EVE Technology Lab

when i loaded the hlsl shader in maya it always loads some oilfilm.fx (don't know the exact name right now) shader too which is what i mean and believed to create the difference.

i tried using the hlsl shader in maya when i started but unfortunately i just couldn't really get it to work since i had (and partly still have) no clue what to input into many of the options.

http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/271/shader.png

thats the shader right after its loaded (unfortunately you cant see a network or how things interact, just the stuff you need to enter)

main problem is especially at the end. i dont know where to find the values for everything after the ReflectionColor. shadowmap and viewport adjustment (at the beginning) are also a problem. The Ambient occlusion map and values as well as the oilfilm stuff is a mystery too.

unfortunately just plugging in some random maps and playing with the values didnt work and the shader doesnt render at all.

Hello folks.

So, I've been doing the same thing as you lot for almost three years in private, as I work on a big EVE Machinima. I've helped Roc Wieler off and on in recent months as well, which he'll happily attest to.

Soon I'll be making a comprehensive video tutorial on how to get results like these:

http://i.imgur.com/WDRag.jpg
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/21467805/Test%20Images/Absolution_Banking_arockcalledsteve_1080p.png

You'll be able to see the full breakdown of what I intend to teach in this reddit post.

You can also find some of my (very) old material and effects tests, along with a rough cut of an abandoned project, in this youtube playlist.

A couple of markers though that may upset some of you:

• I've been making these in Max, not Maya or Blender
• Most of everything else I use isn't free. Not legally at least. (I own legal licenses, don't you worry.)

Hopefully it'll still be of interest to you lot. If you want to get a hold of me, tweet @rockcalledsteve or EVE Mail this guy.

- Theo

With some tips from Theo I have been playing around with vray. But it seems that the colors for the T2 layers aren't correct. Or I can't get them correct. Guardian and the ark for example have red parts. But looking in the black files I only get brown and goldish colors like the t1 ships.

Okay thnx Theo I will take a look later see what I can get.

Theo since you are using max and vray what type of lighting do you use in your scenes? I'm working on a sun in the scene but that gives horrible effects with the lighting.

I'll play around with it a bit and post some pics. And any progress on that video you were planning on?

okay that seems to do a nice job :)

here is a screenshot.

http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/835/astarte02.jpg

working on the engine trails now

now i've got a question ... How to render decals ... fx: we have something like this in black file:


{
"__i": 218,
"__t": "EveSpaceObjectDecal",
"name": "Logo_AmarrLogo_Right",
"position": [-52.01361, 122.8228, 401.3184],
"rotation": [-0.708873, 0.06084, 0.0921547, -0.6966385],
"scaling": [7.860185, 14.04351, 14.04351],
"decalEffect": {
"__i": 219,
"__t": "Tr2Effect",
"effectFilePath": "res:/graphics/effect/managed/space/decals/v3/decalnormalv3.fx",
"parameters": [{
"__i": 220,
"__t": "Tr2Vector4Parameter",
"name": "MaterialDiffuseColor",
"value": [0.0784314, 0.0666667, 0.0392157, 1]
}, {
"__i": 221,
"__t": "Tr2Vector4Parameter",
"name": "MaterialReflectionColor",
"value": [0.8901961, 0.7843137, 0.5803922, 1]
}, {
"__i": 222,
"__t": "Tr2Vector4Parameter",
"name": "MaterialSpecularCurve",
"value": [43.24219, 24.75, 0, 0]
}, {
"__i": 223,
"__t": "Tr2Vector4Parameter",
"name": "MaterialSpecularFactors",
"value": [0.796875, 24.50391, 0.8964844, 0]
}, {
"__i": 224,
"__t": "Tr2Vector4Parameter",
"name": "FresnelFactors",
"value": [15, 2, 0, 1]
}, {
"__i": 225,
"__t": "TriVariableParameter",
"name": "ReflectionMap",
"variableName": "EnvMap2"
}, {
"__i": 226,
"__t": "Tr2Vector4Parameter",
"name": "ReflectionFactors",
"value": [0.5, 1, 0.25, 0.5]
}, {
"__i": 227,
"__t": "Tr2Vector4Parameter",
"name": "DecalNormalData",
"value": [-2, 0, 0, 0]
}],
"resources": [{
"__i": 228,
"__t": "TriTexture2DParameter",
"name": "NormalMap",
"resourcePath": "res:/dx9/model/ship/amarr/battleship/ab3/ab3_t1_n.dds"
}, {
"__i": 229,
"__t": "TriTexture2DParameter",
"name": "DecalDiffuseMap",
"resourcePath": "res:/dx9/model/ship/amarr/decal/decal_amarrlogo02_d.dds"
}, {
"__i": 230,
"__t": "TriTexture2DParameter",
"name": "DecalOsMap",
"resourcePath": "res:/dx9/model/ship/amarr/decal/decal_amarrlogo02_os.dds"
}]
}
}
question is what to do with this ?
(of course with parameters we feed shaders but what with position/rotation/scalling)

where is data for vertices?

I spend some time with
WebGL ShipViewer (use FF or Chrome) but they feeding this with some data not spotted in stuff files like this (look at source coz Chrome do not show this correctly)

okay some more progress on the guardian im am happy with it now :)

http://imageshack.us/a/img837/1866/gaurdian022k.jpg

http://imageshack.us/a/img829/6718/gaurdian012k.jpg

so now it is time to get back to effects and destruction :)

got 3 more effects to sort out :

- laser systems
- Shielding
- Gate activations

the engine trails are awesome but i find it hard to see the details of the guardian, its too dark because the background is really bright, i think the lighting needs a bit work. other than the lighting it looks pretty good maybe i'd use less 'dust' particles that zip past the ship but thats probably personal taste.