Bat4max rendering help!

woopypooky · July 09, 2016, 11:22:55 PM

i rendered an .sc4model and opened them with plug-in manager. drag it into prop/college saved it but its not showing in the lot editor...(i put exemplar name as 'testwall')Anybody knows why? There is .sc4desc file created everytime i repeat with plug-in manager.

I already moved my plugins folder in documents to new place, and only keep the 'testwall' .sc4model file inside. So lot editor load 'em with minimum files.

Then i tested with somebody .sc4model only and put into the plugin file, open with plugin manager and did the same thing again also can't find it in the lot editor, so i am pretty sure this isn't .sc4model issue.

is there any other program to do these .sc4model to be readable inside lot editor?

woopypooky · July 10, 2016, 12:32:32 AM

Nvrmind, I figured out whats wrong already. I need to open similar or bigger lot to see them in editor.

Bit I got one question, why on max zoom, zoom 6 my large building goes missing in game?

mgb204 · July 10, 2016, 08:04:25 AM

Are you sure you mean zoom 6 when you say max zoom, or do you mean zoom 1? Zoom 1 is the smallest everything gets, Zoom 6 is the biggest. You can set a property in PiM that dictates which zooms a model will appear in. This property is called "Appearance Zoom Flag". I've never seen a setting that excludes zoom 6, only the smaller zooms, often where smaller models simply can't be seen. So it saves resources not rendering them.

If it really is zoom 6 that's missing, I don't think I've ever heard of this problem. You see zoom 6 was not originally intended to be part of the game. Maxis were told by EA to add the UDI mode, and zoom 6 was added as an afterthought at this point. Thus, all zoom 6 shows is the zoom 5 model and textures, up scaled to look larger on screen. So if zoom 5 is there, but zoom 6 not, you have something really wrong somewhere.

Andreas · July 10, 2016, 08:15:57 AM

I think woopypooky talks about zoom 1 alright, since the Maxis Plugin Manager assigns "zoom 2-5" to props by default, which means they don't show up in zoom 1. This irritated many of the early BATters when they rendered buildings and added them as props on their lots (which is apparently what woopypooky did with his college BAT). The "Appearance Zoom Flag" property for zoom 2-5 is "0x0000000E" instead of "0x0000000F" for all zoom levels, so you can either change that manually, or set the property with the Plugin Manager properly.

woopypooky · July 11, 2016, 12:31:38 AM

i changed the bat from prop to landmark, and now can see them already in farthest zoom. So meaning all props can't be seen in farthest zoom? But why i can see trees?

Andreas · July 11, 2016, 01:00:22 AM

You can set the visibility with the aforementioned property yourself anytime, but the Plugin Manager assigns "zoom 2-5" to props by default. Usually, props are small items, so showing them in zoom 1 would result to a bunch of pixels only, hence it saves resources to omit them. Trees are often flora items instead of props, maybe those get the "zoom 1-5" setting by default, I haven't checked that.

woopypooky · July 11, 2016, 08:41:15 PM

can any kind souls help point any guide to make night lights?
I am using 3ds max 2009 with simfox bat4max 2.6hd

I am quite poor in 3dsmax. I download online some models. I dunno how to make them. I only know how to change color and size and make them working in the game. Everything is fine but now I need night lights.

People say is to shine some directional lights to the model , but how do I export them ? How the bat4max know its day or night?

mgb204 · July 11, 2016, 09:34:40 PM

Quote from: woopypooky on July 11, 2016, 08:41:15 PM
People say is to shine some directional lights to the model , but how do I export them ? How the bat4max know its day or night?

Don't know about your version, but you can set Day or Night in BAT4Max for the latest version. Each needs to be rendered separately, the IDs are then made in such a way that SC4 will know it's got lights and utilise them. Shining lights on the model though, that's probably not going to look all that realistic at night.

As for tutorials, there were never that many, most have since lost pictures or have other problems. Perhaps this helps give you an idea.

woopypooky · July 12, 2016, 01:13:41 AM

Quote from: mgb204 on July 11, 2016, 09:34:40 PM
Quote from: woopypooky on July 11, 2016, 08:41:15 PM
People say is to shine some directional lights to the model , but how do I export them ? How the bat4max know its day or night?

Don't know about your version, but you can set Day or Night in BAT4Max for the latest version. Each needs to be rendered separately, the IDs are then made in such a way that SC4 will know it's got lights and utilise them. Shining lights on the model though, that's probably not going to look all that realistic at night.

As for tutorials, there were never that many, most have since lost pictures or have other problems. Perhaps this helps give you an idea.

Thanks for the link. Looks good and understandable.

Is it I need to export the bat day and night separately? Or prepare the night light texture and then export lods once ?

mgb204 · July 12, 2016, 10:53:46 AM

Using the latest version of BAT4Max, here is the process to use in 3DS max.

Under "sky" you need to set the Rig for either Day, MaxisNite or DarkNite. Note that DarkNite makes nitelights that are compatible with SimFox's darknite mod.

When you export the model, the LODs need exporting only once. Then you render the DayExport (ensuring the Rig is set to Day). Once that's finished switch the rig to the desired night mode and render once more using the NiteExport.

Note that BAT4Max only exports the rendered textures, it can not export the LODs. That's why you need to make those in SC4BAT as part of the process. If you don't add the night textures, then your model simply won't light up at night. The process doesn't need two separate models for day and night, only two sets of textures.

woopypooky · July 13, 2016, 06:59:45 PM

Quote from: mgb204 on July 12, 2016, 10:53:46 AM
Using the latest version of BAT4Max, here is the process to use in 3DS max.

Under "sky" you need to set the Rig for either Day, MaxisNite or DarkNite. Note that DarkNite makes nitelights that are compatible with SimFox's darknite mod.

When you export the model, the LODs need exporting only once. Then you render the DayExport (ensuring the Rig is set to Day). Once that's finished switch the rig to the desired night mode and render once more using the NiteExport.

Note that BAT4Max only exports the rendered textures, it can not export the LODs. That's why you need to make those in SC4BAT as part of the process. If you don't add the night textures, then your model simply won't light up at night. The process doesn't need two separate models for day and night, only two sets of textures.

Whats the latest version of bat4max? What 3ds max version is compatible? Is it bat4max 5? Cos I only found that link available.

mgb204 · July 13, 2016, 09:05:00 PM

v5 is the latest, it hasn't been updated in a while. But if you are using 3DS Max 2009, that shouldn't be an issue.

vortext · July 14, 2016, 02:24:38 AM

To add, I'm using 3DS Max 2014 and don't have any issues with BAT4MAX v5 either.

woopypooky · July 19, 2016, 09:01:51 AM

thanks, i managed to get night lights into the bat.

but anybody can tell me why my rendered building looks less detailed than normal? straight lines appear jagged at zoom 1 (closest)

Other building by others people is more detailed.

There is nothing wrong with my model. is it because of LOD? i used the auto-lod in bat4max.

vortext · July 19, 2016, 10:26:25 AM

Might be a rendering issue, best results are with 'Classic Raytraced'. Press F10 and look under the render tab (iirc).

woopypooky · July 20, 2016, 06:09:39 AM

ok, i changed to mental ray and use classic raytrace and adjusted some setting. the output was 10% better and it took 1 hour instead of usual 10 mins.

but another problem arises, why my building on zoom 3 goes missing, and come back in zoom 5 and 6. sometimes it is part of the building. the building is rectangular and i uses the auto LODs fit.

Everything is rendered during the render process, i can see each screenshots as they render. just that the building is a bit off to one side instead of middle. But i double check that the center of building is on the axis x y z

mgb204 · July 20, 2016, 06:23:04 AM

Have you tried removing and re-making the LODs?

Mental ray rendering does use a lot of CPU power, depending on your PC, it might take a while. How big is the building in question?

woopypooky · July 20, 2016, 07:02:08 AM

so the problem is LOD? but i got no idea to make LOD

the building is 100m x 200m x height 40m

mgb204 · July 20, 2016, 07:49:54 AM

OK render time of an hour for something that size is totally normal. What on earth are you making that's 100x200m in size? Have you made models before? That's very large, you'd be better off making smaller modular pieces. An SC4 tile is 16x16m, such a model would fill a 12x6 lot. Of course if that is one large building, you may have no better option. But if you can split it into smaller pieces, you will make the process of creating it a lot easier for yourself.

The automatic LODs are a simply box. If those don't work, you might need to make something more complex. A LOD is simply a box that surrounds the entire model. In every dimension it needs to cover every extremity of your model, but it can never extend below the ground level (0 on Z Axis). Having made the LOD, name it LOD3, copy this object to LOD4 and LOD5 and you have custom LODs.

JP Schriefer · July 20, 2016, 08:10:31 AM

When my models show up any problem related with the LODs I just increase them like 0,01m in height and it works. It's actually a Jason's tip.
Be careful about the size of your model as well. When I exported the Maracanã some weeks ago I had to separate the complex in 8 pieces! The softwares won't render huge buildings, so be aware about that as well.