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In which we talk normal mapping, subscription packages, and performance.
DMN: What are some of the other big features that people who are just jumping on board to 3ds max 7 are going to see?
Prochazka: The thing we put the most energy into- it feels like we have put more man hours into than any other feature ? is the Normal Mapping Tools. This is a technique where users can model a high resolution model and a low resolution version of that model, then extract the detail from the high resolution version, and put it in a data map. Then that data map can be applied to the low resolution model making it difficult to tell that you are looking at a lower resolution version of the model.
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| Normal Maps 380,000 Polygons (wireframe & shaded). Click for larger image. |
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| Normal Maps top view - 2,000 Polygons (wireframe & shaded). Click for larger image. |
It?s a great technique that is becoming very popular in gaming because of the limits to the amount of geometry that can be loaded into the game. They are always pushing to get the highest quality model using the least number of geometric details. This is a technique that is big, at least on the PC and Xbox, and has taken the industry by storm. Because of this, we wanted to make sure we had the absolute best tools for this technique, and we do.
One of the things that took us so long to do, was we put a lot of energy into making it viable in other industries like architecture. Imagine if you had a huge high resolution, high detailed building that is too much to put through a renderer at one time ? model a low resolution model of this building, use normal mapping, and suddenly your rendering is going much faster because you are using 1/100th the number of polygons you were using before.
The same thing can be used for visual effects. The demand for quality in visual effects are taking polygon counts and shooting them through the roof. In some cases it is becoming difficult to deal with. People are putting their polygonal budget on their hero in the middle of the scene, and sometimes other things suffer because of that. This can be solved by rendering the scene in chunks and compositing it in Discreet Combustion. This may not always be the best solution, but it has become the most common solution. By using Normal Maps, you can take your polygonal budget and put it on things that need it the most.
DMN: Is this similar to what other applications might call Surface Baking?
Prochazka: Baking is a type of data type, but Normal Mapping is totally different data, but it is not dissimilar. Normal Mapping is thousands of times more powerful.
DMN: You mentioned Normal Mapping is so big in the game industry, are there any titles that are out now or that are coming out that are making use of this?
Prochazka: Not being 3ds max specific, but all of the first person shooter games, like Doom, are using this Normal Mapping technique. It really fits that genre extremely well. Unreal Tournament is the hot engine right now, but if you go on their site, you will see a laundry list of game companies that have licensed that material, and the Epic Games guys use an awful lot of 3ds max. There is no doubt that our mapping tools fit their pipeline really well. I say that because they worked with our designers to make sure that we were delivering to their needs. Epic Games are really the high end of what people can do with Normal Mapping right now, and if we can meet their needs, we can meet anyone?s needs.
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