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Topics - John.McWaters

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1
Whenever I save my Max file, it crashes the entire program. I'm curious if there is a log the Corona team can look at and see if they can discern what may be happening. I'm using the most up-to-date version of Corona 11.

2
I typically use a lot of wood materials in my renderings, and I like to project end-grain textures where the end grain would be exposed. I will also tend to keep models of several pieces in one editable poly that all run the same direction, for instance, all boards that run vertically will be in one editable poly.

My challenge is, however, that I need to find a way to map an end-grain texture to be on-center with each face. I will project textures onto the pieces using the Triplanar component, which is great because I can feed it the end grain textures in the Z input, and it will project them onto the correct faces, but the texture will not be centered on the faces (some faces, you'll see a seam). I'm wondering if there is a way to do this besides a UVW Unwrap.

I've included a screenshot and file that illustrates my problem.



3
Before Corona 10, I seemed to be able to have CoronaAO components upstream or downstream of MappingRandomizers and Triplanars, but in 10, CoronaAO's are not behaving correctly for me when they are upstream. Is this expected behavior?

For example, this is the result when I have the following material setup...Checker map>CoronaAO (w/ a red occluded color)>Mapping Randomizer>CoronaTriplanar. Is the Mapping Randomizer acting on the upstream Corona AO component? If so, I don't think that was the case in previous versions.

edit: after a little more research, it looks like it behaves correctly in the CoronaAO is placed between the Mapping Randomizer and CoronaTriplanar...you just can't put it upstream of both.

4
Is there a way to create a mask for a window object that would not only include the frame and reflections on the glass, but not the objects being refracted through the glass?

5
I'm trying to think of the best workflow for creating a motion-blurred person but in a still render. Because I don't have many animated assets of people walking nor want the entire person to have the same motion blur shape (ideally, I want the legs and upper torso to have more than the waist), I'm okay applying the effect in PS after the rendering.

In this case, I just need a way to make the person be its own entity so that it can sit on its own layer in PS.

My approach would be to create one rendering with the person being directly invisible so that you still get the shadows and reflections created by them, then do another 'render selected' of the person so that you have them as a separate entity to import into PS. You then blue the person as desired without affecting the pixels behind it. The shadows from the person would be a little off ditto the reflections.

6
[Max] I need help! / Mapping end grain of wood
« on: 2023-04-25, 02:08:16 »
I'm trying to find a good way to map wood end grain on objects that are mostly boxes (like boards or planks). Most of the wood elements in my models run in either the X, Y, or Z directions (in terms of the wood grain). Therefore, I typically set the mapping up with tri-planar components running in each direction, with an end grain texture plugged into the z input, and typical wood grain in the other two axes. The wood objects are set up so that all the boards running in a direction are all part of one editable poly. My issue is that when it comes to end grain, sometimes I'll get a moment at the end of a board where you'll see a seam in the end grain texture because my textures aren't tileable.

It would be ideal if there was a way to set the texture up such that the tri-planar component could center a texture on each element within the editable poly. In my case, it would be centering the end grain texture on each element in the given axis. Perhaps this is possible, and I just don't know how. Anyways, I would interested to hear how anyone else sets up end-grain textures in their models besides manually placing each one.

7
I typically model windows by sweeping a profile around a spline. This results in having window panes with an actual thickness...around 1/8". However, it seems that this thickness warps the light as it passes through the window more than I think it should. IOR in my glass material is set to 1.2.

8
I'm trying to create a monchrome mask of a material within an Xref that is then plugged into a subobject material. I have the G-buffer ID set to 9 in the material, and the CMask setting, but I'm still not getting a mask. Is there anything else I could be doing wrong?

9
[Max] I need help! / Cloudiness in chrome material
« on: 2023-03-07, 03:48:38 »
On these chair by Sanaa, the chrome has a subtle white cloudy appearance. What would be the best way to achieve this? I don't think it's a result of roughness, but could be wrong.


10
Gallery / Two-Fold Chair & Table
« on: 2022-12-05, 17:13:38 »
This is a set of furniture I designed as part of a larger conceptual project that I'm working on in Nashville, Tennessee.

I call them Two-Fold Table & Chair because the idea is to fabricate these pieces from folding a sheet of stainless steel using two folding operations.

The lighting is from a PG Skies HDRI. Other objects and textures used are from Cero Cuadrado (link below), Megascans, Nouvelle Mesure, 3D Sky, The Boundary, 3D Collective, and CG Trader.

Cero Cuadrado Patreon https://www.patreon.com/cerocuadrado/posts

My IG https://www.instagram.com/jack.mcwaters/

My website https://johnmcwaters.com/




























11
It's been my understanding that Corona Curvature map can be used like the AO map, but it looks directly at the mesh curvature instead of emitting beams from the mesh and seeing when they intersect it.

So I'm trying to make some steel darker at the concave portions of this object, and I have the curvature map plugged into my material with a red color plugged into the Concave Color input. The max distance is set to 1/8" and the other settings are default. I can see the steel being red right up to the point when the actual curvature begins, then it appears to become lighter at the portion that begins to curve. Is there a way to make it shaded consistently at the curve? The editable poly has no borders, so I don't think it's an issue with the geometry.


12
If I have a glass vase that is ~1/8" thick, should the liquid (water in this case) object be modeled such that it's out walls (except for the top surface) fall within the 1/8" wall thickness of the vase? It's kind of hard to describe, so I'm willing to provide a sketch, but I've always been curious about if there is a correct practice here.

13
I had a max file around 240mb, and suddenly I see it's jumped up to just under 1GB. Are there any ideas on what may be causing this? I didn't add any geometry or textures to the scene that would cause such a big jump in file size.

14
When I apply any sort of Corona material (even the default physical material) to an object, it causes this strange ghosting effect. The ghosting effect doesn't happen when I remove all materials or apply the default 3dsMax physical material. Does this sounds familiar to an experience anyone has had before? The corona materials that I'm trying don't have any refraction amount.

This is happening in all instances of 3dsMax for me. Even in a new file with only a box with the Corona physical material applied, the effect still occurs.






15
[Max] I need help! / How to render only objects within masks
« on: 2022-09-21, 17:07:21 »
I know there is the 'render only masks' check box under the Scene tab, but is there a way to render only the objects and areas contained in a specific mask as they would be appear in the Beauty image?

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