Flow Map Painting Script - Early Alpha

**MaVCArt** · 03-31-2012, 11:13 PM

http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/sc...ow-map-painter

I just uploaded the early alpha of my flow map painter script, that some of you may remember from earlier, when I was searching how to do this.

now, I need alpha testers. the code is already open-source, so please don't steal

currently, realtime painting in the viewport is not yet supported, I'm still figuring that out. there is a 2D Preview though, that's the best that I can do for the moment I'm afraid, but expect more to follow very very soon.

what I need from you guys is to test my script, report bugs in this thread and perhaps come up with some suggestions

also, I would like you guys to test the maps that currently can be created with the script; I wanna see if the results are any good. I tested them myself to some extent, but I've been investing my time in debugging the code, tbh, not in writing complicated shaders.

now, the HowTo.txt file included in the download should tell you everything you need to know, but here are some tips:

1: only use the soft brush (big button with "SB" on it). the air brush is useless, and the normal brush seems glitchy for now, haven't been able to fix that yet.

2: try to test on as many shapes as possible, preferably with custom unwraps.

3: ALWAYS PICK A MAP LOCATION BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE, I still have to update UI functionality for that, but that will be fixed asap

4: DONT CLOSE THE ROLLOUT WINDOW BEFORE HAVING EXITED PAINT MODE. it will cause bugs on next start, causing you to have to run the script again before working properly.

HOW TO USE IN THE SHADER

the HowTo.txt file explains this

lastly, I would appreciate it very much if you guys would be so kind as to use the map in actual shaders, so I can see what they look like.

on a final note, I would like to thank you all for helping me out before, and to help me by giving useful suggestions.

ps: again, i'm releasing this open-source because I'm a strong supporter of free file sharing, so please, don't steal my work

**Hannes** · 04-23-2012, 03:38 PM

so what does it do?
a quick description would be nice

i assume it creates flow based on a map

**MaVCArt** · 04-27-2012, 07:25 PM

well, yes, kind of;

this script creates a map that you can use in a shader that incorporates it by using it's color values as offset for the animation, in both x and y direction. basically it works the same as a normal map, but instead of telling lights where and how they have to shade, a flow map tells a texture where and in what direction it should distort/animate. using this, you can simulate "flows" on liquid surfaces such as water or lava to create a more realistic effect and to be able to put in things like upwelling bubbles and faked collision of possible static meshes.

**MaVCArt** · 05-16-2012, 09:36 PM

I uploaded a new version of this, check it out

(click the link in the first post)

**MaVCArt** · 05-21-2012, 08:26 PM

http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/sc...ow-map-painter

newest update of my plugin, now featuring realtime viewport preview, three different brushes (square, circular and eraser), and a shader to preview it all!

read installation instructions first, very important, there's a lot more going on this time