Chaos Corona Forum
Chaos Corona for 3ds Max => [Max] Feature Requests => [Max] Resolved Feature Requests => Topic started by: pokoy on 2016-05-24, 19:10:34
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Since 1.5 is about smaller improvements to existing features maybe the design if the LayeredMtl could be reconsidered to make it a bit more convenient for lookdev of complex materials.
1. Currently, the amount spinner is only active when there's no mask in a Layered Mtl - why not always? It probably makes sense if you want to use it for decals exclusively but it's highly inconvenient for adding layers like scratches, dirt etc. Making it work right in the material's main UI would help a lot as it won't force the user to mess around with additional output nodes for each mask, speeding up the workflow a lot.
Also, it forces you to remove either the material or the map in order to switch a material off temporarily - see point 2 below. It would be way easier if you could set the amount to zero.
2. I know this has been discussed a lot back then before the material was introduced, please add a checkbox to each Material layer to allow the user to quickly switch it on or off. If we want to disable a layer, we have to either remove the material or the map or replace the map with a black color. I know one important point was the it would clutter the UI but if it's still a concern, you could solve it by using a 2 lines layout for each layer, checkbox and material slot on the top, followed by the amount spinner and the mask slot. I think this would even help to make the UI a bit friendlier to the eye.
3. I would love to see an option for an additional bump slot that would be applied to all materials used within the LayeredMtl in a screen blend fashion or, if this is not possible, replace them. This would be super useful since currently you need to add the same bump map to each of the materials if you want to make it look like one surface... useful for scratches or general deformations of more complex material setups.
I would love to use the LayeredMtl more but it's really clunky to work with as it is now, especially the amount spinner becoming inactive when using masks.
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1. +100 This is absolutely nesasary.
2. Yes please. Very useful, and an absolute "must" if point 1 is not fulfilled.
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Agree to all ;- ).
I know back when it was discussed, number 2 gets nullified partially if number 1 would be fulfilled (by simply setting 0 in blending slot) but having both is simply the best, as you don't have to remember what blending number it was.
Also, yes to the 3, at least the intent. Some other softwares (notably game engines) offer different kinds of blending rather than just simple lerp, and offer stacking various qualities like bump/normal shading.
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Improvements to layered material is high on my wanted features list too!
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Good to see feedback from all of you, maybe this way we can convince the devs to do something about the current limitations.
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if I'm not wrong, there was a long long discussion about this and ended with a decision it shouldn't be like that because of development think it is an offense for corona simplicity.
but now I am hooray for this charming feature request. I definitely vote for this!!
come on guys help this thread up, is there any corona user doesn't need this??
thanx pokoy :)
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BTW: There is still this:
https://corona-renderer.com/bugs/view.php?id=1282
Good Luck
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Obviously, +1 vote for me.
Simplicity doesn't mean lack of essential feature like this.
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if I'm not wrong, there was a long long discussion about this and ended with a decision it shouldn't be like that because of development think it is an offense for corona simplicity.
Simplicity is good, but when we talk about a very complex shader network of maps and materials, they are everything but simple. So either way, there's not much "simplicity" anyway if one want to make a complex and realistic material.
So that added options and checkboxes suggested above might even simplify the shader network, and make the workflow easier.
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it seems that we have a consensus in this case that the controls are too simple, so we will add the checkboxes
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it seems that we have a consensus in this case that the controls are too simple, so we will add the checkboxes
Thanks, glad to see this. I hope this also includes the amount spinners, checkboxes alone will only allow to switch a layer off and it's not really going to help with the complex materials because we still need to control opactiy values in an easier way.
Frood, thanks for posting the mantis entry, I wasn't aware it existed. Actually, this would be my preferred solution, plus the extra bump map.
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Coming back to improvements for 1.5 - it seems that map display in viewport works only for the Base material but not for any material used as a layer or for their maps. This needs to be improved, especially masks really need to work in the viewports.
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@Ondra: Will the checkboxes make it in 1.5?
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pushing this to 1.6, sorry... not enough time, it did not make the line
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Hello,
LayeredMtls are not working with corona mask element (1.5). Is it a bug of my scene or a known limitation?
Thank you
Pierre
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they are working, but perhaps in an unexpected way: the material that matters is actually the base material, not the layered material itself
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implemented