Technical Talk

Topic	Replies	Latest Post
Importing a single object from a scene into Maya.. Theres probably a really obvious way to do this but I'll be derned if I kin see it. Any clues?	1 Last	malcolm Mar 2005
texturing/painting on a TFT monitor i don't know whether this is just because my monitor is crap, but i suspect its the same for all LCD screens ... there seems to be only a small sweet-spot where you can place your head/eyes when wor…	14 Last	Badge Mar 2005
Foot Anchoring problem in Max 7 Hey guys! I just recently upgraded to Max 7 and was happy to find that the foot anchoring tool was working properly in that in Max 4.2, any time I would anchor a foot at a point in the animation, it…	9 Last	Ryno Mar 2005
model sheets = pencils, models = inks Me and a co-artist at work were having a discussion about how much refinement you need to put into your model sheets. The title is an analogy I brought up to say what I think on the matter....since w…	5 Last	Malekyth Mar 2005
How do you do lip synching in Maya? [url="http://boards.polycount.net/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=24287&an=0&page=1"]http://boards.polycount.net/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=24287&an=0&page=1[/url] Went thru this an…	10 Last	Malekyth Mar 2005
Smoothing group tutorial Anyone need to know how to use smoothing groups? Blam! [url="http://www.poopinmymouth.com/process/tips/smoothing_groups.jpg"]http://www.poopinmymouth.com/process/tips/smoothing_groups.jpg[/url]	14 Last	steady Mar 2005
Self training and sculpture I am a student of materials enineering(2nd year(I'm 19 btw.)) and it's just fun to study this subject. But looking forward, what I really want to do is graphics. I was interested in 3d before I got i…	4 Last	EmAr Mar 2005
UT2k3/4 Cel shading tutorial? Google fails it. [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] I know OrangeCatNinja did it but I unfortunately can't find it anywhere. His site bit the dust i guess?	3 Last	CheapAlert Mar 2005
Hair Plugin for XSI? [url="http://www.ibmr.net/Ornatrix/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1026"]http://www.ibmr.net/Ornatrix/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1026[/url] Go post if you're an XSI user who wants hair without the need to upgrade …	3 Last	ElysiumGX Mar 2005
Monitor calibration (oops wrong fourm) I noticed that a few post around here have touched on this. "That pic is real dark." -----"It's ok on my monitor." How do you calibrate your monitor's Brightness and Contrast? …	1 Last	rooster Mar 2005
maya user has problems with max unwrapping well i'm pretty new to max but i've been working in maya for some time and can unwrap pretty well using maya. now i have to use max and i am not used to the max workflow at all. i managed to build a …	1 Last	MoP Mar 2005
Team skins are evil Hi everyone. I'm on my way to learning how to skin for UT2004, starting out making a really basic team skin for that cool Hellboy model so that my friend can use it in PvP. Anyway, I made the textur…	2 Last	BeXoR Mar 2005
Snapping in max 7 We have just gone to max 7 and i was wondering if the snap constraints is broken or if i am just missing a new feature of the improved snapping? I can snap using constraints on x and y but when i try…	4 Last	tpe Mar 2005
Problem with Photoshop CS!!! Please help! Hi, I have just installed Photoshop CS, and for some reason I am unable to save my files as jpg, bmp etc. I can only save files as Photoshop, Photoshop PDF, Photoshop RAW, PNG, TIFF, and Cineon. Wh…	4 Last	malcolm Mar 2005
XSI/3DS Max/Lightwave users: question re: nurbs Hello all, I wish to do some complex nurbs surfacing, as seen [url="http://bigrocket.tripod.com/id21.html"]here[/url], bottom picture. I ran into limitations with Maya's Birail 3+ function. Can XSI,…	16 Last	Big Rocket Mar 2005
PolyBoost Something I stumbled across today. [url="http://www.polyboost.com/features_various.htm"]PolyBoost Features[/url] It looks pretty interesting. Especially the procedural topology generator. Cheer…	8 Last	JDinges Mar 2005
Painting on cubemaps? Anyone here work with cubemaps/skymaps much? Sometimes I want to paint out rendering errors, or paint in some details, and have yet to find a nice way to do it. There used to be this plugin for Phot…	2 Last	Eric Chadwick Mar 2005
Dappled light through trees I'm trying to get this effect cast on a model in a render ( a la' Snake in MGS3 only not in realtime! [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] ). What do you think the best way of going about it is? U…	6 Last	ThE_BirD Mar 2005
GDC! Hey Polycount, I'm heading to GDC this coming week and I feel optimistic, since I will be going solely for the purpose of meeting recruiters and trying to find a job as an environment / prop artist.…	4 Last	Delaney King Mar 2005
Closed Do any of you professionals rate Paul Steed? Or to be more precise, his modeling techniques? Im thinking of getting his book: [img]http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/155622088X.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg[/img] I already have the first edition, but im…	31 Last	r13 Mar 2005
tga thumbnails in windows Anyone know where I can get the tool that lets me see thumbnails of .TGA format in windows 2000 explorer? Its no big problem, but its been annoying me of late and I want to spank it [img]/images/gra…	6 Last	ScoobyDoofus Mar 2005
Silo news You know I can't resist.... [url="http://www.nevercenter.com/other_downloads/selection2.mov"]http://www.nevercenter.com/other_downloads/selection2.mov[/url] Silo 1.4 is to have selection highlighti…	6 Last	Wings3dee Mar 2005
Painting skin weights in Maya Darnit I suck at this. Any experts care to talk about their technique? I'm finding it really tricky with complex overlapping geometry. And why the hell do verts pop all over the place when I use undo…	6 Last	Gmanx Mar 2005
Newbie searching info Ciao to everybody! this is the first time i'm posting here and i start asking for the real basics. I want to make a custom model and skeleton (a character) for UT2004 and i've searched all over the i…	2 Last	ZaKKoS Feb 2005
Baking detail into a low poly model from a hi res I was wondering if there is a good way to bake in the detail from a high res model to low poly one. I'm not refering to normal mapping. Let say you model a hi poly tank, with the intention of using i…	16 Last	sinistergfx Feb 2005
Normal Map problems I'm using max 7, following the tutorial Mop posted a while back. I've haven't had any problems untill now. Here is a screen of my problem: [url="http://www.alexutting.com/normal/normal_applied.jp…	49 Last	r13 Feb 2005
Beginning Game Graphics Tutorial Hi All, I've converted an early chapter from my new book, [i]"Beginning Game Graphics"[/i] , into an introductory game modeling tutorial. Designed for beginners, the tutorial walks you through the …	1 Last	Snowfly Feb 2005
.MAP export from 3DS MAX 3,4,5,6,7 I didn't see this plug-in here, so I supose that it could be useful for some level's modelers. This plug-in export your level from 3DS MAX into .MAP files. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] [ur…	0 Last	diZzyWalnut Feb 2005
XSI mod tool .obj import OK XSI users I'm trying to import an obj file. This one to be specific [url="http://mypage.iu.edu/~daphipps/Images/MM02.obj"]file[/url] (Right click and save target as. Otherwise it opens in Notepad…	9 Last	TechSmith Feb 2005
Translating 2d to 3d I was just wondering if anyone ever had a problem taking what they drew on paper to the computer screen. A few of my sketches SEEM to show exactly what i want the character to look like, but apparen…	9 Last	Badge Feb 2005
As a game artist.... Hey guys Just a curious question im wondering if any of you guys have or know other game artists that use mix medias to create game art? Im not sure how else to put it,but ill give an example. sa…	12 Last	MoP Feb 2005
Portfolio reel questions. I am about to set up a portfolio reel that will be sent out to a few game companies in Vancouver and wanted to know if you guys have any tips or suggestions on how it should look. My reels in the pas…	7 Last	Steve Schulze Feb 2005
make stuff stick to stuff Now I must sound like a total n00b but how do you geniuses get stuff to stick so well together when you model it? I mean it can't all be skill [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] In the image below…	13 Last	MoP Feb 2005
Color suggestions for metal textures/armor Greetings everyone, I have been away a bit on a far journey in the land of JRRT. LOTR. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Heya, any input on ideas of color combo's for a skin for the Male Jugger…	2 Last	frosty Feb 2005
where did soclab ORB go? it used to be here > [url="http://www.soclab.bth.se/practices/orb.html"]http://www.soclab.bth.se/practices/orb.html[/url] but that link has been dead every time i checked it for the last few week…	9 Last	CheapAlert Feb 2005
neverwinter nights content creation ? Hi everyone A friend recently bought Neverwinter Nights and we started to talk about creating a character for the game. I would like to know if someone here has good links to tuts dealing with cust…	1 Last	snemmy Feb 2005
App question...Blender, etc. Recently I've been trying out some new apps. For years, I've been using QME 3.1 Now before you all laugh, first let me state that I build models vertex by vertex. This is my prefered method, and…	8 Last	Richard Kain Feb 2005
I wrote a new maxscript If some people think it will be useful, I will upload it. There is a chance that I will be baking some radiosity into all my textures for the next project. This script does this: Select your object…	3 Last	Eric Chadwick Feb 2005
Render compression in Max help I have a 181 frame spin around animation that I am rendering in Max5 (800x350). I'm tying different compression/types and getting mixed results. .avi- 7.5Mb but very poor quality. 7.5 seems like al…	2 Last	Sett Feb 2005
Sharpening viewport images... Hey guys pretty elementary thing...whats the best way of sharpening the actural viewport(template/blueprint images).. I have made my refs big (2500x3500),sharpened them up...changed my driver settin…	7 Last	Delaney King Feb 2005
Specularity in Source engine I cannot figure out howto get my model to have a specularity mask....and I would really love some help [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] Does anyone know howto do this? I need to know the shad…	2 Last	PaK Feb 2005
Question: How to put head in water I was thinking of making a chatacter that has his helmet filled mostly with water or some such fluid. I wouldn't know how to do this in the first place but What I really want to know is how to make t…	2 Last	Badge Feb 2005
Strip modeling? I can strip model in max by selecting an edge and pressing shift+transform to clone edge. What other apps support this kind of function I can't find it in wings3d. How about Maya, XSI,silo,..ect.	4 Last	TechSmith Feb 2005
Max 7 render to texture - blank output Morning fightfans. I'm using max7 at work, and rendering out textures and normal maps. They appear fine in the preview window, but I have noticed that all the outputs that are saved (with padding et…	6 Last	Rick Stirling Feb 2005
To Bevel or Not to Bevel! I'm rebuilding a part of a timberwolf model I made a while back, and when I try to make the armor plating on the round center torso, I get mixed results. What I'm doing is cutting then beveling/extru…	10 Last	Eric Chadwick Feb 2005
vertex color Could someone please link me to somewhere I can get a difinitive explanation of what vertex coloring is and why I'd want to use it? And if possible, a good tutorial on...um...whats it called....uhh.…	15 Last	CrazyButcher Feb 2005
before i begin is thier somthing i need to setup? im going to begin creating a charecter for unreal2004 ive done this alittle at a friends house. but i want to know if thiers anytihing to setup with maya or u paint or anything before i start. please…	8 Last	JesterBox Feb 2005
Models -> directional sprites - methods It's probably not the best way, but this is how I do it. [img]http://www.planetgargoyle.com/spriteviews.jpg[/img] I split my viewports, try to give each one an equal zoom level and angle each view …	8 Last	hawken Feb 2005
HL2: setting up Ragdoll Is there a clear, reliable (tested) tutorial for setting up the ragdoll physics on an HL2 character model? If it is part of a 3DS Max pipeline, all the better. Some students I'm working with are havi…	10 Last	Rakile Feb 2005
The Nvidia Normal map Photoshop Filter???? Does anyone know of a tutorial that shows how to use this thing???	4 Last	moose Feb 2005