khanat-code-old/code/nel/tools/3d/plugin_max/nel_water_material.txt

>> How to create nel water in Max <<

NeL support a form of water that can be edited in 3DS Max.

- Create a convex polygon (with z = 0 in object space) for each area of water
- Apply a NeL material to this shape
- Select water material

For now, full water display is only supported on GeForce 3 (though, it will run with older cards, but will look a lot less nice :( )

The following max map are used to create the water (their name may be misleading, but not all the water maps have an equivalent in max)

- Texture 1 : an environment map that is reflected by water. Basically, 
  it is obtained by rendering the top hemisphere of the skydome.
- Texture 2 : May be used to set an alternate texture for the env map. 
- Texture 3 : the same than Texture 1, but for underwater
- Texture 4 : the same than Texture 2, but for underwater
- Texture 5 : here, you select a heightmap that is used to deform the envmap of the water. (the bumpmap is build from the heightmap)
- Texture 6 : The same as the Texture 5, but it is used to deform the previous bumpmap (water animation)
- Texture 7 : its alpha and colors are used to modulate the final color and alpha of the water
  It is then possible to blend between these 2 map for night / day transition (with the night / day dialog in the object viewer)


Texture coordinates apply only to the diffuse map. This texture may have any orientation provided this orientation is the same over the whole polygon

For the bump map, you can't specify orientation but only speed and scale (in the NeL material)

IMPORTANT : vertices between various water area should be EXACTLY welded, otherwise (big..) holes may result during the rendering.