Mapping materials: grass, concrete etc.

[funk]

Hi guys, I was hoping for some tips on creating grass. I find it very hard to create a material map which dosnt look like crap. Currently I am just using a diffuse bitmap and trying to scale it accordingly (which is not working obviously) my skills in max are limited somewhat so i was hoping on maybe some easy tips and tricks in creating a large grass scene, or point me in the right tutorial direction.
The model was imported from a civil point file and is also quite angular which dosn't help the realism of it all, so if there is any directional advice on that part also would be appreciated.

Kind Regards.

ps, As you can see in the images below there are quite pixilated lines where the 3d faces meet on the civil surface, how do I get rid of them? my render settings are quite high so I dont even know why they are pixeled.

Thanks again in advance

[Cad64]

This is sort of an advanced project and there are many things that you will need to do in order to get the result you require.

Civil files are always very rough, so you need to do a lot of preliminary work to clean them up before importing them into Max. You will also need to separate the hardscape objects from the landscape, and put everything on different layers, so you can work on them independantly in Max.

Once your CAD file is cleaned and imported you can smooth out the terrain with a Meshsmooth modifier to get rid of those creases and pinch points.

In order to apply materials correctly, you will need to UVW map your objects. You can learn about UVW mapping here: http://waylon-art.com/uvw_tutorial/uvwtut_01.html

Once your UV's are established, then you can apply your materials.

[funk]

thanks mate, yeh the file was a bit of a monster. so many 3d faces, i think the point file by itself was close to 80mb. Anyway appreciate the advice.

[spittle]

You could have used the retopology (Graphite modeling) tools to create a tidier surface in Max prior to texturing. They're quite simple to use if you take a little time to learn them. Or you can edit your surface and delete points in C3D if they're looking a little untidy. The former is probably quicker and easier.

[cec_casbie_novice]

I would re-draw in photoshop, as long as there weren't too many stills to do!
: )
Cas

[Cad64]

Kind of defeats the whole purpose of doing the 3D model doesn't it?

[cec_casbie_novice]

ahh, was just going to say 'work smarter, not harder' then saw your strapline!
: )