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Tech Artist - What are you working on: FOREVER Edition!

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  • radiancef0rge
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    radiancef0rge ngon master
    McGreed said:
    Are you guys still using Notepad++ when working with scripts, especially maxscript? Was going to get back into scripting, and read in another thread (which I can't for the life of me remember where it was) that some people recommened some other editors.
    Sublime or Atom
  • McGreed
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    McGreed polycounter lvl 16
    radiancef0rge said:
    Sublime or Atom
    I was looking into Sublime, but wasn't sure if it had syntax for maxscript, so far it looks like I have to do a bit of fiddling to get it, as I did with Notepad++.
  • radiancef0rge
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    radiancef0rge ngon master
    McGreed said:
    radiancef0rge said:
    Sublime or Atom
    I was looking into Sublime, but wasn't sure if it had syntax for maxscript, so far it looks like I have to do a bit of fiddling to get it, as I did with Notepad++.
    The nice thing about sublime and atom is they are great with 3rd party plguins, for example here is a maxscript package that can be installed with the package manager inside sublime
    https://github.com/cb109/sublime3dsmax
    I have not used it myself however. 
  • Hatred
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    Hatred polycounter lvl 20
    Post RBD Sim Cleanup Tool - HOUDINI (Optimization)

    This video demonstrates the purpose and effectiveness of the tool made on cleaning RBD Destruction Simulations (Houdini) to be used in Game Engines. In this case, I am targeting Unreal Engine. Check out the video and let me know what you think! :)

    PS: This is my first post on polycount ever!


    interesting, I would love to use it at my project, have you put this node somewhere?
    [edit] apart from the very bad noise very cool idea. 
  • kio
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    kio polycounter lvl 17
    McGreed ive been working with sublime3dsmax for over two years now - it works pretty much as advertised :)

  • McGreed
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    McGreed polycounter lvl 16
    @radiancef0rge, @kio Cheers, I got it working at home now, seem to work fine. :)
  • kritskiy
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    kritskiy polycounter lvl 10
    Gamut thief in the coming Palettator update

  • Aran Anderson
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    Aran Anderson polycounter lvl 14
    Started writing a Sprite Sheet generator for Photoshop:
    - Specify the sheet size
    - Add in guides
    - Can separate into layers / flatten layers
    - Can reverse the frame order

    Still working on a preview window and ability to delete x frame or repeat x frame.

  • romasm
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    romasm polycounter lvl 3
    Hello all! 
    I'm creating my own real-time rendering software. And here is some refractions through rough surfaces in WIP state.
  • DeepSpaceBanana
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    DeepSpaceBanana polycounter
    Spent some time during lunch to make this candle flame material, no textures only UV manipulation.
    Edit: Updated Images
    without noise


    with noise


    material setup:

  • kritskiy
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    kritskiy polycounter lvl 10
    The last update before release: Gradient Map Generator from active document/selection in Palettator:

  • cptSwing
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    cptSwing polycounter lvl 13
  • TooLzor
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    TooLzor polycounter lvl 10
    Started writing a Sprite Sheet generator for Photoshop:
    - Specify the sheet size
    - Add in guides
    - Can separate into layers / flatten layers
    - Can reverse the frame order

    Still working on a preview window and ability to delete x frame or repeat x frame.

    Neat to see someone else doing that too. I made one that does it pretty fast (minus guides at the moment, but that's a pretty neat idea)
  • haiddasalami
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    haiddasalami polycounter lvl 16
    McGreed said:
    radiancef0rge said:
    Sublime or Atom
    I was looking into Sublime, but wasn't sure if it had syntax for maxscript, so far it looks like I have to do a bit of fiddling to get it, as I did with Notepad++.
    @McGreed Bit late to the party but you just need the API file and I think there was a syntax too. Ill post it up if you want

    Never mind missed your follow up post. 
  • JonL
    Hello,
    I would like to present you my tool that allow to use Substance Batchtools easier.
    It is actually in beta test at the company I work for.

    The tool have four main tabs.
    The first one allow to create Sbs files based on Substance Painter maps.
    The second one to compile Sbs files to Sbsar.
    The Decimator is a test who actually use the Simplygon API (C++), I previously used Meshlab server, but Simplygon is more powerful.
    and the settings allows to configure Substance dependencies, alias and some important paths.







  • fire67
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    fire67 polycounter lvl 8
    Unity shader based on Inigo Quilez nice method which breaks tiling repetition. Textures from Game Textures.


  • Obscura
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    Obscura grand marshal polycounter
    ^ I should give this a try in Unreal...
  • radiancef0rge
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    radiancef0rge ngon master
    Nice can you post the reference?
  • fire67
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    fire67 polycounter lvl 8
    Of course, everything is well explained here : http://www.iquilezles.org/www/articles/texturerepetition/texturerepetition.htm
    But this is a heavy effect and this could be optimized.
  • Jakob Gavelli
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    Jakob Gavelli interpolator
    Played around with the not-so-new-anymore trace to UV functionality in Unreal.
  • Obscura
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    Obscura grand marshal polycounter
    So about the tiling function, it turned out that this is kinda expensive. Also you would probably want method 2. And then I got stuck because I wasnt able to figure out whats that hash4... is that like appending 2 vector 2s into a vector 4? 

    Still, I'm not really sure if this is suitable for games yet.

    Problems continues if you want to do this with the normals. it gets more and more expensive.
  • hannes d
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    hannes d polycounter lvl 12
    i wonder if its possible to do the blending on the uv and then read the texture only once with the blended UV
    I managed to do a basic version of this in a triplanar shader however it doesn't hold up as soon as you try to blend between 2 directions. since blending uvs just stretches and tiles the texture weirdly
  • Overmind5000
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    Overmind5000 polycounter lvl 11
    After a couple days of research, experimentation, and navigating a spaghetti network, I got this post-effect result for Cel-shading. (Mind the missing UE4 logo. I was bored and slapped the Pepsi logo to it, and I didn't want to fix the material.



    I might throw in a CustomDepth mask filter for if one wants the effect isolated on characters only or something.
  • 0xffff
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    0xffff polycounter lvl 3
    fire67 said:
    Of course, everything is well explained here : http://www.iquilezles.org/www/articles/texturerepetition/texturerepetition.htm
    But this is a heavy effect and this could be optimized.
    "Of course, the drawback is the algorith samples the texture 9 times"

    ...

    So in other words probably not even worth considering for use in most actual games then.
  • fire67
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    fire67 polycounter lvl 8
    Yeah this is an expensive method but worth to know. There is an optimized version with less samples here are some examples : https://twitter.com/blackfirestu/status/843822558684286976 (the last column is the optimized versions).

  • woliver
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    woliver polycounter lvl 11
    Fansub said:

    Recreated Seneca Menard's Quick Pipe in Maya for work 

    It's actually three scripts : the first one creates the pipe,second one allows in-viewport attribute editing to change the thickness,divisions and caps toggle.The third one cleans everything left behind the operation.


    Hey Fansub. Your script is really nice and very usefull in maya since its very tedius to make pipes. I decided to try it myself and here is what I came up with. 


    Not as fast as yours but this is the basic idea (:

  • Fansub
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    Fansub sublime tool
    Nice stuff Woliver ! :D doing these type of small scripts in Maya is so much fun <3

    Haven't posted for a loooooong time in here, so here's some UI stuff i did a few months ago for my ADN Modeler Tools plugin.


  • woliver
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    woliver polycounter lvl 11
    Nice Fansub ! I guess you are working with pyqt, right? I got a question about the pipe tool. How you modifiy the different attributes with one dargAttrContext. I gived a try and did some test but I can modify one attribute or varius attributes at the same time. Im kinda lost about how to procede. For now I have to click on the attributes I added to the pipe mesh for the thickness and subdivisions and drag. Some help would be very appreciated :#
  • Fansub
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    Fansub sublime tool
    Nice Fansub ! I guess you are working with pyqt, right?
    Thanks ! this one was all MEL, but tried to give it a more sophisticated look by playing with icons and colors.

    How you modify the different attributes with one dargAttrContext ?
    I generally have a procedure that gives me a toggle control when given an array of attributes. Here's how i do it most of the time. Bear with me if the explanation is a bit simple/obvious ^^'

    Here's the how it's done part :


    - First, i have two methods to create shuffle between attributes : the first method uses a global int variable, and the second one uses the name of the attributes in the array. In this example i'm gonna use the first method.

    - So our array ($AttributeArray) contains three attributes, the radius, height and subdivision axis of a cylinder.

    - We create a global int variable called $AttributeShuffle.

    - The first thing we need to do is create a dragAttr context. We can do that with the following code :

    if ( ` dragAttrContext -exists "WoliverDragCtx" `) { dragAttrContext -reset; }

    else { dragAttrContext WoliverDragCtx; }

    - Next, we hook up the context we just created to the first attribute from our array. The index we give to the array is the global int we previously created.

    dragAttrContext -edit
      -connectTo ( $polyCylinder + "." + $AttributeArray[$AttributeShuffle] )
      FWoliverDragCtx;

    - Finally, we set the current context to our dragAttrContext (WoliverDragCtx).
    setToolTo FastCTRLDrag;
    - Now, this is great but what if our global int value reached a number that is beyond the size of our array ? this is where a quick if/else kicks in ! The following code is generally put at the top of what we just did, just so it checks the value first before doing anything else.

    if ((` attributeExists $AttributeArray[$AttributeShuffle$polyCylinder `) == 0) {
    $FCCTRLShuffle = 0;
    }

    - For some cool visual feedback we can add an inViewMessage that pops up with the name of the attribute.


    string $Outputmsg = ("Current Attribute : " + $AttributeArray[$AttributeShuffle] );

    inViewMessage -amg ("<p style=\"color:#4cbedf;\"> " + $Outputmsg + " </p> ") -dk -pos topCenter -fade ;

    print $Outputmsg; // This print is just to give us both an inViewMessage and a small print, too :-)

    Once we're done we then increase the $AttributeShuffle int value by one. This will give use the next attribute in the array each time you run the code.

    $AttributeShuffle = $AttributeShuffle + 1;

    And this one is a procedure that shuffles your attributes when given an attribute array and a string for the object's name.

    First, this small snippet will create an attribute array, and the second one is just the polyCylinder node.

    <code>polyCylinder = "polyCylinder2"; // This is the name of the polyCylinder node.
    string $AttributeArray[] = {"height","radius","subdivisionsAxis", "subdivisionsHeight"};<br><br>string $

    We can then run the following line of code to create the shuffle :

    <code><code>polyCylinder);ShuffleAttributes($AttributeArray, $

    Finally, here's the procedure :

    global proc ShuffleAttributes(string $AttrsArray[], string $AttrsNode) {<br><br>global int $AttributeShuffle;<br><br>if ((` attributeExists $AttrsArray[$AttributeShuffle] $AttrsNode `) == 0) {<br>$AttributeShuffle = 0;<br>}<br><br>if ( ` dragAttrContext -exists "WoliverDragCtx" `) { dragAttrContext -reset; }<br><br>else { dragAttrContext WoliverDragCtx; }<br><br>dragAttrContext -edit<br>  -connectTo ( $AttrsNode + "." + $AttrsArray[$AttributeShuffle] )<br>  WoliverDragCtx;<br><br>setToolTo WoliverDragCtx;<br><br>string $Outputmsg = ("Current Attribute : " + $AttrsArray[$AttributeShuffle] );<br><br>inViewMessage -amg ("<p style=\"color:#4cbedf;\"> " + $Outputmsg + " </p> ") -dk -pos topCenter -fade ;<br><br>print $Outputmsg; // This print is just to give you an inViewMessage and a small print, too :-)<br><br>$AttributeShuffle = $AttributeShuffle + 1;<br><br>}


    This ended up being a long post hahaha, hope it helps y'all  ! :)

  • fire67
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    fire67 polycounter lvl 8
    Here is the full comparison for all tiling breakers, the noise texture based is really awesome.
    Here is the chart : https://twitter.com/blackfirestu/status/847789194625908738


  • Dickie
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    Dickie polycounter lvl 9
    @fire67 that noise texture method is very tempting for terrain

    Currently working on Wind Waker style blob lights to some success


    Shader + Problems I'm facing in this thread:
    http://polycount.com/discussion/185838/wind-waker-style-firefly-lights/
  • fire67
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    fire67 polycounter lvl 8
    Yeah it's worth trying in a production configuration to see if it's suitable.
    @Dickie Nice Wind Waker style lights ! You could also used command buffers and deferred rendering to inject your lights inside the lighting buffer.
  • Dickie
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    Dickie polycounter lvl 9
    @fire67 ooh yeah I remember the content example for deferred area lights, I might just have a go at that although would probably be quite similar in result presumably 
  • Klunk
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    Klunk quad damage
    https://youtu.be/rMrx9lGzcfA

    been playing around with adding delaunay tri hull to any set of points in max, the video is a point emitter helper which when its converted to an editable mesh is converted to a convex hull based on the point set, the last changes are when the base emitter has min spacing turned on and off. The result is not always ideal some very thin tris are created so a sensible post processing routine need to be applied to the mesh to correct for those.

    using a box emitter for the base works quite well for random blocks



    to square of the blocks its a simple case of setting the emitter to surface

    the more points the squarer the block
  • DeepSpaceBanana
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    DeepSpaceBanana polycounter
    Been working on this on and off a simple MeshFlow script for Modo

  • Fansub
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    Fansub sublime tool
    Never had the chance to share anything about this tool, so here's a quick test :)

    The tool is Array Master, an array tool for Maya that doesn't require Mash, so works on old Maya version. It is part of AMTools 2.0, which is still in dev ^^'

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CyASH4bsao

  • ZacD
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    ZacD quad damage
    Not really a tech artist, but I wanted to make a simple blueprint to place and tile columns automatically for me.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICQI9jKaVI4


  • zweek
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    zweek polycounter lvl 18
    Fansub said:
    Never had the chance to share anything about this tool, so here's a quick test :)

    The tool is Array Master, an array tool for Maya that doesn't require Mash, so works on old Maya version. It is part of AMTools 2.0, which is still in dev ^^'

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CyASH4bsao

    looking forward to the update. why did you blur out the tool, is it NSFW?
  • hannes d
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    hannes d polycounter lvl 12
    edited a normal weighting script to also weight based on angle
    bottom left is the original, bottom right is my version

    you can see it got rid of the gradient completely
    and is more similar to the added control edges version
  • joarwho
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    joarwho polycounter lvl 5
    I recently started working on my own auto-rigger. I'm learning as I go, but I'm still having a blast creating this.


  • DEElekgolo
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    DEElekgolo interpolator
    Refactoring my old ascii ray-marcher

  • fearian
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    fearian greentooth
    hannes d said:
    edited a normal weighting script to also weight based on angle
    bottom left is the original, bottom right is my version

    you can see it got rid of the gradient completely
    and is more similar to the added control edges version
    This looks super neat! Are you going to be releasing this soon? I'd love to try it out.
  • swann
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    swann polycounter lvl 4
    Family of V-HACD Toolkit nodes was expanded.

    There is a new Export node added:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fh4-olKrs4

    Short presentation how to use it with Unity:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CStATK1X5s

    I also published couple modeling tools:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWF2qvlgGhY
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSjSH5CyHY4
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-z_6GPlp3U

    And if you wonder how to compile and setup it all:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKSWBIiEgYw


  • DeepSpaceBanana
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    DeepSpaceBanana polycounter
    I post often on the RTVFX forums i should prob start doing that here too, anyway here's my WIP shader experiment. A slope aware rain spatter/drip shader, I'm in the process of making it look prettier here's some gifs. i'm aslo wrapping the entire thing into a material function so it can be easily layered on top of any surface material.


    Idea:
    [url=


    Updated Look:
    [url=

  • SimonT
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    SimonT interpolator
    Just released my little talk about Stylized VFX in RIME :) Hope you'll like it!
    https://youtu.be/lAYIF0lwy60
  • IacopoAntonelli
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    IacopoAntonelli polycounter lvl 3
    SimonT said:
    Just released my little talk about Stylized VFX in RIME :) Hope you'll like it!
    https://youtu.be/lAYIF0lwy60


    Great stuff!!
  • DannyArt
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    DannyArt triangle
    Hi all!

    For a long time, I have been following this thread (Sneaky, Sneaky, Sneaky :P), and inspired me to make my own panel/shelf. This because the lack of space in my Maya shelf and the continuous looking for the right checkboxxes at the right time was getting on my nerves. So, I decided to make to make a panel/shelf to store all my favorite icons, buttons and checkboxxes. This is the first time I made something with scripting, so it was quite a struggle, since I am also not a programmer in any kind :).

    The "Bag O' Tricks" panel/shelf is dockable and de-dockable so it can be placed on a 2nd monitor. All the icons that I mostly use on a daily base, are in there. I initially made this script in Maya 2015, but at school worked in Maya 2017. The icons in there were amazingly better looking than Maya 2015, so I Photoshopped them out of Maya 2017, and stored them into a folder, linked to this panel/shelf.

    My question to you experts is, what is your opinion, what would you add or change, and more importantly, what would you add to a "tech" tab? For now, I have placed empty sliders and buttons there, but I would think it will be nice to fill that tab with stuff soon. So, suggestions?



    All suggestions are more than welcome,
    Thank you all,
    Danny

    PS; Amazing work all. It has been truely inspiring for me!
  • swann
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    swann polycounter lvl 4
    PhysX Toolkit for Houdini:
    https://youtu.be/yzA-dMCmeok

    It's a start of bigger project. The end goal is to have (very optimistically, two years from now) complete realtime dynamic solution inside Houdini.

    On the roadmap are:
    0. NVidia PhysX
    1. NVidia Flex
    2. NVidia Flow
    3. NVidia Cataclysm
    4. NVidia HairWorks
    5. ... plus maybe other stuff too

    Order is not guaranted :)

    PS. Could admins rename me to swann? All small caps, double n at the end. Thanks!
  • radiancef0rge
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    radiancef0rge ngon master
    PS. Could admins rename me to swann? All small caps, double n at the end. Thanks!
    Direct message an admin or mod. 
  • kritskiy
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    kritskiy polycounter lvl 10
    one of the functions in upcoming Layer Factory: multi-move selection (it's so stupid that Photoshop still can't do this)
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