3DS Max: Camera Set-up for Rendering to Cubemap

paradoxical-pixel

I'm having trouble getting a standard 3DS Max camera to output cubemap images. I have set FOV to 90 and am using a 1:1 aspect ratio, but the resulting images do not marry-up.

I don't want to use the Reflect/Refract Map, so I would most appreciate advice directed toward using the set-up I have described.

I have done this sort of thing in Maya before without qualms. Is there something glaringly obvious that I've overlooked? Many thanks.

Eric Chadwick

They should match up. But you have to be precise. I think I have the six cameras saved off, I'll look for them.

It's much much easier to use Reflect/Refract though. Why don't you want to use that method?

Eric Chadwick

Here it is. You'll get an obsolete file warning when you load it, but you can ignore that. IIRC it uses Videopost to render the six views (which is horrendous btw, good luck).
http://www.ericchadwick.com/examples/files/cameras_six_for_rendering_cube_views.zip

paradoxical-pixel

Eric, I just want to express my gratitude for you not only helping me, but doing so by sharing your setup. I used a single camera, and animated it to simulate each face position; your approach is far more elegant. I am still clueless as to why my setup failed, but I suppose it no longer matters.

To answer your question: I wanted to avoid the Reflect/Refract map primarily because I'm rendering into 32-bit linear space and I've read on 3DTotal that it clamps values into a low dynamic-range.

Eric Chadwick

Ah, that's good to know, thanks! Adding this oddity to the wiki. http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/Cube_map