Material overides not working

[XRef]

When I add a map to the Reflect/Refract BG override slot it gets placed in the SSS amount channel instead. Is there a fix for this? I noticed it will work in the slate editor but I only use the compact version.

[TomG]

Can you detail the steps you are following? I just did this in the Compact Editor and all worked fine

- Create new Corona Material
- Go to the Reflect BG override and click where it says No Map
- Choose CoronaBitmap
- Choose a bitmap from the file select dialog
- Move back up to the Corona Material level in Compact
- The CoronaBitmap is in the Reflect BG override slot (and not in any of the SSS slots)

(Max 2019, Corona Apr 18th daily build - please let us know your Max and Corona version too)

[XRef]

OK that works. Previously I never needed to add a corona bitmap into any slot to apply a map, so I was just trying to load a map without adding corona bitmap first. Can you try loading a map and bypass the corona bitmap? That's where the bug is.

[TomG]

What kind of map are you loading? An image map will have to be a 3ds Max native Bitmap, or a CoronaBitmap (you can't just load an image). Was it a procedural map, like noise or similar?

I just tried the same steps with the Max native Bitmap, and it worked fine too.

EDIT - it worked with a Dent map as well, as a quick test of a procedural.

[XRef]

I just loaded a dent map (without wrapping it into a corona bitmap) and it jumps into the SSS amount slot.

EDIT: now nothing works again, unless I build it in the slate editor, apply to the object, go back to compact and sample the new material.

[TomG]

Well, you don't wrap procedurals into a bitmap map (either the Max one or the Corona one), as they are a map themselves.

Which version of Max and Corona are you using? Can you make a screengrab video showing what happens? Does it happen in every scene, or just one particular one? Could you send an example scene where it happens (there's the private uploader if you can't share it publicly - https://corona-renderer.com/upload )

[XRef]

Running 2018 and 1.7.4

It happens in every scene. Just uploaded a video: 1524669043_BG-overide.flv

[TomG]

I can't replicate here, everything is working as expected.

May still be useful to have a scene, as it may show something, even if it is happening in every scene there. Any additional plugins or material systems installed for Max?

Here's what I get when I try it, I reverted to 1.7.4 and used Max 2018.4, and everything is as expected:

[XRef]

OK thanks for the help, I will use the workaround via the slate editor for now.

[TomG]

Ok! If you do get a chance to share a scene, I can load it up here, just in case there's some setting or plugin or something that is affecting things. Can be anything simple that the error shows up in - I'd make sure the error happens once, save the scene (with the material in the error state of having the map in the SSS slot instead of the override), and then send it along and I will take a look. I know it takes time to do, but maybe we can avoid you having to use the workaround :)

[XRef]

OK, I made a simple scene for you to review. thanks!

[TomG]

TY for sending! So some interesting things - in Max 2019 I have no problem adding a map to either override slot. However, in Max 2018.4 (can you confirm which hotfix of Max you were using?), I get a similar result, the map goes into SSS amount if I tried to put it in Reflect BG override, and into SSS radius if I tried the Refract BG override.

If I do a new scene after loading your scene, 2018 continues to have the problem. If I close and restart 2018, it starts working properly.

I tried "Reset Settings" for Corona in your scene, but it still doesn't work properly. I also tried various combinations of New Scene, the Reset Material Editor Slots, along with resetting Corona and once I had loaded your scene, Max 2018 never worked properly again.

I'll post this onto our internal bug tracking for some more follow up to see what is going on - I do suspect it is a Max issue though, since 2019 works normally every time.

[XRef]

Cool, thanks for the work on this! We will be upgrading to 2019 soon so all should be good. I wonder if any other 2018 users have come across this issue?

[TomG]

What's odd is it doesn't happen for me on just starting Max 2018, everything works fine. Only after loading the scene you sent does it start to misbehave, and then once it starts, it keeps doing that until Max is restarted (and then it goes back to working as expected for me).

We should have all we need to find out why that is, though. If anyone else with Max 2018 runs into this, let us know!

Also, don't forget it would be useful to know which hotfix of Max you are using :) I was using 2018.4.

[pokoy]

I doubt this is going to help, but when you see the issue and it's reproducible, can you reset the ribbon settings and try if it works then? Because of the UI rewrite there are some strange side effects and the ribbon is known to affect a few places.