Software Great free 3ds max maps set

[Jelmer]

There's a good looking (unlike max standard, which sucks) wood material that doesn't require mapping for you lazy people who hate uv mapping .

There are extended bump maps which give you lots of control, I use noise all the time, probably most used map, and this gives so many more options.

Then there's a tile map, you won't need textures for those anymore, because these look great out of the box, in max.

Finally there's a better and sophisticated gradient control which also has some cool features for particles, like random particle materials and particle age related stuff.

Anyway, check out the site here because some images will say a lot more, and have fun!

[MrTom]

Hmmmm.

This looked promising but to be honest in the ½hour I've been playing with it I'm not that impressed.

Ok that's not very long but it's obvious from the start that these are by no means perfect. I'm using VRay too which shouldn't make any difference.......perhaps you MR users can verify my findings:

The Wood map has the option for channel number greyed out. This means you can't assign more than one instance to a single object.....as in a multi sub-ob material. The mapping used is inaccurate too......what you see in the viewport is nothing like what you get in the render....this could be very tiresome when trying to align grain etc.....and although you can add your own UVW map you need to adjust the 'U' value just to get the mapping equal in each axis.

The Tile map does not seem that different from the Tile map already in Max.......ok it may have the option to 'round' the corners of the tiles but apart from that....I dunno? Again there seems to be a mismatch in the mapping coords...without adding and tweaking your own it just doesn't line up.

The Gradient and Noise maps also seem similar to the standard maps available....nothing in here that can't be replicated from the maps already supplied in Max.

Distortion? Well, who knows? I'd lost interest by then.

A good try, and thanks Jelmer for bringing It to our attention....appreciated. I'll stick with what I know though for the time being.

If it IS any different in MR then this may be something to inform the author about for future development.



The mismatched mapping and render differences, (compared to the 'tile' map supplied with Max):





Regards.

[Jelmer]

hmm yeah that doesn't look too good, I haven't tried them myself but the reactions on several forums were positive so I expected this to be interesting, I'll try it myself tomorrow and see if it's any good.

[MrTom]

Ok. I'm not saying it isn't any good, but lets say the 'Out Of The Box' experience was not as good as it has been made out to be.

See for yourself when you try them, I think you'll find there's not really much in them that couldn't already be done in Max with the standard maps.....apart from minor things like tile corner radius.

When all said and done they are procedural materials made with the standard maps. It's a good effort to cut down time on creating textured materials, unfortunately the time then taken to correct the mapping means you are no better off. The option to change parametres from within the material, (instead of finding another image to use as a map), is great.....but if it don't work.......whats the point?

One other thing....if you promote something it's usually a good idea to try it first.....if it turns out to be complete rubbish it doesn't look good on yourself.

Regards.