Editing maps in 3DSMax

[Iain McFadzen]

Press F1, and do some tutorials on materials and mapping. No-one is going to sit and type out a complicated set of instructions when you already have perfectly adequate step-by-step tutorials inside the app's Help system.

[Anger]

Wow, uh thanks for the warm welcome, Mr. McFadzen.

I could be a little more specific in my line of questioning, I think. I have used the tutorials but I'm just not seeing what my next step should be at some point. I'll give a step-by-step account of where my problem lies and perhaps some friendly individual could tell me where I could find more information or show me the next step:

-- Choose object to change materials on.
-- Press "M" to call up the Materials Editor dialogue box.
-- Under the "Blinn Basic Parameters" portion of the Materials Editor, I click on the unlabeled button just to the right of the Diffuse color swatch. This opens the Materials/Map Browser.
-- In the Materials/Map Browser, I choose "Mtl Editor" in the "Browse from:" box. This reveals map choices in the browser window.

At this point, I would assume that I would be able to browse to other locations on any accessible drives to select .jpgs and other supported image formats for use as maps. However, I don't see any standard navigation interfaces on the browser and right-clicking offers no options.

What am I doing wrong?? Do I need to place the image files I desire to use in a given location for 3DSMax to see them??

[ToddD]

Firstly, I think Ian gave you a very valid answer, and I think an answer from someone as accomplished as he is, deserves some respect and consideration.
Now about your question, when you select the "material library" option you should be seeing a list of max's included materials and maps etc....Unless you are using a bogus pirated copy of max. Now to select a jpeg or such that you have created, click NEW, double click bitmap from the list. Now you will be able to browse your hard drive for the desired file. Welcome to the forum, just remember nothing is owed to anyone, and a lot of the basic information is covered in the included help files. Someday you may need the answer to a difficult question, and from what I've seen Ian has the answers to some of the toughest. What i am trying to say is don't burn your bridges!

[Anger]

Thanks for the assistance, Tbonz. I was able to go straight to the Material Editor and browse to a .jpg with no problems, thanks to the advise you gave me.

Admittedly, I could have been more specific or thorough in my initial post. I could have outlined the information I already had and where I had looked for it. However, the fundamentals I have encountered so far focus primarily on the creation of primitives and the options for viewing your work i.e. interface fundamentals. The use of materials seems more advanced and I thought that the question I was posing might be a common one for fairly inexperienced Max users. Your answer supports this: it seems fairly non-intuitive and nowhere in any Materials help profiles have I seen anything about clicking anywhere to get a browse dialogue.

I am sure that Mr. McFadzen is a seasoned veteran with tons of helpful information to share and I wouldn't want to alienate anyone for any reason, especially since I am new to these forums. I am just not accustomed to being clotheslined on my way in the door.

Thanks again to everyone who helped. I hope that eventually I will be able to contribute here as well as pose questions.

[Fozzie]

I too think that Ian gave you a correct response to your question, as it was something that could have been easily answered if you had gone through the help documentation or the tutorials that ship with the software.

I know that the help and tutorials might seem boring but if you want to succeed in 3D (and your 3D application of choice) you will need to do them if you want to learn correctly the first time through. All good things come in time and being patient and not skipping ahead will benefit your immensely.

Foz

[Iain McFadzen]

I thought I was quite polite!

I wasn't having a go or being unfriendly, I am generally a helpful guy, but your question was extremely vague and there really wasn't any other way to answer it as it stood.

If you want specific answers, ask specific questions.

[mouj]

Howdy !

don't want to fuel things up here, but i do think that Max's user reference and tutorial files are quite good, not saying it's the best available help, but they'll answer about any of these "noob" questions that we all stumble upon at one point or another.
I, for one, use it a lot, and you can find answers to the "what's this" questions, and often you'll find basic procedures for using stuff as well...

my 2 cents : )

mouj

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