Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => Arts & Talents => Topic started by: NeoHunter on March 19, 2003, 09:30:20 am
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Hi all.
I am currently learning how to use 3D Studio Max and I came across a term to which I do not know the meaning.
The term is INTERPOLATION.
Can someone please explain what the above term means?
Thanks!:)
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Interpolation... not native english, but if I'm correct it's when you place a number of points, and based on the data you input, a program draws a line/curvature/thingy between these points. Example: You make an animation. You set an Orion at point A in keyframe 0, then set it at point B in keyframe 30. The program then interpolates the movement of the Orion from point A to point B.
Am I making sense here?
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Originally posted by Stunaep
Am I making sense here?
yes, you are.
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Or in CP terms: To estimate a value of a function or series between two known values.
:p
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Originally posted by Stunaep
Interpolation... not native english, but if I'm correct it's when you place a number of points, and based on the data you input, a program draws a line/curvature/thingy between these points. Example: You make an animation. You set an Orion at point A in keyframe 0, then set it at point B in keyframe 30. The program then interpolates the movement of the Orion from point A to point B.
Am I making sense here?
So, what you are saying is that if I were to increase the value of interpolation in a spline, the mesh will turn out smoother when I, say, lathe it?
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yes.
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I see. But doing so will increase the number of polygons and thus make the model more and more complex to the point the CPU takes ages to calculate a simple rpotation of the camera view?:D
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also true. Depends on what you are planning to use the model for.
1) you can usually set different interpolation values for rendering and viewport.
2) If you are planning to use the model for rendering purposes only, then a higher value would be in order, because it´ll look better, and +-5 minutes you´ll lose aren´t exactly a big deal. But if you are planning on animation, then use a lower value, since the lack of detail isn´t as obvious in animations as it is in renders, plus you´ll want to cut the rendering time to a minimum.
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I see.
Another question. Let's say I have a space scene where a starship flies by the camera and the background consists of the stars and a planet and maybe a nebula. How do I make the starship have a motion blur but not the background and planets and nebula? I have tried experimenting with the controls but the starship and the nebula seem to get the same motion blur together. Other times, the whole scene gets the motion blur.
Can you tell me how to do it properly?
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Right-click on the spaceship, select properties, enable object motion blur. and naturally disable motion blur in video post camera settings, if you have enabled it.
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if you use max 5, use the other motion blur option ( not the object, the other one ) if you want to cut down on rendering time. in max5 this one looks much better than in the other versions, still not as good as the objct motion blur ( of course, it's just a simulated blur, like in photoshop ), but it goes MUCH faster. object blur can increase the render time by tremendous amounts.
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I'm currently using 3D Studio Max 5. Got to get the hang of it. A few of the interface graphics are different like when you want to rotate an object or scale it. They display this weird things.
venom, which other motion blur is it anyway?
Here is the graphical representation. So, which one??:confused:
(http://freespace.volitionwatch.com/excellence/example.gif)
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Image motion blur was what he meant.
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Oh. Thanks, Stunaep! Will try it later today.
By the way, has anybody here tried doing a Mon Calamari Cruiser? Should be a challenge in my opinion with all the curves and stuff.
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voila. image is much faster, and looks ok in max5. will do fine if you do an animation, but I think you can afford the additional rendering time if it's just for a still.
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Well, you are right. It is for a still. I don't do animation. Too time consuming. Not my cup of tea.:D
Stills are better.
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Okay, now I got 2 questions.
1.) How do I actually get an object to have a motion blur? I have a ship which I created recently. Made up of several sub-objects, I grouped them together so that it becomes one single object. THen I right-click on the ship, select Properties, then go down to Motion Blur and select Object. When I render, it doesn't seem to work. So, how???:sigh:
2.)Does anybody know how to do shield effects like those in Star Trek and FreeSpace 2? Make a portion of the shield light up when something hits it.
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you have to make the object move. you obviously won't have motion blur on a still object :p
quick step-by-step ( maybe you know how to do it, but that might help others ):
1) go to frame 10 ( the bar on the bottom of the screen ), that's the frame you'll render as a still
2) select all the objects that'll move on your still
3) bottom of the screen, click "set key", then click the big key icon
4) go back to frame 0
5) move all the objects to the position they should be say, 1 second before you take a screenshot if it was a real video ( so move everything back, to say it simply )
6) select all the objects that are moving
7) right click on them, then select "curve editor"
8) don't panic :D
9) draw a window ( just like when you select icons on your desktop ) around ALL the curves ( you don't need to select all, but it's much faster tha selecting just the ones you need one by one :p )
10) look on top of the window, you should see little red symbols. click on the 6th one ( the one that says "set tangent to linear" if you let the mouse over it )
11) close the curve editor
12) go to the frame 10, and render!
I suggest when you're done, you do draft renders first to see if the motion blur is as you want it. remember, the more distance you've put between frame 0 and frame 10, the more motion blur you'll have.
fo the shield, I'll explain later, now I'm hungry :p
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Thanks a lot, venom. I would have called you a pig because of your last statement if it were not for your help with the motion blur.
Great people have to eat too anyway.:p
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you want me to explain for the shieds? be warned its kindda complicated...
bah, I'll try a small tut for that anyway.
"opens max"
I'll do for a still, will be a bit simpler. if someone wants a tut for an animation, just ask, but it's more complicated and, mostly, much longer.
1) first, you need a shield map. extract the frame you want from the shield ani ( with aniview ). it should be greyscale if I remember right, that's good, you will be able to use it as an opacity map as well.
2) make sure you have the shield mesh. for a render, a low poly mesh for that WILL suck, so select the shield mesh, modifier tab, apply a meshsmooth. give it as many iterations as you want, 2 should be enough tho.
3) open the material editor ( shortcut: "m" ). drop "glossiness and "soften" to 0. increase "self-illumniation" to 100.
3) assign the shield map to opacity ( click on the gery square next to the entries, choose bitmap, browse for the map ).
4)to make things simpler, open the frame in your paint prog and colorize it there ( you could do that in max w/o modifying the map, but that'll save some hassle for me :p ). assign this new map to diffuse.
5)in the material editor, open the map rollout menu, click on the "diffuse color" entry ( a long grey bar with an entry that should look like "Map #xx (xxxxxx.xxx)"
6) in the "coordinates" part: uncheck the two "tile" boxes. change the map channel to 10 ( no special reason, I just find it convenient, you can avoid mistakes that way, you know shield maps channels will be 10, so no error that way ).
do the same wth the opacity entry.
7) apply the map to the shield mesh ( in the material editor, click on the icon like a blue/white checked box, that will make the map show in the viewports ). close the material editor.
8)that's not necessary, for for you it'll be simple, so: right click on the shield mesh, then "convert to", "convert to editable mesh". That will collpase the stack ( you can also rightclick a stack entry and select "collapse all".
click on the red square in the modifier panel ( or rightclick on the mesh, "sub-objects", "polygons" ). select the polygons on the side where you want the shield impact to appear ( no need to be precise, it's just to avoid the shield impact to appear on the two sides of the shield mesh. you can select half the polys of the mesh if you want ). don't go out of the sub-objects mode.
modifier->UVW mapping
9) ok, to set it up:
first, set "map channel" to 10 ( remember the channel you chose for the diffuse and opacity maps? )
now, click on the "UVW mapping" modifier in the stack ( it should turn yellow ). this will allow you to modify the UV mapping gizmo.
damn, max crashed :p ( guess I had too many progs running at the same time :p )
10) ok, from memory.
move/scale the gizmo so the shield impact map shows about where you want it. don't rotate it tho, just move/scale for now.
switch to rotate now, but don't rotate the gizmo yet.
on the top bar, you should see a rollout menu with "view" entry selected. switch to "local". this will allow you to rotate the gizmo around its own axis, and not the view axis. now you can rotate the gizmo, it's easier that way. move, scale, rotate as much as you want so it's how you want it to be.
Voila, that should be it :)
additional:
11) if you want multiple shield impacts on the same mesh.
create another new map the same way as above. ( use another frame of the shield ani so it looks better ). give both opacity and dffuse maps another map channel ( 11 for exemple ).
12) do the same things as above etc. when you apply a new "UVW mapping" modifier, give it a map channel of 11.
13) for even more shield impacts, do the exact same as above, just increment the map channels, etc.
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Thanks a lot, venom!!! I always wanted to do a shield effect!!
But so far, I don't think I have seen anybody here done a render with shield effects.
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Originally posted by NeoHunter
Thanks a lot, venom!!! I always wanted to do a shield effect!!
But so far, I don't think I have seen anybody here done a render with shield effects.
yeah, now that you mention it, I haven't seen any either.
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Originally posted by venom2506
yeah, now that you mention it, I haven't seen any either.
Why don't you start the trend then?:D
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Originally posted by NeoHunter
Why don't you start the trend then?:D
coz I've never felt like doing so :D
I told you how to do it, so be the first one, young padawan :D
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Originally posted by venom2506
coz I've never felt like doing so :D
I told you how to do it, so be the first one, young padawan :D
I will try.:p