2009 April | MrBluesummers.com

Ambient Occlusion Mix Map

Written April 28th, 2009
Categories: Effects, Materials / Shaders, Videos
6 comments

Hey All,

Sorry for the incredible wait in getting this Monday Movie uploaded. YouTube was down for a while, and my original encoding crashed so I had to do it twice.

This week we’re looking at how you can use 3d Studio Max Ambient Occlusion either on its own or as part of a mix map. It’s a quick and easy way to add some shadowing directly to your model, and helps make your details pop. I’ll cover some of the parameters of the Ambient Occlusion map (which I don’t think I’ve done in detail in the past). I’ll also demonstrate how to use ambient occlusion as a mix controller to blend two other maps (or materials) together.

Placing Rivets

Written April 20th, 2009
Categories: Modeling, Videos
4 comments

This week’s Movie is about how you can place rivets onto your objects in 3d Studio Max. Off the top of my head, there are four different techniques you can use. You can

position them manually using the 3dsMax gizmos,
use the Normal Align tool,
use the Array tool, or
if the situation is really complicated, you can use the Spacing tool.

I go through all of these tools in this week’s Monday Movie. As always, be sure to leave comments on the post. Let me know if there’s anything that you’d like me to change about the format, or if you have questions that you’d like answered in the form of a video!

Select Face Smoothing Group Boundaries Script

Written April 16th, 2009
Categories: Downloads, Scripts
3 comments

This script will quickly select all of the edges in your 3d Studio Max model that boarder smoothing group changes. For example, if you have a character who’s smoothing groups change between flesh and clothing, this helps you quickly see where those changes are, and refine your smoothing groups accordingly. You can also use it to create UWV clusters based on your smoothing groups. Finally, it allows you to select all of your smoothing group boarders, or the boarders of only a particular smoothing group.

Click this link to download the Face Smoothing Group Boundaries Script. Just unzip it to your desktop or somewhere on your hard drive and run it via the Maxscript command menu in 3dsMax.

Lights as Objects

Written April 14th, 2009
Categories: Lighting, Videos
7 comments

This Monday Movie is pretty short and to the point. I show you the benefits of using area lights as objects in 3dsMax. In this way, you don’t have to model actual light objects (like bulbs or window glass).

3dCodex – A New Hope

Written April 13th, 2009
Categories: Blog
No Comments »

Hey everyone,

This week’s Monday Movie is delayed because I’m having serious encoding issues for some reason. I’m rather surprised how finicky Adobe Premiere is. Never expected it to put up so much of a fight.

In the meantime, I wanted to update you 3dCodex. Stop by Beta.3dCodex.com and take a look at the next version. Let me know what you think by leaving comments on this post! Maybe it will eventually have it’s own blog…

Also, here’s a picture of a kitty!

He cannot hold it together, Captain!

Procedural Modeling

Written April 6th, 2009
Categories: Modeling, Videos
No Comments »

Hey everyone!

We’ve got a great episode for you this week. We’ll be talking about procedural modeling, an old technique modelers used to use before the days of Zbrush and Mudbox. Using the Vertex Paint Modifier in 3d Studio Max, we can paint masks directly onto the surface of an object, and then use that as a mix map for blending displacement maps. This is an awesome technique for making small touchups to characters, or layering on complex displacement maps to create incredibly detailed modeling!

On a side note, I’ve finally mastered the art of a crisp upload to YouTube. I should probably make a Monday Movie about making my Monday Movies! How meta!