Material Help

zebus_0

Trying to transition from Lightwave to Max and it's going extremely painfully. I'm working on this tutorial:
http://www.free3dtutorials.com/yellow-house-part-2.php

I just do not understand what is going on with applying the material to the objects.
The model I'm working on is attached to this post, I'm trying to apply the material being described under the leaf part to the house's walls and I am just not getting it. The tutorial is bare bones so that's part of it, I just don't understand how to apply it. I'm using various bitmaps as the diffuse through a blend and then putting them on the object but they need to be resized and adjusted. The second thumbnail is the really ugly result, not even close to what the author is describing. It's completely different to what I'm used to. Help?

zebus_0

I have the material set up the way that the tutorial has them (I think) it's using a blend going into a blend. There are two materials the wall, brick under it going into the 1 slot, and then a moss material it going into #2. There's a mask on the mask slot for the moss material's opacity. I need to get it stretched across the wall, I know the coordinates need adjusted but I'm not sure how to do that. In lightwave I textures are sort of 'auto' projected with different projections then you can adjusted tiling if necessary.

GragGunslinger

I think I get what your problem is, You need to "unwrap" the models before you can apply the textures to the model.

This is a good series of Tutorials to help you learn how to Unwrap something.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaS1Rj6ah4U"]Unwrap UVW modifier in 3DS Max Part 01 - YouTube[/ame]

zebus_0

Shouldn't it be different since I'm not applying a mapped out texture? It is a jpeg but from what I can gather from the tutorial is that instead of just using one image, the guy is using several to create a layered look. Bricks under the plaster, moss on top, so forth. I guess that shouldn't matter, but I thought that making a UV for it would be if I had a pre-planned image ready for it. Two images on this post, I'm getting a better result by using a UVW map and box mapping it, but there's too much deformation on the image (which I imagine that you want me to solve by using unwrap uvw, I'm just trying to clarify). The next is the texture setup I have all combined into one material, for the sake of trying to figure this out I'm just working with the wall image/bump only at the moment. Is there no way to get the uvw to tile? I can scale down the map but then it just has the image scaled down and the rest back to grey. I know this is very beginner type questions, I just am having a really hard time wrapping my head around the system. It just seems like there should be a better way or at least a more efficient way to do it.

zebus_0

I'm getting a lot closer now using the UVW map. I think I about have it figure out. I'm using art and design mental ray materials instead and for some reason they tile when I mess with the map but standards didn't? Now I have a new problem though. If I tile the wall and the moss textures the mask I have also tiles and screws it up. Is there a way I can control them independently of the UVW map? This is just with it fit as a box map. It works, but the texture is a bit too big for that.

.Wiki

For this kind of object theres no need for the uvw unwrap modifier. Just use a UVW Map modifier and set it to "cubic". Adjust the cage and you´ll get a flawless texture.
If you dont want a texture to be tiled, just tick "off" the "U" and "V" tiling in the texture settings.
You can also apply a UV Map for every texture. For this you need to create a seperate UV Channel

zebus_0

That's what I assumed, but if you look at the last pic what I'm doing is setting up a blend with two arch and design materials going into it. I want the moss one (it's a mask so it's only showing on the bottom part there) to be as it is, but I want the stucco/wall texture to be tiled because it's too large. Is that something that can be adjusted within the materials, in the uvw map, or like you said do I need make multiple uv channels/how do I make multiple uv channels?

zebus_0

Responding to myself/you and making my question more specific. I figured out that I can have multiple uvw maps via uv channels and adjust the maps (and thus, channels) independent of one another but it seems like that can only work if the materials in question are separate from each other. What if I'm using a blend to make the material a multi-layered one?

theStudent

Hi there!
In your “slate editor > standard > composite” you can achieve the results you’re looking for much easier, imho. You just plug that composite node into the diffuse of your arch & design material.
This allows you to plug in several textures and layer them. You can also create masks per texture if need be and you have blend modes and opacities for each layer. Lastly you can place them on several different uv channels if needed.
Hopefully that makes sense. If not, let me know and I’ll put something together real quick.

zebus_0

It makes sense but I still can't get it to work. Attached more images for how I have it set up right now. I assume that one material needs to be the base on the composite because it won't let me delete it so I put the wall texture in that spot. The mask for the moss/grunge is working, but it's also masking out the wall texture underneath it.

theStudent

Hopefully this helps!

zebus_0

I FINALLY figured this out. Basically trial and error. I ended up using blends like the guy in the tutorial. I just said screw it and started messing around with layers on a cube until I got it right.
Basically I used a blend into a blend like I was up further in the thread, and then used the built-in mask on the blend to layer the texture, then again to layer over the layers. I am using multiple UVW Maps though for every layer so that they can be sized independently of one another so the wall looks a bit better, though the masks for the moss/brick didn't need to be messed with.
It seems like it's pretty unwieldy, but it works.

zebus_0

So it's done for now. Needs refinement, I'm not sure about the texture on the roof tiles. Doesn't look very good I don't think. Also re-thinking a couple others. I obviously need to learn to light scenes and learn how to do normals because have zero clue on either of those in Max.