Messages

1

[Max] I need help! / Re: Corona MultiMap Random & Defined Textures

« on: 2023-06-16, 14:42:24 »

Thank you, both interesting ideas. I had to do it all manually to get the render out, but I'll give these a go when I have some down time. Always good to have solutions like these to hand when things crop up in the future.

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[Max] I need help! / Re: Corona MultiMap Random & Defined Textures

« on: 2023-06-16, 11:49:46 »

Thanks, that would certainly have helped if I had started that way. Unfortunately, as the current texture assignment doesn't follow the IDs, when I switch to that the tile randomisation changes. I need everything to stay as is other than the 6 tiles the client has asked to swap. In hindsight the Mat ID approach would have been better from the start, but I didn't expect the client to be quite so specific.

Perhaps a future feature of MultiMap could be to "bake" mat IDs onto the geo based on how they've been allocated with mesh element/instance. To get this to do what I need, I've had to compare the textures to the previous render and then manually assign the IDs  so the layout doesn't change. At least now I have more control. A good learning experience, I suppose.

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[Max] I need help! / Re: Corona MultiMap Random & Defined Textures

« on: 2023-06-16, 10:43:10 »

Thanks, I tried that, but then the randomisation of the other tiles changed. I think because it's set to Mesh Element & Instance, when you remove a part of the mesh, the randomisation is recalculated :(

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[Max] I need help! / Corona MultiMap Random & Defined Textures

« on: 2023-06-16, 10:24:37 »

Hi All

I am working on an interior with tiled walls. I've used MultiMap to randomise 20 tile textures (all variations on the same stone) across a number of different Floorgen objects. However, my client has asked me to swap the texture on 6 specific tiles and I can't figure out how to do it without the other tiles changing as well. I'm randomising by Mesh Element & Instance, so I can't simply change Material IDs. Any suggestions?

TIA

5

[Max] General Discussion / Re: Chaos Licencing server keeps failing to start after shutdown

« on: 2023-02-21, 12:58:21 »

And/or as the first step you can check if you have all the "Chaos" apps enabled in Windows startup. (see attached image)

Thanks Maru, this seems to have done the trick. If the issue comes up again I'll make sure to send a support request.

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[Max] General Discussion / Re: Chaos Licencing server keeps failing to start after shutdown

« on: 2023-02-19, 00:37:31 »

I'm experiencing the same issue. Running Max 2022 and Corona 9, I have to reinstall the license server every time I start my PC. Is there a log file somewhere I can share to figure out a fix?

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[Max] General Discussion / Re: Corona Subscription Update by CHAOS

« on: 2022-12-05, 09:09:33 »

So glad I found this thread, shame I didn't see it sooner.

I am currently without any kind of subscription all thanks to the Corona/Chaos support team. Having asked a simple question about applying the Black Friday discount to my yearly renewal, I was subsequently told my subscription had been cancelled and my auto-renewal payment refunded. I was then told I could simply buy a new subscription and apply the BF code, ignoring that this would mean I lose access to render nodes on the new subscription  I have a small "render farm" of 2 PCs, with a plan to add a 3rd soon. The new pricing structure will make it impossible for me to utilise these, as I simply can't afford (or justify) the excessive costs. In trying to save a little bit of money (effectively mitigating against some of the recent price increases), I'm now faced with paying double to get back what I already had... it's a bloody joke!

I have flagged this with support, saying this isn't what I wanted and that I'd like my renewal to be reinstated, only to be told that this is impossible. Once a subscription has been terminated, it cannot be restarted. So, I am currently without a license and cannot complete any work. I am not only facing a significantly higher cost of a new subscription, but also facing a loss of income to boot.

This whole scenario has made me seriously reconsider using Corona at all and switching to Arnold. I've been with Corona for approx 4 years having previously used Vray for approx 7 years prior to that. I don't want to switch, but I also don't want/can't afford to be ripped off by yet another software company (I'm looking at you, Adobe). I was actually quite happy to have Cosmos and Phoenix bundled in, as I had been hoping to try both, but an opt in/out approach would be better imo. I have zero need for C4D, so don't understand why we're being forced to pay for that functionality, these things should be add-ons, not prerequisites!

Hopefully Chaos will see sense and recognise that this new approach is really going to impact negatively on a big section of their user base and add back some flexibility in their product bundles.

8

[Max] I need help! / Re: Dichroic Laminated Glass?

« on: 2021-05-13, 09:36:35 »

I know this is an old topic, but I'm hoping someone can help me with a current issue using Siger's Thin Film plugin with Corona.

I have a client that wants to showcase a lot of Dichroic film panels in the 3D visuals I'm creating for them. They shared the attached reference images, one used on a transparent substrate (Dichroic_Transparent) and the other on a white opaque substrate (Dichroic_Opaque). I've attempted to replicate it using Siger's Thin Film but I'm getting solid banding (Dichroic_Thin Film), where, in reality, it looks to be a more gentle fade between colours. I have also attempted to replicate it manually by layering falloff maps with the CoronaMix Map, but ended up coming back to Thin Film. My Dichroic material settings are attached.

Does anybody have any recommendations on how to best replicate the real world look of this material? Is there any way to smooth out the colours in the Thin Film shader?

TIA

9

[Max] I need help! / Re: Lightmix with Backburner

« on: 2021-04-23, 08:54:41 »

Thanks, I'm trying to avoid the larger file sizes though, and EXRs would give me a similar output to CXRs unfortunately. I have figured out a couple of workarounds though:

1. Save as Jpeg and set Lightmix for each render in the VFB before I submit them to Backburner. I then delete all but the "LightMix" Jpegs. Not great for animations but I can deal with it for stills.

2. Create Separate lighting groups and "bake" the relevant Lightmix settings to their corresponding groups. Will make the file a little heavier/cumbersome to work with, but better than having 100s of GBs of unwanted files being created whenever I render out an animation.

It would be great if we could assign each Lightmix to their corresponding camera, this would be such a time saver.

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[Max] I need help! / Lightmix with Backburner

« on: 2021-04-16, 07:24:17 »

Hi all

Most of the projects I work on require multiple camera angles of the same model/scene, often requiring a separate Lightmix setup for each view. At the moment I'm saving as .cxr and rendering via backburner, but file sizes are huge and it saves all elements as well (which I know is a 3ds Max issue, but still really annoying). I have some animation work coming up and need a less file-heavy option.

If I submit to backburner as jpg/tif/png/etc. will it save the lightmix settings active in the VFB, or just the beauty pass? Can anyone recommend any other solutions to prevent Max from saving the render elements?

Thanks in advance

11

[Max] I need help! / Re: store and keep renders in History

« on: 2021-03-23, 03:44:36 »

Ok, thanks for the update. Would be great to have this feature implemented at some point, it really was a very good workflow tool when using Vray.

Will keep an eye on the roadmap once version 7 has released.

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[Max] I need help! / Re: store and keep renders in History

« on: 2021-03-21, 02:01:16 »

Has there been any movement on this? Is it in the roadmap for new features yet? I really liked how history was implemented in Vray and would love the same functionality here. It is so useful for comparing small changes, which is a common request from my clients.

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[Max] I need help! / Re: Lightselect Lights Being Deleted

« on: 2021-02-25, 11:22:15 »

Thanks for the suggestion. Haven't tried that yet, as I've got so many renders to do, I'm just pushing through. Thankfully it hasn't happened again since I started this thread, so no idea how I might replicate it. Only thing I've changed on my PC was updating to latest Nvidia Studio Drivers, but can't see why that would effect it 🤔

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[Max] I need help! / Lightselect Lights Being Deleted

« on: 2021-02-22, 00:36:15 »

Hi All

I have an interior render scene that I'm using for multiple product renders and on 2 separate occasions the lights I have saved to Lightselect elements have been deleted, so none of my saved Lightmix presets work, as all lights are moved to "Rest (Unassigned)". The lights are all still in the scene, I haven't changed anything. This seems to be a bit of a bug, but not sure how I might replicate it. Has anybody else experienced similar?

The products are Xrefs and I'm queueing all of my renders via Backburner 2019 from 3ds Max 2020. I have 100s of renders to complete over the next few weeks, so can't afford to keep having to re-render them, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

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[Max] I need help! / Re: Need to adjust the directions of a wood texture

« on: 2020-12-10, 14:39:50 »

As a quick workaround (whilst you procrastinate and put off learning UV unwrapping because it doesn't seem that important yet...) I sometimes do the following:

1. Make sure your object is an editable poly, or apply an edit poly modifier
2. Select the sub-object element for the part you want to edit
3. Rotate around the axis relevant to the wood grain you need to change
4. Leave sub-object mode and rotate at object level back to the original position

This will effectively alter the objects UVW coordinates, I use this process a lot when I have a triplanar wood material instanced across multiple objects, I find it quicker than unwrapping everything.