3ds Max - Troubleshooting & General Discussion

[SimFox 804]

have you set you exposure control to Logarithmic?

[autoVino 26]

multiply 15?  what for?  That gives your fg points 15 times more power/brightness...  that may be the source of your problem.

I usually stick with multiplyer of 1, fg point density of 1, rays per point at 75, interpolated over Number points at 30 and bounces at 5, weight 1.  Works for me pretty fast,

[josefmayor 8]

SimFox, No I didn't! Jason neglected that step. , I'm not at my dorm, I will try that when I get there later tonight.

autoVino: I dunno its what Jason told me to do, I'll try that too.

Thanks guys, you rock.

[SimRabbit123 6]

SimFox: I have "unhidden file extensions" now and copy-pasted the name of the file. Still getting the same error.

I have also tried other .sc4model files and nothing changes.

[josefmayor 8]

Autovino: You were right!!!!!!!!! THanks bud

[Jasoncw 11,949]

I don't know what these multipliers are.  I don't see that stuff in my render dialog window.  I'm using Mental Ray in 3ds Max 8.  Maybe you're both using 9 with the revamped mental ray?

I just read your response, so the following is outdated, but I'll post it anyway. 

What you want to change is the number of Final Gather Samples.  The default is something like 1000, and you only need about 15.  If you left it at 1000 it would take a long time to render (although that wouldn't make it bright).

I have never changed any exposure controls before.  Right now, in the environment and effects window, exposure control is set to <no exposure control>.

[SimFox 804]

yeah these differences between versions of Mental ray (3.4 in Max8, 3.5 in Max9 etc) make difficult for people understanding each other. So it is a very good idea to go to Max help and read the section about Mental ray and Final Gather through. It has detailed explanations of most settings so you can tailor them to particular project. At least Max9 has a pretty good tutorial (for the interior but same principles apply in the exterior as well).

MR3,5 in Max9 has FG presets. In most cases Medium preset works out well. But there may be some problems with generally minuscule scale of SC. Sometimes interpolation over 30 pixels the default settings (in new MR3.5 and onward) presets often is too much as it tend to level out the smaller details. so to rescue them you may consider to place samples more often - say 2.0 instead and interpolate over small number of points.

Another important issue is tone correction. Without it you may get situation ( on more complex shapes) when you have very bright lit areas and too dark shadows (not just those areas not facing the sun, but also occluded from significant part of the sky). Tone correction like Logarithmic exposure control may help to level those out a bit.

SimRabbit123:

hm.. I'm puzzled. Well logic of the message you get says that Script can not find file with the name you have specified. This could happened because you either misspelled filed name ( or not put it in its entirety) or mislead script in terms of it's location. If first has been ruled out then the second issue must be in play. Check you BATFORMAX.ini and how you've edited your plug-ins folder location there. The location line MUST end with "\" .Check it out oftem people forget to put in at the end.

[Hyak 0]

After reinstalling 3dsmax and BAT4Max the nightlight works

Thanks for your help and attention

--------

EDIT

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Now it don't work again. I can export the scene without lights and directs, but when I add direct`s with nitelite_ in front of the name or a nightlight-library, it says me all the time Code2 Export failed.

I`ve reinstalled 3dsmax9 two times, the BAT and gmax for LOD`s three times, I`ve edited all the files comes with BAT4Max like it stands in the readme.

Must gmax export a nightlight-frame for the LOD`s as well when there are nightlights in the 3dsmax?

What is code=2 standing for ?

What do I wrong ? 

[BurroDiablo 222]

Trying to export from 3DS for the first time, but I get this error message-

Any ideas? I've checked the Bat4Max INI and everything seems fine...

[dogfight 5]

Hello:

I have a problem with the Logarithmic Exposure control no showing up (see second pic below) I have just reinstalled 3dsmax. I know the logarithmic exposure control works until I change the 3dsmax.ini plugCFG line to change the path to the BAT directory.

here is the original ini file:

Then when in max the exposure control options includes the logarithmic Exposure Control:

When I change the ini PlugCFG path to reflect the BAT directory:

There is no longer the Logarithmic EC option:

In his tutorial Simfox also mentioned "Also make sure that all the plug-ins from PlugCFG have been initialized"

Could this be where my problem is? If it is how do I initialize the PlugCFG plugins?

I have also moved the PlugCFG folder over to the C:\3dsmax9\gamepaks\BAT folder.

This is my BATini file:

This would be great if someone could help because this exposure control seems to be very important.

Thanks in advance 

DF

[SimRabbit123 6]

El Burro: did you read the readme?

you to render the LODs through Gmax then copy the file name along with the file extension (.sc4model) and paste it into the text box in BAT 4 MAX then hit render.

[autoVino 26]

@dogfight: don't move the folder there, just dump its content into there, this might be the problem.  Also log exposure is only important if you plan on using the mr sun sky physical environment (which I strongly reccomend using) along with final gatherer.

[dogfight 5]

autoVino: You just saved me another restless night. It worked like a charm. Thanks

[autoVino 26]

your welcome, I"m glad to be a help.

[BurroDiablo 222]

Originally posted by: SimRabbit123 El Burro: did you read the readme?

you to render the LODs through Gmax then copy the file name along with the file extension (.sc4model) and paste it into the text box in BAT 4 MAX then hit render.quote>

Yeah, I did, many times... but the LOD part (in the readme) confused me a little so i'll try that, thanks

[autoVino 26]

Originally posted by: El Burro

Originally posted by: SimRabbit123 El Burro: did you read the readme?

you to render the LODs through Gmax then copy the file name along with the file extension (.sc4model) and paste it into the text box in BAT 4 MAX then hit render.quote>

Yeah, I did, many times... but the LOD part (in the readme) confused me a little so i'll try that, thanks quote>

 

by the looks of the error, I think you forgot to copy and paste the rendered lod file name (with.sc4model at the end) into the text box in the export section.

[ILL Tonkso 1,239]

Hey guys, how exactly do we install BAT on MAX 9 :s There be no 3dsmax.ini Just some little config file i can open and view in C++ with not much in it.

[autoVino 26]

simfox made an awesome tutorial on how to install bat4max for 3ds max 9 here:

https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2771.0

Also, there is a 3dsmax.ini (I found that it forms after you use 3ds max) and it's located here (I think)

C:\Documents and Settings\(your username)\Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk\3dsmax\9 - 32bit\enu\3dsmax.ini

[autoVino 26]

okay, now I have a big problem:

there are a whole bunch of ugly "bumps" on my building, and this is only during the export.  In normal preview renders it's perfectly fine, if not better.  This almost alwasy happens and it's very annoying and degrades the quality of a bat.  It's as if my antialiasing is completly disregaurded and is reverted to this... ofending... quality.  Making me kind of angry because I can't get rid of these bumps.

Anyone have the same problem or an idea on how to fix them?

never mind, I upped the sampling quality by two times and it seems to work fine now.

[SimFox 804]

the issue with those odd bu,ps is due to the glitch between MAX9, Xreffing and scripts of BAT, there are more btw. I don't have much time to go into all the details, but I'll do it later when I get back home from china...

To fix it make sure that you min sampling rate in AA is 1, 4 is better. Anyway it is advisable thing to do for a model with lot's of details like frames etc...

[ILL Tonkso 1,239]

Originally posted by: autoVino simfox made an awesome tutorial on how to install bat4max for 3ds max 9 here:

https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=2771.0

Also, there is a 3dsmax.ini (I found that it forms after you use 3ds max) and it's located here (I think)

C:\Documents and Settings\(your username)\Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk\3dsmax\9 - 32bit\enu\3dsmax.ini

quote>

Cheers mate, im just reinstalling the software now (cant install with spaces in the directory, annoying lol)

[dogfight 5]

Hey all. Not sure if this is the right place to ask this, since it concerns 3dsmax I'll take a chance anyway.

I'm trying to create a partially transparent texture on an object but am having problems doing it.

I have created a SAMPLE material in Photoshop. It's a .gif file:

As you can see parts of the .gif image is transparent. Just the way I want it.

However when in MAX the trouble starts:

As you can see (1) the transparency has been replaced by white and my object reflects this (2). I was attempting to do adjustments in the Bitmap Parameters rollout (3)with no luck.

Is my only option to "cut out" the white areas?

This is an example of what I'm trying (well... similar anyway) to do:

The Description part is where I get lost. I understand what a Tiff file is, but what is a tiff file with alpha channel? How would I incorporate this into MAX to get a similar effect?

Thanks everyone for your help.

[bixel 1,228]

I did this once for a chainlink fence...but man I am sorry I totally forgot how I did it.

[dogfight 5]

That's ok bixel. Maybe someone else will know

[ILL Tonkso 1,239]

Alpha map under opacity.

[dogfight 5]

alpha map under opacity?

I'm affraid I don't know what you mean. Could you please be more specific.

Thank you Ill Tonkso

[Jasoncw 11,949]

What he means, is to make another image, and to put it in the transparency map slot.  It would be black and white, and white would be opaque and black would be transparent.

In your material, scroll down and there should be a rollout labeled "Maps".  Open that, and there should be a list of maps.  Find opacity, check the check box, and to the right, put your new image into the map slot.  You'll have to use photoshop to make the new mask.

[ILL Tonkso 1,239]

Been bombarded with Error Code 6's recently so im going to rescale as stated on page 3. The units setup has now been corrected and my tower is 3400m tall... Ill let you know the results.

Edit: Now im just getting the dark shadow.... Joy

[patriots_1228 51]

Once it says "are you sure you want to render twenty views", i click yes, then it says "Failed to set cameras!" (which really makes me mad because it sounds like its happy) then ">> MAXScript Rollout Handler Exception: -- No ""flush"" function for undefined <<"

[SimRabbit 48]

3ds MAX 8 won't load the CPTB2Startup.ms

Here is a picture....

Any help is appreciated