This is very cool but I cannot get the shadow version to run...I am on max 2008 x64
max9 & max2008 are very similar when it comes to installing plug-ins...is max2008 by chance not able to handle the shadow version like max9 apparently can't?
Blame Autodesk for that one. I have the same problem on my PC (red wireframe in 64bit Max 2008 ), but it runs in the 32bit Max 2008. So try that. More stable shadows is one reason to upgrade to version 2009, though I can't think of many more
Ah well the point of using a shader inside Max is ease of use and laziness. You don´t have to export your model and textures, just do everything straight in Max. I work with Unreal at work and still prefer to preview my textures with this shader, no hassle of exporting, reimporting, or waiting for textures to compress on import.
The NoShadows version should. If not, tell me the error and I´ll see what I can do. You do need a graphics card that is not ancient and has Pixel Shader 3.0 support (Geforce 6 or better, ATi X1000 series or better).
I would have been very interested in this a while back, so I'm sure other people are as well, it's just that we have our own project-specific stuff at work. Just wait untill people start making renders for the domwar, and bump this thread
I've used this shader a bit, and one of the things that bothered be the most was, it seemed like when you added a cubemap it would be subtractive instead of additive, so if i ever wanted to use a cubemap it would make my model really dark. I dont know if you've updated it since the version i used. Also the general settings for cube maps seemed to be really abstracted, like you had to turn values down make the effects more intense, etc. I think it would be good to revamp the ui there for a more artist friendly approach(one input for envmap intensity, one for frensel, and that should be all that is needed).
That said, this is one of the better max shaders out there.
Great feedback Earthquake, it´s really specific stuff like this I like to hear.
Cubemaps are actually lerped (linear interpolated) into the color. I do suspect that you might´ve used non HDR cubemaps (I exclusively use HDR cubemaps because they look truly superior, the Mustang uses one for example) which could explain why you got the impression they are substractive. I guess the problem is people don´t generally have HDR cubemaps lying around. I´ll see if i can´t convert a good free HDRI to include with it (my cubemaps are copyrighted material, bought from Dosch so I naturally can´t share them)
Concerning the UI I don´t really see what you mean ? I´ve already brought the Fresnel settings to a minimum (offset and falloff sharpness, can´t do with less), and then there´s an overall multiplier for whatever is reflected, cubemap or solid color. The only confusing thing IMO would be the "world masking", so I might have to come up with a better description. Perhaps you could ellaborate a bit more on this issue ?
Yeah i've dealt with a HDR stuff before, and the main thing you come back to is: its hard to make HDR content. While it is of course better quality, i can make a nice LDR cubemap in like, 30 minutes. Where as HDR cubemaps require expensive cameras, hours of time to create, etc. That was one of the biggest problems with the marmoset engine, all the lighting came from HDR cube maps, but it was near impossible to customize them or create content from scratch.... Maybe support different modes for HDR/LDR cubemaps?
As far as the UI stuff, i may have been using an older version, i think i got v1.5 off of another forum, havent had time to test out what you've posted here so ignore it if its changed since then.
Aaah, "1.5" explains a lot. That´s the old, hacky, bloated version which I completely rewrote from scratch, the result being this one which is fully my own work.
But good point on LDR/HDR modes, should be easy to add into the shader! HDR cubemaps are only a small effort however if you use ATi CubeMapGen on pre made HDRI´s. But that requires you have that sort of content lying around (I just happen to because I used to use them a lot for software rendering).
Yeah i've dealt with a HDR stuff before, and the main thing you come back to is: its hard to make HDR content. While it is of course better quality, i can make a nice LDR cubemap in like, 30 minutes. Where as HDR cubemaps require expensive cameras, hours of time to create, etc. That was one of the biggest problems with the marmoset engine, all the lighting came from HDR cube maps, but it was near impossible to customize them or create content from scratch.... Maybe support different modes for HDR/LDR cubemaps?
As far as the UI stuff, i may have been using an older version, i think i got v1.5 off of another forum, havent had time to test out what you've posted here so ignore it if its changed since then.
EQ- why did you find it hard to render out HDR envs, i would suggest that it wouldnt be too hard to render them out of marmoset, multiple renders at different brightnesses compostied together.
any chance for seperated specular color/level maps?
There's actually no need for that. All I would do with those two separate maps, is multiply them together. You can do the exact same thing by multiplying them in Photoshop and saving as one texture, that just saves memory
i.m courious why backside of my model always brighter than it,s front. (no matter where i put the omnis ) in order to get a dacent light, i need to rotate my model to certain degrees. lil confusing.. or it,s just how it's works?
I just tried it, looks fine if I do the same thing as you. I do get a smiliar effect if i turn on Normalmap without a map in the slot. In that case that is supposed to happen, since it uses some random value when there is no map in the slot.
So: don't enable maps if you don't fill their slots.
Works Great Dude, I can't believe I'm just seeing this now. The shadows don't seem to be working in Max 2010 though, and If you turn on the realtime shadows by enabling hardware it messes up alpha maps. No big deal though, Great Work!
Thanks a lot!
Alpha maps are always a bit iffy in Max because of the drawing order and so.
The shadows probably don't work because you have them set to Soft Shadows. Those require completely different code, and I don't know what that code is, yet.
HP, I believe so, yes If I remember correctly there's a checkbox for it.
Xoliul, awesome work man. Just wanted to chime in and say that this is a great shader and a I used it while texturing my DW4 character before moving onto rendering in the game engine. Thanks for the hard work
i'm sorry, but i am a little new to this. i have loaded my textures diff, spec, norm, and a cubemap in the slots. but i am not getting any sign of my textures. the paths are correct....but nothing is showing up.
i love this...somehow it worked better on my old installation thoo...i might sound stupid but how do i activate the shadows? i use an omnilight and it doesnt show any shadows on the material surface.
Keizza:
I'm sorry, but your Max version is too old. I think you're using Max 7, there has only been decent shader support as of Max 8. You're not seeing any textures because there are no switch parameters shown in your shader interface (normally you tick which maps you want to use), but it seems like Max 7 doesn't load them. Nothing I can do about this unfortunately.
RickFX: Make sure the omni is set to Cast Shadows. Then right click in viewport when it is selected, and enable "Viewport Shadows", I think it's in the top left menu. After that, you must configure your viewport (Right click viewport name, Configure), go to the "Lighting & Shadows" tab, and set it to "Best (SM 3.0)". That's all there is to it in Max 2008 and 2009, 2010 is a bit different and I can't tell you from the top of my head.
hmmmmmmmmm....thanks for the response Xoliul. but i am indeed using max 8. you can see "max 8" on the header bar up top. no big deal....was just really wanting to try it out. seems like a good shader. thanks man.
hey Xoliul, the the ones from game-artist.net work. everything in there works except the alpha, which is in the diffuse channel. and there is no reflection option.
Guys, I will really try to get working on it tomorrow. Si map needs some checking apparently, and I think I might be exceeding the number of boolean switches for Max 8. Should be fixable if I know Doylle's shader works (which is a different thing than mine btw, keizza. I tried to improve on that one in many ways).
thanks so much Xoliul. so does that mean that YOUR version can easily be fixed for max 8? that would be very cool. thanks again for all your hard work.
Okay I'm almost ready to release a new version. It has some new features (mainly IBL). I still have to look into the Max 8 issue, I have no Max 8 myself so I will probably have to find that somewhere.
Airbrush: I checked, you're probably just setting the global SI level to 100, which means everything is 100% lit. Set it to 0 if you use an SI map, since the global level is just added to the map.
Replies
max9 & max2008 are very similar when it comes to installing plug-ins...is max2008 by chance not able to handle the shadow version like max9 apparently can't?
Should I install x86 or x64 of 2009?
Not that many Max users here that like to try this btw ?
That said, this is one of the better max shaders out there.
Cubemaps are actually lerped (linear interpolated) into the color. I do suspect that you might´ve used non HDR cubemaps (I exclusively use HDR cubemaps because they look truly superior, the Mustang uses one for example) which could explain why you got the impression they are substractive. I guess the problem is people don´t generally have HDR cubemaps lying around. I´ll see if i can´t convert a good free HDRI to include with it (my cubemaps are copyrighted material, bought from Dosch so I naturally can´t share them)
Concerning the UI I don´t really see what you mean ? I´ve already brought the Fresnel settings to a minimum (offset and falloff sharpness, can´t do with less), and then there´s an overall multiplier for whatever is reflected, cubemap or solid color. The only confusing thing IMO would be the "world masking", so I might have to come up with a better description. Perhaps you could ellaborate a bit more on this issue ?
As far as the UI stuff, i may have been using an older version, i think i got v1.5 off of another forum, havent had time to test out what you've posted here so ignore it if its changed since then.
But good point on LDR/HDR modes, should be easy to add into the shader! HDR cubemaps are only a small effort however if you use ATi CubeMapGen on pre made HDRI´s. But that requires you have that sort of content lying around (I just happen to because I used to use them a lot for software rendering).
btw. quick test w poop's skater
EQ- why did you find it hard to render out HDR envs, i would suggest that it wouldnt be too hard to render them out of marmoset, multiple renders at different brightnesses compostied together.
But where do I put the shader files itself in MAX's file structure?
They go into Maps/FX
Great work on the shader, loving it so far. I miss AO though!
There's actually no need for that. All I would do with those two separate maps, is multiply them together. You can do the exact same thing by multiplying them in Photoshop and saving as one texture, that just saves memory
That doesn't matter. Just browse to them like a texture. I personally have a /Shaders directory on my work partition, for easy access.
The NoShadows version should work in Max 8? Haven't tested, but Max 8 is supposed to be the first version with support for it.
Thanks! If you want realtime AO: Max 2010 has it. It's actually not something I can do in a shader, but works on the full screen. Check it out!
Sorry for late big reply, but Polycount was weirding out and wanted to know what I did last night
I haven´t noticed anything like this myself.
So: don't enable maps if you don't fill their slots.
Alpha maps are always a bit iffy in Max because of the drawing order and so.
The shadows probably don't work because you have them set to Soft Shadows. Those require completely different code, and I don't know what that code is, yet.
Xoliul, awesome work man. Just wanted to chime in and say that this is a great shader and a I used it while texturing my DW4 character before moving onto rendering in the game engine. Thanks for the hard work
Gav
I'm sorry, but your Max version is too old. I think you're using Max 7, there has only been decent shader support as of Max 8. You're not seeing any textures because there are no switch parameters shown in your shader interface (normally you tick which maps you want to use), but it seems like Max 7 doesn't load them. Nothing I can do about this unfortunately.
RickFX: Make sure the omni is set to Cast Shadows. Then right click in viewport when it is selected, and enable "Viewport Shadows", I think it's in the top left menu. After that, you must configure your viewport (Right click viewport name, Configure), go to the "Lighting & Shadows" tab, and set it to "Best (SM 3.0)". That's all there is to it in Max 2008 and 2009, 2010 is a bit different and I can't tell you from the top of my head.
Shot at 2009-05-12
Can you try this one, see if it does work: http://www.game-artist.net/forums/support/5422-3dsmax-viewport-shader.html ?
..nice shader by the way
Airbrush: I checked, you're probably just setting the global SI level to 100, which means everything is 100% lit. Set it to 0 if you use an SI map, since the global level is just added to the map.