Nitrous is awful, alternative 3DS Max 2015 Viewport Shaders?

madmuffin

I need a viewport shader for Max that looks as good as the old Xoliul shader that unfortunately doesn't work in Max anymore. Nitrous is a pile of garbage by default and either I don't know to configure it or its just badly designed but it looks like trash on my model: 




As you can see, Nitrous is making all kinds of artifacting and pixelyness and uglyness, and on top of that it takes like 5 seconds after you move the mouse or rotate the model or do ANTHING at all for it to realize there is lights and that it should be displaying them. Even if I let Nitrous sit around and do nothing in order to sort itself out, it still has all these awful jagged lines all over my mesh that shouldn't exist.

What's a good alternative or what am I doing wrong here?

PolyHertz

Ntrous isn't a shader, its a viewport driver. You can also switch back to the legacy directX driver if you want.
As for shaders, Max2016 added the stingray shader which is PBR compatible, but I'm not sure about max2015...

madmuffin

I tried switching to legacy actually but apparently directx9 rendering is completely broken and xoliul wont work at all even if you install it. Sadly I have 2015 not 2016 so stingray isn't an option.

madmuffin

Maybe I'm using the wrong term with viewport shader, I just want to be able to see my viewport stuff with all its textures and lighting and everything as if it were in engine, but in 3dsmax, not something external like Marmoset.

PolyHertz

Max2015 has ShaderFX built in, you could use that.

almighty_gir

@PolyHertz man... have you tried out that stingray shader? holy shit it's horrid O_O

madmuffin

Ive never heard of ShaderFX before, Ill have to look into whatever it is.

PolyHertz

@almighty_gir I have, and indeed it's crap, but there's really not a lot of options ever since AD abandoned the DX drivers and switched to Nitrous. Sort of a 'beggars can't be choosers' situation atp. Afaik ShaderFX doesn't even support transparency properly in Max yet, so even if you decide to make your own shaders you're going to be really limited in what you can do.
Posted here about one of its issues that hopefully the ShaderFX guys will address: http://polycount.com/discussion/comment/2379869#Comment_2379869

almighty_gir

Yup, and Nitrous uses a reeeeally weird API for custom shaders too.

echofourpapa

ShaderFX should do everything you want.  In Max 2016 there's a new ShaderFX preset for Stingray PBR(be new Autodesk game engine), and Max 2015 ShaderFX has a Dota2 Surface shader preset as well.