The shader is awesome but the preview of my textures in the material tab does not work. I also get this error. "-Runtime error: dotNet runtimexception: C:\Program Files\Autodesk]3ds Max 2010\scripts\XoliulShaderUI\images\temp\On_ice_mech_guard_normalmap.jpg"
I followed your instruction videos, the installation went good. I'm using Max2010 64bit and have the latest SP and the latest HotFix, btw do I need to download the previous HotFixes because I already have the latest one?
it's trying to write thumbnails in the Max script folder, but as non-admin you don't have access, creating these errors. That's also why you don't see them. Run Max as admin for now to avoid this.
Question 1:
It might just be me, or is it possible to have two differet xoliul-shaders in the material library? I have different objects in my scene and they have different diffuse, normal map e.t.c. is it possible for me to have them visible at the same time with different maps on i xoliulshader 2?
Question 2:
Are there any specific settings that I want to change in Max viewport to get a better render if I want to take screenshots of the scene?
What are those and is it just to take a screenshot and paste in Photoshop, or how do you do?
Question 3:
How do I make the lightning in the scene? Can I have more than three lights?
Ikokane: Xoliul and Nyasutro worked hard on this and gave it away for free. Xoliul has asked a few times already in this very thread that you please (pretty please with a cherry on top) read the manual before you bother him with questions, and I do believe at least two of your questions could be answered by doing so. Did you first consult the faq and manual?
ikonane, it sounds like you didn't even try using the shader, all of it is pretty straight forward or extremely obvious. If not, it's in the help, like MightyPea said.
Well I have used it for a couple of weeks now and I know how to use lights but sometimes I get strange artifacts like the mesh getting black and normal map displacements and crashes. So I thought that I might do something wrong.
The same thing happens when I try to merge objects into the scene and apply a new xol-shader on that object.
Settings I have no idea how to fix, if there is any. But I will read the help.
Well I have used it for a couple of weeks now and I know how to use lights but sometimes I get strange artifacts like the mesh getting black and normal map displacements and crashes. So I thought that I might do something wrong.
The same thing happens when I try to merge objects into the scene and apply a new xol-shader on that object.
Settings I have no idea how to fix, if there is any. But I will read the help.
And MP, I am very grateful for the shader indeed.
If it's Max 2012, abandon all hope. It's very flimsy. If you want to use X-Shader in mint conditions, use 2011.
Hmm dunno about 2012, I use it at home and at work. No problems once I got admin access to the Max directory. Same for a few other colleagues here. It does "go black" when you have an object with a projection modifier and shaded cage on it using the shader, but that's all I can think of (fixed by temporarily switching off hardware shading).
lloyd: old versions work in Maya, or you can use Kodde or Leocov's shaders? OR you could even just go back to Max for the final presentation once you're done in Maya, since Max is better for realtime presentations.
I seem to have a problem with Xoliul 2 on my PC. Im sure it worked before, it has been a few weeks since I used it though. The shader installs fine, no problems there. As Xoliul advised me, I have to run the script manually rather than drag and drop. Not sure if that is relevant to my problem or not.
When I try to load any texture in any material slot within the Shader I get this error message:
MAXScript Rollout Handler Exception
--Runtime error: doNet runtime exception: C: \Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2010\scripts\XoliulShaderUI\temp\On_hair2.jpg
The file I was trying to load at the time was hair2.tga. The white notepad esk MAXScipt window pops up aswell.
The texture does seem to appear on the mesh in the viewport. However the Xoliul icon does not change to show your texture. Changing the settings on the material does not have any effect, apply Enable Opacity Levels or change the spec strength so I can only assume its not actually loading the texture.
My guess would be that the shader(or max) doesn´t have enough permissions to write into this folder.
I think it tries to create temporary thumbnails and fails to do so and stops execution completely.
Try starting it as administrator and report back
Thank you SpeCter / Xoliul, that has fixed it. Always the simplest things
One further question please. Transparencies seem to be doing something funky. I get this when an 'enabled alpha channel' poly is ontop of a non enabled alpha poly.
I dont seem to get this problem at work, viewport transparencies on none, same settings etc. Might this be a driver problem with my home pc?
edit - in another scene of mine it all appears to be working. Very strange but never mind. Thanks guys!
Sevv, read the section on transparency in the help. It's dependant on draw order, so if you create the bottom poly after the top one, it works.
Helldiver: I'm sorry, but our minimum spec is Max 2009, 2008 might work, but we just can't put effort into supporting a 6-7 year old product that has been completely phased out, there would be a lot of rewriting for it, which is just not worth it. The older, non Ui versions will probably still work, although I don't think many people have even tried using it with Max 8... You might just wanna upgrade
Hello,I got that problem.For that branch texture I'm using an alpha layer for transparency(32-bit .tga).But texture plane doesn't shows up the alpha mapped plane underneath.I'm triying to model a tree.There's a clipping effect that I don't want.The picture tells everything,thanks.
Just to keep you guys updated. I am cleaning up the code a lot. This will also solve most of the problems and i am maybe going to implement some small features for supporting new users.
Progress is slow because i have been bussy with work + birthday + ...
So be patient
Please correct me if i'm wrong... but one feature I really found useful in 1.6 that I have yet to find in 2.0 is file names.
In 1.6 it showed you in text form the path and file name of the texture you are currently using in any given material slot. I sometimes work initially in a less than tidy manner renaming files quickly and making small changes to test things out. Knowing which texture i'm actually using by reading the file name is very helpful. Especially when the changes are only very subtle and you cant make them out on a small image icon.
Also, one other thing. How do you empty a material slot once you have assigned a file to it? I couldn't figure that out in 1.6 either. You can turn that material off but not, well for me it seems, clear it. Am I being dumb?
Regarding the material. Yes I did know about that thanks... but that doesn't clear the material slot, just disable it. Which is what I was talking about. I know its not a big thing but its something I would like, I like to have tidy shaders
I agree with Sevv, the ability to clear a slot would be great, for two reasons .. clearing the scene of unused textures and to appease the OCD within us all.
Dragging and copy/Instance textures to other slots would also be useful, or perhaps make the slate editor view easier on the eyes when linking textures?
Presets: Can we have the ability to update existing presets. There have been occasions where I have saved a preset that I later would like to update rather than save a new one each time.
Currently clicking create preset opens the dialog box, but you have to click within to start typing. Previously I have switched several views, created a camera and toggled snap verts before I've realized that i'm not typing the preset name
Does the preset system also transfer Ambient and Gradient settings?
I have been having some stability issues with my materials and their presets.
The materials appear fine when i load the scene up, but opening the material editor scrambles some of the material map slots, loading phantom textures where none exist and resetting some values. Occasionally it also activates different lights and forgets which light in which slot. This is within a max2012 SP2 scene with several XoliulShaders so I'm aware I'm pushing things quite far. Recreating the entire material from scratch does make things better, but thats not the point.
Is it possible to expose gloss values greater than 200? The highlights from the omni lights in my characters eyes are too large and I would like to make them smaller.
Cool, these are some great tips guys! Love to hear them!
The texture slot clearing is something certain people seem to be keen on, even though technically, it doesn't matter How would you feel about doing it this way: right click a slot, but cancel out of the file pick dialog = slot cleared ? It's two clicks instead of one, but I personally would prefer not to add another button for it.
Drag and Drop is a great idea, I've recently figured out how to do this at work, so we'll try to get that in!
Presets updating: I haven't tried, but doesn't it just overwrite if you give it the same filename as an existing one ? If not, we can get that in there easily.
Presets dialog focus: yeah it bothers me too, I think I recently figured out how to do this, if not we should be able to do it with the UI rewrite.
Presets should save everything really, so ambient and gradient as well, though there might be a bug where it doesn't.
Stability: hard to comment without exact info, but this will surely be looked at when we work on things.
Gloss values: you're not the first to ask, so we'll do ths. I have to warn you though, going that high in gloss for a single area of your texture is not the best idea if you don't have a separate material for the eyes, otherwise you'll have to compress the range for the rest of your texture way too much.
No way of telling, we're both working now, we released the shader before we started our new jobs so things are slower now. Don't count on it to be done before the end of your project. I'd hope it's not fundamentally broken for you, and these new features are either improvements or nice 2 have things ?
I can appreciate that.. Working full time and managing your own projects is really tough. Especially if you want some kind of life inbetween.
The only immediate improvement that would have been nice is the gloss value for my seperate eye shader. Whilst I can paint that in I was hoping to be able to say that the shots were 100% XoliulShader. But whats a painted highlight between friends
All being well I'll post some WIP shots tomorrow and you can see what all the fuss is about.
I have an interesting issue..
The conditions are specific so I'll try to be as through as possible.
I have an unwrapped mesh with 3 UVW channels collapsed down to an Editable Poly. I stick a UVWunwrap modifier on it, go to edit the UVWs, then collapse it back down to an Editable Poly. I click Hold/yes on the dialogue box.....and the viewport crashes.
If I just click yes, it doesn't happen. If I don't edit the UVWs (that is, if I just add the modifier and collapse it without hitting edit), it doesn't happen. I can still select objects in the scene, and access all the editing tools, but the viewport stays frozen. Redraw all viewports does nothing. Opening a new file clears out the frozen viewport, but then it just stays empty.
This only happened on objects with the shader on it. This could be an isolated indecent thing where my video drivers are being weird, but just thought I'd let you know.
Also, is there a way for objects with Xoliul on them to receive lighting from the scene other than the three point lights that you can select? I have a scene at night that requires way more than just 3 lights.
se7ered, that sounds like some crazy obscure Max bug we can't do much about...
Nore than 3 lights: nope, if you want to do an environment this complex, just go for UDK. Alternatively, a good cubemap can get you closer to your goal than 3 omni's.
Tried the new X2 Shader today - awesome upgrade! I was just wondering though if it'd be possible to do Detail Normal maps (tiling, high frequency normal maps) or if that's not possible at all?
I will talk about that the normal strength + detail map with Laurens
Cheers for the comments
btw: Does someone uses the browse button next to quickload?
Thanks for the awesome work!
Normal map strength and a detail map slot would be really appreciated.
If its possible, a second diffuse with the possibility for a second UV-set would be really nice to...
Hey guys, a quick word, but I'll have to dissapoint you a bit: adding more texture slots, more UV channels is something unlikely to happen. It's always been like that, but with Shader model 3 I'm just limited in texture slots and especially in boolean switches (use this map: yes or no), right now adding any sort of new feature is a battle to optimize the boolean register usage.
If Autodesk decides to get proper Shader Model 4 or 5 support and a better, faster compiler in there then it's all fine and I can add more, but with nitrous I don't know if they even deem that necessary. I'm really confined by what Autodesk allows/enables.
Other options would be:
-Have a separate, sort of "environment shader", with tiling and detail map options, but dropping things like reflections, gradient. Making the current one more suited for hero props/characters
-Create some sort of modular system that allows you to build/compile the shader by enabling certain options. Like you have 5 slots for features and 8 possible things to drop in there.
Both are a lot of work and probably not going to happen anytime soon, if ever...
(I like option2 a lot though!)
So I read through all of these pages to check to make sure someone else didn't already ask this. (Sorry if I missed it) But what would cause the 'Color Diffuse Option' to only affect part of my model?
No, that's a slight change in the way normals are calculated to make surre they work with qualified normals. You can try (if Qualified normals work for you, that is) and you'll see that 1.5 doesn't play nice with them. 2.0 is the correct way, and I must say it looks better in your screens also.
Might also be because your texture contains unnormalized vectors, try normalizing it and seeing if there's still a difference. (again, normalizing it in shader is the better thing to do)
Thanks Xoliul that was it. I never put an alpha there, intentionally, so I guess that is what was throwing me off. I had just finished up my bakes so I hadn't messed with the texture in PS yet.
Replies
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=85372
The shader is awesome but the preview of my textures in the material tab does not work. I also get this error. "-Runtime error: dotNet runtimexception: C:\Program Files\Autodesk]3ds Max 2010\scripts\XoliulShaderUI\images\temp\On_ice_mech_guard_normalmap.jpg"
I followed your instruction videos, the installation went good. I'm using Max2010 64bit and have the latest SP and the latest HotFix, btw do I need to download the previous HotFixes because I already have the latest one?
Thanks!
it's trying to write thumbnails in the Max script folder, but as non-admin you don't have access, creating these errors. That's also why you don't see them. Run Max as admin for now to avoid this.
Congrats Xoliul, and your team.
It might just be me, or is it possible to have two differet xoliul-shaders in the material library? I have different objects in my scene and they have different diffuse, normal map e.t.c. is it possible for me to have them visible at the same time with different maps on i xoliulshader 2?
Question 2:
Are there any specific settings that I want to change in Max viewport to get a better render if I want to take screenshots of the scene?
What are those and is it just to take a screenshot and paste in Photoshop, or how do you do?
Question 3:
How do I make the lightning in the scene? Can I have more than three lights?
Thanks!
The same thing happens when I try to merge objects into the scene and apply a new xol-shader on that object.
Settings I have no idea how to fix, if there is any. But I will read the help.
And MP, I am very grateful for the shader indeed.
If it's Max 2012, abandon all hope. It's very flimsy. If you want to use X-Shader in mint conditions, use 2011.
The older version of X-shader created for Maya (pre 2.0) should still work.
lloyd: old versions work in Maya, or you can use Kodde or Leocov's shaders? OR you could even just go back to Max for the final presentation once you're done in Maya, since Max is better for realtime presentations.
When I try to load any texture in any material slot within the Shader I get this error message:
MAXScript Rollout Handler Exception
--Runtime error: doNet runtime exception: C: \Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2010\scripts\XoliulShaderUI\temp\On_hair2.jpg
The file I was trying to load at the time was hair2.tga. The white notepad esk MAXScipt window pops up aswell.
The texture does seem to appear on the mesh in the viewport. However the Xoliul icon does not change to show your texture. Changing the settings on the material does not have any effect, apply Enable Opacity Levels or change the spec strength so I can only assume its not actually loading the texture.
Any help would be appreciated.
I think it tries to create temporary thumbnails and fails to do so and stops execution completely.
Try starting it as administrator and report back
Xoliul, any hope for a 3DS Max 8 version of the shader? I know it may be much to ask since I'm sure no one uses that version around here anymore...
I'd thank you a million times!
One further question please. Transparencies seem to be doing something funky. I get this when an 'enabled alpha channel' poly is ontop of a non enabled alpha poly.
I dont seem to get this problem at work, viewport transparencies on none, same settings etc. Might this be a driver problem with my home pc?
edit - in another scene of mine it all appears to be working. Very strange but never mind. Thanks guys!
Helldiver: I'm sorry, but our minimum spec is Max 2009, 2008 might work, but we just can't put effort into supporting a 6-7 year old product that has been completely phased out, there would be a lot of rewriting for it, which is just not worth it. The older, non Ui versions will probably still work, although I don't think many people have even tried using it with Max 8... You might just wanna upgrade
Many Thanks
Progress is slow because i have been bussy with work + birthday + ...
So be patient
More feedback + requests are always welcome.
Btw: what do you think about the usability ?
In 1.6 it showed you in text form the path and file name of the texture you are currently using in any given material slot. I sometimes work initially in a less than tidy manner
Also, one other thing. How do you empty a material slot once you have assigned a file to it? I couldn't figure that out in 1.6 either. You can turn that material off but not, well for me it seems, clear it. Am I being dumb?
You can disable/enable the slot by Left Mouse clicking on it.
Regarding the material. Yes I did know about that thanks... but that doesn't clear the material slot, just disable it. Which is what I was talking about. I know its not a big thing
Dragging and copy/Instance textures to other slots would also be useful, or perhaps make the slate editor view easier on the eyes when linking textures?
Presets: Can we have the ability to update existing presets. There have been occasions where I have saved a preset that I later would like to update rather than save a new one each time.
Currently clicking create preset opens the dialog box, but you have to click within to start typing. Previously I have switched several views, created a camera and toggled snap verts before I've realized that i'm not typing the preset name
Does the preset system also transfer Ambient and Gradient settings?
I have been having some stability issues with my materials and their presets.
The materials appear fine when i load the scene up, but opening the material editor scrambles some of the material map slots, loading phantom textures where none exist and resetting some values. Occasionally it also activates different lights and forgets which light in which slot. This is within a max2012 SP2 scene with several XoliulShaders so I'm aware I'm pushing things quite far. Recreating the entire material from scratch does make things better, but thats not the point.
Is it possible to expose gloss values greater than 200? The highlights from the omni lights in my characters eyes are too large and I would like to make them smaller.
thanks
The texture slot clearing is something certain people seem to be keen on, even though technically, it doesn't matter
Drag and Drop is a great idea, I've recently figured out how to do this at work, so we'll try to get that in!
Presets updating: I haven't tried, but doesn't it just overwrite if you give it the same filename as an existing one ? If not, we can get that in there easily.
Presets dialog focus: yeah it bothers me too, I think I recently figured out how to do this, if not we should be able to do it with the UI rewrite.
Presets should save everything really, so ambient and gradient as well, though there might be a bug where it doesn't.
Stability: hard to comment without exact info, but this will surely be looked at when we work on things.
Gloss values: you're not the first to ask, so we'll do ths. I have to warn you though, going that high in gloss for a single area of your texture is not the best idea if you don't have a separate material for the eyes, otherwise you'll have to compress the range for the rest of your texture way too much.
The only immediate improvement that would have been nice is the gloss value for my seperate eye shader. Whilst I can paint that in I was hoping to be able to say that the shots were 100% XoliulShader. But whats a painted highlight between friends
All being well I'll post some WIP shots tomorrow and you can see what all the fuss is about.
And November is a really busy month ...
I will keep you guys updated! Thanks for the feedback. This is what we need
http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1463401#post1463401
Crits are welcome and I'll keep an eye out for the next shader update
The conditions are specific so I'll try to be as through as possible.
I have an unwrapped mesh with 3 UVW channels collapsed down to an Editable Poly. I stick a UVWunwrap modifier on it, go to edit the UVWs, then collapse it back down to an Editable Poly. I click Hold/yes on the dialogue box.....and the viewport crashes.
If I just click yes, it doesn't happen. If I don't edit the UVWs (that is, if I just add the modifier and collapse it without hitting edit), it doesn't happen. I can still select objects in the scene, and access all the editing tools, but the viewport stays frozen. Redraw all viewports does nothing. Opening a new file clears out the frozen viewport, but then it just stays empty.
This only happened on objects with the shader on it. This could be an isolated indecent thing where my video drivers are being weird, but just thought I'd let you know.
Also, is there a way for objects with Xoliul on them to receive lighting from the scene other than the three point lights that you can select? I have a scene at night that requires way more than just 3 lights.
Nore than 3 lights: nope, if you want to do an environment this complex, just go for UDK. Alternatively, a good cubemap can get you closer to your goal than 3 omni's.
Otherwise, amazing job as always, Xoliul!
my issue is with normals in 1.5 and 2, did you change something as they seem to display differently.
The top section is 2 and the bottom is 1.5, both are the same normal map.
have i dun goofed?
Cheers for the comments
btw: Does someone uses the browse button next to quickload?
Thanks for the awesome work!
Normal map strength and a detail map slot would be really appreciated.
If its possible, a second diffuse with the possibility for a second UV-set would be really nice to...
If Autodesk decides to get proper Shader Model 4 or 5 support and a better, faster compiler in there then it's all fine and I can add more, but with nitrous I don't know if they even deem that necessary. I'm really confined by what Autodesk allows/enables.
Other options would be:
-Have a separate, sort of "environment shader", with tiling and detail map options, but dropping things like reflections, gradient. Making the current one more suited for hero props/characters
-Create some sort of modular system that allows you to build/compile the shader by enabling certain options. Like you have 5 slots for features and 8 possible things to drop in there.
Both are a lot of work and probably not going to happen anytime soon, if ever...
(I like option2 a lot though!)
It's in the help: http://www.xoliulshader.com/help/scr/Diffuse.htm
Might also be because your texture contains unnormalized vectors, try normalizing it and seeing if there's still a difference. (again, normalizing it in shader is the better thing to do)