1.dat in colour 16 (so it’s paintable in Studio) which uses the two plastic subpart in colour 16 (so they are paintable in Studio) and u9409-f1.dat in colour 494 (Electric_Contact_Alloy, a fixed colour).

If you replace 16/24 in u9409-f1.dat, you fix the colour of the spring and it’s not paintable / “adjustable.”

 

Now, for your prolem, I think it’s simply that 494 shows very much like White in Studio.  But if you render the part, it correctly shows as metallic.

If you replace 494 with 383, it’s the same.  But if you use a “simpler” colour, like Red (4), it will show correctly in Studio.

The problem is in Studio, it doesn’t show these metallic colours very distinctly (or not at all), not with the part or the colour.  I’ll talk to the devs about it.

 

Now, a few other remarks on what you were trying to do:

First, I wouldn’t replace the 16 & 24 colours in the spring but the 494 in 74741-f1.dat: instead of many changes, you just make one.  Besides, changing 24 (special edge colour) is a bad idea (better to remove the lines entirely as they become useless if they are the same colour as the rest of the part).

Also, I’d start with 74741-f1.dat, to have the whole part.  If you edit the spring, you only have the spring and must use the other subparts in your build.  (One thing is sure: the stock part won’t use your modified spring.)

The simplest procedure is to copy 74741-f1.dat under another name, edit it to replace 494 by 383, import it in PartDesigner, export it to Studio.

But, again, that won’t solve your problem! In Studio, the spring will still show white but it will render as chromed.

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3 hours ago, SylvainLS said:

But, again, that won’t solve your problem! In Studio, the spring will still show white but it will render as chromed.

Unluckily not with the photorealistic renderer (at least not for me) - I added two screenshots of the renders with the regular shocks and the manually put together one with my modified spring-file

 

RC-Ducati-Panigale_19.jpg

Edited by aFrInaTi0n

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Weird, I made some quick tests and it seemed chrome to me in 494.

You can try the procedure I gave above, replacing 494 with 383, or import in PartDesigner.

(383 on the left.)

shockabssilver.png

 

 

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It works like a charm! Thank you very much.

One last thing: You also have the spring rendered in white with the original file, so may there be an error in that part in the LDraw repository?

Again, big thanks for your immediate help! ♥

Edited by aFrInaTi0n

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You can assemble the shock absorber as three parts in Stud.io, coloring each part as you want. 

I just did this making the spring "chrome silver" and the plastic parts a different color. I rendered it using photoreal. It looks very chromey to me.

Edited by 1963maniac

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@1963maniac The Spring itself is missing or at least not findable with the terms "shock" or "spring" in the Master repository.

I tried to export it as single part and that didn't work out as @SylvainLS pointed out. But opening the 74741-f1.dat and adjusting the colour code of the line which includes the spring worked.

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1 hour ago, aFrInaTi0n said:

One last thing: You also have the spring rendered in white with the original file, so may there be an error in that part in the LDraw repository?

The part on the left is with 383.  The part on the right is the stock one, with 494, and it indeed renders White.  My previous tests were too quick and there must have been a play of light that made me think is was metallic.  That’s why I added coloured parts around in this render :grin:

494 is not “known” as a colour by Studio (yet), so it doesn’t work.

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I'm not much of a Stud.io user, so bear with me. Under where it says Master on the left, select BL Categories, I typed in the search box "shock", and up came a buch of the individual pieces to assemble a whole shock absorber. Give it a whirl.

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@1963maniac There is only one single spring for me, which is Part 108 and this is not the one of the 9L shock absorbers. :)

Edit: I did another test and copied the working (complete) shock absorber .dat file and deleted the lines for the upper and lower arms to just let the reference to the spring in it (with the 383 colour code). Importing that into Stud.io's custom palette now gives me the spring as single part to be combined with the upper and lower arms (if needed / wanted).

So kudos to @SylvainLS
 again for your great help!

Edited by aFrInaTi0n

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20 minutes ago, 1963maniac said:

You can assemble the shock absorber as three parts in Stud.io, coloring each part as you want. 

I just did this making the spring "chrome silver" and the plastic parts a different color. I rendered it using photoreal. It looks very chromey to me.

250x250.png

7 minutes ago, 1963maniac said:

I'm not much of a Stud.io user, so bear with me. Under where it says Master on the left, select BL Categories, I typed in the search box "shock", and up came a bunch of the individual pieces to assemble a whole shock absorber. Give it a whirl.

That #108 spring will assemble properly with the plastic parts, no problem. My stud.io updated yesterday.

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If you put 2909c03 next to 108, you’ll see 108 is too short… but then, 2909c03 is fully extended.

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On the left there is the original spring, on the right the fixed part with chrome silver color for the spring:
shockabsorbers-render-bug.png

For me the 108 spring isn't as tall as the spring from the shocks..

@SylvainLS: Oh snap - but yeah with .io being recognized as domain in WYSIWYG Editors, it makes sense to keep the dot out of the name :)

Edited by aFrInaTi0n

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Post your images as links (“Insert other media” at the bottom right of the editor box).  You’ll need somewhere else to put them though….

I found stud.io clever… and easier to search (everybody and their dog has an application called Studio!).  But they changed it, so we need to adapt :classic:

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https://imgur.com/a/6dPFgt3

Yeah... EB has imgur banned it seems to be included as pictures... Sometimes I wish one would tell the admin we are not living in the 90s anymore and nobody of us has analogue modems with 56k bandwidth anymore... T___T

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@SylvainLS One last thing: If you report this to Studio Devs: Seems the regular shocks (731c06) also have the 494 color code and will be rendered with white springs..

Edited by aFrInaTi0n

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They will be looking at making 494 a “real” colour for Studio, so all the parts should work after that’s done.

Not sure when that will be released though… because Studio is a bit late regarding colours (missing the last ones, like Neon/Vibrant Yellow and a few Satin/Opal ones) and the last LDraw updates and there’s a long list of bugs and suggestions….

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