Topic: So I have this block of wood............

[Fish]

This should be an easy question for you guys.  I'm doing some brochures for our company and they involve showing wooden pieces, not too difficult.  My question is when I assign materials to them, lets say a 4" x 12" x 10' long piece that I have the wooden grain going one way through the whole piece, is there a way to assign the ends of the piece a different wooden pattern, to show different saw cuts?  Do I need to draw 3d faces instead?

Thanks

[JCTER]

I haven't done it in a while, but you can assign material by face, not just by layer or by object.

Solidedit > Face > mAterial

It's a bit out of the ordinary for how you attach materials... either by dragging from a tool palette, or using the 'MATERIALATTACH' window to do so by layer as the seemingly popular routes (I like doing it by layer, but that runs into the problems that you just noticed, sometimes)

I use the SOLIDEDIT command to circumvent that situation.

[Fish]

I kinda thought you had to do it by faces in lieu of just drawing a 3d object, it seems kinda cumbersome this way.

[JCTER]

I kinda thought you had to do it by faces in lieu of just drawing a 3d object, it seems kinda cumbersome this way.

no no no.. SOLIDEDIT works on 3d solids!    You fire SOLIDEDIT, pick the solid, hit "FACE" then select an individual FACE -of- the SOLID, and then hit "A" for "mAterial" and select what material to apply to that individual face OF the solid

You get the benefit of controlling individual faces, without sacrificing the benefit of maintaining your solid objects! :]

[Fish]

OMG thanks James!!  I was just thinking this was going to be a big pain in the butt now I feel free.................thanks again for your help.

[Fish]

Another question, what is a bump map is that different from the diffuse map?  What does one usually use to put materials on with either or both?

Also, if I like the texture of this wood I'll call it maple and the wood grains go parallel with the piece can I make the maple look like a circular saw cut on the ends or do I need a different texture and if so that would change the color and type correct?

[JCTER]

Another question, what is a bump map is that different from the diffuse map?  What does one usually use to put materials on with either or both?

the maps are parts of the material definition.

A very simplistic way to look at it is that:
DIFFUSE map controls the color
BUMP map controls the texture
OPACITY map controls the transparency

All these maps -together- are part of a "Material" definition.  All the settings and specifications of these properties/maps make up what a Material is.

(important definition for the explanation below... "Procedural" is a map that is created from a mathematical formula, rather than from an image.  Examples are selections like "noise, wave, etc")

Diffuse allows you to apply colors and/or images to the surface with controls over how light interacts with it to cause shading and reflection, and what not.

Reflection map allows you to actually use an image to act as the REFLECTION of what you see on a particularly shiny object.

Bump map allows you to create bumps and valleys, basically, by creating an image-or-procedural based map where Autocad will take the VALUE (amount of lightness) of the image at a specific point, to control the "elevation" to represent there... whiter areas being higher (peaks) and darker areas being lower (valleys) with shades of grey going between them in amount.

Opacity map will allow you to use a procedural or image to tell Autocad where you want to be able to see THROUGH a surface.  Typically these are black-and-white only, and not including shades of grey, but I guess that could vary.  Examples are in the "CUTOUT" folder in your "TEXTURES" folder of the Autocad support path.  Steel Grating is a good example of where you would use this.

For further details and explanations, this article may help:
http://www.cadalyst.com/cad/autocad/digging-deeper-materials-circles-and-lines-autocad-tutorial-3523

[mjfarrell]

Another question, what is a bump map is that different from the diffuse map?  What does one usually use to put materials on with either or both?

Also, if I like the texture of this wood I'll call it maple and the wood grains go parallel with the piece can I make the maple look like a circular saw cut on the ends or do I need a different texture and if so that would change the color and type correct?

A bump map adds textural effects

A diffuse map, is more for color

And yes you may need to create your own jpg to replicate the circular saw marks you desire...

you might be able to do this with altering the scaling...

[Fish]

Wow makes more sense now, so it looks like I'll have to search for some bump maps.  Thanks

[JCTER]

Wow makes more sense now, so it looks like I'll have to search for some bump maps.  Thanks

Something I often do is take the DIFFUSE map, open it in any graphics editor (not MS Paint) such as Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, or GIMP... or most software that comes with your camera, these days... and change the image to black and white.  If you increase the contrast, it will take some of the greys and make the lighter ones whiter, the darker ones blacker.  Depending on the material, maybe you want it completely black/white with no grey... or maybe you want it to be very smoothly transitioning between "highs and lows" and -want- the greys between.  Depends on the material.

Anyways... that's how I get most of the bump maps I need, if I am not using an Autocad default material.  It's turned out pretty awesome.  This works  because generally your image correlates directly with your texture... so it makes sense to use the same image.

If you will notice from the Autocad default material images, the images used for diffuse, and the CORRESPONDING image in the "bump" folder... are identical in size and scale, just that one is black and white.

[Fish]

I did notice that James and I was going to ask about it but I thought you guys might be getting sick of me.

I will try editing one of the diffuse maps.

Thanks

I'll keep you posted I know you're sitting on the edge of your seat.

[JCTER]

I did notice that James and I was going to ask about it but I thought you guys might be getting sick of me.

I will try editing one of the diffuse maps.

Thanks

I'll keep you posted I know you're sitting on the edge of your seat.

Also, keep in mind, google images is your friend, plus there are -tons- of sites out there with good collections of textures good for 3d purposes.

[Fish]

Ok, I've googled some images and saved them to the bump map folder, however the solid faces don't seem to be adjusting to them, they will adjust if I use them as a diffuse map.

[JCTER]

Ok, I've googled some images and saved them to the bump map folder, however the solid faces don't seem to be adjusting to them, they will adjust if I use them as a diffuse map.

I assume you are rendering to see the result?  If not, know that bump map and other features will not show unless you do.  The "realistic" visual style will show diffuse map, and certain lighting effects, but nothing much else, nor bump map.

If you apply an image to your bump map, you may not notice the difference at first.  This is because the default 'value' for the bump map's slider is set to "15" if my memory serves... whatever the number, it's not much, considering the scale goes from -1000, to 0, to 1000.  Crank the sucker up to 250 or so, and see if you see results, adjust as necessary.  Basically what that slider does, it takes your bump map and controls how powerful the 'bump' is, based on the slider value.

[KewlToyZ]

I get a kick out of reading this.
I love how you guys have broken it down and the tools have come a long way.
I learned image rendering a bit working on video game mods for hobby fun.
The free tools around really opened my eyes to how complicated it can become when it goes into diferent rendering engines as well.
Ultimately I ended up using Rhinocerous with Lithunwrap on my .3ds models.
I started out going thru 3DSMax 4.0, Truespace, GMax,
Those tools can become really tedious going back and forth from Paint Shop or Gimp and learning by trial and error.
I had also used a nifty 3D model browser/converter
Static rendering vs. animation rendering can present entirely different pre-requisites, like distance and damage models, quite an inticate art and a lot of fun as difficult as it is. Thanks for the memories