[michaelplogue]

Some more experimentation with the Maxwell renderer. I'm finally coming to grips with how it handles opacity maps (clip maps as Maxwell calls them), though it still takes quite a bit of experimentation (still waiting on the Material Editor previews!). Still having problems with the latest version of Reiss Body Studio - Map ID´s keep getting scrambled. So after I bring the Poser model into Max, I immediatly convert it to a poly model, and the ID´s stay put. Both the girl and the cat were done in Poser.

Following the advice of j_man, I broke out my virtual sledgehammer, and knocked some of the plaster off of the walls, and added more noise to the walls. Next step is some cracks and water staining on the walls.

http://www.renderosity.com/artistdownlo ... &key=54267

Thanks for looking!

[datee]

That is amazing... woow...

[tom]

once again "OMG this is really nice!!!!!"
btw/ hehe.. the cat is on the air... i think he's meditating

[michaelplogue]

Tom -

He´s actually part chessire cat. Normally all you´d see is his eyes!

(I'll make sure he´s tethered down to the ground next time)

[Mihai]

Are you using diffuse for the skin material? It would be better to use a plastic and play with the specular value and glossyness.

[iker]

Amazing render!

[trompesoft]

Is beatifull render. Thanks.

[subspark]

that chick has got a serious case of noise. she looks like she's been swimming in cocopops.

Give the poor thing a tan.

Nice Cat! I like

[j_man]

Wow,

Looks great! I'm complimented, and I think your sledgehammer has definately helped. Looking forward to seeing your next one!

J.

[Nicolas Rivera]

hey!!! really nice Michael. But i think i like the feet and hands the most. The cat is cool too. One thing i have notice on almost all human models renders is that the look in the eyes is not really convincing at all.

They have to be a little glossy and a more.... a dont know.... something.

I'm an architect and have no right to criticize your work, i have no idea as how to make the texture mapping of a human model, i see is very difficult and for that you have my respect.

But the most realistic part is the feet i have to say.

[subspark]

Thats interesting. I find the hands the most convincing. The lips need more depth. They look like they have been painted with a matte coloured lipstick. I suggest you create a seperate sphere around her eyes and apply a dieletric material to it to create that gloss we're all so keen to see. Also I would loove to see her hair appear a bit more shiny. Less black and more pastel red. Apart from that I am intrigued.

Beers,
Sparx.

[Gear]

Nice work! If u still havin mesh import problems with Reiss plugin, try the free one from HABWare (MAX2OBJ & OBJ2MAX). These are two plugin that will allow you to imoprt/export any OBJ mesh. I tried them on 3dsMax and MR it works fine, u can import meshes, textures and map coordinates but there is no bones import, so u have to pose ur models in Poser. I'm working on a render in MR using this plugin, soon i'll post an image

[michaelplogue]

Thanks for all of the compliments!

I'm currently experimenting with different techniques to improve things - such as using the plastic shader insead of the difuse for the maps in order to play with specular levels. I'm having to tweek the specular maps manually in photoshop in order to get the levels I want for (since you can't adjust them directly within the Maxwell shaders yet).

I've also been playing with the Hair/Fur plugin for Max 7.5, but havn't had much success. Since Maxwell dosen't like the Environment Effect that Hair uses, you have to convert the hair to polys which eats up a lot of memory. Unfortunately, it's difficult to get a high enough hair count (as well as sufficient nodes) for a decent look without crashing max/maxwell. Of course, my skills as a hair stylist leaves much to be desired. I doubt if anyone will be hireing me any time soon in a beauty salon!

[Mihai]

Why not use combination of your existing clip mapped hair, and just a few loose thin strands made with the Max hair for added realism?

[pluMmet]

Until maxwell uses the hair and fur within itself I suggest that you render just the hair in another renderer and composite...there are a few threads on cgtalk that can help

But I do have a question: What type of shader and which channels of it are you using for her skin?