Blurry blueprint textures in viewport

[A.Mitov]

I have some problems with the blueprint textures. In the viewport they look blurry despite of my Direct3D settings. To the left is the texture as viewed from Windows and to the right is how it looks in 3Ds Max + my Direct3D settings. Notice the jagged edges and most importantly - the missing lines.

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]44524[/ATTACH] [ATTACH=CONFIG]44525[/ATTACH]

 

I'm using 3ds max 2009 on GeForce GTX460 1 GB

Edited August 25, 2011 by A.Mitov

[AubreyM]

Just in case, have you checked "Match bitmap size as closely as possible" in the configure 3D settings?

[A.Mitov]

Yes I have. You can see this in the 2nd screenshot.

[datacrasher]

try select 512 by 512 All you can do is with that configuration is match as close as possible. I don't know if you loaded this floor-plan or onto a plane or you just loaded it into the background. You won't get a perfect layout. so max can do is do the best it can with the image

 

Good luck

Tony

[A.Mitov]

The texture is applied onto a plane object, not as a viewport background. The texture itself is preety huge - 7000 x 4000 px.

"try select 512 by 512" - where do I select this? Do you mean I should set this in "Background Texture Size" and "Download Texture Size"? How will this help if I downgrade from 1024 to 512?

[AubreyM]

I should have looked closer

I had the same problem at one time and that is what worked for me.

Is it maybe the image and not the settings?

[A.Mitov]

I should have looked closer

I had the same problem at one time and that is what worked for me.

Is it maybe the image and not the settings?

What do you mean? Should I use specific image format? The textures are PNGs, all of them over 4k in res.

[bev.lynn]

This may work:

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

[datacrasher]

under config direct3d you will see you have select 512 and 1024 press the background texture to 512 because in download texture size there is no 1024. You could also take your floor plan into photoshop and maybe clean it up if you have the knowledge of photoshop.

[A.Mitov]

This may work:

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

Thanks, that worked but unfortunately now I can't make the blueprint transparent so this solution doesn't quite work for me

 

under config direct3d you will see you have select 512 and 1024 press the background texture to 512 because in download texture size there is no 1024. You could also take your floor plan into photoshop and maybe clean it up if you have the knowledge of photoshop.

 

Ok, I'm going to try it now. By the way, the problem is not that the drawing is cluttered but because it is jagged, blurry and lines missing due to the crappy filtering.

EDIT: Setting both options to 512 didn't help

Edited August 25, 2011 by A.Mitov

[datacrasher]

as i said "max can only do the best it can with the image you have loaded"

[A.Mitov]

as i said "max can only do the best it can with the image you have loaded"

Sorry, I can't understand you. Can you please elaborate on this? What do you think is the problem?

[datacrasher]

when you load an image into the viewport or add it to a plane whatever way you do it 3ds max can only do the best representation it can with the image (photo, drawing) etc you have loaded into the viewport or a plane. Max can never do a perfect match unless you have a better image that 3ds max can work with

[A.Mitov]

You mean 8000 x 8000 pixels image isn't good enough?

[datacrasher]

it does not matter how good or how bad the image, If the image, drawing or photo is good or bad max can only it's best to make it perfect.

 

If you can it into photoshop and clean it up then re-bring it into back. i cannot explan any better than that

[A.Mitov]

Tony, Either I can't understand you or you can't understand what my problem is. My blueprints don't need cleaning up. They just doesn't get displayed sharply in the viewport. Can you explain in simple steps how can I do that "cleaning" in Photoshop that you are talking of?

 

So far the DirectX shader solution works best but there is no transperency option and can't control the visibility.

[datacrasher]

I don't have any knowledge of photoshop because i am a AEC modeler not a texture person. As long as you can see the image you should still able to model the floor-plan without making any changes to your image.

 

If you lower the opacity or the glossiness in the material editor then you should able to see the image

[A.Mitov]

Should I assume that I'm scr*wed now?

[datacrasher]

God dude i cannot help anymore all you have to do is bloody model the thing. what does the full floor-plan look like if you can see it and see where all the objects are in the floor plan then that would be okay. why do you want in perfect?

[A.Mitov]

My biggest concern is not that the blueprints look jagged but that lines completely disappear due to the crappy filtering. I cannot tell where an object/element starts or ends. I can't believe no one has a solution to this

[AubreyM]

Does it get better/worse depending on the size of the plane that you have the image on?

The other option that worked but you couldn't make it transparent...Could you use that method and then animate the opacity of the blueprint. That way you could jut use the animation slider, frame 1 100% opacity, frame 2 30% (or whatever).

 

Just a suggestion, I wish I could be of more help.

[datacrasher]

your never gonna get rid of the jaggeness of the thing. Unless you redraw it with tracing paper put that over the floor plan take a ruler and copy it, then scan onto your computer then bring it into max.

 

why not just upload the image of the floor plan and let us see what it look like when we load it into the background or apply it to a plane

[A.Mitov]

Does it get better/worse depending on the size of the plane that you have the image on?

The other option that worked but you couldn't make it transparent...Could you use that method and then animate the opacity of the blueprint. That way you could jut use the animation slider, frame 1 100% opacity, frame 2 30% (or whatever).

 

Just a suggestion, I wish I could be of more help.

No, the quality doesn't change when scaling the blueprints.

As for the opacity - I really don't know how to change it. There's no such parameter in the DirectX shaders that I tried and what's stranger is that the "Visibility" option in "Object properties" doesn't work if I apply a DirectX material.

[Joel Gray]

I've never tried this but I hear it works well.

 

Take your bitmap image of the plan and divide it into a grid, something manageable like 512X512. Create individual bitmap images for each grid square and then apply those 512x512 images to an appropriately sized polygon plane in 3ds Max. Add additional planes in Max until you've recreated the entire grid/plan. It takes some time to set up, but you'll get a sharper image to work from. As for the material itself, just use a Standard Max material with the plan image in the diffuse slot and crank up the self illumination to 100.

Edited August 26, 2011 by Joel Gray

[bev.lynn]

The only other thing I can think of right now, but not sure it's an option in 2009 is: View Menu > Show Materials In Viewport As > Enable Transparency.