Messages

16

[Max] Bug Reporting / Re: SME Very Slow on Corona 10

« on: 2023-06-23, 20:14:31 »

I agree, it'd be nice to have a setting in the Corona System Settings where you can dictate fast viewport representation or typical (typical obviously being the way it is now). We have the ability to say we prefer glossiness over roughness, we should be able to have a setting for default VP display.

But I definitely started to notice a slowdown with the Distance Map in the same regard. Even though there isn't a visual representation of the distance map in the viewport, it makes working with that node a bit too slow.

17

[Max] Bug Reporting / SME Very Slow on Corona 10

« on: 2023-06-23, 18:42:32 »

I just updated to v10 for 3ds Max this morning, eager to take advantage of the MappingRand and Triplanar overhaul but it's gotten worse in terms of speed material editor speed. I noticed in the blog release that there were improvements to the material editor speed but it's slower now than it was with 9.2.

Even with Rendering disabled, if I have the MappingRandomizer with a bitmap plugged in, I have to wait tens of seconds between each input for the values.  Even plugging a map into the input or dragging from the output into a slot in another map or material locks up SME. It's not just MappingRand and Triplanar, it's connecting anything in SME that takes time now where it didn't before.

I'm using 3ds 2020.3.8, Corona 10, Windows 10 22H2, 128GB RAM, Quadro P3200 6GB.

18

[Max] Feature Requests / Re: Save Material Rollouts

« on: 2023-03-08, 16:14:10 »

Thanks, Avi.  I will look into 2023 when I can, I'll have to install it on another machine next time in my office. I will also look at 2021 and possibly 2022 too. Its not a make or break feature to migrate to 2023 yet but its nice to know it is possible in newer versions.

Thanks again.

19

[Max] Feature Requests / Re: Save Material Rollouts

« on: 2023-03-03, 13:34:24 »

I tried the same thing you did, with both the default material and my own library material - both didn't work. Video attached.

20

[Max] Feature Requests / Re: Save Material Rollouts

« on: 2023-03-03, 13:00:48 »

I've tried, but the settings don't stay. I've created a CoronaPhysicalMtl template in my library that defaults back to the original order, I've tried saving the UI and the Workspace, but the order always reverts to the default once 3ds Max closes and you open a new instance.

I will also mention, that instead of creating materials from the default Corona library as typing Cphys is fast for me in the search bar than right-clicking and navigating menus, I wonder if that has something to do with the order not sticking. I will investigate this morning and let you know.

21

[Max] Feature Requests / Re: Save Material Rollouts

« on: 2023-03-01, 16:23:48 »

Hi Avi.  You're right, it may be a 3ds Max feature request, not a Corona one. Basically, when a new CoronaPhysicalMtl (CPhys from here on out) is loaded in the material editor, the sections or rollouts are ordered: Basic Options, Media Options, Advanced Options, Maps Options.  My goal with this request was to save that order if the user chooses something different. So myself, I would rather Advanced Options (closed by default), Basic Options, Media Options, then Maps Options.

Often due to the Material Editor window size, I have to scroll down to find advanced options to change settings. I'd like this to be placed at the top for quick and easy access, but keep it closed by default as it is now.

The alternative that I'd accept is assigning Self Illumination settings to the Basic Options rollout, perhaps between Displacement and Clearcoat Layer.  That's the key takeaway I access Advanced Options often (along with IOR mode and Tail adjustment, but those belong in Advanced Options).

22

[Max] Feature Requests / Save Material Rollouts

« on: 2023-02-23, 21:29:58 »

It would be nice if we could rearrange and save the rollouts in the materials. For example, I like to have the Advanced Options above the Basic Options rollout as it's easier to access up top than always scrolling down to access it for one or two changes (usually relating to self-illumination or tail).  I asked on the FB group but as Tom suggested, there likely isn't a way to do that currently.

I have, however, already tried saving out the Physical material to a custom library with the rollout order set the way I want but it resets every time a new material is loaded in SME.

23

[Max] Resolved Bugs / Re: Round Edges Precise doesn't work with Front/Back

« on: 2023-02-16, 13:54:30 »

My goal was just to have a backface culling effect in a rendering so that I wouldn't see basically two layers of overlapping perforations. I got it to work regardless, it was just a matter of bringing to attention the roundedges didn't appreciate front/back in the opacity slot and being set to precise.

But I appreciated all of the input on the workarounds.

24

[Max] Resolved Bugs / Re: Round Edges Precise doesn't work with Front/Back

« on: 2023-02-02, 18:01:20 »

Maru:
I'm on Max 2020.3, Corona 9 Hf1. But my material setup is different. For one, I try to avoid gradient ramp whenever possible and so my opacity is controlled by a coronabitmap.  I failed to mention before that the bin's MatID 1 and 2 are controlled by the same physical material but with a coronamultimap controlling the opacity and bump for both materials (one obviously is solid, the other perforated). I've attached a simple copy of the scene with the texture map included. Maybe I got too cute with it and there's too much for the materials to coordinate round edges with.

Romullus:
I actually had the original bitmap slotted into a coronabumpconvert node and increased the blur because I agree, it helps with the realism but it didn't work and I didn't change that yet. However, I do have a duplicate texture I can use for creating that punched-through look of the holes and will be implementing that instead.

Both:
I also included two renderings from another project I did here in Toronto where a similar kind of material setup is used on ceiling baffles. The opacity is controlled by an AO node with the triplanar slotted into the unoccluded slot. A previous version of this had a frontback node in line as well but was removed for this version.  I included it in the shared scene. In regards to Tom's suggestion of CoronaPattern, I feel like this is a good use of textured perforations especially when every baffle is a different shape. I'm sure you can get the pattern to work here as well but the ease of a material won in favour.

25

[Max] Resolved Bugs / Re: Round Edges Precise doesn't work with Front/Back

« on: 2023-02-01, 17:33:20 »

Hi Tom - perhaps but there are still times where I prefer this method.

26

[Max] Resolved Bugs / Round Edges Precise doesn't work with Front/Back

« on: 2023-02-01, 16:20:31 »

Hi all,

I recently modelled a waste receptacle with perforations in the metal skin. While I know its fake, to help with avoiding weird visual artifacts from two planes with perforations, I use the corona front/back node together with the bitmap in the opacity slot. It helps give the impression of a thick metal plate without seeing back holes (if that makes sense).

The issue I ran into, however, is that if I have a RoundEdges node in the base bump slot as well, the effect round edges effect doesn't happen when the RE is set to Precise-Same Mtl Only. If I set it to Fast, it works.

It's by no means a make-or-break situation but I was curious if the incompatibility with Precise Mode and Front/Back was by design.

27

[Max] Feature Requests / Re: Map / Material Select handled by User property

« on: 2023-01-26, 14:31:21 »

I agree with you Maru, I don't know how User Property is more efficient compared to every way you and I suggested. In fact, this is the first time in my 15+ years of using 3ds that I've seen or heard of someone using that tab under object properties.

It may be worthwhile for the OP to have a maxscript written for him to achieve the level of "efficiency" he's after. Those kinds of requests can be made elsewhere here or on the Autodesk forum.

I will add, if OP doesn't like the material editor (whether its Slate Material Editor or the compact editor) because its too slow, you may have too much going on, especially with the SME. If you clean up your views and purge unnecessary tabs, it helps both 3ds max load files quicker and open SME faster. Also make sure you don't have the SME rendering enabled all of the time, every change needs 1 or more nodes to update, slowing things down.

28

[Max] Feature Requests / Re: Map / Material Select handled by User property

« on: 2023-01-19, 17:25:52 »

Example: 
A lamp with a bulb using lightmaterial / glass material in a selectmaterial  - each instance can be switched on and off, without going to the material editor and have two material versions - with the toential risk of having redundancy errors.

In fact I used to do this with controllers linked to a parameter I could turn off and on elsewhere in the scene (like the O.G. Light Lister tool that got discontinued - I'd turn the opacity map off and it would switch to a glass material instead of a black light mat). But instead of using a SelectMTL, you defer to nested (or not) Blend materials. You can link most features with bezier/linear float controllers and assign custom attributes to the objects in the scene. Most people just don't know about it because they have no interest in it.

The other one I've used in the past is selecting which HDRI is used in the scene at any given time by linking the SelectMap SELECTED controller to a generic light object that doesn't actually render. But changing the intensity value to 0.0, 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, etc. would change which sky is visible.

- or a monitor where you have 10 different content maps, where you can switch the content per monitor instance  - without having to go to the Material Editor. ( and yes, I know you could just amke a multisub with the individual screen content as a material  - but then again, you have to have redundant materials. )

You could do this with one material, but plug the screen texture into a multimap and set the randomization to Object GBuffer ID. Then, when you duplicate your monitors (even as instances), you can assign each one a different ID under the properties window to control which image appears on the monitor. No need to for 10 materials, just 10 bitmaps plugged into 1 multimap into 1 material.

I think there is still a bit of background setting up in order to use this User Property much like linking controllers throughout a scene, but I like where your head it at. +1

29

[Max] Feature Requests / Re: Map / Material Select handled by User property

« on: 2023-01-18, 13:49:53 »

You can do that with just a Controller.
I do it all the time for my HDRs or everything that has a SelectMap or SelectMaterial. With a single click I move from one to another.



If the images doesnt load.. check this link:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11qnEFmcsClEC8Be2Yy5EcKWlWQB_yktU/view?usp=share_link

I use the controllers all of the time when I want one selection to influence another. This is a particularly useful, native tool that works when you have a material set up and you change the scale of say the diffuse map, the scale will also affect all the pertaining gloss, normal, height, etc. maps too. But yes, you can have linear/bezier float controllers control most options in Corona material/map nodes.

30

[Max] Feature Requests / Re: Instance Duplicate CoronaBitmaps

« on: 2023-01-12, 14:08:02 »

Thanks, Avi.