Trees

Discussion in 'Track Modding' started by Simon Peace, Mar 5, 2012.

  1. Simon Peace

    Simon Peace Registered

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    OK,

    I'm not thick and I have tried following the tutorials and walking through the threads on Trees (billboards) and i can't seem to get it to work like I expect it does...

    So, simple question... can we have a step by step process for creating a quad with the vertexes in the correct places, the alpha vertex values set etc...etc... etc...
    I am totally confused between "folk lore" and the "proper way"

    my "tree" is currently laying at about 45deg to horizontal! and doesn't move in the way I think it should...

    This really should be the section in Track Technology... but I've followed that and also cannot get it to work.

    HEEELLLLLPPPP
    :)
    Please!
     
  2. Luc Van Camp

    Luc Van Camp Track Team Staff Member

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    • Draw the Plane from top-left to bottom-right. This will put vertices 1 and 2 as the base line (which is used as the quad's pivot).
    • Edit the Triangulation so the diagonal edge connects vertices 2 and 4 (again top-left to bottom-right).
    • Select the quad's vertices (or select the entire polygon) and set the Vertex Alpha to a value other than 100.0. At ISI we usually use 90.0 for no real reason.
    • Use a Stamp Vertex shader (for instance "Bump Specular Map T1 Stamp Vertex" - don't use the Alpha test version) and assign the material to the quad.
    • In the Exporter's Instance rollout, look for the Screen-Aligned Quads subsection, tick BB and select the button with the arrow pointing down to center the pivot point on the base line (between verts 1 and 2).

    This is what the document explains, except I've filtered out the various background explanations here. Hope that helps :) .
     
  3. Simon Peace

    Simon Peace Registered

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    in your second bullet you say "diagonal edge connects vertices 2 and 4"....

    well when I follow your first bullet and then convert to editable poly...
    bottom left = v1
    top left = v3
    top right =v4
    bottom right = v2

    so how can a triangulation go between v2 and v4???
     
  4. Luc Van Camp

    Luc Van Camp Track Team Staff Member

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    Hmm, in my case top left = v4. Anyway, that doesn't really matter. Vertices 1 and 2 are the important ones as they define the baseline. The triangulation should be from top-left to bottom-right regardless of vertex numbers :) .
     
  5. Simon Peace

    Simon Peace Registered

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    ok... now i think the shader I was using was doing some wierd stuff... i think all i have changed here, with what i was already trying is the shader... my tree is now upside down as if hanging from vert edge v3 and v4......... View attachment 1497

    btw the material is the correct orientation in max...
     
  6. Luc Van Camp

    Luc Van Camp Track Team Staff Member

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    Odd. Is the Object's pivot correct (Z axis pointing up) ? Try a Reset Xform perhaps?
    If that doesn't help, the only other thing you could try is rotating the quad locally, see how each action changes the result and try to predict what it needs.

    You could always take a tree from the Joesville example, remap and rescale it, apply a Reset Xform and use that as a base when planting trees. But that's really last resort stuff ...
     
  7. Simon Peace

    Simon Peace Registered

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    yup pivot is pointing up... how do i do a reset xform?
     
  8. Luc Van Camp

    Luc Van Camp Track Team Staff Member

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    It should be under Utilities (the hammer icon) by default.
     
  9. Simon Peace

    Simon Peace Registered

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    ok... after a reset xform... the plane (which is now an editable poly) was flattened onto its back so that in the top view it is a square with the material on the top of the quad.... renders in rFactor2 as a tree standing up correctly... this is not how many other examples look in 3ds max and not what i expected. I don't want lots of laying down trees!!! any ideas?
     
  10. Luc Van Camp

    Luc Van Camp Track Team Staff Member

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    You should be able to rotate the object in 3ds Max now, back to how it was originally, either locally (leaving the object's pivot untouched), or on an object level and apply another Reset Xform.

    Once you have your base trees working properly, you can easily plant them without worrying ever again :) .
     
  11. feels3

    feels3 Member Staff Member

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    Simon, just in case...what system units do you have in 3ds max?
     
  12. Simon Peace

    Simon Peace Registered

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    1 unit = 1 meter (system settings) and metric meters in display... i already worried about that...

    I can't seem to rotate these babies!! :-(
     
  13. Simon Peace

    Simon Peace Registered

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    slightly off topic... notice that the trees are not drawn as soon as the centre of the poly is nolonger within the clipping region of the viewing camera... which makes the trees disappear early... Luc, is this a bug?
     
  14. Luc Van Camp

    Luc Van Camp Track Team Staff Member

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    Yes, that's nothing you need to be worried about.

    When rotating the trees, play with these for different results:
    [​IMG]

    Oh, when you draw trees, make sure you're not in Top view. I'm sure that at some point something went wrong with the object's pivot point. That shouldn't happen, but you never know ...
     
  15. Simon Peace

    Simon Peace Registered

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    luc, i deleted and started again from fresh with "LEFT" view, for sure, and now I seem to have correctly orientated trees...

    Thanks for your help

    "I don't need to worry", about the tree disappearing issue, because it is something that you guys know needs fixing... correct?
     
  16. Luc Van Camp

    Luc Van Camp Track Team Staff Member

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    Yep. Glad you got it working :) .
     
  17. Simon Peace

    Simon Peace Registered

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  18. K Szczech

    K Szczech Registered

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    Looks like an issue with exporter (bounds not properly generated for billboards).

    It has been pointed out in another thread: LINK
     
  19. Simon Peace

    Simon Peace Registered

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    so what about the hanging from the sky when i change the vertex alpha values...? post #17
     
  20. ethone

    ethone Registered

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    Use UVW Mapping or the mirror flag in the material to fix it. I had that happen too for some reason or other but it's a quick and easy fix.
     

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