Can Cycles nodes use "object coordinates" like blender internal? (or: how can hair-mesh-objects inherit their emitter's texture)?

Question

Basically, I have created a hair systerm, using a mesh object (feathers) instead of strands.

However, my bird (emitter object) is a multicolored image, which I want my feathers to inherit.

In blender internal, this could easily be done by setting the image texture to use "object" coordinates, and I could select my bird-emitter as the object.

However, in cycles, both using nodes (input>texture coordinates>object) and the synonymous procedure in the texture panel, the object coordinate system seems to be dead.

What I mean is, the word "object" is there as an option for a coordinate system, but nowhere can i find a way to select which object's coordinate system I would like!!

First and foremost, I would like to know if there is even a way to use object coordinated in cycles!

Barring that, how might I make my hair particle mesh objects inherit their diffuse color from the surface of their emitter? With strands, the process is automatic. However, with mesh objects, I cannot figure out how to do it!

Thanks for any help!!

Answer 1

I have managed to answer my own specific question, but not the more general question. I will explain, but I hope that someone may be able to answer the general form.

To specifically answer my question, deriving the color of a particle hair MESH from its underlying emitter object (in this case, a feather mesh being colored by the bird's texture) in CYCLES (not Blender Internal), I found resolution in Blender Cookie/Kent Trammel's "Piero" tutorial series (video: body feathers #3), with clarification from a previous Blender developer bug-fix request (found here: https://developer.blender.org/T40712).

To derive a particle mesh's diffuse texture from an underlying emitter in Cycles, in the hair's material nodes, add a Texture Coordinate (add > input ) menu, and then an Image texture, as per normal.

However, the key difference is on the Texture Coordinate tab, you have to click "From Dupli", and as the texture image itself, you must select the texture from the underlying emitter. This info is from Kent Trammel's tutorial.

BUT! There is one more issue that can drive someone crazy. Due to some ambiguity in the underlying code in the past few incarnations of Blender (I am using 2.7), the results of "From Dupli" will NOT show up in a preview render. To see the results, a "real" F12 render must be performed!

So, this is the specific answer to the above question.

However, the general question of "object coordinates" remains open, and that is an issue that goes far beyond particles and emitters, toward texturing objects with other objects, or, for instances, controlling texture placement with an Empty.

Answer 2

For the object/s used as particles you can give them a material and use a particle info node as vector input to an image texture.

While this doesn't just match up with the underlying object material it gives you control of what colour is used for each particle based on its location on the emitter. Projection painting may be an easy way to transfer the colour from one texture to another.

Answer 3

I know this is an old post. I'm sure by now you've figured it out.

I want to make a rug using the Particle System hair and using dupliobj (strands).

I want to have the rug to have a texture on top of it, so the strands have to be colored according to the texture.

Particle System is working, just need to know where and how to apply the texture I want to see the rug have.

!Particle System using Hair and dupliobj]2