Guest Lottmedia Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 Just had to let this one out, if any of you haven't heard of this before, go to the Algorethmic (sp?) website and get MapZone 2.5. It's free and super-duper! It creates procedural, tileable textures of just about any size. It outputs diffuse maps, bump, normal, specular, everything you need. Now the great thing is with only a little work you can take these right into 3DB and suddenly you have almost limitless textures at your disposal. It takes a little getting used to, but it's a powerful, node-based system that you can create just about anything with. Anyone using 3DB should have it! I've used the older, photoshop plug-in version a long time ago and just recently found out about this new stand-alone version, and I have to say I think of it as a secret weapon and I almost didn't want to tell anone about it so it could be my secret, but I just had to because 3DB and Mapzone go together so perfectly. Check it out Casey PS, I have nothing to do with the company, BTW, I just wanted to share:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member MozzUK Posted January 9, 2008 Member Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 Nice one for pointing this out to the community! That's allegorithmic for anyone trying to find it - same people who worked on the Imagesynth plugin with Luxology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Shpagin Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Several times I was seriously tempted to make something for procedural generating. First time it was when I have seen Texture Maker. Second time it was when I have seen nodal system in LW. Now I also want to do something like that. The best place for it - in fill tool, add new custom filler. It is easy to do, but sometimes I feel that I have not enough arms. So, I will note that and may be some day I will be inspired to do that for a week or couple of days. Nodal system is something that could be really helpful in 3DB. Another application - something like modifying layer "on-the fly" through nodal filter. It is like effects in Photoshop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew Shpagin Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 I have looked the program more deeply. I like nodal system, the only inconvenience - fx maps output can't be color input and color output can't be used like fx output. I think input/output should be universal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Reactor Posted January 11, 2008 Member Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 I'm a fan of MapZone also. I also used the old (hard to use) plugin, but the free standalone is just great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philnolan3d Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 Just so people won't have to search, the website is: http://www.mapzoneeditor.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member rj0 Posted January 14, 2008 Member Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 MapZone's node-based approach is pretty powerful (and a fine tool, especially at the price-). Probably it's biggest shortcoming is a good set of truly introductory tutorials to get users up-and-running. Even their 'learning' materials look intimidating as all heck when initially viewed. It wasn't until I took a long, focused, sit-down session with the editor that I even began to get a feel for how to work with the materials, and I still feel like a newbie. Really like it though. rj Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philnolan3d Posted January 15, 2008 Report Share Posted January 15, 2008 Probably it's biggest shortcoming is a good set of truly introductory tutorials to get users up-and-running. Even their 'learning' materials look intimidating as all heck when initially viewed. It wasn't until I took a long, focused, sit-down session with the editor that I even began to get a feel for how to work with the materials, and I still feel like a newbie. Really like it though. You can say that again, I played with it today and feel really lost. Like you said even the Introduction tutorials are confusing. Someone on their forum complained that the tutorials look like they were made for someone who's used the program for a while and they replied that it assumes the reader has gone through the interface tour. But that tour is just as confusing looking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advanced Member SonK Posted February 13, 2008 Advanced Member Report Share Posted February 13, 2008 You can say that again, I played with it today and feel really lost. Like you said even the Introduction tutorials are confusing. Someone on their forum complained that the tutorials look like they were made for someone who's used the program for a while and they replied that it assumes the reader has gone through the interface tour. But that tour is just as confusing looking. i totally agree, i guess the company is not really open to constructive comments... I'm starting to use it too, but i feeling very frustrated and lost, the lack of good newbie tutorials doesn't help either. Moreover, i find it stupid that the only 3D file format they support is .3DS and ASE, why not add support for .OBJ and Collada, most 3D application support them,as they are more common file format. Lastly, i find navigating in their 3D viewport to be a pain in the arse. .why not just use LMB,MMB,RMB = rotate, pan, zoom. It would make life easier and faster for the users. They limit the image export to 2048X 2048!? and you can not import or export a TARGA file....errrrrrr. that is stupid. I would register and ask for this feature, but i doubt the company is so quick with add it, or even welcome constructive comments Other then that, i like the application so far, i'll try to learn it more and more. PS> i wish Andrew would add node base texturing like this into 3d-brush. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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