Everything related to Maxwell Render and General Stuff that doesn't fit in other categories
By Ed Folk
#401164
Hello Maxwell Community,

I am trying to figure out how the maxwell scatter maps work. I don't see any documentation on it and it is not explained very well in the Maxwell manuals. My problem is the registration of the scattered doesn't really align with the selected group, also if I use terrain in my model the mxs files seem to scatter into the air.

I have Studio but have been using the stand alone.

I am using SKU 2019 and Maxwell 4.2. MacOS 10.15. Any ideas or suggestion would be welcomed.

Thanks,
Edwin
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By choo-chee
#401165
I can tell you from my Maya experience that if a scattered object or MXS was not placed on 0,0,0 it could get scattered to the "air" of the scene. esp. happened with MXS references that had some unseen node (like a group handle etc.) that was wayyyyy off the model itself.
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By Desmond Clarke 20191031135154
#401170
I use the scatter function in Maxwell on a regular basis and it's working fine if you make sure of a few things. As choo-chee mentioned, make sure your MXS is at 0,0,0 which you can do by opening the MXS in Studio, selecting the objects and hitting Reset in the Transformations tab and save the file. When you are applying the scatter to a surface, make sure the normals are pointing in the right direction (they are placed on the side the normal is pointing).

Here is part of an image done a few years ago in v4 using the scatter function from the FormZ plugin.
Hope this helps and that I understood you correctly.

ScatterTrees.jpg
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By Ed Folk
#401172
Thanks for the info. I have been playing around with it to see if it is actually any good and your suggestion helps as far as controlling the vertical issues although it is not perfect. Still seems to move off the grid so to speak. I attached a quick image. Tell me if there is something you might suggest I do to make it work better.

BTW I checked your website. Looks good adn curious if all your work is done on Maxwell. If so, what is your workflow and post production software if you don't mind me asking?

Thanks for the help.

Edwin
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By Ed Folk
#401173
Hello Desond,

Thanks for taking the time to repsond. I am not a power user and haven't figured out a lot of Maxwell. With the situation as it is now, I do have more 'free' time now and want to improve my skill set. I was looking at your render - nice job - and wanted to know if you are using any kind of mapping. Are you? Also, when you say (they are placed on the side the normal is pointing) what exactly are you refering to?
Last question, have you found any tutorials regarding the scatter tool? The documentation - at least for Sketchup - is lacking and the links NL has are all broken.

Thanks

Edwin
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By Desmond Clarke 20191031135154
#401174
Hi Edwin,
Normals are basically the direction the face is facing. I'm not that familiar with Sketchup but I think the sides of faces are denoted with different colours. I use FormZ and it allows me to toggle the visibility of the normals (direction of the face) by displaying arrows for each face. Anyway, it looks like the direction is fine on your screenshot, otherwise the plants would be to the underside of your terrain.

However, from looking at you screenshot, it looks like the origin of the reference file of off. Are you using MXS references for the plant? If so do what I explained in my last post. Open the MXS in Studio and select your objects, then hit reset in the Transformations tab so the pivot origin is at the base of the plant.

I don't use maps per say, I slice and dice an area of terrain I want particular trees, copy it to a new layer called scatter surfaces, apply the scatter parameters, move it down about 20mm below the actual terrain so I have layer on/off control.

Thanks for your comments about my web-site although it hasn't been updated in a few years, been too busy!

Some screenshots..
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By Ed Folk
#401180
Hello Desmond,

Thank you for the help. I tried as you suggested and what do you know, it worked.

As for your worflow, I assume from reading your response that you take the terrain, copy and past in a new file, scatter and edit out what is not needed and then copy and past in place to get your landscape to work. Is this correct?

I don't actually spend a lot of time using Maxwell so getting tips and suggestions from the Maxwell community is greatly appreciated.

Thanks again

Edwin
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