I am pretty sure it's the gamma\lut "problem" in 3ds max 2012, I think the faq of the shader already covers this. You can turn it off here: Customize->Preferences->Gamma and LUT->Enable Gamma/LUT Correction.
EarthQuake - I Just got back to this thread and did a little research, you are right it is not a law in US but a system to enable parents to make an informed decision. I apologise. I assumed the age rating system was enforceable in US as it is in UK.
Did you disable Nitrous and enable DX9? Did you disable Gamma/LUT? Do you need shadows? I think Bias etc. for shadows is the self-shadowing of the model and casting of it, not sure if you need it in the first place.
Yeah, Black can be harsh but I find it enables you to see details better than say white because the lack of colour forces you to focus on the object at hand. New scheme for an additional caste. Inquisitor General on a turntable
Your lighting looks a bit messed up in general here, do you have object space enabled with a tangent space normal map? Also, make sure you're saving your spec as 32 bit and not 24 bit.
You could hack another method, throw in an Edit a Vailias said, and setup your smoothing groups for the hard edges, then, a nice Turbo smooth, but with smoothing groups enabled. Not the best solution and might not work, so good luck mate!
Which 3d software though? In 3ds Max I would suggest just rendering a preview frame at the desired resolution, then compositing it onto your render. If you have AA enabled in your GPU settings it should look great.
Talked to a guy from Unreal and he mentioned something about customizing DeferDecal.usf file to enable metalness and maybe other cool stuff. I'm completely no idea about coding, if anyone could figure this out and share it would be awesome.
Or you can enable Show Vertex Connections from the display menu in the Unwrap UVW options. IIRC, you can't weld verts together that aren't welded on the model itself, even if they're physically sitting on the same point in space.
Think this might have to do with the gamma correction in 3ds max 2012, it would be nice if any one could confirm this. You can turn it off here: Customize->Preferences->Gamma and LUT->Enable Gamma/LUT Correction Try that :)