Chris Johnson Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 Hi all I know I've been sitting on this since Feb, but I have just updated Cool Picker (a 3ds max plugin) to version 2.01. The big change is the addition of a picker that allows you to pick any color from ANYWHERE on your screen. Using this, you can pick colors from * webpages * bitmaps * windows buttons * menu bars * icons literally anything you can get your cursor over. This new feature can literally pick colors from itself. I thought that was pretty cool. And for those who don't know what a time saver this can be: Have you ever had to pick a color from an image to get it into a material shader? Usually the process was to 1. save the image to your computer, 2. load it in photoshop, 3. use the eye dropper to sample the color in the image, 4. open up the photoshop color picker, 5. write down the RGB values on a piece of paper!!!!!, 6. then enter the RGB values by hand back into 3ds max. With the screen picker, now all you have to do is click and your done. And remember the best part: It's free! http://www.idigitalhouse.com/tech/dh_tech.html Chris J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAllusionisst Posted November 21, 2005 Share Posted November 21, 2005 Will it work with VIZ 2006? didn't see an obvious answer on the web site from my cursorary viewing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Johnson Posted November 21, 2005 Author Share Posted November 21, 2005 This will work in: Max 6 is equivalent to Viz 2005 Max 7 is equivalent to Viz 2006 Max 8 is equivalent to Viz 2007 (when that comes out I guess) It was compiled against the Max 7 SDK, but it should work just fine in Max 6 as none of that functionality changed from Max 6 to 7. Chris J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAllusionisst Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 Thanks! I will have to check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kippu Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 oooooo thanks a bunch for this .... saves me a lot of time figuring out rgb numbers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Warner Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 I know Im gonna sound stupid for asking this....but I can't seem to find where to access it once it's loaded? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Johnson Posted November 22, 2005 Author Share Posted November 22, 2005 Go to you menu. Select Customize> Preferences. Select the General Tab, and in the UI display group select a new version of your color picker. Chris J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Warner Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 I would have never thought to look there! Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ismael Posted November 22, 2005 Share Posted November 22, 2005 Along this line, just recently got a cool tip. From either the Image Viewer or the Asset Browser or the Render Window; place the cursor on a color and "right-click". The color gets copied next to the little square on the top bar. You can then click and drag that color to any color swatch, be it diffuse, ambient; etc. Ismael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Johnson Posted November 22, 2005 Author Share Posted November 22, 2005 I've now updated coolpicker to version 2.02. Now when the screen picker mouse icon leaves the 3ds max window it will retain the special screen picker icon, instead of reverting back to the standard windows Icon. (I had to dig deep in the MSDN for that one) Chris J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Cassil Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Haha, writing down RGB values on paper was always one of the most frustrating parts of working between different graphic programs. Thanks Chris! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Johnson Posted November 23, 2005 Author Share Posted November 23, 2005 Haha, writing down RGB values on paper was always one of the most frustrating parts of working between different graphic programs. Thanks Chris! Well your welcome Brian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Warner Posted November 23, 2005 Share Posted November 23, 2005 Hey Chris- I definately appreciate the color picker--I downloaded it yesterday and it works great! My one question for you is...is there any way to incorporate gamma correction in the pick from screen? I've had this problem with other programs as well, trying to match photoshop RGB values to Max RGB values don't work when using Gamma, and it appears that the screen picker has the same problem. Any ideas? Thanks, Chad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Johnson Posted November 24, 2005 Author Share Posted November 24, 2005 Hey Chris- I definately appreciate the color picker--I downloaded it yesterday and it works great! My one question for you is...is there any way to incorporate gamma correction in the pick from screen? I've had this problem with other programs as well, trying to match photoshop RGB values to Max RGB values don't work when using Gamma, and it appears that the screen picker has the same problem. Any ideas? Thanks, Chad Chad: Now bear in mind, the original version 1.0 code base was not mine, but someone elses. As far as gamma goes, I know the color picker has some type of gamma code in it, but I honestly don't know what it does. I saw it last year, but I was concentrating on other things so I didn't pay much attention to it. It's something I think that really needs some in depth research on my part. Any other wishes? For instance, one of my ideas is to have an option for the color picker to sample 1 pixel or a 2x2 set of pixels, or a 3x3 set of pixels, etc. Sound cool? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Johnson Posted November 25, 2005 Author Share Posted November 25, 2005 For those of you who love the darker color theme: I have updated coolpicker so its flyout buttons look better when you switch to a darker color theme. Version 2.0.3 Once, more the link is here: http://www.idigitalhouse.com/Tech/dh_tech.html Chris J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard McCarthy Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Hi Chris! Thanks for the coolpicker.. it's literally.. REALLY COOL ! I have just downloaded it and check it out, but I am a bit confused as to what version I have got here... I downloaded the http://www.idigitalhouse.com/Tech/FreeStuff/Plugins/coolpick_2_0_3_max6-8.zip It says it's 2.03 on the zip file, but when I install it and load it to max it says 2.02 in the about box ... so am I getting the right version?? Besides that, I think it's terrific app I do wish it gets a manifying glass though... I tried out a lot of color picker apps and most of them have magnifying glass type function built in so you can see exactly the pixel that's under the mouse pointer that you are picking. Just a suggestion... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Johnson Posted November 26, 2005 Author Share Posted November 26, 2005 Chad Yep, I'm guilty of not updating the version info in the about box. In that case the zip file name will tell you what version you downloaded. However. Even that is now out of date. As I've finished version 2.0.4. (And I made sure now that I updated the version info ) This new version allows the screen samples to be continously updated as you pick your colors from the screen. It's a piece of cake to use. And definately very fun to watch the colors jump around as you move your cursor around. http://www.idigitalhouse.com/tech/dh_tech.html Chris J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard McCarthy Posted November 26, 2005 Share Posted November 26, 2005 Hey Chris! Great! hehe, I am loving that dynamic update right now... As for the mangifying glass feature.....the reason why I mention is that I still found it hard to find the exact color pixel that I am pointing at. So, I found this nifty app called "Virtual Magnifying Glass", and it's OPENSOURCE! Maybe you could take a look at their code and integrate into coolpicker? http://magnifier.sourceforge.net/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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