using 3DS max 6 book from Philly's tuts - questions?

[AlienBZ]

Ok, I've finally started (much to my joy tonight, pre-hospital) using the tuts in the 3DS max 6 animation and visual effects book from Philly, and I've started with tut 3.1 from chapter 3 (after copying all files from the accompanying CD onto my HDD). this tut's file is land_displaced.max from the cd, and the file loaded nicely into my 3ds max 2011. this tut is titled building a location on new caledonia island, a scene from the movie, homing instinct. currently i'm on step 1 of this tut, looking at the land displaced file from the cd, and the tut is telling me to select the plane, enter the modifier to see what the settings are, and that the stack has 3 levels - original plane, the displace modifier with bitmap and uvw mapping modifier with a different bitmap, where is this plane, and how do I enter the modifier?

And where is the stack, where are these 3 levels mentioned in this tut?

Thanks in advance.

[AlienBZ]

(I'm referring to my image/file from Philly book's CD as in my post above)

EDIT - Found the stack, with the plane, the displace and the UVW mapping. The parameters for "plane" level are as follows (my parameters in 3DS max 2011):

--length: 219.694;
--width: 252.079;
--length & width segs: both 160;
--render multipliers: scale & density: 1.0;
--total faces: 51200

For the displace level, parameters are:

--strength: -33.986, in the book's tut it's -33.98 - why?
--decay: 0.0;
--blur: 2.1, just as in the book. Decay isn't mentioned, why isn't it?

EDIT 2 - in step 3 of the tut, I went to Unhide by Name, dialogue box came up with nothing showing up in it, I clicked on Display All, and there appeared 3 items in the previously blank area: plane 02, plane 03, and cylinder 01.

Ok, I selected one of these items - it was plane 02, tut says to Select Plane 02, go to Modifier > Parametric Deformers > Displace to apply the modifier (to Plane 02).

I got as far as getting plane 02 to show up in my viewports (Front, top, Left/Right views) clicking on Modifier, but I cannot find the Parametric Deformer > Displace in the menu - where, in my version of max, is the equivalent to this?

Thanks in advance (I'm not freelancing here, I'm using the tuts from the book, using the files from the CD).

[Cad64]

--strength: -33.986, in the book's tut it's -33.98 - why?

Could be a typo? I don't know. The difference between -33.986 and -33.98 is infinitesimal. Don't worry about little insignificant things like that.

Decay isn't mentioned, why isn't it?

I'm assuming Decay wasn't mentioned because it's setting is 0.0. There is no need to mention settings that are not used.

I cannot find the Parametric Deformer > Displace in the menu - where, in my version of max, is the equivalent to this?

As the book stated, you can find it in the "Modifiers" menu, as shown in the image below.

[AlienBZ]

(back home, post hosp, post-surgery on finger)

was reading chapter 1 in the book from philly, before we left the house, i followed the tut all the way up to step 6, did everything including setting the displacement strength to 7.2xx, then we had to leave for hosp.

bandage will stay on total of 3 days, afterward i'll only have a band-aid on finger tip. actually, yesterday when i started chapter 3 in this book, i skipped reading chapters 1 and 2, but jumped right into tut 3.1 in the book.

and no, that book i ordered from ohio still did not come today.

edit - finished chapter 1 from philly book. it's a few minutes after 8 pm in my area, going to rest now, maybe i'll start reading chapter 2 from philly book later tonight.

edit 2 - 10:20 pm - started reading chapter 2 in this book, which introduction to animated film production, such as the 4 phases of movie making, all the way up to the first sentence of the section that examines film design.

[AlienBZ]

that book from ohio finally came today. am going to start a new thread that's special for help with that book.

[AlienBZ]

today i'm still working on the tut from the book from philly, started on step 9 of tut 3.1. i have to apply the materials to each plane. i already opened the materials editor, and i see 3 different materials in the dialogue box, not 4. i looked for the 4th material by scrolling down the materials balls in the editor but its not there - why?

And how do I apply these materials? there is no "apply materials" or "ok" button on the materials interface.
and why is plane 03 (top plane) the only plane that has texture on it, and the other planes (planes 02 and 01) look like blank sheets of metal in the view ports? on thurs. before leaving for hosp when I did step 6 from the tut i saw a blue-colored river start to appear on the top plane of the model from the CD.

[Cad64]

today i'm still working on the tut from the book from philly, started on step 9 of tut 3.1. i have to apply the materials to each plane. i already opened the materials editor, and i see 3 different materials in the dialogue box, not 4. i looked for the 4th material by scrolling down the materials balls in the editor but its not there - why?

I don't know. I don't have the book you're using, or the files, so you need to provide as much information as possible about what the book is instructing you to do.

How many planes do you see in the viewport? Are there 3 planes or 4?
Are there supposed to be 4 materials or just 3? If there are only 3 planes, I don't see why you would need 4 materials?

Screenshots are also very helpful so I can see what you see in your viewports and the materials editor.

And how do I apply these materials? there is no "apply materials" or "ok" button on the materials interface.

Yes there is. It's called "Assign Material to Selection" and I already told you how to apply materials to objects in one of your other threads. Go back and check: http://www.cadtutor.net/forum/showth...29-help-please

and why is plane 03 (top plane) the only plane that has texture on it, and the other planes (planes 02 and 01) look like blank sheets of metal in the view ports? on thurs. before leaving for hosp when I did step 6 from the tut i saw a blue-colored river start to appear on the top plane of the model from the CD.

Again, I don't know. I don't have your book. Maybe the other planes are not supposed to have materials applied because you are supposed to apply them?

I don't understand why the book is telling you to apply materials, but not telling you HOW to apply them.

[AlienBZ]

Cad64, the other day (at a friend's house) I found Material # 4 in the Materials Editor, and have added all the materials to the planes as stated in this tut from the Philly book - it went as easy as pie once I got the hang of it.

Perhaps last week or so (before going to hosp for finger operation) when I was having difficulties with this tut I was distracted/upset b/c of my finger.

[Cad64]

it went as easy as pie once I got the hang of it.

That's good that you're getting the hang of it. Keep practicing. The more you practice, the easier it gets.

[Dadgad]

it went as easy as pie once I got the hang of it.

Like so many things in life.
Doing things we know how to do is easy,
it is buckling down to learn new skills that is a challenge.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
Cool heads prevail.
Practice makes perfect!
I'll stop now.