Guild of Writers

Revision as of 16:49, 11 April 2012 (view source) Lyrositor (Talk | contribs) m (moved Using The Details Feature to Max:Details) ← Older edit		Revision as of 16:49, 11 April 2012 (view source) Lyrositor (Talk | contribs) Newer edit →
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	{{Wikify}}	+	{{Tutorial|Details}}
		+	Details allow you to maintain a consistent quality of textures no matter the distance between an avatar and the object with this feature enabled.
−	Okay, so you're making your age, and are having a great time. You've got some cliffs, or a large wall, or a wide open ground, or even all of those.	+	== Prerequisites ==
		+	[[File:MaxDetails01.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Details in Er'cana.]][[File:MaxDetails02.jpg|thumb|right|180px|Details in The Cleft.]]To be able to visualize what this tutorial allows you to do, it is assumed you have observed various Ages of Uru, such as Er'cana, in which, no matter the distance between the player and an object, said object always looks optimally textured, as pictured here to the sides. As you can see with Cyan's work, the detail of the textures adjusts to match the distance.
−	You texture them....and hit a problem!	+	If you do not use details for your textures, you'll quickly realize that your UV-mapped textures may look [[Media:KIimage0018.jpg|fine from a distance]], but [[Media:KIimage0019.jpg|blurry and low-resolution]] when closer. On the other hand, if you choose an extremely high-resolution texture and apply it to your object so that it looks good, you'll run into the opposite problem, which is a tiled aspect to all your textures from a distance. Details are the solution to these problems.
−	If you UV map the texture so that it looks good from far away......it looks all blurry and smeared up close!	+	=== Tutorials ===
		+	You'll need to be familiar with materials before applying the details techniques.
		+	* [[Max:Getting Started]]
		+	* [[Max:Materials]]
−	[[File:KIimage0018.jpg]]	+	== Getting Started ==
		+	The principle behind details is that you UV map two different textures to your objects: one that looks good from afar, and that looks good up close, each with different resolution levels. The latter is the top texture and has an alpha channel which changes from complete transparency when looking at it from a far to complete opaqueness as the player gets closer.
		+	# [[Media:Details1.jpg|Apply your base layer]] as usual. Use Plasma Standard as your material, and make your base layer the texture that the player will see from a distance; make sure it [[Media:Details2.jpg|looks good from afar]].
		+	# Go to the Top Layer by checking its box to apply a new texture (preferably a different one). It needs to have an alpha channel in it (transparency).
		+	# Scroll down in that layer until you come the box named "[[Media:Details3.jpg|Details]]" and put a check mark next to "Use detail".
		+	# In the box depicting a person standing on one side and mountains on the other, you can observe a blue line representing the transparency of an object in relation to its distance from the player ([[Media:Details3.jpg|example values]] which may need to be adjusted depending on the situation).
		+	# Scroll up to the "Coordinates" box and adjust the numbers for UV tiling so that the texture is very tiled (using the UV Editor instead will mess up the first texture's UV mapping). Here are [[Media:Details4.jpg|some values]] you can play with depending on your texture ([[Media:Details5.jpg|result for this texture]]). This is because the texture needs to look good when the player is close to the object.
		+	# Go back to the Material box and set the blending ([[Media:Details6.jpg|possible options]]; the first needs to be set to Alpha, and it is recommended to use None for the third one).
		+	You should now export and test until you're satisfied with the result. In this case, the end result is pictured below.
−	[[File:KIimage0019.jpg]]	+	[[File:DetailsEndResult.jpg|thumb|center|400px|The end result for this tutorial's example.]]
−		+
−	If you UV map it so it looks good up close, you have a very tiled looking object from far away!	+
−		+
−	HELP!	+
−		+
−	You go to Uru, and you link into places like Er'cana. You don't see that problem there. Like here on the cliffs in the canyon. They look good from afar, and keep looking good the closer you get!	+
−		+
−	[[File:KIimage0043-1.jpg]]	+
−		+
−	[[File:KIimage0044-1.jpg]]	+
−		+
−	[[File:KIimage0045.jpg]]	+
−		+
−	And when you go to the Cleft, the desert floor there has a lot of detail, but does not look tiled either! You even see mud cracks show up in places!	+
−		+
−	[[File:KIimage0046.jpg]]	+
−		+
−	[[File:KIimage0047.jpg]]	+
−		+
−	[[File:KIimage0049.jpg]]	+
−		+
−	So what is going on here? How did Cyan do this?	+
−		+
−	They did this by using the "Detail" part of the material that you assign to your object.	+
−		+
−	Basically, you have 2 textures, one that is the base texture that is UV mapped to look good from a distance, and another detailed texture, that has a alpha channel in it, that is the top layer texture of the material.	+
−		+
−	From far away, the top texture is transparent. But as you get closer, it slowly becomes opaque until when you're very close, you see it, instead of the blurry base texture.	+
−		+
−	I'll show you how to do that.	+
−		+
−	----	+
−		+
−		+
−	===Getting Started......===	+
−		+
−	When you create your material for your object, you want to apply your base layer like you normally would. Use Plasma Standard as your material, and make your base layer the texture that the player will see from a distance:	+
−		+
−	[[File:Details1.jpg]]	+
−		+
−	UV map it so it looks good from a distance:	+
−		+
−	[[File:Details2.jpg]]	+
−		+
−	Now you want to go to the Top Layer (by putting a check mark next to it), and you want to use another texture. I would suggest a different texture, but most important is to use one that has a alpha channel in it (transparency).	+
−		+
−	Once you get your texture assigned, scroll down in that layer until you come to the box marked "Details"	+
−		+
−	[[File:Details3.jpg]]	+
−		+
−	Make sure you place a check mark where it says: Use Detail	+
−		+
−	In the box that shows a person standing on one side, and mountains on the other, you'll see a blue line. This line represents how transparent the texture will be, based upon the distance that the player is from the object. You can see the numbers I'm using here, and they work good for me, but every situation is different and you may need to adjust these numbers to fit your needs.	+
−		+
−	Once you have your detail numbers dialed in. You need to scroll up to the box called Coordinates. You need to adjust the numbers for the UV Tiling.	+
−	Basically what you are doing here, is UV mapping this texture so that it is very tiled (you don't want to use the UV Editor, because that will mess up your UV mapping for the first texture).	+
−		+
−	[[File:Details4.jpg]]	+
−		+
−	Again, these numbers will be something you'll want to play with. In my case setting them to 30 worked good. And as you can see, boy is that texture tiled!!!	+
−		+
−	[[File:Details5.jpg]]	+
−		+
−	We do this because, we want the texture to look good when we get up close to the object.	+
−		+
−	Now go back to your Material box and set the blending. I like to use Alpha, Multiply, None. You can mess with the middle one if you want, but the first one NEEDS to be Alpha, and I'd leave the base to None. Setting it to something else produces some weird effects for me.	+
−		+
−	[[File:Details6.jpg]]	+
−		+
−	That's all there is too it. Export, and link in. You'll have to do this several times until you get how you want things to look right:	+
−		+
−	[[File:KIimage0020.jpg]]	+
−		+
−	now up close:	+
−		+
−	[[File:KIimage0021.jpg]]	+
−		+
−		+
−	----	+
−		+
−	Return To: [[3DS Max and Plasma Plugin tutorials]]	+

---

Revision as of 16:49, 11 April 2012

This is a tutorial page.Versions available: PyPRP; 3ds Max; Korman.

 

Details allow you to maintain a consistent quality of textures no matter the distance between an avatar and the object with this feature enabled.

Prerequisites

To be able to visualize what this tutorial allows you to do, it is assumed you have observed various Ages of Uru, such as Er'cana, in which, no matter the distance between the player and an object, said object always looks optimally textured, as pictured here to the sides. As you can see with Cyan's work, the detail of the textures adjusts to match the distance.

If you do not use details for your textures, you'll quickly realize that your UV-mapped textures may look fine from a distance, but blurry and low-resolution when closer. On the other hand, if you choose an extremely high-resolution texture and apply it to your object so that it looks good, you'll run into the opposite problem, which is a tiled aspect to all your textures from a distance. Details are the solution to these problems.

Tutorials

You'll need to be familiar with materials before applying the details techniques.

• Max:Getting Started
• Max:Materials

Getting Started

The principle behind details is that you UV map two different textures to your objects: one that looks good from afar, and that looks good up close, each with different resolution levels. The latter is the top texture and has an alpha channel which changes from complete transparency when looking at it from a far to complete opaqueness as the player gets closer.

1. Apply your base layer as usual. Use Plasma Standard as your material, and make your base layer the texture that the player will see from a distance; make sure it looks good from afar.
2. Go to the Top Layer by checking its box to apply a new texture (preferably a different one). It needs to have an alpha channel in it (transparency).
3. Scroll down in that layer until you come the box named "Details" and put a check mark next to "Use detail".
4. In the box depicting a person standing on one side and mountains on the other, you can observe a blue line representing the transparency of an object in relation to its distance from the player (example values which may need to be adjusted depending on the situation).
5. Scroll up to the "Coordinates" box and adjust the numbers for UV tiling so that the texture is very tiled (using the UV Editor instead will mess up the first texture's UV mapping). Here are some values you can play with depending on your texture (result for this texture). This is because the texture needs to look good when the player is close to the object.
6. Go back to the Material box and set the blending (possible options; the first needs to be set to Alpha, and it is recommended to use None for the third one).

You should now export and test until you're satisfied with the result. In this case, the end result is pictured below.