Map a side view reference pic to a plane and use alt x to make your geometry semi transparent. This will help to keep things in proportion. Also, unless your AR15 is chambered for the 7.62x39 round instead of 5.56, that's the wrong magazine. Here is a pic to show the reference set up I'm talking about.
He is talking specifically about not having to alter the opacity. There are definitely cases where a transparent base can make the retopology process confusing. With a little outside thinking, you may be able to write a script to do it in Max. I found a way of doing it in Maya with later versions of my custom Retopo tool.
Wow, I see what you are talking about. Lol great optical illusion. The other day I almost go crazy with a heightmap I was working with that looked pretty much like this http://files.sharenator.com/black_dots_optical_illusion_Optical_illusions-s390x325-13679-580.gif Well, to be honest it was far less extreme, but also…
I just saw an online article talking about what goes into making the Transformers toys, and it looked like they clearly made them in 3d at some point to test the transformations and all of that. Wish I could remember where the hell I saw that. There's also this: http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=88735
Doing a bit of development streaming. Just finished doing a bit of dev on Multi Image export (can select several groups at once and export at the same time instead of the usual one at a time) Open to some suggestions now so if you want to come talk with me :D https://www.twitch.tv/toolzor/
well i find the scene disturbing, i find the camera set up with the toy room and the title 'kids eat free' kinda paedophilic. Im not being personal with the creator either. Seriously thou people talking about texture res and quality? I might be going soft i don't know.
i cannot agree here (and not talking about tools in this case) but it´s a subjective thing. for me it was super easy to pick up and i know people who agree and others who dont. thats what trials are for. everybody has an opinion on that matter and everybody will be slightly biased towards his tool of choice.
I had this happen to me. Interviewed at a studio, things moved along, then nothing. So I took a different job and moved across the country. About a year later they call me up and ask if I wanted the job and that they began a hiring freeze right after they talked to me previously, but it was now open.
After some talking with my brother, I kept working on the normal and specular maps. They didn't really show anything in the last post. I removed some cracks/scratches, added some nuts and screws. This is how it looks like now. Only normal and specular/gloss maps: All together with bloom:
welcome to the club Soki. If you're just learning 3dsmax definitely avail yourself of all the info and tutorials posted around on Polycount-- do some digging around P&P and especially Technical Talk and you'll find a lot of advanced help for the whole modeling process. Otherwise keep workin and keep posting.