Messages

1

[Max] I need help! / Re: Question about importing PBR textures from Substance Designer

« on: Yesterday at 07:07:40 »

All textures except the basecolor need to be gamma 1.0

2

[C4D] Daily Builds / Re: Mac M1 LOW POWER MODE bug lives on.

« on: 2023-02-20, 09:06:46 »

Sarcasm here? It will be same result

Not sarcasm, just genuinely curious. It would be a good way to test/compare the throttle theory.

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[C4D] Daily Builds / Re: Mac M1 LOW POWER MODE bug lives on.

« on: 2023-02-19, 22:17:43 »

So, I did a Cinebench R23 benchmark just now (16", M1 Max, 64RAM), started with Low Power mode, ran it for 10:00:00 and the score was 10834, then, immediately, after this test, I ran it again, this time in High Power mode and **SHOCKER** it scored 12108.

Interesting! Can you try a 60 minute test and post the results?

4

[C4D] Daily Builds / Re: Mac M1 LOW POWER MODE bug lives on.

« on: 2023-02-19, 17:35:38 »

Issue occurs with Corona ONLY BECAUSE it is poorly optimised for Mac silicone! Simple as that!

I dont work for Corona but didn't you see the graphs and comments in this thread?

The take home points I see is - just because a native render engine 'claims to be using 100%' of the CPU doesn't mean it is. Is there any proof? Can you show how the native render engine is utilizing the CPU to its fullest? Are you sure the native render engine isn't reducing consumption so those % numbers are higher while reducing the actual performance of the CPU to ensure the CPU doesn't throttle?

I see results from the Ultra Studio in another thread which show no reduction due to higher thermal regulation, so if the Mac laptop is experiencing this isn't this a direct enough comparison to throttling? What are you trying to achieve, as TomG has noted if you down throttle the CPU its the same as using low power mode correct?

Here is an example:
I use a 3080RTX GPU in a laptop, I understand due to power/thermal limitations that my 3080 is about half the performance of a desktop 3080. In this situation my preference to be mobile is the limiting factor, not my expectation that it should match the desktop performance of a 3080.

Example 2:
Imagine you have 2 identical computers, First computer is at room temperature and when it hits 90degrees centigrade it throttles to keep the components cool, thus you have the first computer reducing CPU power even though it stays at 100% the entire time = slower render time.

Second computer is kept in room temperature of -20 degrees. No matter how hard you push that CPU its going to stay at 100% the entire time and not throttle because it doesn't ever reach 90 degrees centigrade. Second computer is going to finish the render faster.

This is oversimplified due to how you cool your CPU etc however I think the point is clear.

Also you can check on youtube for yourself search "mac pro throttle" and filter by the last year, you will see plenty of videos with similar issues regardless of 3D.

5

[Max] I need help! / Re: Real size map or UVW !

« on: 2023-02-16, 20:54:40 »

I checked the option and it works as you said, except when I extrude a polygon of a box the map stretch and I have to apply uvw modifier, is it supposed to be like that even after checking the real-world coordinates option?

If you extrude using a modifier (shape/spline) you can keep real-world coordinates.

If you extrude using a polygon you need to use a UVW modifier, since it stretches' the UV.

I dont really know a good way to explain it but probably the most universal way to think about it is like this:
If I have a shape or box made from 3dsmax it understands the dimensions thus can understand the proportions of the UV by calculating it mathematically. When you extrude via a polygon it doesnt calculate by how much you extruded by. Houdini has this kind of capability because it stores all this data node by node, or step by step. In my understanding when you extrude in 3dsmax there is nothing stored in data so it can be 30cm or 30px or whatever but there is no measurement stored in edit poly mode - thus it doesnt really understand what you are trying to accomplish. By applying the real-world UVW modifier it just say so ok whatever changes you make its just going to calculate every pixel/cm by this much and apply the same dimensions for the UVW down the layer stack. There could be ways to work around this with 3dsmax scripts but its simple just using a real-world modifier in this case.

Another way to think about it is a layer system vs a node system. The modifier stack works like a layer system, so whatever changes you make in the edit poly layer disregards the layer below it (the UVW). So if I extrude a polygon then it stretches because the layer below (UVW real-world) is stretched on this layer (edit poly). When I apply a UVW real-world above the edit poly layer it says ok anything below this layer (edit poly) ignore that UVW and now apply the real-world UVW.

Also take into consideration what romullus said about "selected polygons" you can negate layers in the stack with selected polygons, well kind of opposite. Meaning if you have a bunch of selected polygons the next layer up (modifier) can affect only those selected polygons/faces/edges. If you then deselect all polygons you can apply to everything, its very flexible but try these things with simple boxes and shapes to work out what is going on before you start layering things like a mad man as the "masks" are not as visible as they are in photoshop once you are a few modifiers deep for example.

6

[Max] I need help! / Re: Real size map or UVW !

« on: 2023-02-16, 07:44:04 »

what does this option do ?

Enabling this means that your bitmaps and uvw modifier use real-world settings by default so you don't have to manually turn them on every time you import the bitmap or apply the modifier. Saves you a few clicks I suppose, I would still use box instead of planar mapping but handy regardless.



Also when creating/extruding shapes by default it enables real-world mapping so you dont need to even apply the UVW modifier. Same goes when creating Boxes/Spheres etc.

https://ibb.co/G76GWR2
I get this result by selecting the horizontal faces and apply another UVW map then rotate, is there a better way ?

If its one piece of geometry then rotating it that way is probably quick enough. If you are making these components separately with boxes/shapes when building the cabinets etc then it does depend on the viewport you create it. For example this is when I create a box in top view, all edges are aligned automatically the correct direction.



This is creating the object in front view, now I have to select the edge faces to rotate them. This technique applies to many things in 3dsmax like when doing sweeps/lofts etc.

I don't understand corona Triplanar map, how can I use it to my advantage in simple interior scenes ?

romullus could probably answer this one better since I don't really use it much these days however as far as I'm aware you can also do mapping with it by rotating the axis within the material instead of doing it for each face like you requested (without needing multiple uvw maps). It also has other features like blending to removing visual tiling etc. You can watch a few videos about it Corona has online for different use cases as well.

Example of using the Corona Triplanar with only 1 uvw map. Default settings


Then if you enable disable "use map X for all axes" and rotate the W:90 in the Z axes you have the expected behavior (or use the Rotate settings in the bottom Rollout and keep use map for X for all axes enabled for a faster workflow)


The main benefit really by using the Realworld mapping option means that in the long run once you save all your materials to a library you are basically just creating shapes/extruding, slapping on the materials and you always know it will be the correct scale and/or direction so you dont need modifiers, dont need to double check scale etc.

If you really want to get technical later on you can do as I said earlier about the tile reference - meaning when you author textures you can create them at the correct scale before going in 3D so making sure all the wood grain is correct for that texture resolution etc, making sure your tiles are exactly 60x60cm etc. Then when you apply these in 3D using your saved library as a base for your new material you already know those tiles/wood grain will be the correct scale. You can really move at a fast pace if doing lots of Set work.

7

[Max] I need help! / Re: Real size map or UVW !

« on: 2023-02-15, 19:08:08 »

Sure thing, i was simply providing typical usage cases, but as i mentioned earlier, those mapping methods are not mutually exclusive, you can easily replace one with another if you wish.

Yes you are absolutely right, I'm glad you included the other use cases.

I was responding to my own comment when I started thinking more about how I work with assets and how I set up scenes in archviz lol. So yes, totally agree!

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[Max] I need help! / Re: Real size map or UVW !

« on: 2023-02-15, 16:30:17 »

On the other hand it won't work on objects unwrapped to 0-1 UV space that uses bespoke non-tiling textures.

Yes good point, in that case the option I provided under the quote would give you headaches since you have to do the reverse for all objects you apply textures to (in the texture and the uvw modifier).

edit:
Thinking about this more, probably not actually since bespoke textured items are usually purchased assets like furniture and don't need remapping, only color corrections or swap-outs which you can do on an individual basis. Generally I find building the set much faster with real-world so use the information provided as you wish, do some of your own testing and see what works best for you. I change this depending on the work I'm doing so if it works for your situation then great, if not change it.

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[Max] I need help! / Re: Real size map or UVW !

« on: 2023-02-15, 16:17:17 »

If you work in architecture then real-world mapping is the way to go in my opinion. It saves you countless hours over the years when you have set up your materials as per the size you require. Also if you have other textures that use similar parameters (tiles for example) then when you create these textures you have a reference size/resolution.

I guess because whoever authored the fingerprint texture didn't take the resolution/real-world size into account or maybe doesn't apply to their situation. You could also contact the author and ask I suppose.

edit:

So now I am excited to use this method cause it seems better, because I only need to add one UVW Map to an obecjt even if I have 3 or 4 materials

Then this is really going to blow you socks off :)
Customize > Preferences > Texture Coordinates > Use Real-World Texture Coordinates. Have fun :)

10

Hardware / Re: New GPU for photogrammetry projects(high poly count)

« on: 2023-02-04, 18:55:24 »

Its not much different in 3dsmax, this is why I do cleanup and retopo in zbrush. I think your current GPU is good enough for this task if you say its smooth in Zbrush, its the limitation of Autodesk products (single core). I dont think you will get much improvement with a new workstation. I mean somewhat, but not huge (without knowing the exact specs of your current workstation, just guessing the generation based of your current GPU).

Edit:
For example my 1060 laptop (compared to this 3080 laptop) its similar in terms of viewport performance, a bit better on the 3080 when dealing with large scenes. In Zbrush I haven't noticed a difference at all. The only difference I notice is render times, obviously because my 1060 laptop is an 8thread and this laptop is a 16thread so double the speed on that front. I could probably run benchmark tests to double check but really when you are dealing with Autodesk software its kind of a bit bottlenecked anyway so faster the CPU single core the faster things run in general, scripts, interface etc.

In the end if you want to upgrade thats your bag, go for it if you want. I just find that selecting/deleting vertex is based on this single core speed and if you want to upgrade for that maybe you get a 30% increase, dont quote on me on the numbers exactly but sure (also depends on the CPU you buy obviously). There are also better software/plugins for this, for example in 3dsmax we have Sini software. This works in multi-thread CPU for deleting large amounts of vertices or optimization in general. You also have Rizom UV for UV workflow which is multithreaded, Zbrush which has some magic I'm not aware of but works well for photogrammetry or heavy models etc.

11

Hardware / Re: New GPU for photogrammetry projects(high poly count)

« on: 2023-02-03, 14:23:02 »

I have a 3080 and do photogrammetry cleanup etc. I find the viewport very smooth with dense meshes in Zbrush - its designed with this in mind I suppose. I usually do the retopo, unwrap and then send back to realitycapture for texture projection before I bring it back to 3dsmax.

If you have a model that you are struggling with I can do a speed experiment for you or something along those lines for comparison.

FYI my 3080 is the laptop variant, but hasnt been a bottleneck for me at this point with the 16gb vram.

I think in comparison to desktop it sits just above a 3060Ti

12

General CG Discussion / Re: Reset Xref/Collapse/Edit Poly

« on: 2023-01-26, 11:17:18 »

Hm, I was just reading that the convert editable poly could have different syntax in 2023, you could try this but its a long shot.

Code: [Select]

for obj in selection do
(
  resetXForm obj
  convert obj #editable_poly
)

I think someone using 3dsmax 2023 could debug this one better than I could at this stage.

edit:
I had #polymesh before, I updated it to editable_poly, apparently you can use these... 'polymesh','editable_mesh','editable_poly' etc.
The reset xform could also be different in 3dsmax 2023...

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General CG Discussion / Re: Reset Xref/Collapse/Edit Poly

« on: 2023-01-26, 10:53:19 »

Make sure you add the additional parenthesis:

Code: [Select]

macroScript ResetAndCollapse
   category:"AAScripts"
   toolTip:"ResetAndCollapse"
   
(
for obj in selection do
(
  ResetXForm obj
  ConvertToPoly obj
)
)


14

General CG Discussion / Re: Reset Xref/Collapse/Edit Poly

« on: 2023-01-26, 10:49:32 »

you are missing another set of parenthesis, check my code above. I don't use 3dsmax 2023, so if its still an issue after using the additional parenthesis you might need someone who's using the latest version to help.

15

General CG Discussion / Re: Reset Xref/Collapse/Edit Poly

« on: 2023-01-26, 10:39:31 »

Did you drag and drop the exact code I wrote? Or did you edit it with your code?

I suggest copy it as I have first, test that if it works, if it crashes let me know.

Also which 3dsmax version are you using?

FYI if you are going to put your code then you need to evaluate the script, drag and drop wont work, it only works for code without the header, so for example:

Code: [Select]

macroScript ResetAndCollapse
   category:"AAScripts"
   toolTip:"ResetAndCollapse"
   
(
for obj in selection do
(
  ResetXForm obj
  ConvertToPoly obj
)
)

Once this is in your Editor you press CTRL+E (not drag and drop).

You can then go to Customize > Customize User Interface > Toolbars