June 4 09
While I was in Utrecht, Ken Pimental was asked what features we think should be added to Max. Someone asked for the ability to align an object to three points.
This script has been in my toolbox for a long time, so I’ve taken it out, polished it up, and partnered it with a friend. There are probably other scripts out there that will do this for you but I hope you will find mine intuitive and easy to use.
Ladies and gentlemen I give to you Align Tools
Download here
1. Align to three points
Pick your source objects, activate the tool and then click the three points. Max refuses to show the snap icon after the first click but it will snap correctly.
2. Align to an edge
Pick your target object, select and edge in the sub-object and the click the tool. Now either click your source object or right click to have a dummy created along that edge.
June 3 09
This is an oldie but a goody. Put simply, it is a script that will open 3ds Max material maps in photoshop. I use it in my quad menu. If photoshop isn’t open, then it will open it for you.
I’ve recently updated it to work with class instances, a much more efficient and almost foolproof way of ensuring we get all the maps.
It has two methods of functioning.
1. if the material editor is open, it will open all the maps used in the current material
2.if the editor is closed, then it will load all the maps used in the materials of the selected objects.
This is really handy script if you want to quickly adjust some materials maps in photoshop
for installation, just drop the mzp file onto you max viewport and then add the script to your quad (or menu, or toolbar!).
customize | customize user interface | category : JNScripts
Download the installation file here
June 2 09
How do you make a glass shader in mental mill? I’ve been searching around for some basics in getting things running and there isn’t that much available. Here I’ve put some notes together on creating a simple glass shader in mental mill.
Download simple the mental mill shader here
June 2 09
Currently there are some known issues when using mental mill shaders in 3ds Max. mental mill shaders will render in the 3ds Max material editor and viewport if you follow these rules.
While I was at EUE last week I had the pleasure of talking with Ruediger Raab and Neil Hazard who are partly to blame for this fantastic new viewport rendering in 3ds Max 2010. They both made presentations which included a section on using mental mill shaders with max and they highlighted the some ‘caveats’ and some work arounds that will help you to get your mental mill shaders 3ds Max.
1. contain your material in a phenomenon with a single output for the final node and a single output for the result.
Sounds complicated, but it’s not. When you finish a shader, group it into a phenomenon before saving it for use in max.
If the last node in the phenomenon has more than one output, for example like the illumination_phong then add one more node that has a single output, like a math_colour_add.
Also, make sure that there is only one output on the result of the phenomenom.
June 2 09
I’m currently experimenting with mental mill and 3dsMax. mental mill is developed by mental images and is basically a graphical interface for developing mental ray shaders. You drag and drop the lines to join bubbles together, and underneath mental mill does all the coding.
Once you’re finished you can load the mental mill shader in 3ds Max 2010 and use the new viewport hardware shading to view your shader directly in the viewport. The autodesk guys have worked hard to ensure that this great viewport result is very close to the software rendering that mental ray does.
http://www.mentalimages.com/index.php
download the latest version and watch the introduction videos to get started.
June 2 09
I’ve just returned from the End User Event in Utrecht. It was really great. I would recommend it to anyone who is considering attending. The speakers were excellent and I found it a great chance to meet some people, network and make some friends. I will definately be going again. Big thanks to Joep!
http://eue.3dstudio.nl/
June 2 09
First Post, hopefully this will dispear deep down into the belly of the internet pretty fast. I’ve been wanting to set up some kind of blog that shows what I’ve been doing. I tend to work at lots of things at once and never do anything with the results (except what I learn) so this will be about my progression through 3D.
Josh.
