Messages

31

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: CoronaPattern playground!

« on: 2022-08-23, 11:30:03 »

Thanks so much mate.  But in terms of actually applying it as a coronapatternmod - how do you do it to ensure its the same size? (ie the hole is 8mm).

If the base object has correct real world mapping, e.g. has UVW map modifier with planar, or box mapping and activated real-world size option, then there's a nice trick that you can use - enter 1/crop box size X as tiling U and 1/crop box size Y as tiling V in Corona pattern modifier and your pattern will have correct real world size. Pro tip: you can click in any 3ds max numerical field and then press ctrl+N to summon simple calculator to aid you with simple equations - very useful in situations like this ;)

Amazing, thanks Romullus! Well that gives me hope its a quick job for the devs to automate this with a checkbox for the final version. Fingers crossed!

32

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: CoronaPattern playground!

« on: 2022-08-17, 11:31:10 »

OK, here is an image of the problem and the Max file.

As you can see the lights go black behind refractive glass - 'thin glass' is OK but refractive glass looks better and not usually a problem. The light material is on a multisub applied to both the node and the base geo - makes no difference if just on one or both. The same light material is applied to the big light box - which works fine.

Strangely when setting up this file I found if I have directionality set to 0 then the lights are black but setting it at 0.3 makes the lights not covered by glass light up. Which is odd.

I also have occasions where the light squares become invisible for what seems like no reason.
Will revert to railclone for this in the short term hopefully.

Thanks.

33

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: CoronaPattern playground!

« on: 2022-08-16, 19:01:31 »

Think I’ve run in to a bug. I have a light material on a multisub on a pattern node which works fine until it goes behind refractive glass. I know there is a limitation with directionality usually in these cases but this light material has no directionality. Which is odd.

34

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: CoronaPattern playground!

« on: 2022-08-16, 14:42:56 »

In any case, it's logged. :)
I also thought maybe it can be done in a similar way to the RWS option for textures, since we are talking about UVW mapping here.

(Internal ID=948460851)

Awesome thanks for that Maru. Yes I'm hoping its a 'simple' equation like the one they must use for texture mapping a map of a certain size, but potentially even more straight forward as the units will be set in the scene and not have input maps of different res which max will have to calculate to display at the right size. Fingers crossed for this one!

35

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: CoronaPattern playground!

« on: 2022-08-16, 14:30:14 »

Would it not work the same as the 'use real world map size' option we have for texture mapping? Works fine most of the time for that. Usually its done with box mapping and or a sweep with that option turned on.

The problem with the current system if you rely on just the tiling parameters is that its different for every object you put it on. I've done a 600mm ceiling grid just now which needs to be 600x600mm tiles whatever the surface. So I've selected real world mapping and had to stack 2x uvxform mods on and get the scaling as close as I can to that real world size. Now it should be the same whatever the object but its a pain and not accurate enough for some situations. It would seem a big use for Pattern would be with architectural elements and they are all at real world scale.

36

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: CoronaPattern playground!

« on: 2022-08-15, 12:39:18 »

Logged so far, we will also log the request for "surface color":

Scaling Corona Pattern tiles individually so that they could overlap with each other
Rotate CPattern without having to adjust base object UVWs
Randomize the rotation of CPattern tiles
Randomization per pattern node in Multimap and UVW Randomizer
Offset and scaling randomization in CPattern
Improve the way Corona Pattern segments connect with each other ("weld seams") to prevent visible seams
Corona Pattern - "Fit in custom object space" option for the Crop Box
Automatic capping of the pattern geometry
An option for the CPattern crop box to always remain visible in viewport
Ability to use whole groups/hierarchies as the pattern node
Ability to use more than 1 pattern node
Ability to project CDecal on top of CPattern with "use pattern material" option enabled

+some more internal bug reports / feature requests :)

Amazing. Big one for me would be to respect real world sizes. So a node drawn at realworld scale would stay at realworld scale when realworld scale is selected in the mapping options! I'm hoping this is an easy one with the right maths for someone far more clever than me. It would save so much time over trying to rescale by eye and then again on different objects.

37

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: CoronaPattern playground!

« on: 2022-08-01, 17:18:35 »

just tested one more time both in V-ray and Corona, in V-ray we can randomize textures of the pattern object by using MultiSubTex and it doesn't work for me with CoronaMultiMap in Corona for some reason, fix it please

and by the way V-ray has random rotation parameter, very handy)

You can randomise textures with the corona pattern. Try ticking the use pattern material check box and apply your mat to the node object. See if that helps

38

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: CoronaPattern playground!

« on: 2022-08-01, 15:47:08 »

Yes, as far as I can tell from testing if you have corona pattern on a surface - like a planked floor, you can't put a decal on the generated planks. If you switch off the pattern mod the decal will project fine on the base object but when the pattern is on the decal wont project on the pattern geometry. Does that make sense? I suppose it might be the sequencing so that the pattern should generate first and then the decal projected on after but I'm not even sure if its possible?

This seems to work fine as long as you disable the "use pattern material" option in CPattern modifier. Obviously that is a limitation, but maybe you can use it as a workaround to some degree (i.e. apply the pattern material to the base object).
I have logged it nonetheless because it would be a nice-to-have.

Thanks Maru. Much appreciated.

39

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: CoronaPattern playground!

« on: 2022-07-28, 10:26:35 »

Looking good Romulus. Yes the tilt is a factor to consider without adjusting the UVs.

Here's another from me, again not the most creative of compositions! Travertine stack blocked wall and Jakob ivy system. Both pattern objects. UV can be easily offset to get them to line up but not bothered here.
What I like about pattern over the likes of railclone for these types of cladding uses is that they just work whatever surface or orientation you throw them on without errors. Really easy to cut clean holes in them and not worry its going to break.

40

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: CoronaPattern playground!

« on: 2022-07-27, 21:49:23 »

Thanks Mike,
Good to know. I see what you say about randomness and repeating and two different tools. Hopefully a few more options can be eeked out of pattern before it reaches its limits. Thanks for all the hard work you guys put in to this.

I will definitely explore more of scatters possibilities to see how it compares to FP.

41

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: CoronaPattern playground!

« on: 2022-07-27, 18:02:16 »

Thanks Maru. Is it possible to add a request for multiple node geometries? For example the ability to have a few different grass patches rather than only the one?

Maybe in that case you rather want scatter?

Thanks Mike. I was wondering if corona pattern is more efficient in terms of generation speed and RAM, so it has potential to cover some of the heavy lifting from the likes of scatter. Do they work on different tech when it comes to efficiency and speed? TBH we are quite entrenched in forestpack but scatter is becoming tempting. IS scatter more efficient and faster than forestpack in corona?

42

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: CoronaPattern playground!

« on: 2022-07-27, 17:46:03 »

Thanks Maru. Is it possible to add a request for multiple node geometries? For example the ability to have a few different grass patches rather than only the one?

43

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: CoronaPattern playground!

« on: 2022-07-27, 16:21:05 »

Probably because the Pattern geometry only exists at render time (which is how it has such great memory savings etc. afaik), meaning there is nothing in the scene for the Decal to project onto as it doesn't exist until render is pressed. Whether that can be cunningly solved by amazing coding, I don't know, but it sounds like it would fall into the "very hard" category - devs can say otherwise of course!

Yes I thought as much. They are wizards though! The other requests re additional node geo and rotations/scale are more important / hopefully easier.

44

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: CoronaPattern playground!

« on: 2022-07-27, 15:33:12 »

Yes, as far as I can tell from testing if you have corona pattern on a surface - like a planked floor, you can't put a decal on the generated planks. If you switch off the pattern mod the decal will project fine on the base object but when the pattern is on the decal wont project on the pattern geometry. Does that make sense? I suppose it might be the sequencing so that the pattern should generate first and then the decal projected on after but I'm not even sure if its possible?

45

[Max] Daily Builds / Re: CoronaPattern playground!

« on: 2022-07-27, 12:15:49 »

Another one for the pile....

Being able to stack more than one pattern mod on the base object so you can use different nodes and parameters. Sure you can duplicate the base object but that has the drawback of needing to re-clone for every change to the base geo. Its a nice to have, not critical though as the same end result can be achieved. This feature is really distracting!

Think this might have been mentioned already but if there was a way for real world units to be respected from the node geo that would be a big time saver.

Thanks