CGTALK MAXSCRIPT CHALLENGE - Topics and Suggestions

#61

Really good ideas Georg! Instead of locking it, I may just add to the rules not to submit until the deadline. That way people can discuss the topic during the challenge.

#62

Yeah,

and as soon as maxscripting becomes real popular you can announce:
THE SPEED SCRIPTING HARCORE CHALLENGE
where only scripts containing inline assembler submitted within 1 hours after registration are accepted.

Georg

#63

  • A week is fine, if the challenge is easy. I believe that more people would participate with simpler … not so restricted/bound scriptiong challenges. Then its up to the individual how much to put in it. Skip the “intermediate” / “advanced” distinction … just make the challenges as simple as possible (Even simpler than that latest posted imo)

  • Yes, as soon as someone posts a usefull solution the motivation tends to dissapear (this is also what happens to me), so I agree that it is a good idea to announce a “do not post before” date in the challenge.

  • Please use some more of the given ideas for challenges … especially then ones that may sound too simple :wink:

  • Motivating factor? I dont think you need to make it into a competition or similar with prices etc. The motivation will come automatically with discussions, ideas etc. of many more people in the challange thread.

    I think this might get more people participating, especially for artists who only scripts once in a while and have to dig into the documentation to refresh the basics when it happens.

#64

Generally what I tend to do is crop up the occasional “Back to Basics” challenge, which is a fairly simple set up for those just starting out. The whole idea behind the challenges is for people to look into the HOW. If I make it too simple for people it wouldn’t be a challenge, it would be more like a workshop. I have the levels of difficutly for those that would find the simple challenges a little too simple… again a motivation thing.

But I hear what you’re saying.

Would people perhaps like to see a seperate workshopping thread where basics are covered more thoroughly for beginners?

#65

I guess that would not be a bad idea. The thing is I would love to be able to participate in all challenges but they are sometimes just way over my head and I have no idea where to start.

-Baker

#66

why not focusing on certain aspect of the software?
For instance

[ul]
[li]A script that display info on script.( use of the gw (if i’m correct))[/li][li]new procedural material.[/li][li]Something related to animation etc etc etc.[/li][/ul]one thing i finhard is to find THE idea. i mean for the past challenge you had to with a way to display info… info of what. and wich way? rollout on screen etc.
So maybe giving a secondairy pointer for the less knowledgeful (?) of us. like me and give just the first info for the most advanced.
But i’m sure intermediate/advanced user will find fun to relearn some stuff. maybe it could become a giant laboratory of scripting. oOoOoohh!

#67

I think the concept of a challenge is great, and that last one where it was more or less up to the individual to decide the difficulty level (and a litte reminder that a little thinking could make it even more interesting :slight_smile: ) … and the new rule about not posting before a certain date made it just great. Actually there would be no need to call it “Back to basics” since that would depend on the imagination and qualification of the individual scripter.

A workshop sort of thing might also be good or maybe someone teaching a simple subject every week and giving some examples and hints?

#68

so whats the next challenge?? :slight_smile:
Can’t wait!
hehe i’m starting to love this

#69

Sorry guys, the new challenge should be up today sometime… I’m flat out at the moment!

#70

The new challenge is up. I’ll actually try and participate this time. :slight_smile:

#71

Ideas:

Compare Render: kinda like maya or the RAM player but enabling more than 2 images.

#72

Take a look at HaywoodTools at scriptspot.com.
It has a script called renderview that has this feature. Could probably be enhanced though.

#73

Inference locking and snapping á la SketchUp

Here’s some info:
http://www.pixero.com/bilder/pics/inference1.gif
http://www.pixero.com/bilder/pics/inference2.gif
http://www.pixero.com/bilder/pics/inference3.gif

Video tutorials:
http://download.sketchup.com/downloads/training/tutorials50/Sketchup%20Video%20Tutorials.html
Chapters:
Drawing while using inferences from other geometry
Inference locking
Basic Geometry in SketchUp

You can also download the free SketchUp Google version and try it for yourself.

#74

I just updated that script on my site with a couple bug fixes and a slight enhancement if you’re using Max 9. I don’t think it’s on scriptspot though. If you have any suggestions for enhancements I’d love to hear about them.

#75

Ok, I thought they were availible at scriptspot. My fault.

Would it be possible to “replace” the Max standard “render window”?
What I mean is, could your script show the actual render taking place?
I’ve tried a script called: Mechnology-Viewrender.mcr that works that way in “real time”.

Also I’ve tried a free renderer called Kerkythea that had a great feature in that you could do tone mapping and color corrections directly in the renderview. Would that be possible to add?
You can download Kerkythea and see how it works. http://www.softlab.ntua.gr/~jpanta/Graphics/Kerkythea/

If you have and further questions maybe we should take them with PM or in a new thread.
By the way, thanks for your scripts!

#76

I wrote the Mechnology-Viewrender script. It clearly shows that I don’t know enough about scripting. :cry:

I’m hoping anyone would take up the challenge of improving it to make it a stronger tool. :thumbsup:

-Stephen

#77

I wrote the Mechnology-Viewrender script. It clearly shows that I don’t know enough about scripting. :cry:

I’m hoping anyone would take up the challenge of improving it to make it a stronger tool. :thumbsup:

-Stephen

I like your viewrender, but it would be great with a combined production renderview/interactive renderview/compare renders/tonemapping window.

#78

Hey you Maxscripters! At my studio, we do a lot of buildings with tile roofs, especially S-tile or Spanish style roofs. We usually do this in 1 of 2 ways, depending on the time we have, and the level of detail we are going for.

Creating the roof slabs is the easy part. Creating the tiles is the more time consuming.

  1. We have created special displacement maps for s-tiles, and then use Vray displacement on the flat roof slabs. This actually provides pretty decent results in most cases.

  2. However, in our experience, you still just can’t beat actual geometry based tiles. The method we use for this is basically a refinement of the great tutorial posted at http://www.robeccaproductions.com/Spanish_Tile_toot.htm. One tile is modeled, then arrayed, then the whole group is attached as a single editable poly. You then position it and use Cut to trim up the roof slab.

This works great, but is still pretty time consuming to align the slabs, and then cut them all, especially on a complex roof, and especially when we build a good 5-10 houses a week.

Here’s the script challenge:

I have been told by an architect acquaintance of mine that someone at their firm created a maxscript that lets them pick the polys that define the roof slab faces and this routine automatically replaces the polys with this complex s-tile editable poly, and trims it up so that it matches the exact edges of the original poly! Pretty slick huh? This obviously saves them a ton of time. Unfortunately, despite my eager requests, they do not at all want to share this incredible tool. Secondly, I really don’t even know where to start on this, as I am a novice scripter at best.

Would someone like to take this on as a challenge? If you figure it out, tons of architectural viz artists would laud you!

If you don’t want to take it on, perhaps someone could at least give me some pointers on some ways to tackle this.

Here are some ideas I have:

  1. User selects the editable poly roof object. Each face of the roof is a different poly within this object.

  2. Max prompts user to select the s-tile editable poly object. This is a very large object, as wide and as tall as the largest roof face.

  3. Max starts a ‘for each’ loop that steps through each poly in the roof.

  4. Max obviously know the locations of the vertices on each poly, and uses these to move a copy of the s-tile poly object to align with the poly, lining it up with the bottom edge of the face (the edge having the lowest Z value, obviously), and making sure to rotate it appropriately so the tiles are overlapping properly.

  5. Max then uses the vertex locations to calculate where the s-tile poly needs to be cut to match the dimensions of the roof face.

  6. Repeat this process for each face in the original roof object.

  7. Presto! You just saved a bundle!

Anyone up to the challenge?

#79

My apologies for the delay in the new challenge: I’ve had some crazy work hours recently. I hope to have something coherent prepared on the weekend, barring any unforseen circumstances.

#80

The new challenge is up. Apologies for the delay. I look forward to seeing what people come up with!

http://forums.cgsociety.org/showthread.php?t=479116