Topics

1

[Max] Resolved Bugs / Volume Material "Inside Volume" setting not working correctly.

« on: 2023-02-02, 23:56:56 »

I haven't used the volume material to create fog in a while, but the behaviour isn't what I remember. Maybe this is a bug.

When using a volume material, it can either be assigned globally (in the render setup) or locally to an object. The "On Surface" mode is quicker, but only works when the object containing the volume effect is seen from the outside. However, when setting it globally, it works no matter the camera placement. So far so good.

The other option is to use the "Inside Volume" setting, which is significantly slower (more than twice the render time in these examples!). It works as expected when set globally, albeit slow. It works when seen from outside the object when used locally. When seen from inside the object it does not render correctly! Afaik, it was previously possible to place the camera inside the volume, and render correct volume effects. Is this a bug??

It's also interesting to see the difference when applying noise. With "On Surface" the result looks... extremely poor. With "Inside Volume" it looks great. I remember it as being a lot more similar.

The scene here is a simple box (gray CRN PhysMat) with some holes in the roof, a daylight with CRN-sky, and an editable poly object containing the fog.

Win 11, CRN 9 HF1, Max2023

2

[Max] I need help! / Corona Converter - unable to process Vray materials/maps

« on: 2022-10-19, 10:35:59 »

The converter is unable to read/convert materials and maps from Vray unless you have Vray installed.
In the past, this issue was solved by installing the Vray demo, and even after it expired, the converter could use it to read Vray materials.

Since Chaos changed their policy, Vay is now a one-time trial, and it's not possible to download it again once your trial has expired.

This poses a problem when you update 3dsmax or get a new computer, since you cannot download Vray again. I see no other option than having to buy the full version of Vray... which really isn't worth it to me. This does imo defeat the purpose of the converter, rendering it useless.

Do you see any other solution? I think Chaos ought to be able to include the files necessary to make the converter fully functional without having to install Vray.

3

[Max] Resolved Bugs / Triplanar- and displacement mapping inconsistency

« on: 2018-03-20, 11:15:04 »

I was setting up a brick material using triplanar mapping in the texture slots, and noticed something funny. (Not funny, really.)

Displacement is calculated first, then the other mapping is applied to the displaced geometry, resulting in mapping mismatch.

Attaching images. First with triplanar, and then without (using ordinary UVW mapping).

4

[Max] Feature Requests / Distance texture set to other Material/MatID

« on: 2018-03-14, 15:04:50 »

Problem: I create a nice material using distance texture, and link the distance to geometry or splines in the scene. I add the material to my library. I open the material in another scene, and get the red "error texture" all over my materials since to objects it was refering to isn't in the scene.

Solution: Add an option to set the distance from another material. In this way you can create great masks by using various Multi/sub materials, which will carry over no matter the geometry.


If this isn't possible, please keep the name of the deleted objects, instead of just having it say "<deleted>". Would make debugging a lot easier.

5

[Max] Feature Requests / Make Autodesk Materials renderable

« on: 2018-02-21, 14:35:58 »

I often work with importing and rendering architect models coming from Revit, and more often than not, they are a complete mess when it comes to materials. Being able to render Autodesk Materials would help immensely - it wouldn't even have to be a perfect representation of the original material - just make it so it doesn't render that red warning material!

Alternatively, provide the option to override non renderable materials with a corona material of your choice Like the "Mtl. override" we have now, but with the added option to only replace the problem materials. 


Also, a side note: It would be very useful to be able to ignore material warnings in the render all together. Thinking primarily of the message you get if you have an undefined distance texture.
I don't need it to screw up my render; a note in the Error Message log is more than enough.

Cheers!

6

[Max] Bug Reporting / CoronaLights "prevent black appearance" ignored if behind a refractive material.

« on: 2017-06-19, 00:19:06 »

I am lighting an interior with CoronaLights. The lights have directionality and I have the "prevent black appearance" checked. Directionality set to 0.5.

Camera is placed outside of the building. There are glass windows between the lights and the camera.

If I render the scene with the glass in place (that is in front of the lights) they turn black, i.e. the effect is ignored. If I hide the glass, the effect is working properly.

Surely, this can't be intended?

7

[Max] I need help! / Material Preview Brightness?

« on: 2017-06-10, 02:40:48 »

As of late, I've been a bit bothered by my material preview's brightness. I do not remember having these issues prior to 1.6, but I could be wrong.
In any case, my problem is that bright materials look burned out easily. The material in the attachments is a material without reflection, and the diffuse value set to RGB 180. The second attachment has a Threshold of 255 applied in PS to show which pixels are completely white.
Max's gamma set to 2.2 (+ affect mat editor).

I'd like a "VFB exposure settings apply to mat editor"-button, or something. Or maybe I'm just missing something here...

8

[Max] I need help! / Soften Volume Material edges?

« on: 2017-05-30, 01:13:19 »

Been trying to make some nice mist with the volume material. For the most part, it works the way I want it to. (Comparing the reference photo to my mockup scene. Pretty close.)

There is however one thing that is bugging me, and that is the hard edge of the vol mat that seems impossible to get rid of. (Look at the volumetrics element.)
The Boundary published this blog post where they use a displaced mesh to get a more blurred, or rather jagged, edge. That is one way of doing it, but a rather unpractical one for large scenes.
I have tried using falloff- and other maps. It works on simple objects, but not obejcts like the one in my scene. 

Is there some other way I have overlooked?

It would be great if the material had a "soften edges" checkbox - either tied to a distance from the edge, or a as value of pixels in the render.

And while we're on this topic: Do you think it would be possible to add a "clip fog object at camera position"-checkbox, so you'd never have to worry about your camera entering the volume object? (Either that, or just make it work even if the camera is inside the object.) :)

9

[Max] Feature Requests / Override Unsupported Material slot

« on: 2017-03-02, 14:32:22 »

I think the way Corona handles unsupported materials is very good - displaying that error message text directly in the render.

However, sometimes I don't have the need nor the time to track down the unsupported material. I would therefore like to see an "Unsupported Mtl. Override" option in the Render Overrides box.

Thanks in advance! 8)

10

[Max] Resolved Feature Requests / Addition to CoronaWire

« on: 2016-11-14, 14:38:39 »

One feature - maybe small, but possibly very useful - would be to have the option to soften the edges of the CoronaWire map. Even better would be to be able to control the falloff curve, and to have it work properly as a bump map.

Very useful when making tiles and such, since you can completely skip UVW mapping.