Technical Talk

Topic	Replies	Latest Post
Normal mapped head...not smooth? Ok basically ive done a normal mapped head and if u look at the screenshot, particularly the ear it looks really angular. I know that i could solve this by putting in more geometry in there for the l…	1 Last	cryrid Sep 2010
Normal Map pixelation? The pixelating around the chest straps is my main concern. Dont know if it is a TopoGun issue but I have tried baking my normals with MAX and X Normal so it must be my inexperience with normal mappin…	14 Last	EarthQuake Sep 2010
Modeling Quads/Tries Do you model with quads, right? but when do you convert it to tries? What is the right time when working for a video-game project? If I model an object or character to be used in a game engine, do …	5 Last	Hoopla! Sep 2010
Backgrounds and skyboxes in Bad Company 2 I was curious if anyone knew of any tech breakdowns or knew of the process the guy's at DICE are using for some of the backgrounds in Bad Company 2. It all seems really obvious, but I can't seem t…	18 Last	Mio Sep 2010
Specular level/power vs specular color vs gloss In what order do most people create these maps? What are each of these used for? I'm familiar with making specular color maps but when it comes to spec power and glossiness I find myself confused. I …	5 Last	jocose Sep 2010
Duplicating Meshes around a Curve? Maya Hello! I'm trying to make the rivets on a Taiko drum. I want them to go around the cylinder as accurately as possible. I'm assuming Maya has some sort of functionality for duplicating meshes around …	6 Last	mparis Sep 2010
Gear Meshing I'm making a map with a lot of gears, and it will get kind of bland if I just have single gears. However, I cannot get the gears to mesh and rotate in sync! Also, if the gears rotate at different spe…	7 Last	cryrid Sep 2010
fractal particle maker? Hey guys, I wonder if there's a node based or any softwares that create a fractal particle, or billboard easy maker? For an example, smoke set, fire set, etc. I don't want to test the particles, I…	13 Last	Eric Chadwick Sep 2010
Do you weld low poly elements or not? I am modeling in 3ds max a low poly chair to be used in a game . I have the bulk of the chair and the seat cushion as two separate elements right now. For models used in game engines what are the rul…	1 Last	chrisradsby Sep 2010
3ds max 2011 shortcut keys don't work I recently reformatted my computer and installed Windows 7 for the first time. I then installed 3ds max 2011 and got back to work without any problems. I would set my own keyboard shortcuts and they …	3 Last	couto607 Sep 2010
CS5 insane brushing Hi everyone, I recently tryed cs5 and get this really strange results when i use my brush. If i paint 20 straigt strokes then move 400 pixels to the right in the image and starts to paint strokes the…	2 Last	jimpaw Sep 2010
Problem: Sketchbook Pro 2010 painting outside of cursor So this problem bugs me since I first used Sketchbook. After some zooming, mooving or painting my cursor suddenly paints quite a bunch of pixles away from where it is supposed to paint. I am pretty s…	2 Last	THE 5 Sep 2010
how to export max (2010) animation (to maya) ...and output it to marmoset toolbag? Hi there! I just finished a small animation (300 f) for a prop I did and I wanted to import the animation to marmoset for rendering but I read that marmoset just works with maya for this. So I downlo…	8 Last	maze Sep 2010
Temporary freeze when using directx shaders I have a problem when I'm using directx shaders like 3Point and Xoliul's shader, that everytime I introduce them into a scene for the first time in my 3ds max session, the program stalls for a long w…	3 Last	Buzzy Sep 2010
Blender 2.5 render out alpha outlines? Hey I have one last problem before I call it done. In 3d view as you can see on the first picture, [img]http://i698.photobucket.com/albums/vv345/vofff/Screenshot2010-09-16at164152.jpg[/img] this is w…	1 Last	Dim Sep 2010
What's causing this artifacting? Hey guys, So I'm tightening up some assets for the scene I'm working on, and I've encountered a normal map problem (gasp!) that I've not seen before. I'm using Max 2009's render to texture function…	9 Last	Eric Chadwick Sep 2010
tablet and photoshop hey all, recently got my first tablet(YAY!!), how do i set it so that the pressure i apply changes the opacity and/or pen size in photoshop cs2 thanks,	5 Last	dansher Sep 2010
how to make an cool lowpoly beard hi i need help to create a goog looking lowpoly beard maybe someone has cool pictures or an tut or just some tips my biggest problem is the connection between the face an the beard the color of th…	0 Last	blownlightbulb Sep 2010
UDK(Can't Right click) So this is a weird bug or error I'm getting I can't right click on anything I add or subtract to the level or any of my static meshes. If I right click on empty space though the menu comes up. Anyo…	2 Last	PhattyEwok Sep 2010
Swapping Max files seamlessly? Hi guys, I'm doing some work for a programmer that only really uses max for viewing and exporting, so he has next to no clue about the material editor, shaders etc. I am trying to find an easy way o…	5 Last	Drav Sep 2010
OpenGL ES - Bone Influence Performance I'm currently using OpenGL ES 1.1 (can't stop to learn 2.0 GLSL at the moment) and I'm using the Matrix Palette Extension to do skeletal animation... Everything I've tested so far is working marvelo…	2 Last	die_Kröte Sep 2010
Terrible Advice/Myth Thread. Alright, I think we've all seen them time and time again. Advice that gets recycled and overused so much, and without explaining why, that it loses all meaning. I want to start this thread to look ba…	82 Last	EarthQuake Sep 2010
Painting jeans? Hey all. Despite what the thread title may lead you to believe, I don't want to paint any of my jeans, but I would like to know if there's any proven ways to do so digitally. I'm working on a chara…	5 Last	Tom Ellis Sep 2010
UV transfer disaster, any solution? Hey all, having a bit of a UV crisis. Here's a quick rundown of what I've done: The character I'm working on is going to be riding a bike. After finishing the high-poly, and low-poly, I did a test …	14 Last	Tom Ellis Sep 2010
Plugin to export .FBX from Maya with animation "takes"? Hey guys! So I'm working as a tech artist on a student team creating a 3D game written in XNA/C#, and right now I'm trying to set up an import pipeline for our artists. Now, here's the thing: I'm t…	0 Last	walkerb Sep 2010
help with export issue in zbrush so i'm new to zbrush and for the last few days i've been sculpting my highpoly-mesh for normal map purposes. i use xNormal for this and i tried once with a unfinished highpoly, with good results. bu…	6 Last	cryrid Sep 2010
Mudbox, custom shaders ? Hi Everyone, I Recently made a vampire face in mudbox and was looking forward to start texturing it in mudbox. The strange thing is that when i paint a texture in mudbox the lightning hardly lets an…	14 Last	oglu Sep 2010
closed meshes necessary? Hi, I need again the Help of our tech crew here on board :) How important is it to build closed meshes for performance? Like the question: "Delete never seen backfaces or keep the mesh (object) wi…	7 Last	Buzzy Sep 2010
Next-Gen Game Asset Creation -Step by Step?- Hi there, I'm fresh new here. I'm a 3D Artist and now working in a small game company. The experience I touching 2D and 3D softwares got 1 year plus. According to my researching, I found out a way of…	7 Last	KonataNX Sep 2010
Baking Normals White outline on edges : / so, ive baked this model before, and i had it working fine, but now when ive gone back to re bake it to update the normal map, everytime now matter what cage or no cage huge push little push i always…	1 Last	Buzzy Sep 2010
retopology setting help Ok, I am trying to retopologize this model... and I can see all the lines on the other side of the model, and i can select them through the model. its kind of annoying as its easy to make mistakes an…	9 Last	cw Sep 2010
Photoshop - Apply Blend If Layers Hey guys, I'm currently using the "Blend If" option on some layers in Photoshop to position textures based on other layers underneath. Is there any way to actually apply this effect once I have it th…	3 Last	Sean VanGorder Sep 2010
mudbox new features... [B]Mudbox 2011 Subscription Advantage Pack[/B] - Linux executable (64 bit) - Pose Tool enhancements: (multiple joints, mirror…	0 Last	oglu Sep 2010
Lighting vs. Texture Shadows I'm not sure exactly how crazy this sounds yet... because I have to get a bit more game engine stuff done before I can run some more solid tests (Android... 1 Ghz phones or better) but if I am going …	13 Last	Eric Chadwick Sep 2010
AO maps question. Here's a simple question, which possibly has some complicated answers: Is there any reason to have an AO map? I.e. not to just multiply it over the diffuse in photoshop, but load it in to ???-engine…	2 Last	cman2k Sep 2010
Modular vs single mesh Well I've been struggling with concept here. I;m going to make some arabian/egyptian/middle east/Assasin's Creed (:D) themed assets for Khemi city: [url]http://community.ageofconan.com/conan/fronten…	3 Last	sprunghunt Sep 2010
Environmental Modeling/Texturing Process I'm really new to this, but I am planning on making a small tutorial about how to model and texture environments with one map. It's going to be very rudimentary, but considering the amount of "figur…	9 Last	iniside Sep 2010
Zbrush 4: Lightbox default settings Whenever I use lightbox I prefer the display setting which shows 4 rows however everytime I close and re-open zbrush lghtbox reverts to the initial single row setting, I have tried to store config bu…	0 Last	scourgewarper Sep 2010
Amplify Brush in Zbrush? I'm sure you Mudbox users know what I'm looking for here. The Amplify brush in Mudbox is a great brush for making surface details pop out more. It makes recessed areas more recessed and peaks more …	5 Last	Buzzy Sep 2010
Texturing levels.. Hey guys I have just started creating some levels in 3d studio max for an iPhone game (with Unity 3D engine) and just wondering the best way about texturing? I used to play around with Hammer/World…	9 Last	VPrime Sep 2010
Error on SMD export. (3DS Max) When trying to export a view model reference, I get the following error: Writing Meshes... * "bip_hand_R" WARNING: Could not get a material for mesh "bip_hand_R". Skipping mesh. Assign a Standard or …	14 Last	CCNezin Sep 2010
lip sculpting technique hey, iv been trying to model lips in zbrush and iv been having a fair bit of trouble with them and i was wondering whats the best technique for making just simple lips, iv had a look at some tutorial…	29 Last	Snader Sep 2010
3dsMax 2011 - "Snapping" to image when UVW unwrapping I've discovered a new "feature" in 3dsMax 2011 and can't figure out how to turn it off. When editing UVs, if you have your image showing in the UVW editor, and you go to move, rotate, or scale, your…	6 Last	Neavah Sep 2010
3ds max character animation question I have a thief character who has some weapons kinda floating around him, but lets say i want him to grab these weapons at some point, draw out his sword ... is there a way to make that weapon attach …	1 Last	Mark Dygert Sep 2010
Problem - Reading values from INI file as stringStream. Hi! I tried to make a Save Presets script, but there is a problem with reading values from ini file. Here the script: [code]( me = getSourceFileName() dir = getFilenamePath me iniFile = dir + "mE…	0 Last	miauu Sep 2010
Maya help.:S Hiya guys, just a quick one. I have no idea what I've pressed in Maya, but when I select an edge or vert, this comes up. Any ideas what I can do to revert back to normal settings? Thanks!	5 Last	malcolm Sep 2010
What's the best way to extrude pipes in maya? So I haven't done this in quite a while isn't there some way to extrude a nurbs circle along a spline and have the tessellation be higher in the corners and low in the straight parts? I've tried a co…	2 Last	malcolm Sep 2010
Is there a script to explode models for baking? I seem to recall somebody here on PC made a script that could do this? The high-poly and the low poly shells would auto separate in all sorts of different directions somehow?	12 Last	Junkie_XL Sep 2010
Help - pls - Having problems with some Normals. thnx Ok, so i'm having some problem with my normals, i think. heres a picture of my High poly, UVW and Low poly. Do these normals seem appropriate? for the texture space and low poly? my friend keeps sayi…	5 Last	Eric Chadwick Sep 2010
Vertex Weighting with CAT rigs Is is possible to weight vertices using CAT like you can with Biped in Max? If so, how? The options appear to be there; 'include selected vertices' etc but I don't seem to be able to actually selec…	11 Last	Tom Ellis Sep 2010