[Jesper Pedersen]

We are trying to use maxwellSea in v3 within 3ds Max.
I cannot seem to find any way to apply it to a custom made object !?
Am I correct in saying the only way to create a sea object is to select MaxwellSea in the Create panel under maxwell, which generates a square area of sea. This will then have to be scaled and moved to the required size/location in our model?

We are not seeing an option to specify the size (lenght x width) of sea required !!!??
This would be the minimum control I would expect to have. Otherwise, for example we are generating a huge area of water and unnecessry mesh (at render time only, I know) under the banks when creating a long narrow body of water (such as a stream, river etc)

[eric nixon]

Here is what the controls look like (in cinema) It is possible to change the scaling, BUT then it gets all stretched, so thats not very helpful, maybe this needs fixing?

[Mihai]

Better ask this in the 3dMax forum I think. I can scale it fine in Softimage and Studio for example.

[Jesper Pedersen]

Eric,
Thanks for trying it in cinema. It looks like you have the same problem.
Jesper

Mihai,
It's a general query regarding the MaxwellSea feature only available since v3 so here seems to be a good place to ask:
Do we have control of the size & shape of the sea area? or is it confined to a square area which we need to scale to the size we need?
Or, as would be ideal, is there a way of applying MaxwellSea to a surface?

Thanks

[Mihai]

The MaxwellSea is a parametric object in itself, it's not an object modifier, or a deformer. It represends a "patch" of sea. How big this patch appears in the render = scale it using normal scaling controls (at least this is how it works in Studio and Softimage, and I believe in all other plugins, that's why it seems a 3dsMax bug, which is why I think you'll have a better chance of the plugin devs seeing it in that forum and not in this one).

How big patch of sea this object should represent in the sea simulation is determined by the dimension parameter of the MaxwellSea.

http://support.nextlimit.com/display/mx ... axwell+Sea

[Nasok]

I think he was asking if it possible to step away from perfect square for the sea and make it, for example a rectangle rather than a square.

If it represents a "patch" of the sea .. I guess some sort of similar to real flow's "real wave" maybe there is a chance to add post processing option for example to cut out unnecessary parts .. that way you could have not only squares but basically you could make it any shape .. even rounded .. which could be really cool for commercials

Just thoughts.

[Jesper Pedersen]

Hi Nasok,
Yes that's what I mean. Thanks.

Mihai,
I understand. So we have a square piece of sea and we can scale it an use it where we want.

So this is where I would have liked your team to examine real-world use of the software:
If I want to create a park pond 20m x 80m long in a raised 1meter high concrete frame with surrounding paved area with benches for example.
How can I avoid having the water spilling over the side of the edges on the side that's only 20m wide if I am constrained by a square piece of water (and please don't tell me to create four pieces of 20x20m MaxwellSea objects) !

[rusteberg]

If I want to create a park pond 20m x 80m long in a raised 1meter high concrete frame with surrounding paved area with benches for example.
How can I avoid having the water spilling over the side of the edges on the side that's only 20m wide if I am constrained by a square piece of water (and please don't tell me to create four pieces of 20x20m MaxwellSea objects) !

That's probably not the most practical way of illustrating a park pond....

For instance it would look a little tripped out



for pond effect you'd have to dial your settings way down like so



at that point you might as well just use a plane and map it either with an image or procedural

[JDHill]

How can I avoid having the water spilling over the side of the edges on the side that's only 20m wide if I am constrained by a square piece of water (and please don't tell me to create four pieces of 20x20m MaxwellSea objects) !

You could use the material to clip out the parts you don't want.

[Jesper Pedersen]

Hi Rusteberg,
nice one! You have the job
Anyway, this was not a question of material, rather how to apply the MaxwellSea to a custom shape -let's say my water area was round !? then what?

Or some other odd shape.
My problem with the MaxwellSea feature is that it seems to be confined to a square area which has to be scaled into shape. If I am missing something please let me know.

Anyway, nice pond! Thanks

[seghier]

maxwell sea is square or rectangle (after scaling)
to create circle sea or irregullar ; use shapes intersect with maxwell sea
than apply matte material to the shape
in this image i use two maxwell sea ; custom blue material ; matte material

[seghier]

other method
create maps and use it as alpha

[Jesper Pedersen]

Hi Sergier,
Thanks. Problem solved! (perhaps not ideal, but at least it's a solution)

[seghier]

Hi Sergier,
Thanks. Problem solved! (perhaps not ideal, but at least it's a solution)

better than nothing

[Mihai]

It's a nice feature request - mostly to avoid calculating things for the sea which wouldn't be needed if 70% of it is made invisible with an alpha.