VERSION 2.0 Available here

Pretty cool stuff dude, thanks.

Been using this since you posted it over on game-artist. Good shader!

nice, I'll try it out this week.

This is very cool but I cannot get the shadow version to run...I am on max 2008 x64

max9 & max2008 are very similar when it comes to installing plug-ins...is max2008 by chance not able to handle the shadow version like max9 apparently can't?

Blame Autodesk for that one. I have the same problem on my PC (red wireframe in 64bit Max 2008 ), but it runs in the 32bit Max 2008. So try that. More stable shadows is one reason to upgrade to version 2009, though I can't think of many more ;)

ha, alright. Looks like I have a reason to re-install my 2009 copy.

Should I install x86 or x64 of 2009?

Both work, so you can install the 64bit version.

I did a small update to fix Flip Green Channel for objectspace normalmaps.
Not that many Max users here that like to try this btw ?

i guess most of em are just too lazy trying it out (like me - but i could give it a shot this evening..)

awesome thanks for this man, im gonna try this out at work tomorrow. cheers.

Ah well the point of using a shader inside Max is ease of use and laziness. You don´t have to export your model and textures, just do everything straight in Max. I work with Unreal at work and still prefer to preview my textures with this shader, no hassle of exporting, reimporting, or waiting for textures to compress on import.

will it work in max8? :X

The NoShadows version should. If not, tell me the error and I´ll see what I can do. You do need a graphics card that is not ancient and has Pixel Shader 3.0 support (Geforce 6 or better, ATi X1000 series or better).

I would have been very interested in this a while back, so I'm sure other people are as well, it's just that we have our own project-specific stuff at work. Just wait untill people start making renders for the domwar, and bump this thread

I've used this shader a bit, and one of the things that bothered be the most was, it seemed like when you added a cubemap it would be subtractive instead of additive, so if i ever wanted to use a cubemap it would make my model really dark. I dont know if you've updated it since the version i used. Also the general settings for cube maps seemed to be really abstracted, like you had to turn values down make the effects more intense, etc. I think it would be good to revamp the ui there for a more artist friendly approach(one input for envmap intensity, one for frensel, and that should be all that is needed).

That said, this is one of the better max shaders out there.

Great feedback Earthquake, it´s really specific stuff like this I like to hear.
Cubemaps are actually lerped (linear interpolated) into the color. I do suspect that you might´ve used non HDR cubemaps (I exclusively use HDR cubemaps because they look truly superior, the Mustang uses one for example) which could explain why you got the impression they are substractive. I guess the problem is people don´t generally have HDR cubemaps lying around. I´ll see if i can´t convert a good free HDRI to include with it (my cubemaps are copyrighted material, bought from Dosch so I naturally can´t share them)

Concerning the UI I don´t really see what you mean ? I´ve already brought the Fresnel settings to a minimum (offset and falloff sharpness, can´t do with less), and then there´s an overall multiplier for whatever is reflected, cubemap or solid color. The only confusing thing IMO would be the "world masking", so I might have to come up with a better description. Perhaps you could ellaborate a bit more on this issue ?

Yeah i've dealt with a HDR stuff before, and the main thing you come back to is: its hard to make HDR content. While it is of course better quality, i can make a nice LDR cubemap in like, 30 minutes. Where as HDR cubemaps require expensive cameras, hours of time to create, etc. That was one of the biggest problems with the marmoset engine, all the lighting came from HDR cube maps, but it was near impossible to customize them or create content from scratch.... Maybe support different modes for HDR/LDR cubemaps?

As far as the UI stuff, i may have been using an older version, i think i got v1.5 off of another forum, havent had time to test out what you've posted here so ignore it if its changed since then.

Aaah, "1.5" explains a lot. That´s the old, hacky, bloated version which I completely rewrote from scratch, the result being this one which is fully my own work.
But good point on LDR/HDR modes, should be easy to add into the shader! HDR cubemaps are only a small effort however if you use ATi CubeMapGen on pre made HDRI´s. But that requires you have that sort of content lying around (I just happen to because I used to use them a lot for software rendering).

Don't suppose the free cubemaps from here would be any use would they? Nice shader Xoliul, just started tinkering with it.

or some mean highres ones here <---

Laurens, damn I love this shader, very complete and the tickboxes make it very user friendly. Great job man!

this works perfectly fine. thanks!

any chance for seperated specular color/level maps?
btw. quick test w poop's skater <3

Okay, I'm a n00b to adding shaders to Max... I have 2008 x64, where do I put the *.fx files? And how do I access it once it's there?