3ds Max - Think Tank

[bixel 1,223]

those new Bat4Max scripts were not working for me, i got error 6 codes

[SimFox 802]

Bixel, do you mean the so called Bat4Max V2.1?

[bixel 1,223]

yeh, sorry - I used your newest scripts. It renders the first view then hangs up where it is supposed to do the perspective preview shot and then gives me the error. I rolled back to the original version. It could be that I am using Max 7. In either case, maybe i will open the scripts up and modifiy them myself, see if I can get rid of that time waster on the perspective preview shots I hate so much. However i am having mother board issues. sigh

[josefmayor 8]

The previews don't work for me. gives me some error. It won't even go to the correct angle.

[SimFox 802]

well, to put it simply previews work.

If you can't get them to work you should again trace your actions. The mistake is somewhere there.

For instance if you can't get correct angle... how do you go about getting correct angle? and what do you expect to be the correct angle?

Gives you "some" error message? What exactly this "some" stands for?

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Are you using the new preview SimFox made, or are you using the old preview? If you're using the new preview, did the original one work? Did you make your box for it to crop according to?

[josefmayor 8]

I'm using the new one and it just started working... I'll let you know if it happens again.

[Alien_397 8]

Joseph, Make sure you've set the camera first. To do that you've got to press either a rotation or zoom button in the preview panel when you open a model before you can use the preview. I can't tell if this is exactly what you're getting without knowing the error message, but it's the most common and likely.

Anyway folks, I've been working on quite a bit of scripting for Bat4Max as of late, but I'll be discussing it over at SC4D (nothing personal, it's just that ST's forum software doesn't get along with my computer.) edit: finally got the link to to work, here's the thread: https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=5512.msg174263;topicseen#msg174263>Chris's Bat4Max Addons

I'll be introducing additions periodically there for discussion. Take a look, for now I'm discussing my additions to the previews, but there are quite a few things beyond that I'll be getting into.

Chris

[bixel 1,223]

Hey guys something I've known about for awhile but never used I finally used it and it looks great!

Its called a Composite Material!

Setting Up:

For office building type stuff I got a nice plain dark brown texture. Really its just a brown. But I have several different variations like brown/half tan or tan, inorder to make it appear that there are blinds in some of the windows. Use Simtropolis tools to randomize your windows with a prefix. And apply your textures win1 win2 win3 to c1 c2 c3 respectively.

Standard > to > Composite

Open up Material Editor select the win1 texture. Click on Standard and change this composite. Its asks if you want to keep the old map. Say yes. Uncheck all the boxes except the 1st one - we are not combining 10 textures just one. Put a bitmap texture in the 1st slot - I have a bunch of great HK skyscraper scenes so I used one of those. Set the 100% to something small like 20%. Watch how the material changes in the material editor. You will want to use that as the guild of how it is going got look. The perspective view doesn't update properly.

Settings, for additional fun I have the 1st map with a 15% raytrace reflection, this is so it will reflect the ground, and any other parts of the building. Render and have fun!

Post

After you have completely all your window textures grab all the windows. Group them, put a umvmap box around it. Play around with the dimensions (i usually use 60 x 60 x60). Render for test and adjust.

*NOTE* this was my fix for the easy Environment map trick I used in 3DS 7. In 7 I could place my HK map in the Environment - doesn't work so well in 8, it squishes the texture map too much.

[patriots_1228 51]

whats the best non mr rig for a 250 meter building? Im getting funky shadows with the regular one. I'd like to avoid Mental Ray on this building because the facade comes out all warped in it.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

I don't think the problem is the type of rendering, I think the problem is that you're using too small of a rig. Try using the "Huge" rig. Or use a sun sky rig whose sun is far away from the origin of the scene. The problem is that the building is sticking out beyond the diameter of the lights.

[patriots_1228 51]

thanks jason.

i tried the other sizes, but the medium was no difference, big was a darker shadow, and huge made the bottom glow and the top pitch black.

However, then i used MR and your cam light rig tutorial and it worked fine. so double thanks

[Jasoncw 11,840]

No problem, lol

[JakeMD 107]

I am creating a small city for a school project, and I need to create a realistic window material. Anytips ?

[JakeMD 107]

I am creating a small city for a school project, and I need to create a realistic window material. Anytips ?

[Jasoncw 11,840]

Search google. The thing about 3ds Max, is that it's an industry standard for modeling, and one of the most common programs around. It's kind of like Photoshop, there are a lot of tutorials floating around.

If I remember right, I use a method that AutoVino wrote in a tutorial. I think there's a link in the beginning of the BAT - Mega FAQ.

[autoVino 26]

mental ray is the way to go here.

Some helpful sites:

mentalraytips.blogspot.com

www.mymentalray.com

(will open up a new window)

I just came upon the second one a few days ago so I haven't had much time to explore it but it looks promising.  Both websites should be very helpful, although they are aimed toward newer versions of mental ray.

[Jasoncw 11,840]

The type of discussion that this thread was intended for has been occurring naturally in other places, and so this thread has had very little activity. This thread will be locked and de-stickied, but I've set it to "not archive" after 1 year of inactivity, so it will be around for reference.