Tech Artist's Blog

New Homepage @ www.akramparvez.com

2010-04-24T23:24:00.000+05:30

I have moved to my new web address @ www.akramparvez.com. Please visit that from now on. Sorry for inconvenience…

Scripts release(Select Non-Planar and Broken Wall Creator)..

2010-03-01T22:10:00.004+05:30

Lately i have got some request for the Broken Wall Creator script, so finally got time to make it releasable. It has got some bugs so please bare with it and comment here if found any. Use only the top view to create the broken wall because of some bugs.
Someone on Tech-Artist.org wanted a script to select non planar faces. I had a script that was written a while back so thought of releasing it as well.
Please download the scripts from
Broken Wall Creator
Select Non-Planar Faces

Installation Instructions for Select Non-Planar Faces
-------------------------
* Drag and Drop Select_NPR.mzp in to 3dsMax viewport.
* From the Customize User Interface menu option you can now assign Select_NPR to a Toolbar. The command is located in the "Akira Scripts" Category.

NormalMap Widget for 3ds Max

2009-12-15T22:01:00.011+05:30

Been busy learning to create forms using dotnet in maxscript. Earlier today stumble across Steev “kobra” Kelly's tutorial for easily creating normal map details in 3ds max and use photoshop to add it to a base map. So thought of writing a script for quick normal map renders based on the tutorial.

Steps for usage:
1. Run the Script :D. Find it in Customize User Interface->Toolsbar->Catogery->Akira's Scripts-> NormalWidget

2. Select the Highpoly and hit setup.

3. Scale the highpoly to fit the template plane.

4. Hit render and save the image.

5. Use it to add details in the base map. Idle to create a library of normal maps for using across objects like nuts,bolts,cracks,etc.
6.Enjoy.

Hopefully will include render size options in the next update. Suggestion are welcome.

DOWNLOAD:
NormalMapWidget

Python in 3ds Max by BLUR..

2009-10-17T18:31:00.003+05:30

I just found this awesome post in cgtalk(link)
by Eric Hulser,BLUR which has a complete python replacement for maxscript. This should open up many doors for scripting in 3ds max as python is more efficient language. They have also added PyQt support for making rollouts. I will try it very soon and post some updates. BLUR rocks...

Links:
Blur-Dev

Some Old Game-Art..

2009-09-10T21:57:00.003+05:30

Finally found time to revisit some old work.

LowPoly:

HighPoly:

MentalRay Utility Gamma Adder..

2009-09-04T15:21:00.004+05:30

This script was written for a friend who had a scene with 150 textures and wanted to add Utility Gamma & Gain(MI) for every diffuse texture. Thought this might be useful for MentalRay users out there.

Features:
- Adds Mental ray Gamma and gain utility to the diffuse map channel, only if a bitmap texture exists.
- Currently adds only for Arch and Design,Standard Material and Multi Material in the diffuse map channel.

Download Link:
http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/mentalray-utility-gamma-adder

Broken Wall Generator..

2009-09-02T23:25:00.010+05:30

Here is a little maxscript inspired from Gunnar Radeloff's demo reel(here). It generates a broken wall from an interactively drawn curve or a existing shape. Options to control wall width, no. of columns, brick width, height and length. Will be adding more features in future.

Back to School........

2009-08-25T20:31:00.002+05:30

Doing Masters in Computer Application(MCA) was a long time goal,finally got my course material for MCA. I hope this helps my Technical Artist skills in the future...

Learning Maths and Python

2009-06-29T23:10:00.006+05:30

Recently found a website called ProjectEuler which has very good maths problems to be solved using computer programming. I am just trying to build up my python programming skills. There is one more site which i found at Tech-Artist.org which has more challenging riddles to be solved using python, PythonChallenge.com. Don't forget to check them out.

Best PC Game of the Year(India) and Featured in Autodesk Game Reel

2009-06-24T21:46:00.012+05:30

Ghajini, The Game for which i was the Level Editor and Technical artist has won The Golden Cursor Animation award for the Best PC Game 2008-09. And the game has also been featured in Autodesk GDC Games Show reel 2009.
Wow.... I am very excited. I am very proud to be a part of the game and the company i'm working with FX Labs.

Links:
Ghajini- The Game
About the Award
The Golden Cursor Animation Awards

GameOver....

2009-05-02T23:33:00.000+05:30

Just finished playing Wanted:Weapon of Fate in the morning, thought why not make a list of all the games i played in the last 3-4 years which i remember. So here i present the list of games(PC) i finished and some unfinished..

Python rocks..

2009-04-29T21:46:00.000+05:30

Recently started using Pyhton to simplify my life at work. Initially i started looking in python because of Blender,later on when there was a requirement of a tool which had to run in any system, python came to my rescue. Its was very quick and easy to write. My python journey begins....

Here are few sites i found useful.
Python Docs
Python Book
Tech-Artist.org(my favorite for technical artists)
Python Challenges(awesome site i found in tech-artist forums)

Trying out PC virtualization...

2009-04-14T23:09:00.000+05:30

Busy with work...... my work at office is going through crunch mode, deadlines. I made my self free in the weekend to cleanup my PC.Then tried out virtualization of my PC with VirtualBox and installed Ubuntu. I liked ubuntu and the concept of open-source very much,now trying to use open-source application as much as possible. Here are my screenshots of my desktops new look and ubuntu running inside windows XP.

BTW..there is nice post by Mr.Lukáš Duběda at http://blog.duber.cz/opinions/virtualization-on-64bit-machines-is-a-must about virtualization and its benefits for Technical Artists/Tool Developer.

My Desktop

Linux in XP

M1 Abrams Tank Model and Rig

2009-02-28T01:07:00.000+05:30

This is a model of M1 Abrams Tank made in 3ds max. Its a highpoly model done for practice and i tried to rig the tank threads. The video shows the threads rig done mostly with scripted controller, i tried to automate the process as much as i can with self detecting terrain for wheel placement and rotation of threads and wheel controlled by a spinner on main controller. Tnx for watching.

From Tank Render

Tank Thread Rig from akram on Vimeo.

NeoAxis Map Exporter Tutorial

2009-02-11T23:10:00.000+05:30

Hello again,

I have made a video tutorial on how to use the map exporter that i have written for 3ds Max to NeoAxis. This is my first tutorial so bare with me........

Thanks for watch......

Download High Quality video Tutorial

Download

Neo Axis Map Exporter for 3ds Max.

2009-02-10T23:21:00.000+05:30

I started doing some R&D on NeoAxis engine sometime ago. I was having problem setting up level in side the editor so wrote a script to export the map file and Highmaterial file. I use ogremax exporter for exporting all the meshes in the scene.
This is my first script posted here. Many more to come....

Current Features:
-- Exports all the Material in the scene to highmaterial file
-- Exports static geometry object's PRS to Map file

Expected Features in future:
-- Layer support and export lights
-- Full Highmaterial support(currently only diffuse and lightmap are exported)

Instructions :

1. In case your materials are not named properly, give the material name and press Rename Material
2. Specify Mesh reference folder i.e the folder in which u place ur mesh files e.g Maps\Test\StaticGeometry\ or Models\Temp\
3. Press .. for selecting the folder to export highmaterials.
4. Export the Map and enjoy..

Note:

1. Instanced objects should have the same name.
2. Lightmap should be baked to glossiness target slot with UV channel no 2
3. Meshes and the textures should be placed in the folder specified in Mesh Ref.

Download Link:
NeoAxis Map Exporter - 3ds Max 2009 & 2008
NeoAxis Map Exporter - 3ds Max 9

Happy Birthday to Me...........

2009-01-26T22:12:00.000+05:30

Hello All,

Yeah today is my birthday. After postponing for a long time I finally start my blog today.............

I am Akram Parvez from India. I like to play games a lot. I started play in my childhood I don't remember the age but it was a 8-Bit TV game set in which I played Mario, TMNT, Alladin, Contra, BomberMan.... I loved it very much. Starting then I didn't stop till now.. Luckily I got a job in the same field which I was loving since childhood.... Yeah I am in Game Development as a Technical Artist and Level Designer/Editor and this is my blog of games I PLAY n MAKE....

Thanx for visiting