Make a clear blueprint in max [TIP]

[cupsster]

Sorry guys, I can't post it to tips section cause I don't have rights to do so.. Don't know why..

Simple and easy.. Make DirectX material with your diffuse texture = razor sharp image on plane

 

Here we go:

http://area.autodesk.com/tips/make_a_clear_blueprint_in_max

[Koper]

is this just for viewport rendering or actual rendering??

[cupsster]

is this just for viewport rendering or actual rendering??

Its for viewport but you can assign sahder for rendering in bottom section of shader.. If you render DirectX shader output should be gray I think.

[BrianKitts]

that's fantastic..... can't believe I never used that before, thanks for posting

 

if you needed it to render you could setup a shell material to use the directX shader in the viewport and any other kind of shader for the render

Edited March 15, 2010 by BrianKitts

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

That deserves a......

[Koper]

That deserves a......

 

wha hahahaha, is that a photo of a grandpa?

 

 

sorry, couldn't contain myself

[cupsster]

:DDDD what's that? Starsky & Hutch )

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

So what is the process for creating a DirectX material? ...does anyone have a link?

 

I've done a rough search, but it does not appear easy to drill down to the exact information I need. Mostly I just get information on how to use a DirectX material.

[cupsster]

Tomorrow I past it here, gotta go sleep now.. I'm already half-sleeping.. )

[cupsster]

HowTo

In general DirectX Shaders are useful for game artist for previewing their assets before they export to game engine to visually check mapping, textures and animations.

 

1. Create DirectX shader.

 

 

2. If you creating new one discard current material.

 

 

3. Load proper shader type You want to work with.

Here is basic one with at least Diffuse and Normal map: "DiffuseBump.fx" For pretty basic parameters.

 

 

or You can go for little enhanced version: "StandardFx.fx"

 

 

 

Shaders which comes with max are usualy in "maxRoot\maps\fx" folder. There are bunch of them. Try them, it's easy.

They are in written for standart Microsoft Direct3D *.fx and nVidia CgFX *.cgfx shader languages. So if You have MentalMill You can load Your shaders easily.

These shaders accept maps in formats: *.bmp, *.dds, *.jpg, *.png, *.tga.

As always it's required to setup correct mapping and map channel for textures.

[cupsster]

Other Sources:

ShaderFX

Ben Cloward Shaders

Some DirectX Sahders from "ypuechweb" site

Buzzy's forum on 3DTotal

[cupsster]

Some screens from Web:

[Crazy Homeless Guy]

Perhaps this means that my current graphics card does not support DirectX shading? ...I am on a low end Quadro currently. 580 or something like that.

[cupsster]

Perhaps this means that my current graphics card does not support DirectX shading? ...I am on a low end Quadro currently. 580 or something like that.

 

I'm not 100% sure but seems to me like graphic card issue.. Try StandardFx instead. Don't know inner working of max when it compiles shaders. Or you can download some other shaders from links I posted and try them. Don't know purpose you're trying to archive

Eg.: When I load shader which use DirectX10 methods I get compilation error cause my graphic card is quite old and doesn't support this instructions contained in shader. But in that case you should see error message directly in MaterialEditor just below Reload button in TextField UI element.

Mine Error for DX10 Shader looks like this:

ID3DXEffectCompiler: There were no techniques
ID3DXEffectCompiler: Compilation failed

 

In shaders it is important to realize that correct display is dependent of "techniques" they are using.. Their code is like Photoshop but realtime, so different shaders requires differen SM [shader mode(l)] level eg SM3.0, SM4.0 most modern cards are at least SM 3.0 I think. Check Your card manufacteur docs to ensure up to which SM it can support.

 

More info: wikipedia about Shader