Hi, Uwe -
I couldn't agree more, particularly about the quality of mtl files one generally gets from places like RenderHub and CGTrader. They're often great models , but it DOES take hours to make them useable. Absolute path, non-sensical file names/material group names, etc. Even XFrog apparently has taken to contracting some stuff out, and while they're great models... I even wrote feedback to the guy who did an excellent Araucaria and mentioned the absolute paths in the mtl, he replied that it was easy to edit, and suggested I use Notepad. Now, how un-professional is THAT?! Rather than change it to relative paths and be done with it, EVERY SINGLE USER IS SUPPOSED TO EDIT IT!??
So I'm a-thinking of starting to post some sample models of TG4 optimized plant models. Check out the displaced bark shots
here. I've also come up with some pretty decent improvements to foliage materials in TG. The TGOs are set up with all relative paths to maps, etc. Material settings set up for TG4 - no .obj/.mtl decoding and porting to TG4.
In short, as time allows, I'm going to post samples and, if time allows, start marketing them through CGTrader. They'll only be useable in TG - no .obj version, just optimized .tgo's. And they'll be drop-in useable. No hassles, no re-scaling, none of that BS.
And yeah - I've mentioned the lack of models optimized for TG4. While just about anything is useable if you can make an obj of it, it'd be nice if there were a marketplace specifically dedicated to TG. Much easier, especially if some sort of standard were required of the modelers. (Relative paths to textures would be a good place to start.)
(2026)