Isotropix Forums

Has anyone succeeded to bring in MaterialX materials from Houdini's Solaris to CLarisse 5.5?

I tried the "naive" method - just exporting via USD ROP from Houdini and it does not work. Clarisse returns

00:00:40 [usd] Couldn't find a connected MaterialX compatible surface

Materials were connected in materiallibrary LOP node and render fine with Karma.

Yes I did trough USD rop too

I just flattened the stage in the Save Style if I remember correctly!

I used the workflow described in this post https://www.sidefx.com/forum/topic/82012/ to apply a .mtlx from the AMD library, exported and brought it to Clarisse to test the compatibility.

cheers!

MaterialX file has to be referenced, right? Export it and bring it back.
I did flatten the stage, but the materials were not referenced when I tried.

Sorry what do you mean by referenced ? In Houdini, in Clarisse ?
You can export just the .mtlx file from Houdini by right clicking on your materialx_surface > save > MaterialX, or you can export an USD containing the mtlx, that was assigned to the geometry, in the workflow showed on the sidefx post trough a material library node

The example you linked points towards referenced (already created) .mtlx files loaded in Solaris.

"You can use a Reference LOP to reference a specific material from a file"

I created the materials inside material VOP (i.e did not reference them) and exported the stage and it did not load correctly in Clarisse 5.5.

That doesnt change anything I think, just assign your material on the geometry with Material library, either from inside the VOP or from a reference
Maybe a post on the SIdeFX forum could give you more explanations/details on how and why, as I m not an Houdini expert too

Thanks! I will try this later, but what would be helpful is a more precise list of what's not supported in Angie (yet).
Currently it is stated:

Importing MaterialX looks from USD stages is only supported in USD References for now.

There are possible 3 explanations for this - USD reference in Clarisse, USD reference in the stage or .matx reference.

Naturally, we could just wait it out and wait for a fully developed Angie, but people can be impatient:)

Just to confirm that .mtlx import works only as a reference.