preview using multi/sub-object materials MAX 7

BIOS

i'm skinning a mesh using a multi/sub-object material that has 3 textures associated with it. (using Max 7) i'd like to be able to see the textures when i'm adjusting the uvw mapping, but I can only see textures when i render. am i missing something obvious or is there a trick to get this to work? adjusting the maps and then rendering to see if the texture is lined up is getting to be a real drag.

Eric Chadwick

I think you're talking about how Max sucks when displaying different UV channels in the viewport, not different Mat IDs...

No fix for this, really. You can really only see a single UV channel at a time. So I switch between them, by only hitting Show End Result for the texture whose UV's I'm editing.

Also I often have to "remind" the model which UV it should be using, by going into its Sub-Object mode. This seems to force the display of the proper UV channel.

But if you;re just using a single UV channel, then you can simply turn on Show End Result for each sub-material. Works most of the time, except when it's a complex map type like Mix or Composite.

BIOS

i'm only using one uv channel so i'll give that a shot. thanks!

Ryno

Show Map in Viewport? It looks like a little checkerboard cube in the Material Editor. You will need to make sure that it is checked on for each sub-material.

BIOS

ryno....you just made my day. it's always the little things.

Eric Chadwick

Oops, yeah. Show Map not Show End... hehhehe. Thanks Ryno.

Ryno

No prob. Everyone was just getting ahead of the game a bit.

I swear, sometime I'll put up a collage tutorial of all the little stuff that gets missed by lots of artists. Show Map in Viewport, Autogrid, Ignore Backfacing, Show End Result, Resource Collector, Edit Poly Remove, Renderable Splines, etc., etc.

It's the silly little things that people miss that can make what should be an easy job into a total pain in the ass.