COLNAGOBOY

Hello, Could anyone recommend a complete guide / book / reference for procedural mapping for Vray for 3ds max? There seem to be plenty of tips & tricks or tutorials online, but it would be nice to have basic understanding of how texturing works in Vray / 3ds Max, so that those tutorials make sense for a newbie. Particularly interested in VrayBumpMtl, VrayBlendMtl, Vray2SidedMtl, Falloff, ColorCorrection, etc. Thanks in advance

Thanks Tom, What are the power requirements for your 7 nodes? Do they come in a rack like servers? I wonder what kind of boards are used and how to cool the nodes. Would you be able to give me a bit of hints!? I'd greatly appreciate them.

Thanks Dimitris for your deep suggestions, I need to reconsider the system configurations.

Thanks Tom for your comment, What are 7 nodes? Are they some kind of render slaves? People spend 30k on their car, but spending 10k on a tool that they use everyday is a waste of money, huh I guess. It's subjective as I believe it's still better way of spending 10k than buying a high-end Mac Pro, while some people disagree with that.

Thanks Dimitris for your insight, I know there are no affordable 16GB DDR3 modules available today, but this was also the case for affordable 8GB DDR3 modules last year, so I believe affordable 16GB DDR3 modules will be out soon in the market. (ASUS board I mentioned has 16 slots while MSI board has 8 slots) I know PC tech. ages / depreciates so quickly, but I'm planning on spending up to $10k for the best system possible for rendering in VRay / Max. (no IRay nor VRay RT capabilities needed, therefore no expensive Cuda GPU is necessary) I'm running on a system with 32GB DDR3 with Sandy Bridge Core i7 2600k now, but I still experience shortage of memory sometimes while rendering, so I guess I am wondering how 128GB or 256GB will enhance the performance & stability for rendering, provided that I also need to refine my workflow to minimize taxing on the resources.

Before I build a render workstation, I would like to hear folks opinions. I primarily run Max / VRay / Revit, etc. I'm eyeing on ASUS Z9PE-D16/2L SSI EEB Server Motherboard Dual LGA 2011 with 2x Xeon E5-2630 which can accommodate max. 256GB RAM, or MSI X79A-GD45 (8D) LGA 2011 Intel X79 with single Core i7 3960X Extreme Edition which can accommodate max. 128GB RAM with higher clock speed. Regardless of other important components such as GPUs, etc., which platform will be better suited for my environment, provided that the costs are somewhat comparable to each other!? Thanks in advance

Does anyone know if there are any max plugins or scripts which allow distribution of the multiple objects on a terrain surface in one shot, like Sketchup's Drop script? Thanks in advance

Thank you Rick, I thought the lids of the overflow were actual geometries instead of mapped images. Thanks for clearing up.

Thank you marius e, Could you elaborate a little bit more on your last description? I understand how you create the channel by selecting a path & a profile, but I don't understand how 2 rectangular that are offset from each other and swept, to create the lid of the overflow part. Thanks in advance.

Revit Architecture is equipped with a compact version of Mental Ray.

Sorry, for some reason a web link cannot be pasted correctly on this forum. The domain address was swapped with cgarchitect.com automatically. (Attached with the correct web link with a text file) I was following this tutorial and wondering how to use Sweep Modifier to make the overflow of the swimming pool. I'd appreciate it if someone can help me understand how to use Sweep Modifier to model the grill (overflow). Thank you

http://www.ronenbekerman.com/making-of-cutipol-house-3d-render-by-marcus-dallmann/ I was following this tutorial and wondering how to use Sweep Modifier to make the overflow of the swimming pool. I'd appreciate it if someone can help me understand how to use Sweep Modifier to model the grill (overflow). Thank you

Thanks Bruce, I wish this script is compatible with 3ds Max 2011.

Is there any way or a maxscript which allows us to directly type in dimensions to draw a line, as in AutoCAD or in SketchUp? Thanks in advance

I've been trying to create an illuminated sign with no success. Can you use Vray Blend Material for that? I was thinking of using Vray Light Material for the base material, and the signage bitmap image for the coating material. If not, how would you do it? Many Thanks,