Hi Guys, here is a new problem, not sure if all of you too are facing the same. Well, I am trying to make a Victorian age fireplace. So naturally it must have lots of ornamental decorations embossed on it. This is a game model and the requirement is that I must use the decorations as 3D models, strictly not texture maps. Here I am using normal maps. It is obvious that I have to make a hi-res version of the same model with all the decorations embossed on it so that it can be used as a normal map to wrap up the original low-res model. So this is my goal.
Now, initially I tried using displace modifier with all the decorations. I tried using both "map" and "bitmap" options. I also had to increase the number of polygons in order to bring a smooth output of the decoration, it was looking absolutely fine. But the file got so heavy that my system was unable to handle it. So it is impossible for me to use displace modifier.
The second option I tried is to import the adobe illustrator file as a spline. My plan was to extrude it and apply a few modifiers to give it a smooth finish. But once again I am facing another problem. Whenever I am trying to import this or any Adobe illustrator file, no matter what version it is CS/CS 2/10 or whatever, I am getting the following message: "line in file exceeds 255 characters" and "improper file format". Its really irritating!!
I even tried to import a simple circle ..... but no!! It would always show the same message and import nothing. Whatz the way out? Solutions please. I am using version 8.0 of 3Ds Max.