I have an annoying problem at the moment with my maps dirs. When I go into the material library I can open up the materials but although the maps are shown in the editor they don’t show up visually. They also don’t render out unless you manually go into the map slot and point it to the right location in the map directory. It’s bemusing ! as it knows its there but you need to manually remap the pass each time you need a new material.

Any ideas?

Cheers

db

Dell Precision T550, Dual Intel Xeon X5675 @3.46 GHz (24 core) , 2Gb high speed AMD FirePro V5900 (FireGL V) GDDR5, 72Gb DDR3 RAM, Win 7 Professional 64bit

Hi,

I’m not sure if I understand the problem.

When I go into the material library I can open up the materials but although the maps are shown in the editor they don’t show up visually.

What do you mean by “they are shown in the editor they don’t show up visually”?

Have you added Maps and Materials directories in Configure Paths?
Customize -> Configure Paths ->

Also note that Material Library files (.mat) are not the same as Maps (texture/image) files.

E. K. Anna Hennequet [FA]

Hi ekah

Thanks for the reply

When I load the materials into the material editor it doesn’t show the map visually on the spheres but the filename is there when you go into the sub menu of the material in the diffuse parameter. You have to go into the name of the map and go and browse into the map folder then it finds the file. I’m sure it has something to do with the paths but they are all configured in properly.

I’m well aware of the difference in the material library files (.mat) and maps having used the software for 15 years so it’s all a bit weird.

Dell Precision T550, Dual Intel Xeon X5675 @3.46 GHz (24 core) , 2Gb high speed AMD FirePro V5900 (FireGL V) GDDR5, 72Gb DDR3 RAM, Win 7 Professional 64bit

If the maps aren’t showing up in the Material Editor preview spheres, then there is a problem with your paths.  Are you sure it’s looking in the right place when you first load the material?  Or is it some sort of UNC naming issue?  I’ve had materials map the path to the bitmaps as local, and if you change the project path or something it won’t show up until you tell it where to look.

Try fixing the path using full UNC naming, then updating the library from the Mat Editor.  Close Max, reopn, and reload the material to see if it works.

3DS Max Design 2011 64-bit - Advantage Pack
Dell Precision T5500, Dual Six Core Xeon X5650 @ 2.67GHz, nVidia Quadro 5000, 24 GB RAM, Win 7 Enterprise 64-bit
Minneapolis, MN, USA

It may be a naming issue but I haven’t changed anything. It’s not looking in the right place when you load up the material even although all the folders are mapped.

Dell Precision T550, Dual Intel Xeon X5675 @3.46 GHz (24 core) , 2Gb high speed AMD FirePro V5900 (FireGL V) GDDR5, 72Gb DDR3 RAM, Win 7 Professional 64bit

Hi digitalboy,

Sorry if I assumed you were a beginner. I had to make sure because we do get a lot of beginner questions.

Have you checked to see if your Maps directories are listed in the “External Files” of Configure Paths?

If you don’t mind, could upload screenshots of the following items?

-Material Editor showing the display problem; map slot
-Configure Paths’ “External Files” list pointing to your Maps directory

E. K. Anna Hennequet [FA]

lol....no worries. I’d like to think I’m still learning? Even after all these years.

Yes, the maps directories are listed in the external files of configure paths.

Here is a screen shot.

Dell Precision T550, Dual Intel Xeon X5675 @3.46 GHz (24 core) , 2Gb high speed AMD FirePro V5900 (FireGL V) GDDR5, 72Gb DDR3 RAM, Win 7 Professional 64bit

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Here are the map paths

Dell Precision T550, Dual Intel Xeon X5675 @3.46 GHz (24 core) , 2Gb high speed AMD FirePro V5900 (FireGL V) GDDR5, 72Gb DDR3 RAM, Win 7 Professional 64bit

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Navigate to your maps directory within your Max install directory.
Does it look anything like the attached image.
Verify that the path name in the Configure User Paths is identical to the one in Explore.

Usually when only the name appears in the material editor, that indicates Max cannot locate the map.

Notice the Address line in Explorer, agrees with the top line visible in the Configure User Paths.

Tim Wilbers [FA]

College of Arts and Sciences
Department of Visual Arts
University of Dayton
http://www.udayton.edu/
3ds Max: 7.5, 8, 9, 2008, 2009, 2010

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I think this may be the problem as from with Max it doesn’t allow me to manually add each specific folder in the maps directory even although I go into it when configuring the maps through Max. Maybe it’s the file permissions on the map folder that is casuing the probs though Im the administrator of the machine.

Very strange

Dell Precision T550, Dual Intel Xeon X5675 @3.46 GHz (24 core) , 2Gb high speed AMD FirePro V5900 (FireGL V) GDDR5, 72Gb DDR3 RAM, Win 7 Professional 64bit

digitalboy 13 February 2009 11:19 PM

I think this may be the problem as from with Max it doesn’t allow me to manually add each specific folder in the maps directory even although I go into it when configuring the maps through Max. Maybe it’s the file permissions on the map folder that is casuing the probs though Im the administrator of the machine.

Very strange

I’m not certain of this and have to double-check because I’m not in front of Max right now, but there should be an option to check to include all sub-folders of the Maps directory when you “Add” folders.

If you’re the Administrator, file permissions should not have any affect while you’re in session. It should only be a problem if you’re accessing the files as another User on Network without permission. At least that’s my understanding.

E. K. Anna Hennequet [FA]