jameswhitaker

It turned out that the problem was UVW mapping was affecting just the bump channel. The poly surface that I used floor generator on had UVW mapping which was effecting just the bump channel, but all other channels (diffuse and reflection glossiness), which are derived from the same maps, where being mapped correctly by the floor generator. I cleared the UVW mapping and collapsed to an editable poly before using floor generator again and this solved the problem.

Hi, I'm using the latest updates for 3DS Max 2020, Vray, Floor Generator and Multimaterial. My material for the floor is using a single multimaterial map node (with 20 maps fed into it). The multimaterial map feeds straight into the diffuse and is then modified with color correction and output nodes etc. for bump and reflection glossiness. The diffuse is mapping properly but the bump and/or glossiness are mapping based on the whole object rather than the individual elements. So the diffuse is looking right for each floorboard but the glossiness and/or bump is mapping to the entire floor rather than the individual board. Has anyone else got this problem and discovered a work around? Cheers,

Hi, I’d spend a bit of time adding some dirt to your textures as well. The columns look well scuffed but I’d expect to see some dirt in the corners and to a lesser extent dirt on the edges of the floor tiles showing their age. Also some dirt on the ceiling and then general variation across surfaces suggesting dirt/wear. You could do this with a combination of a vray dirt map (or equivalent) for the edges, layered up with a noise map or grunge bitmap for surface variation. A grunge map in the reflectivity channel can be a good starting point for adding wear/age to surfaces

Yeah, I second this sort of workflow.

Hello, Does anyone know how to turn on and off the snap for graphs in material editor? I presume I've hit a key by accident as now I when I try to tweak a graph it will only move in increments of 5%

What type of things do you want to model better Luke?

Hi Luke, Rhino is great for creating sculptural models accurately, and with a cheaper license fee it's very popular with the higher end architectural studios. However, for creating visuals Rhino isn't a patch on 3DS Max, which has a much bigger tool set for that sort of work (for instance, tools for adding in randomness to your model so everything isn't too perfect). If you look round you'll find examples of people who do their base modelling in sketch up and then take the model into 3DS Max for context and texturing.

I used to model in Rhino when I was working as an architect but nowadays I do all the modelling in Max. The great thing about Max is there's so many ways to add variation to the model with random rotation etc.

Hi Jon, Sorry for the delay replying. From what you've written I'm now getting a better feel for how to write maxscript (ish). I'm still running into the buffers though when trying to assign the pfSource to the Particle Skinner. Having followed my nose a little I'm finding: ps.Particle_Flow_Systems += pfSource returns the error - No ""+"" function for #() ps.Particle_Flow_Systems = pfSource returns error: array parameter assignment requires Array, got: $pFlow5 ps.Particle_Flow_Systems = #(pfSource) returns the error - Invalid value for property: $pFlow5 Essentially I'm fishing for the right answer without quite knowing what I'm doing :-) It did occur to me though that is the problem that until the script completes the new pfSource doesn't exist so can't be assigned?

I'll make a rough animation on Monday to show you what I'm trying to achieve. I think the final solution might be to do some of the sheets using the method I'm following and then some of the more distant sheets with a single emitter and one sheet per particle as per your suggestion. Thanks again for your help Jon. It's much appreciated

That's great, thanks very much Jackbird. I'll put that all to good use on Monday. The short loop was just for testing purposes. The idea is that a new piece of paper will be blown away every nth frame (currently every 5th frame) until there are 100 pieces of paper floating around

And here's the script in its entirety, progress = 5 while progress ( progressString = progress as string position = [0,0,0] sliderTime = progress pfSource = PF_Source() pfSource.SetPViewLocation -343 634 pfSource.Quantity_Viewport = 100 pfSource.Integration_for_Viewport = 1 pfSource.name = "pFlow" + (progressString) particleFlow.BeginEdit() op1 = BirthGrid() op1.Grid_Size = 70 op1.Icon_Length = 280 op1.Icon_Width = 210 op1.Icon_Height = 20 op1.Icon_Height = 20 op1.pos = position op1.Emit_Time = (160 * progress) op2 = ShapeLibrary() op2.Type_3d = 14 op2.size = 68 op3 = mP_Shape() op3.Collide_Type = 3 op3.Mass_Type = 0 op3.mass = 0.001 pw = PhysXWorld() pw.Apply_Gravity = on pw.Ground_Collision_Plane = on pw.Icon_Length = 50 pw.Icon_Width = 50 pw.Icon_Height = 50 op5 = PhysX_World() op5.PhysX_World_Driver = pw --op6 = RenderParticles() op7 = DisplayParticles() op7.color = pfSource.wireColor op7.type = 6 ev1 = Event() ev1.name = "Event" + (progressString) ev1.SetPViewLocation -343 734 op8 = mP_Glue() op8.type = 2 op8.Bind_Distance = 100 op9 = mP_Force() op9.Force_Space_Warps.count = 0 op9.Force_Space_Warps = #($'Wind001') particleFlow.EndEdit() ev1.AppendAction op1 ev1.AppendAction op2 ev1.AppendAction op3 --ev1.AppendAction op4 ev1.AppendAction op5 ev1.AppendAction op9 ev1.AppendAction op8 ev1.AppendAction op7 --pfSource.AppendAction op6 pfSource.AppendInitialActionList ev1 realTimePlayback = off Rectangle length:280 width:210 cornerRadius:0 pos:position isSelected:on $.name = "Paper" + (progressString) modPanel.addModToSelection (Garment_Maker ()) ui:on $.modifiers[#Garment_Maker].density = 0.02 macros.run "Modifier Stack" "Convert_to_Poly" modPanel.addModToSelection (Particle_Skinner ()) ui:on $.modifiers[#Particle_Skinner].Particle_Flow_Systems = #("pFlow" + (progressString)) $.modifiers[#Particle_Skinner].activateSkinning() modPanel.addModToSelection (TurboSmooth ()) ui:on modPanel.addModToSelection (UVWMap ()) ui:on $.modifiers[#UVW_Map].realWorldMapSize = off progress = progress + 5 )

Hello, This is my first foray into maxscript, and I have nearly achieved what I'm after. If only I could do this one simple thing! Any help would be much appreciated. I've written a short script that creates a particle system and a rectangular poly. I then want to bind the newly created PF_Source to the newly created poly with a Particle Skinner. The end result will be a script that emits sheets of paper every n frames that will then swirl around my scene. Here is the portion of script for creating the rectangular poly and it all works, except the bit that tries to attach/define the Particle_Flow_Systems Rectangle length:280 width:210 cornerRadius:0 pos:position isSelected:on $.name = "Paper" + (progressString) modPanel.addModToSelection (Garment_Maker ()) ui:on $.modifiers[#Garment_Maker].density = 0.02 macros.run "Modifier Stack" "Convert_to_Poly" modPanel.addModToSelection (Particle_Skinner ()) ui:on $.modifiers[#Particle_Skinner].Particle_Flow_Systems = #("pFlow" + (progressString)) $.modifiers[#Particle_Skinner].activateSkinning() modPanel.addModToSelection (TurboSmooth ()) ui:on modPanel.addModToSelection (UVWMap ()) ui:on $.modifiers[#UVW_Map].realWorldMapSize = off Like I say, this is my first go at maxscript so I'm still learning how the syntax works etc which will hopefully explain any howling errors. Thanks in advance, James

Yeah, keep going! :-) If in doubt search through dezeen.com or Pinterest for inspiration on camera angles and spend some time tackling your materials one bit at a time. You might find it quite encouraging to give everything a matt, mid-grey texture while you dial in the camera angle and lighting. It'll allow you to work quicker and you won't be distracted by everything else. Then add textures or details one at a time.

Hi Daniel, The first thing that struck me is that the shadows look oddly light compatered with the areas of sunlight. Maybe try a sun/sky from earlier or later in the day that's a little less intense? Or stick with the sun you've got and allow the shadows to be darker? Also the brick work and floor boards fill a lot of the shot so get them looking really good. Concentrate on the bump or displacement of the brickwork and maybe switch the floor texture as it looks like cheap bamboo at the minute. Would a wider, matt oak or Douglas Fir board maybe look better? Hope this helps, James