vc2 Pterolayer issues

[jimmy]

Hi guys, hope you are all doing fine..

I have some questions considering VC2.
I have been working on some vc2 tests, but i can't seem to understand the function of the Pterolayer in 3dmax.

I'd like to create some sort of water, but my knowledge of vc2 plugins is rather pethatic.

Anyone here kind enough to share there knowledge with me?

Cheers guys,

Jimmy.

[Chavez]

its been a while jimmy...ill look and see if i have the wiki portion saved for this feature...

Rick (Chavez_US)

here it is...i have screens also...

-In your TEX folder you will need 2 water files (Water1A.TGA and Water2A.TGA)
-The water.bes you create will use sky textures for reflection off the water surface
(tf_zp.bmp and tf_zn.bmp)
-The movement, of the water, as to flow and side movement etc, is sorted out in max
at the bottom of the materials editor "water properties"

So here are basic settings for setting up moving water with the shaders

Surface properties: H - Water surface (no collisions)

Diffuse- water1a.tga (Set on Channel 1)

Shader Properties:
Shader Type: Water
Sh. Sub-Type: Water (diffuse, structure)
Transparency: #0 - transparent, zbufwrite, sort

Skip the Mental Ray Section

Structure: tf_zp.bmp ( this is a sky texture used for reflection) (Set on Channel 1)

Enviroment: tf_zn.bmp(another sky texture used for reflection)

Universal: water2a.tga (Set on Channel 1)

Water Properties: This is the section where you'll need to experiment and export...
Waves Shifting X, Y, U, and V (default is 1.0, 1.0, -1.0, and 1.0) (For Blood River
Andy used: X -20.0, Y 3.0, U-10.0, V 1.5)
Sharpness was left at default ( Diffuse1:0.5, Diffuse 2: 0.5, Environment 0.5)
Alpha Factor: Angle: standard is 0.6 (For Blood River Andy used 0.4)
Diffuse/Environment Blend Coeffecient (default is 0.3) Andy used 0.0 in Blood River

Final step is to press the assign button (Ball pointing to a box icon) and the show in view
port (Checkered box icon)...

Notes:

You won't see water until u get the .bes into the PteroEngineIII Editor

In 3dsmax, the wider the spacing between the polygons, the faster the water will flow...

the amount of "blend" from the diffuse as in water to the env as in the sky

the speed of water is also effected by the unwrap of the plane


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Creating Water

Moving streams, waterfalls, and lakes can really add a special touch to an Editors map. It takes just a small amount of time, in both Photoshop and 3dsmax, to get a very realistic environment.

What is needed:

3dsmax,
Photoshop,
The top skytop.bmp (from your skybox), and
2 - TGA texture files (Water1A & Water2A)
Maybe Total Commander for (Skybox.bes and textures from French Route)


First step is to create a darker skytop texture with the top skytop.bmp
I used the Image-->Adjustments (Any coloring option there) to make my image a little darker than the origional texture. Then I save as a different name bmp than the origional bmp.

So now you should have the four required textures for making the moving water in 3dsmax. Close out Photoshop and open your 3dsmax program.

I recommend making a test plane of 10 meters by 10 meters. Then center the plane to 0,0,0. Now Press the M key on your keyboard. This will bring up the Material Editor. Select a Material Ball from the window.

-Left click where it says Standard, then choose "PteroLayer" from the choices. (1)
-Change the Surface type to H- (2)
-In "Diffuse" Left click -None- and find the texture file named WATER1A.TGA (3)
-Change Shadertype to (Water), Sh.Sub-Type to (diffuse,structure), and Transparency to (#0 - transparent zbufwrite, sort) (4)
-In "Universal" Left click -None- and find the texture file named WATER2A.TGA (5)
-In "Structure" place your origional skytop.bmp, In "Environment" place the darker skytop.bmp (6)
-Change the Diffuse, Structure, and Universal Channels to 1 (7)
-Water Properties (this is where you get creative), you will have to experiment with these settings to get the desired water topography...for now just leave the default settings there...(8)
-Assign Material to Selection (9)
-Show map in viewport (10)

-File-->Save (Name this 10x10 plane watertest.bes)
-Left click the Utilities "Hammer" icon (Far upper right of 3dsmax)
-Select "More" --> ".BES export" --> "OK"
-In the "parameters" section, of the BES export Utility panel, left click "untitled.bes" (Step 1)
-Select Name the .bes to export (Step 2)
-Choose the directory to save it to (Steps 3&4)
-Export the .bes (step 5)

Now Minimize 3dsmax...Open your PteroEngineIII Editor

Open the map you chose to save the WaterTest to...
Select Tools-->Rebuild TexDB...
reopen the map again...
select View-->Editor Panel-->ON.
Select "Database" Tab-->Current Level-->Objects-->WaterTest.BES
Press F8-->F9-->F8-->Save Scene

Now look at your WaterTest plane you just made...You want to add some realism to it?
Add these settings in the Water Properties Section of 3dsmax (these settings are from Andys fabulous Blood River terrain)

Waves Shifting X -20.0, Y 3.0, U-10.0, V 1.5
Sharpness was left at default (Diffuse1: 0.5, Diffuse 2: 0.5, Environment: 0.5)
Alpha Factor: Angle: standard is 0.4
Diffuse/Environment Blend Coeffecient 0.0

Now Save (In 3dsmax) and Exoprt the WaterTest.bes again...rebuild texdb, reopen map again...see the difference?...Now you can mess with the Water Properties until youre satisfied with the results in the PteroEngineIII Editor...

This Concludes the Tutorial

Rick (Chavez_US)

[[Vietcong 2]]


give me your email in a private message...ill send you all i have...should help you alot...

[jimmy]

Thanks for the info dude, although it seems i cant get it to work properly...
could you be so kind to create me a 3dmax scene (7 or 8), which holds a simple plane with a proper PteroLayer material?

feel free to e-mail it to me at jimmy<A>foxone-addon.com

Cheers dude

[Chavez]

Jimmy, did you mean [e-mail] NOT jimmy<A>foxone-addon.com?

because i get an error when i try the other one...

i sent a water plane i had made previously in 3dsmax 7 for VC2 to the address i think you wanted it sent to above...

cheers...

Rick (Chavez _US)

[jimmy]

Hi man,

I received your mail, cheers.
I will have a look tonight to see if the props are still in.
If not, can't you make a quick test plane max scene for me?
Shouldnt be much work..

[Zybero]

Hi! I've just tried make water following this tutorial, it shows up and everything but the water is like glass - It shows up but looks like a window and is all black.

[ando]

Is it working like a water? and sound like a water?

[Zybero]

Yes, but it looks like a big layer of black glass.

[Chavez]

Has to be related to the sky reflection .tga not appearing correctly...did you use all of the correct files?...in the correct locations?...

If you did, i still might have a sample water.bes i made (which worked) for this...all you would have to do is import the .bes and check my settings...

Rick

[Zybero]

Nvm got it working!

[Chavez]

What did you do to correct the black glass .bes?...was my tutorial wrong...if so i need to correct it...

[Zybero]

Well i'm sorry if you don't understand this, but i'm not good at all the button names...Well it showed up that i've made it show only one kind of reflection...

[Zybero]

How can i make the water stand still,

Not moving very much, just waves...?

[Chavez]

From what i recall...Andy and Luke (from former Indiglow website) told me that you can make water flow in any direction utilizing the X, Y, U, and V coordinates. Try the default settings and see what they do (default is 1.0, 1.0, -1.0, and 1.0)

-Rick (Chavez_US)