Everything related to http://resources.maxwellrender.com
User avatar
By iker
#305117
Max, is the face a real size face? ...seems to be small with that DOF
User avatar
By Maximus3D
#305175
Ok, sorry to post this but this is the latest and the last tests i do with the skinshader for Maxwell. I'm done!
Image
Image

These two illustrate masking of underlying material with displacement while still preserving the top skinlayer. Kinda like a Terminator effect :)
Image
Image

And with these images i'm closing this thread. Thanks so much to all of you who gave feedback, comments and critics on my creations. You all been too kind. :)

/ Max
User avatar
By Maximus3D
#305318
The reason why is because i can no longer see what mxm's i should create. What i have not done others have already created nicely and then there's not really any need for me to keep this thread running. Unless ofcourse Maxwell 2.0 will provide anything that would give me a reason to keep this thread open. But that could be months until we know anything about that so i might aswell shut this down now and find something else to do which might bring me an income.

/ Max
User avatar
By ivox3
#305322
The reason why is because i can no longer see what mxm's i should create. What i have not done others have already created nicely and then there's not really any need for me to keep this thread running. Unless ofcourse Maxwell 2.0 will provide anything that would give me a reason to keep this thread open. But that could be months until we know anything about that so i might aswell shut this down now and find something else to do which might bring me an income.

/ Max
Max, .. why do all this constantly for free ? If you took the time to create something like an 8 pack of well designed mxm's in a theme and made it super cheap, like $20.00 you could create a steady cash flow. Its not about the amount money, it's about the flow of cash. Back to my idea , ..lol, ..... Now, ...the operative words here are well designed materials. Naturally you could (at your leisure) follow the classic path of bumping each series to Volume 2 and so on..


One other idea if you hate the prior one --- Offer a nominal fee to create custom MXMs for people who would love to pay a cheap price for someone else to make it. Think volume. 1- material = $10.00, 2-materials = #15.00, 3-materials=$20.00 . Obviously these are arbitrary figures, but the point is to make it an easy thing for someone to give it a try. Definitely focus on quick turnaround times too. Next, create accounts for people, ...let 'em build up a balance, then send an invoice. Also, help to ease the anxiety of people with a policy that if the material ultimately is not usable, ...they only pay a fractional service charge.

Do you have any idea how many people would love to know they had a perfect source for sending out and having material requests filled ? You couldn't even come close filling the total need. The question is, ....do you really want work ? My guess would be that you could easily garner a couple of hundred per day, everyday if you desired --so as long that you could actually deliver. It might be rough at first, but eventually I'm sure you'd fine tune the entire process down to something very efficient. Meanwhile, if you rocked the above idea (packs) simultaneously, you'd have that stick in the fire too.

Start with a single pack with exceptional quality and let it be something that's preferable to the arch vis folks -- something they're always clamoring about, eg., grass, roof tiles, etc.. Call it something cool like Maximal Arch -- take a survey of what should be included. Maybe include some sky presets -- I myself do a lot of fiddling around to get the exact sky I need, I know its easy, yet it's not about that --- anything is easy given that you have enough time to explore it -- many don't have that time, myself included.

Finally, yeah, all this takes time, ....but I say, "How much time have you given this thread and others ?" Only you know, ....but we have a good idea too, get paid for that time man! Sheeeeeesh...

Okay, one more thing ----- know that the majority Maxwell users ARE NOT PRESENT IN THE FORUM, ..ask yourself why and if you know the answer, then you will know why providing this kind of service is an excellent opportunity if done correctly.

I will gladly pay $40.00 for this material below--- I don't need the stitching. I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO SUCCESSFULLY RECREATE THE PROPER SPECULAR SHEEN THAT DOES THE MATERIAL JUSTIC --- can you help ? And to just make a comment about the MXM site, ....that's still just fine as a resource, but we all know that we can't always find what were looking for there ---- it'd be sweet if there was something else more specialized as a resource available.

Anyone else want to order a material ? :)

Of course you are welcome to request deletion of this post too. ..... :lol:


Image


Image


There are some darn fine looking materials in this thread Max that I would love to have and it would only be the right thing to do by paying for that effort. Lest NL puts you on the payroll to produce MXM's for the userbase, ....well, ....let me say this another way --- Its fine for anyone to contribute in public ways, ..and I'm not saying in any way that's wrong, in fact, it should be that way, ...... it helps to maintain a healthy and friendly atmosphere, but there are definitely limits friend.
User avatar
By Maximus3D
#305328
Chris, first of all i have to say i am very impressed with all the effort and time you spent into all that you wrote and the images you included in your post. Wow :shock:

Why i give everything away for free.. hm, good question. I guess i wanna do my part in contributing to a healthy and fun community, a way of keeping the place alive and making people happy. It's fun to see people like something they get, kinda like kids at Christmas. :)
Your idea about selling mxm's is ofcourse a good idea! i have to say i have thought about that from time to time but then realized the competition is tough, especially the competition with the MXM Gallery. If something's gonna be sold it has to be 100 times better than what you find on the site which is not easy to do.
Custom MXM creation based upon requests have i also thought about and actually asked in the past if people were interested in such a thing but at that time there was no interest as most people only have a need for very simple materials in their scene. The complex stuff is mostly done as personal experiments for most people as far as i can understand.

It's true what you say that the archviz people are the biggest target for something like this, they always need something. Believe me i have tried and tried to get something done for them in the past but what's most often required is help modeling furniture. They keep the materials simple for their scenes so they will render fast and clean. Anything more complex than a standard 2 layer 80/20 weighted woodmaterial is too much. :) i can understand that, but still.. you know, that extra step will boost the quality of their renderings much more.

Hm yes, maybe you're right that there are only a few of us present at the forum. Most seem to hang outside of it.. i did find one lurking in the shadows at CGTalk :) maybe there are more of them out there.

$40 for that leather ?! :shock: you can't be serious.. i'd do that for 5 pence in 15 minutes :D one problem i doubt NL would like is if many of us went commercial with mxm creation, then their MXM Gallery would eventually go down in flames. Non of us would like to see that happen as the site is a great resource, yep i use it too!

I have tried to setup a store as you might remember, several times but i just can't get it working so i scrapped that idea and instead went in cooperation with Vandigital (Seth) to sell my stuff through his onlinestore. Although i will only produce models for him and he will sell them there but it's always something that could generate some pocketmoney. :)
Another problem why i can't really sell any of these materials is because most of them use commerical textures in one way or another, selling them would be a bad idea and give me trouble with the law. Giving them away for free i guess would be ok. :) also as i wrote at the top of my post i do enjoy giving stuff away for free to friends here, even if i earn nothing except a good feeling from it.

Btw Chris, if you want anything i posted in this thread just let me know. You will get them for free! :) ..and thanks for that great image you put together hehe, i like it and i'm gonna keep it.

/ Max
User avatar
By ivox3
#305335
Why i give everything away for free.. hm, good question. I guess i wanna do my part in contributing to a healthy and fun community, a way of keeping the place alive and making people happy. It's fun to see people like something they get, kinda like kids at Christmas. :)
I addressed this ---- but it is not the sole job of you. Limits, remember ? Time is valuable Max, ...do you think it'll never run out ? 5 years just went by since a lot of us started using MW ---- how fast did it go ? Pretty damn fast pal. And how fast another 5 will go ? .....just as fast. THAT'S A FREAKING DECADE MAN ! Do you really have decades to spare ? This doesn't just go for you, ...it goes for me, and anyone else reading this. Have fun, but try and be impactful with your time.
I have tried to setup a store as you might remember, several times but i just can't get it working so i scrapped that idea and instead went in cooperation with Vandigital (Seth) to sell my stuff through his onlinestore. Although i will only produce models for him and he will sell them there but it's always something that could generate some pocketmoney. :)
Your too easily dissuaded and you abandoned the concept it too early ---- good ideas need time, refinement etc.... Its not realistic to expect something just out of the gate to be in finished form. A relentless and focused effort is what is needed until the task/concept/project at hand has been reached. No quitting.
Another problem why i can't really sell any of these materials is because most of them use commerical textures in one way or another, selling them would be a bad idea and give me trouble with the law. Giving them away for free i guess would be ok. :)
That's just another excuse --- you have a camera and scanner. And while I'm on the subject of excuses, ...remember what an excuse is, ... creating an instant exit door in the wall of responsibility where there really is no door. The door is really an immovable wall and its symbolic meaning represents a particular truth that comes in the form of a choice. So, we look at the wall and say, "Man, that sucks, too tall, too thick, ..hell with it, ..let me just imagine a door(excuse) and go through." Sure enough, the door appears, we walk through, ... "A ha! ...easy enough, I'm on the other side! SWEET!". Here's the problem, if you look around, ....ITS THE SAME EFFING ROOM!, ..and you have gone NOWHERE, albeit really fast. lol. This is precisely how people fool themselves, convince themselves that everything is fine -- it is not. What really is happening is that a perfectly executed process to create unfulfillment is in the making. That is what you call a private hell --- door after door, room after room, ...seems like there's movement, but nothing has changed. The only way out is to to acknowledge the wall then go about working on bringing the whole wall down -- that is the only way out. How to tear the wall down ? Acknowledge it first, assume there IS NO DOOR and then its simple, ....brick by brick comes to mind.
one problem i doubt NL would like is if many of us went commercial with mxm creation, then their MXM Gallery would eventually go down in flames.
1. No they wouldn't 2. No it wouldn't. Do they mind people who create commercial training ? Do they mind Hervé with the food MXM's ? No, ....because it adds to the richness of the overall program with niceties that potential users will appreciate as options. And as far as the MXM site, that will always be useful for what it is. Again, there is no excuse door here for which you can exit the room.
$40 for that leather ?! :shock: you can't be serious.. i'd do that for 5 pence in 15 minutes :D
Prove it.

Whether you use these ideas or another is arbitrary -- the principles are the same to any endeavour, but all of it vanishes if you spend most of your time making doors.


I am completely and utterly done on this matter.
Good luck.
User avatar
By KurtS
#305385
[quote="Maximus3D"
$40 for that leather ?! :shock: you can't be serious.. i'd do that for 5 pence in 15 minutes
/ Max[/quote]

Come work for me - I'll double your normal salary! (10 pence for 15 minutes)
:lol:

seriousley: a lot of very good advices from Chris! (I'd give it a try myself if I had the time/need)
User avatar
By oz42
#305853
Max,

I agree wholeheartedly with ivox (and I've said this before) you really need to SELL you stuff. Whilst we're all very glad that you're currently giving it away for free, it definitely is of a high enough quality to sell. You've told us that you need the money and there are people out there who need the materials and models and are willing to pay for them.

I've just been to Vandigital's site and your models section is empty - get some content on there! You may not get any buyers for a while but you will eventually and if it's not there they can't buy it at all! I'd also add (if this is ok with Vandigital) a high quality mxm section. Yours are some of the best I've seen and whilst there's always the mxmgallery for most uses, having a selection of high end materials or a bespoke material service would definitely come in useful now and again. You may not see money rolling in immediately but unless it's available online you won't see the money coming at all!

And advertise once it's up. We all know you here on the forum and if you placed a quick post saying you've uploaded some new materials or model to Vandigital's site then I'm sure we'd all have a look and, who knows, one or two of use may make a purchase! Lot's of users post topics saying they've added content to the website or completely revamped it so no one will mind if you do too.

If you're worried about the legal aspects of setting up the online store then just upload your models and materials to 3d warehouses like TurboSquid. Your models are much better than most there and people are charging a lot for some of the high quality stuff. Again, not huge volumes but at least it's out there for people to buy.

Good luck and keep going - I want to see some models (and preferably mxm's) on Vandigital's site by the end of the month - you have your deadline!
User avatar
By Maximus3D
#320321
Long time no post in here.. and thanks guys for your comments long time ago, it's still appreciated. I will think about it. :)

Late last night, or rather very early this morning (4am) i played around a bit with cavitymaps from Zbrush wrapped into a MXM to see
what the results would look like, and it definately adds a lot to the models, it makes them pop! We need this as a native shader within Maxwell, yeah baby! :)
I used Jotero's Ajaxscan, UV unwrapped in Zbrush, cavitymapped in Zbrush, scenesetup in Cinema4D, rendered with Maxwell 2.0

All these tests use one and the same basic coppermaterial i made long time ago for Maxwell, it just has the AO based cavitymap and then played around with a little,
consider the possibilities of having this natively within Maxwell. The power..

The basic cavitymap looks like this in Zbrush..
ImageImage

The experimentation begins...
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

/ Max
By bjorn.syse
#320323
DUDE! That is awesome! I've never seen anything looking so much like metal, except metal itself before! second from the bottom is crazy-good!

What's the difference of a cavity map and and bump/normal or displacement?
User avatar
By Bubbaloo
#320327
Personally, I don't like the added cavity map. It forces shaded areas to be too defined, unnaturally. Really, if there is a cavity, Maxwell will take care of the shading. Enhancements like cavity/AO tend to look better in biased render engines that need shading/lighting help. I like some of your previous experiments where an AO map is used as a mask/layer for tarnish effects in the cavities of metals. These cavities on this sculpture would in reality be hard to polish, so it would be cool to see the map used as a masked layer for a little extra roughness.
User avatar
By Maximus3D
#320331
Bjorn: Thanks! :D i noticed that too, it really helped bring out the look and feel of the metal a lot more than if i would have rendered it straight out with Maxwell without adding the cavitymap element to the material. The difference is pretty big between a cavitymap and bump/displacementmaps, cavitymaps affect only the cavities on a object which means you will see it in places where you would normally find oxide and rust on a real life subject. It gets denser in areas where it's tight, see the image below of a mermaid (not 3d) this is a nice example of the real world application of oxidization in jewelry for example. It's just one of many uses of it. :)
Image

Bubba: Alright, that's ok. I was not expecting you to like it either. If it's unnatural then why do we see the same thing in the real world ?! i disagree, Maxwell does not take care of the shading in cavities like this, if it did then the result would be the same or similar without the cavitymap added to my material. Since the results clearly are not the same then Maxwell is not handling it by shading alone.

/ Max
  • 1
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
Help with swimming pool water

Hi Andreas " I would say the above "fake[…]

render engines and Maxwell

Other rendering engines are evolving day by day, m[…]