mrbisonm needs help with gmax

[mrbisonm]

I don't quite understand what you folks mean by cross section and where is that *get path* thing anyways. Sorry, but my knowledge to the gmax is still quite newbie limited. Thanks
Without using the letter U is there a way to make u-shaped things?

Thanks Pat for the pics, I already did that search on yahoo, aol and google pics, but your second link will be quite useful, since it shows the details of the frame.

mrb

[Pat]

  Awesome Fred Im glad I could be of some help...

[jmyers2043]

Let's see -

I made a 30 meter long 3 meter wide box (Floor)
I made a pair of 30 meter long by .4 wide by.5 boxes. (floor support frame)
I made some vertical frames
I made two glass pieces.

Applied some quick textures then grouped them together and used the bend modifier.

You'll need to designate some length segments when making the boxes. The glass didn't bend at first so I also added height and width segments. I use the bend modifier a lot. e.g. when making pipes, AC vents, etc. . . Note how the floor boards bend. 

Hope this helps.




<<edit>> I think 'get path' is a MAX function. I use gmax ...

Ok so far. And I know what your are thinking. You wish the pathway to extend out some distance before it makes the turn. To accomplish this you need to check the 'limit effect' box. I set the upper limit to 16 deciding that would make for a smooth curve. Selecting 4 would make a jagged curve. Trial and error.  I then open the bend modifier and select the gizmo function. I then go over to my top view and move the X and Y. You'll see that dragging in the X direction makes the bend tighter while dragging the Y determines where the radius will be located. And presto! A U shaped object. If you wish to have a longer U then you would start out with a longer (40 or 50 meter) path. Trial and error is your best teacher now. Hope this makes sense.

[mrbisonm]

Oh geeeez.......that was some great help again  jmyers, now I know how to bend things....just wonderfully explained. Thanks very much everyone. This is really appreciated.
If my gmax knowledge continues growing like this by learning from you folks, you're gonna have some competition .......lol  Thanks again, now I have something to play with for a couple of days..

I haven't tried that yet, but I guess that probably will work with piping also, right?

.........and just to show what I can do in 15 seconds now and prove that I understood it......imagine what I can do in 15 minutes......lol...( just being happy to have learned some more on gmax)




Youppppie!!


mrb

[Pat]

That is sweet work for 15 seconds and I cant wait to see the 15 minutes project.... 

[mrbisonm]

I'm back needing some help with BATting again please.

I want to have the end of this cylinder in a different texture, how can I do this?

Also sometimes I have walls and I would like to add different textures on the same wall, is there a way to , let's say, put a wooden texture on the lower half and a metallic texture on the upper half on one surface? How is this done?

One more  question please while I am here. I downloaded a 3ds model for my CJ and would like to texture it, but when I add a tetxure the whole model gets textured. It is not grouped. Is it possible to texture individual pieces like roof, door, windows and walls on a model like this, and how do you do it?

I know, a lot of questions but hey.....I don't ask often for help, thanks, much appreciated.

mrb

[callagrafx]

You need to use the Unwrap UVW modifier.  The best thing you could do is go to the Help menu, select User reference and do a search for Unwrap UVW.  Follow the tutorial there.

[Diggis]

Is unwarp UVW in Gmax Lee? 

[callagrafx]

Yep, but it's quite different to Max, but the basic principles are the same.  Just takes patience and a little getting used to....

[mrbisonm]

Is there another place where this is explained, because my help button doesn't bring up anything......
BTW, the UVM unwrap modifier is for what, the cylinder or to get several textures on the same wall? Thanks

mrb

[callagrafx]

Did you download and install the help file from the Turbosquid/Gmax site?  It's very detailed and explains how do do it quite simply.  An Unwrap UVW does exactly that, it takes the UV map and "flattens" it, so you can move the map around a specific texture.

Here's a screenie of it in action



And here's the texture I used...as you can see it's a single bitmap.

[mrbisonm]

No, I didn't get the help file, didn't know about it, I downloaded the gmax program 6 years ago.....and it didn't have a help file then on the old site. I better get it now and see how it works out, thanks.

Fred

[cogeo]

Exactly, as callagrafx explained, the Unwrap UVW modifier is used for making custom mappings for textures; you can select vertices and move them in the texture, resulting in a custom mapping. The feature is especially useful for using textures depicting multiple items/parts, which would be otherwise unusable. I remember a HVAC tutorial, using a composite image. Don't have a link and can't remember where it was posted, or how it was named, so if someone does, pls provide a link.

However, I think you are after something simpler. Assigning a (single) texture to a cylinder is simple, you have to apply a UVW map to the object, set Mapping type to "Cylindrical", and check the "Cap" option. Adjusting the U and V parameters and/or the Gizmo's dimensions (they don't necessarily need to be equal to the object) you can apply the texture exactly the way you like.

If you want to apply different textures to the same object (eg on different faces of the same Box) you should use Multi-Materials. Making and applying Multi-Materials can prove tricky, but there is a quite simpler procedure:
- In the Material Editor make some simple materials (as usual).
- Pick the material that will cover most of your object's surface, and assign (drag) it on the object.
- Apply a UVW Mapping modifier to your object and properly adjust the mapping parameters (at this point you should have your object textured properly, but with a single material).
- Apply an Edit Mesh modifier, expand the tree, and select Faces or Polygons. Now select the Faces or Polygons for which you want to apply a different texture (Tip: the Ctrl button while selecting adds the items being selected to the current selection, while the Alt button removes them - you should see a plus or minus sign next to the cursor arrow).
- Now pick the other material and drag it on the object. The material will be applied ONLY on the selected faces/polygons. If you open the material editor, you will find the gmax has created and applied correctly a Multi-Material.

Now, about your question about your model, if it's a single object (and not a group) you can use the above technique and apply different textures on the roof, walls, windows, etc. But as this can prove really complicated and tedious, it might be meaningful to consider slpitting the object into individual objects (I assume it's a collapsed mesh), so that each object can be textured properly (and much easier).

Hope this helps.

[mrbisonm]

Thanks cogeo   for explaining, I hope I will understand it. I will try it out later this weekend and come back.

Now to the other part, the model is in one part, not grouped.....a picture below. How can I texture this, because when I do, the whole model wraps into the texture.




mrb

[mrbisonm]

I have another texture problem now. The texture on the roof was tiled so it looked good in gmax, but once rendered, the texture turned ......?? Now I'm kinda lost, any help would be appreciated.




Thanks in advance
   Fred

[Diggis]

I think thats a trick of the light as it were.  Your texture is quite fine and when it renders it loses detail and can end up like that.  Try increasing the size of the texture and see if that solves the problem.

It's also possible this is the problem:

http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=4020.msg148687#msg148687

But I'm not sure.

[mrbisonm]

Thanks Diggis, I'll have a look at your recommendations later this week and come back, much appreciated.

Fred