“Materialize” Software- Has anyone gotten this to work?

McGyver

I’m referring to Materialize by Bounding Box Software, it’s a free program for making various maps (Normal, Bump, AO, etc..) from images... 

I came across this software a while ago, and a recent thread here prompted me to try it... I can get it installed and it works, but there is no way to load an image... there is no “Open” button (as in “open image”)...

Apparently the only FAQ instructions on the site dealing with this is : 

“When I run Materialize I can't open or paste images?

If you installed Materialize to your Program Files directory you need to give the executable admin privledges, or move Materialize to another directory.

If image loading still doesn't work you may need to download and install the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributable (link)

If image loading stillllll doesn't work.....”

I dint get the meaning of “If image loading still doesn’t work.....” because the next question covered has nothing to do with that...

I’ve installed Materialize to a folder on my desktop (so it’s not in Program Files), I’ve given it admin privileges, and I have Visual C++ installed (actually several installed for some reason)...

The computer I’m installing it on is running Windows 7 professional, but I tried it on ones 8 and 10 and the same thing occurred... no Open button.

Any suggestions? It seems like an amazing alternative to Crazy Bump, and has a better GUI than Awesome Bump. This seems like something  I may have done wrong in where I placed the program, but all the site says is don’t put it in program files... 

Thanks in advance for any help.

Greymom

It ain't obvious that's for dang sure!  But if you want, for example, to make a Diffuse Map, click on the "O" in the Diffuse Map box, and this should allow you to open a file..  Took me some trial and error (and cursing in Gaelic and Klingon) to get to this point, so I have gone no farther yet.

There is a tutorial or two on YouTube:  

I have not had time to watch them.

Looks like a great program, and I hope to get back to it.

Greymom

Ah, I tried to create a height map from a random picture.  I loaded it with the "O" button under height map.  It did not give me the option to create that, but it did give me the option to create a normal map or an AO map.  This makes sense given the type of image.  So, I guess you can use whatever "O" button you want, and the program will suggest what you can do with it.

Wait, I think that it expected me to load a height map and convert it, as when I hit "Create" under Normal Map, the dialog box is labeled "Normal from Height".  So I guess the boxes select what type of file you want to load, not what you want to create from the intial file.  The program then gives you appropriate options. Guess I will watch the tutorials.

 

BlueIrene

I've been favouring Materialize over Substance B2M after reading about it on the recent Substance Painter thread - the Materialize workflow seemed simpler than B2M's once I got used to it, and it's also a lot easier on my steam-driven computer's resources than similar programs usually are.

It expects you to load an image into the Diffuse Map tab first (using the 'O' button there, which stands for 'Open'), and then to create a height map. Many/most of the other maps (including the Normal map) are created from this height map, so you'll need to create the height map whether you want one or not if you need any of those others. This much was gleaned from watching the tutorials, which probably had lots of other things in them that I've forgotten and don't take very long at all to watch. It annoys me a bit that the Diffuse tab is the second one along, as it's the first one that you're expected to fill. This is probably just me being picky, as I like the program a lot. I was quite surprised to see that the tutorials date back to something like 2014 and couldn't believe I hadn't found it sooner.

 

McGyver

Doh!... That was stupid of me... The tutorial shows a different GUI set up... there is an actual “Open” button in the tutorial...

I should have noticed that the GUI was different... ugh!

THANK YOU Greymom! 

I tried clicking the “O” it and it works now... gaaah... I wasted so much time on this thinking it was a C++ Visual whatsamahoozit problem or bad choice of installation.

THANKS A MILLION!

Greymom

No problem!  I was trying to figure it out today too.  Finally got to the point of clinking any buttons to see what happens.  Hoping not to hear "Self-Destruct Subroutine Activated!".

Now I see one of the recent tutorials shows this, with the current GUI.

Thanks also BlueIrene for the info!

McGyver

Oooh it has a self destruct button?... I like it even more...

By the way, I didn’t see BlueIrene’s post when I was writing my response (probably because I took a few minutes to upload the image to my post)...

but I wanted to also say THANK YOU BLUEIRENE TOO!

Really, thank you both... I’m really thrilled that I can start messing around with this program now!