Under Construction...

[Jim Robinson 122]

I've been gmax-ing and texturing my a$$ off lately and while I won't say I'm getting this program figured out just yet, I did finally manage to get a multi material going on this house I've been working on. I've been working on texture #2 for the last couple days, which isn't looking too bad, but I was getting real tired of looking at the UVW unwrap outlines on the parts of my house that were (almost) mapped to .bmp #2. They say all work and no play makes "Jimmy" a dull boy, so I decided some quickie "North Idaho siding" might be in order for .bmp #2. A quick trip to google images for a Tyvek logo and the UVW outlines are gone :-hah :http://www.cat-tamer.com/attach/jims_house.jpgIt's getting there; I've found some deck textures but I haven't made editable mesh out of it or even attached it to the rest of the house yet.Jim

[Max Kraus 338]

hey that's really goo. You deserve a pat on the back for that.I too am learning scenery design and Gmax. I have done the same as you but I am still struggling to fully get my head around mapping and texturing, how materials and maps work etc. Visually my building is fine but I worry that internally the UWV mapping is all tangled up at times.I might hang around so we can bounce ideas off each other if that's ok.

[Jim Robinson 122]

Wow Max, that's quite an elaborate project you've got going there. That really looks nice. Must be a real world terminal building somewhere? Looks great, my projects pale in comparison so far.I'm wondering what you've been doing for textures? From the last few projects it seems I'm finding out that building the model in gmax is the easy part and coming up with suitable textures is taking up the majority of my time. It's getting easier though as I build up a library of basic textures; wood, brick, windows, concrete, etc.I hear ya on mapping. I'm not sure I'll ever understand the planar, cylindrical, box, shrink wrap, etc options in the UVW map modifier. I usually just use "box" and make a square cube that encompasses the entire element. I often wonder how much extra work I'm making for myself due to incomprehension. I spend a few hours on the FFDS forums trying to figure out how the big boys do it, but about 99% of what's there goes straight over my head at this point.By all means, "hang around". I feel like I'm on the tail end of everything with the gmax thing, with everybody having "been there, done that" already. It would be great to compare notes once in a while and see your progress reports.Here's the latest on my house project. I got rid of the Tyvek and added the atrium thingy which will be textured almost entirely with glass. Inside, a spiral staircase (not modeled) leads to the upstairs loft.http://www.cat-tamer.com/attach/jims_house2.jpgJim

[Max Kraus 338]

Very nice Jim. Like everything in life, if you do it long enough it becomes second nature. I am hoping scenery design is the same.The airport I am doing certainly is a real life case. In fact in real life I am on the project team for the new terminal, which is currently half built, so I have access to all the 3D imagery for the textures (no real photo textures yet since it's not finished!). This airport (Paphos International in Cyprus) has one runway, some exsiting buildings which will be retained as a freight centre, and a small military precinct also. It's also next to the coast so some LWM poly work is required. Lots to do for a "small" airport but I intend to stick with it and learn by reading as much forum as possible.Also Google images is your friend, to build up frequently used texture libraries like you say you are doing. A good idea indeed. For the Mapping I find that a Polygon by Polygon aproach seems to work best for me. I apply a PLANAR mapping and then select the ALIGNMENT parallel to the polygon I am doing (X,Y,Z) then I apply my Unwrap after that. Slow but effective (until I learn the quick way that I am yet unaware of but I am sure exists!)

[Jim Robinson 122]

Interesting story, Max. That's a long ways from home, does your work require you to actually travel to Paphos, and how did you get involved with being on the project team?On mapping, have you seen Bill Womak's "Simple Gmax texturing tutorial video"? It shows how to use box mapping and material IDs on a simple house structure. He lays out his texture .bmp in the UVW editor, print screens it, and creates a texture template in PhotoShop before he even assigns it to the "diffuse" slot in the material editor. For me this video made the difference between using Gmax and not using Gmax.I've also stumbled across a couple of free texture sites you may be interested in. Textures from both of these sites may be used and distributed as desired, even in payware projects if one were to eventually pursue that avenue.http://www.cgtextures.com/http://www.mayang.com/textures/I found these links on the FFDS texturing forum, there were more links in the thread to other sites but I haven't gone beyond those two so far.Have a great day,Jim