machinima scenes on gmax

[Nighthawk]

yes, as the tittle reads, I'm trying to do some animations on Gmax, prior to fully handle 3dstudio once it arrives....


these are some easy animations I did with BC models and some spare time lol (they are in .bik format, so use Rad Video Tools or something similar)

[Creative Inc]

Is it possible to view the textures on the models in the viewports in Gmax?

[Nighthawk]

it should be, but if it is, I haven't found out how to do it yet. Gmax has not an in-built renderer as 3d studio, so I had to take those videos using a video recorder and that took memory from the 3d viewport, hence the quality.

[Creative Inc]

The Sovereign video was the better of the two. The launch sequence was very cool and I was able to picture it with all the details as well. The lighting was great.

[Nighthawk]

I got the texture mapping to work on the viewport, although they are always at full bright, and I can't get them to react to the lighting..... heh..... I'll keep digging in.....

[MLeo]

I didn't know GMax could render.
Last time I looked at it it wasn't possible.

Also, try looking in the material editor, and look just below the material selection for show in scene (or something like that).


[EDIT] You are using Fraps or something similar, right?

[Nighthawk]

I didn't know GMax could render.
Last time I looked at it it wasn't possible.

it can't, but using a 3rd-party plugin it can approach to a low-q render

Also, try looking in the material editor, and look just below the material selection for show in scene (or something like that).

yup, found it.

[EDIT] You are using Fraps or something similar, right?

HyperCam2

[Nighthawk]

finally arrived 3dstudio!
let's honor BC and ST with my first render:
Download .bik video

[Creative Inc]

A few recommendations:
Firstly, if you plan to do a lot of rendering, then a frame rate of 12-15 is good for testing. Unfortunately, a frame rate that low is on the edge of human perception. Meaning that if looking hard enough, you might be able to detect every single frame. For your final renders, a frame rate of 20-24 (the later being actual movie rate) would be great.

Second. I know that with this being nothing more then initial testing, then using static backgrounds is all well and good. However, for something like what you will eventually be doing, animated backgrounds and starfields are a must. 3DSMax has the ability to do a this from VideoPost.

Finally. Adjust the specularity of your ships. As with most metals, light does not reflect off the surface at once (unless it's a huge light source). Most of the time, it's focused. If you adjust the specular map to narrow the light reflected off, you should get a more defining look to your hulls.

Conclusion. You're doing very well for yourself as you progress, and now that you have a usable program to play around with, you should progress faster. If you ever have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. You can PM me anytime and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can.

[Nighthawk]

Second. I know that with this being nothing more then initial testing, then using static backgrounds is all well and good. However, for something like what you will eventually be doing, animated backgrounds and starfields are a must. 3DSMax has the ability to do a this from VideoPost.

you mean sort of "masking" whatever you have on first plane and use another background like a movie you made before?

huh, I think this was done with that, dunno, it's not mine anyways.

[Creative Inc]

That would be one way to do it. I was thinking more along the lines of actually creating the background in Max along with the ship you're using.
With VideoPost, you can generate a starfield in the background with a few clicks.

[Nighthawk]

of course, i know. that video is an example of mixing two already done movies, but I always meant to do the whole take on max. or without "living" action, for that matter