SculptGenMax for 3ds Max 9

Try opening the Maxscript Listener before running the script. (Maxscript>Maxscript Listener...)

Maybe it is printing some kind of error message that you can see there. I can probably fix it for Max8 at least, if I know what is going wrong.

I've been using this plug-in, it works much better than Baking method... however, it need some tweaking for other type of topologies.

First thing would be the "caps" that it renders on the texture, at the top/bottom ends has the same color row. No need for it this time. I'm no Max scripter but can you please update on that?

Not sure if it's harder or what not, could you make it support on using shape that started out with Torus in Max? Thanks!

(using version 8 on Max)

PS: Oh yeah, how about a cancel button to stop the "slow" rendering? Heh. Too much Trial & Error in the quick sculpty making.

you can create any basic shape and convert it to NURBS as explained in the script document > it works like a charm !! ;o)

However I would like to know if somebody could edit the current script so as to allow higher output resolutions ?? (512 or 1024 pixels)

I can even pay for this, just let me know.

Contact IG : KOXINELL Lane

When I try to extract the file, I get an unexpected end of file error. any place else to get the script?

I have to say this script had been a great step in sculpties and I love being able to use a program I am used to in order to make sculpties. But I was only wondering. Has there been any work at all being done on this script to add the other topologies like cube, torus and plain??

Seems we are all waiting around, but no one knows if the author is working on it, or considers this a completed project?

I am paient, and can wait if I know something is going on/

-InuYasha Meiji

Another BIG problem with this script is that IT SUCKS FOR ALL SCULP TYPES EXCEPT FOR PHERES
because it only renders vertex 1x0 and 33x0 (converged top and bottom) BUT not vertexes 2x0..32x0 and 33x0..33x32 that are needed for all other sculpt types, except for spheres!
(on spheres vertes 1x0 is the converged top and 33x0 is the converged bottom, with 31x32 vertexes in between)

A sculpt type plane definitely requires 32x33 vertexes and not 32x31+2 vertexes (after converging) like a sphere!

Just bake 32x33 points!!!

For a Torus and cylinder sculptmap type all pixels may need to be moved sideways by 1/32th of the image size because I am not sure if a torus and cylinder is 33x32 or 33x33 vertexes in sl.

//

Oh my god. why is 3dsmax DITHERING ON BY DEFAULT.
This was so lame.

To turn off the pallette dithering of 3dsmax8 go to:
customize
prefences
rendering tab
uncheck true color
uncheck paletted

I checked for it on highest contrast. no more dithering. 100% accuracy.

//

Now, to round the vertex positions in 3ds max to Natural integer numbers without comma, like aligning them to a grid before baking them for more WYSIWYG setup control, is there a better way than exporting it to .vrml and cutting all the numbers with a text editor or any table converter... like excel?

Oops, sorry, I missed this post. Apologies for the late reply.

I definitely don't consider it a completed project and I'm coming back to it soon. I've been saying that for a while now, but I really mean it.

Back in July, I realized that I needed a website to properly support this. I had been meaning to create the website for a couple of years, but never gotten around to it. I was waiting on LL to fix some things like adding support for plane, torus, etc. and to fix the texture compression problem. So it seemed like an ideal time to take a quick break and put together a website. What I didn't realize was how deep a rabbit hole that would be and how much I would enjoy working on it.

The website has gone through a couple of iterations. Considerable time was required to set up a test environment and all the infrastructure to make it flexible and robust. and I went down a couple of paths that didn't pan out. But the short answer is that I now have all the components of the website integrated and I have started deploying the final version.

So if everyone can wait just a bit longer, I think it will be worth it.

There will be a 1.0 release of SculptGenMax that will support all the topologies. Before I got sidetracked, I also made some changes that dramatically increase the speed of the script and that will be there, too.

But the best part is the new project that is about half done. I'm calling that PrimComposer for 3dsMax. It will provide a complete building environment in 3ds Max. You'll be able to create regular prims and as well as sculpties in a scene and then export the whole thing to SL as a linked set. A lot of work has been done on this already and I think I've solved most of the hard problems. It's just a matter of bringing it all together.

So, it's coming. I know it's been a long wait and I apologize for that. But I will release a new version of SculptGenMax before the end of the year as well as a beta version of PrimComposer.

--Shack

Shack, this is all amazing stuff! Congrats and keep going!

That sounds absolutely fantastic, Shack! Can't wait to try it out. Thanks so much for all your hard work.

Thanks I'll be waiting. And am very excited to see version 1.0 and the composer. I solved the degraded sculpty issue by uploading my sculpties with that SL Image Uploader. No loss images to SL.

I hope composer uses a way to do that too. Because sharp edges seem nearly impossible without it.

-InuYasha Meiji

could someone please re-upload the SculptGenMax0.4.1.zip, i have downloaded it 3 times now and every time, i get a CRC error with winrar, and unexpected end of file with windows compresses folders..

also seems like most of the pictures linked in this thread have corruption too :/

thank you

re-uploaded. Hope this works better.

Also, I'm just a couple of days from a major new release that supports plane, torus, and cylinder topologies and that also allows you to import a sculptmap from disk into 3ds Max. Look for an announcement soon.

--Shack

thank you Shack, extracts fine now...looking forward to the new release!

Hi again. I'm a total noob when it comes to making sculpties, but I've noticed that when I use this script, my smooth surfaces are coming out a bit lumpy or kind wrinkled. I've tried the different resolutions, tried nurbs vs. poly, etc. I also tried blurring in PS for the heck of it. So, is this typical of all sculpties or is this a result of this script's method?

Hi, Mason!

I think you are describing JPEG compression artifacts. It is a problem with all sculpties.

When you upload a texture to SL, it gets converted to a compressed JPEG2000 format. The result looks good to the human eye, but has subtle color variations that make the corresponding sculptie look rough or irregular in SL.

This is a well-known problem that LL has recently fixed. I'm not sure if it is in the regular viewer yet, but you can download the Release Candidate version of the viewer from

http://secondlife.com/community/downloads-optional.php

Then, generate a 64x64 sculptmap from SculptGenMax and check the "lossless" checkbox in the dialog when you are uploading the texture to SL. The results will be *much* better!

Also, 3ds Max can introduce some artifacts of its own. In 3ds Max, make sure that "Customize>Preferences>Rendering>Output Dithering>True Color" is turned off.

That should do it. I've been playing around with this recently and the results with the new lossless texture upload seems perfect.

** NEW RELEASE COMING TODAY **

Also, just wanted to give everyone the heads up that the long-awaited 1.0 version of SculptGenMax is coming later today. I've put together a whole new FAQ for it and I'm in the final testing and packaging stages. look for it! I'll post an announcement here later today.

--Shack

Awesome I cant wait to see!

I use this script for all my sculptie creations and It works like a charm.

I cant wait to see what you changed/added!

Thank you so much for this in advance!

Is there somewhere we can help donate to you maybe in World some linden or something? Some little shop etc? (Aside from simply sending it to your Profile) Possibly a website donation?

Again thank you
-Cherry Hotaling

Shack, hey thank very much for a speedy reply like that. I will give your suggestions a whirl and see what happens! I'll report back here also...

*** 1.0 RC1 is hereby officially released! ***

Download it and see the new FAQ/Installation Instructions at:

http://liferain.com/downloads/sculptgenmax/


FEATURES

* torus, plane, and cylinder SUPPORTED
* import sculpties INTO 3ds Max as well as export them out.
* completely new, faster algorithm.
* vastly improved installation and FAQ instructions
* new website with dedicated support forums

WARNING: There's lots to love here, but please be patient if you encounter difficulties. This version is probably more sensitive than previous versions to the quality of your UV map. Do not install this if you are on a deadline and the previous version is working for you.

If you encounter problems, please post to the new support forums at liferain.com. You don't need to register and it will make sure that your questions (and the answers) are visible to the entire SL community (including the teen grid which does not have access to these forums).

Enjoy! And let me know how it goes...

--Shack

I just released 1.0 Release Candidate 2 of SculptGenMax

See the announcement here:
http://liferain.com/downloads/sculptgenmax-10-rc2-released/

Get it from the SculptGenMax Homepage here:
http://liferain.com/downloads/sculptgenmax/

Please make any replies to the official support forum on liferain.com so that all residents, including the teen grid, can see them.

Thanks!

--Shack

just released 1.0 Release Candidate 3 of SculptGenMax

See the announcement here:
http://liferain.com/downloads/sculptgenmax-10-rc3-released/

Get it from the SculptGenMax Homepage here:
http://liferain.com/downloads/sculptgenmax/

Please make any replies to the official support forum on liferain.com so that all residents, including the teen grid, can see them.

Thanks!

--Shack

I take it this works with Max 8?

I'm fairly certain that it does.

Hey guys...


Basically, here's the deal. I was given a sculptie texture in SL, which looks great inworld. Now, I want to bake texures for it. I need a tutorial that will show me how to do this, as well as walk me throught the whole processes...

So, I want a tutorial that shows me how to setup and prepare a model in Max for sculptie tuxture import--meaning, I have the sculptie texture, and I want to be able to apply it to my mesh in Max, and then work on the defuse texture baking process...where and how do I setup and make my mesh in Max conform to the shape of the already made Uv map?

Now, I've been using Max and Maya for a while now, so I'm not a noob in terms of using the applications, however, I've never worked with sculptie, UV mapping, or baking textures...

UPDATE: I've installed SG into max...the plugin is working it seems, however, the instructions in the readme about loading a sculptie map, and placing them in the scene looks like code and scripting--there aren't instructions on how to do this. How do I have to set up the scene first...I've loaded my UVmap/sculptie map into SG, but now what do I do?

UPDATE 2: For some reason, after nothing happening, no matter what I tried...I loaded another max scene...and guess what? My object is now in THAT scene...Odd. OK...so now...how do I bake textures into it? Do I texture it the standard way. And after I texture it, and it looks good...how do I bake the diffuse channel into the UV/sculptie map?

UPDATE 3: So, I've managed to import the shape, and I've layed a checker texture onto the UV/sculptie map--now, for some reason, when I bake it (render to texture, complete map), save the texture, and import it into SL...it's all dark in areas. What am I doing wrong here? {see image below}



Thanks...I'll be looking around, and check back here for a link later...

The SculptGenMax documentation is on liferain.com

-- INSTALLATION - http://liferain.com/downloads/sculptgenmax/installation/
-- FAQ - http://liferain.com/downloads/sculptgenmax/faq/

all of the "sculptie in 3ds Max" tutorial links that I'm aware of are here:

-- LINKS - http://liferain.com/downloads/sculptgenmax/links/

I'm not aware of a comprehensive tutorial on baking textures for sculpties in 3ds Max. That doesn't mean that they don't exist. It just means that I don't know about them. If anyone does, please post a link.

But SculptGenMax creates a valid UV map when it imports a sculptmap, so there shouldn't be any sculptie-specific issues. Any baking tutorial on the internet should work.

The basic workflow in SculptGenMax is:

1) load a sculptmap
2) paste it into the scene. This creates a 3ds Max mesh with valid UV map.
3) edit the mesh, if needed.
4) generate a new sculptmap from the modified mesh and save it.
5) bake a texture and save it.
6) upload sculptmap and baked texture to SL
7) create a new prim in SL. Change its sculptie topology with a LSL script, if needed. Apply sculptmap and baked texture to SL prim.

Hope this helps.

Also, I'm planning to do a series of video tutorials in a couple of months.

Awesome, thank you.

Other than that, looking at my screen-grab, can you see why Max bakes the texture with dark splotches all over it? I've tried to light the scene more, but that doesn't matter...the black areas are always black.