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3ds Max texture colour or gamma exposure bug in viewport

Asim7
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Asim7 polycounter lvl 8
I was texturing a model, when suddenly the texture quality in the viewport became really bad.

Here is an example

Inside the viewport: http://i.imgur.com/5rI45Qh.jpg

quick render: http://i.imgur.com/EhWV794.jpg

Notice how the dark brown parts on the window frame especially looks horribly :(
It has never looked that bad before, and i saw it change quality after i updated the texture.

I have no idea how to fix this, and i don't want to scratch my model completly :(

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  • Eric Chadwick
  • Asim7
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    Asim7 polycounter lvl 8

    I tried following the post, but i can't configure the settings, and trying different drivers didn't help either.

    It seems it only happens to jpg files, atleast for now. It looked fine at first, but then suddenly degraded to this quality. Not sure if it could happen to the png files aswell.

    Also it's only this file/model, if i start a new project and put a jpg texture it looks just fine.
  • Asim7
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    Asim7 polycounter lvl 8
    whoops double post, im new on this forum
  • Eric Chadwick
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    Well first thing, never use JPGs for textures. They're lossy, so you're degrading your images. Better to use PSD or TGA or TIFF. PNG support in Max isn't the best.
  • Asim7
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    Asim7 polycounter lvl 8
    Well first thing, never use JPGs for textures. They're lossy, so you're degrading your images. Better to use PSD or TGA or TIFF. PNG support in Max isn't the best.

    Thanks for the tip, i'll remmember that :)

    I just recently begand at a 3D artist school for gaming, so far i'v been working on a small Unity game.

    I know this isn't what this thread is about, but do you know if i should use PSD, TGA or TIFF files for game textures aswell?
  • Eric Chadwick
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    Use PSDs as your source files, to keep all the layers intact, for easier editing later. Fortunately, Unity reads PSDs really nicely.

    Some game engines have trouble reading alpha channels from PSDs. If so, then saving your PSDs out as TGAs is a good choice.

    Making those TGA files can be tedious though, since you are saving your textures constantly, so there are a bunch of Photoshop scripts to automate it... see http://wiki.polycount.com/wiki/PhotoshopTools#Export_Tools
  • Eric Chadwick
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    Oh, and you definitely need to save out TGAs if you are making multiple textures from one PSD.

    For example, many artists build the diffuse map, normal map, and specular map, etc. all inside one PSD. This makes it easier since various details can be shared.

    So then you need to split them out so the game engine can read them as distinct textures. Those export tools are really handy for this.
  • Asim7
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    Asim7 polycounter lvl 8
    Thanks alot!

    I guess i'll just stop using jpg's, and hopefully i won't get this problem anymore :)
  • Eric Chadwick
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    Ah, I couldn't see the problem before. There is some greenish banding on the window sill, right? This looks like a low-quality video card problem.

    What is your graphics card? If you're using a laptop, and you have both an integrated GPU (usually Intel) and a dedicated GPU (AMD or Nvidia) then you may need to force Max to use the dedicated GPU. The integrated GPU is usually too weak to handle 3D graphics properly, causing all kinds of errors.
  • Asim7
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    Asim7 polycounter lvl 8
    Ah, I couldn't see the problem before. There is some greenish banding on the window sill, right? This looks like a low-quality video card problem.

    What is your graphics card? If you're using a laptop, and you have both an integrated GPU (usually Intel) and a dedicated GPU (AMD or Nvidia) then you may need to force Max to use the dedicated GPU. The integrated GPU is usually too weak to handle 3D graphics properly, causing all kinds of errors.

    Sorry, i didn't see your message.

    Yes im using a laptop with both a integrated card and a Nvidia card, however i can't seem to change to my other gpu. I can't find anything besides the driver options where im using Nitrous Direct3D 11.

    I can't find the change graphic mode in the Autodesk files either.

    Im having this problem with both jpg, png and targa files now. :(
  • Asim7
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    Asim7 polycounter lvl 8
    Hmm, could this be related to changing bit size in photoshop?

    I tried changing from 16 to 8 bit on a texture, and the quality dropped. Not sure if it's the same problem though.
  • Eric Chadwick
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    OK, so then you need to force your laptop to use the Nvidia card when running 3ds Max. There are some instructions here. This is for AutoCAD but the same solution applies for 3ds Max.
    http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/AutoCAD-uses-the-wrong-graphics-card.html

    For me, the second link under See Also was all it took. I did not have to mess around in my BIOS.


    16bit to 8bit is a different issue.
  • Asim7
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    Asim7 polycounter lvl 8
    OK, so then you need to force your laptop to use the Nvidia card when running 3ds Max. There are some instructions here. This is for AutoCAD but the same solution applies for 3ds Max.
    http://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/autocad/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/AutoCAD-uses-the-wrong-graphics-card.html

    For me, the second link under See Also was all it took. I did not have to mess around in my BIOS.


    16bit to 8bit is a different issue.


    I already switched via the Nvidia control panel to the 3ds Max program, didn't help. Atleast not on the issue with the weird colours. But thanks for the help, i'll report back if i find a fix or something.

    However, for the time it seems to only happen when i change my texture bit size in photoshop and save over the same file max is using.
  • Eric Chadwick
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    Ah, OK. Then it looks like this is a Photoshop problem. I forgot that you changed the texture, and re-saved it.

    What is the option you use to change the bit depth... what is the exact name in the Photoshop interface of the buttons you press?
  • Asim7
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    Asim7 polycounter lvl 8
    Ah, OK. Then it looks like this is a Photoshop problem. I forgot that you changed the texture, and re-saved it.

    What is the option you use to change the bit depth... what is the exact name in the Photoshop interface of the buttons you press?

    Image > Mode > and then 8 Bits/Channel, 16 Bits/Channel or 32 Bits/Channel.
  • Eric Chadwick
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    Hmm weird.

    Does the texture look bad in Photoshop too? Or only in Max?

    Changing to 8bpc will cause banding sometimes, but in my experience only if the file has really subtle gradients. Normal maps can get this problem for example, because they often rely on subtle gradients. Or if you have a layer which is mostly transparent, with very subtle colors, then this can be banded when converted from 16bpc down to 8bpc.

    Take a good look at the layers you are using, and simplify the PSD. In general it's best to use as few layers as you can, don't over-complicate things.
  • Asim7
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    Asim7 polycounter lvl 8
    Hmm weird.

    Does the texture look bad in Photoshop too? Or only in Max?

    Changing to 8bpc will cause banding sometimes, but in my experience only if the file has really subtle gradients. Normal maps can get this problem for example, because they often rely on subtle gradients. Or if you have a layer which is mostly transparent, with very subtle colors, then this can be banded when converted from 16bpc down to 8bpc.

    Take a good look at the layers you are using, and simplify the PSD. In general it's best to use as few layers as you can, don't over-complicate things.


    Yea sometimes they will change in photoshop too, like colours will change. Im almost certain that is the problem, and if it is then im glad i atleast know how to deal with it now. Atleast it isn't a Max error :)
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