gMax Materials Trap

[jimjones]

I did not know of this until having problems with textures in a scene containing several objects with different textures. I would build objects, test their scenery position, develop a texture, create a material in gMax, texture the object in gMax and test again in FSX. All well and good. Next I add more objects to the scene, add another material, then texture the new objects in gMax. All looked great in gMax, but when testing in FSX the newly textured objects were getting their textures from the first set of materials.

It turns out that when materials were added in this fashion, the material number did not get incremented so I had two material 0, thus the conflict, even though in gMax the objects were textured properly. This required that I had to have the textures for all objects developed and the different materials added in one gMax session. In this way the material number is incremented by one each time a new material is added.

Is this a common "gMax/Acceleration SDK" problem that I'm just learning about?

[jdhaenens]

Yup. Happens pretty regularly. I go over material numbering as one of my checks before compiling.

Jim

[Mathias]

I think it's error code 20 (the error is sitting 20 inches in front of the monitor).
If you properly created and applied a new material there is no way that FSX shows a different material.
You can always retrieve allready created materials by either getting them from the material/map browser or using the "pipette and click on one object that allready has this material.
If you need a new material just click on "new" in the material editor.
Unless I don't get your point of course, in that case just forget what I've written.
Mind you, you should use as few materials as possible since every new shader ends up as a drawcall.

[Lionheart]

I always name my materials instead of numbering them. For instance, its quicker to find 'fuselage' then '#23 or #48'


Try using names that are common to what you are building, such as 'hanger red large' or 'red shed' and I think things will go better for you in FS projects.

Just my humble two cents.




Bill

[jimjones]

Jim, Thanks for the confirmation of the problem. Need to be more aware what gmax is doing for automatic material numbering (Naming).

Mathias, thanks for responding. Not sure you understood, chucke, but I appreciate your advice.

Bill, I was not aware the user could name or control the material name. Learn something new every day. Your advice will be helpful when using several materials. :icon_lol: Thanks.

[Mathias]

Mathias, thanks for responding. Not sure you understood, chucke, but I appreciate your advice.
Thanks.

LOL, that's what I figured but decided to leave my response in for everyone to have a good laugh. :bump:

[Lionheart]

Jim, Thanks for the confirmation of the problem. Need to be more aware what gmax is doing for automatic material numbering (Naming).

Mathias, thanks for responding. Not sure you understood, chucke, but I appreciate your advice.

Bill, I was not aware the user could name or control the material name. Learn something new every day. Your advice will be helpful when using several materials. :icon_lol: Thanks.


No problem.

Also, be aware there is a huge crash bug in renaming your materials. Always select an area in the middle or just past the auto-name-generated Material title. Then erase/delete the former name.

In Gmax, if you click in the 'name' slot of a Material to rename it, if it clears (no visible words in the slot) it will CTD (crash Gmax) every single time, but only when you start to enter a name (clicking on the keyboard keys). And.. It will crash about 20% of the time even if you do the go around and rename the name with the auto name present.

So....... Just save before you rename a Material, and make sure you do not clear out the name in the slot when you add yours. Then just delete the rest after you punch in yours.



Bill

[n4gix]

And.. It will crash about 20% of the time even if you do the go around and rename the name with the auto name present.

The simple solution to the "crash" problem is to simply have the Material Library open (even if minimized to the Taskbar) when you "name" your materials... :ernae:
Oh yes, how many people here remember the infamous GMax v1.1 "Never on a Sunday" bug? :173go1:

[N2056]

:wavey:<--- My hand goes up as one who was bugged!

[Lionheart]

Oh yes, how many people here remember the infamous GMax v1.1 "Never on a Sunday" bug? :173go1:


I remember that one. Didnt Maverick discover that it was an actual built in 'bug'?

Those were the days.

I still think that on certain days of the year, this still occurs. I will reboot my computer and do everything I know to get it to export. Then suddenly, hours later, its working fine again, lol..



Bill