Itoo Software Forum
Forest Pack => Forest Pro (*) => Topic started by: monomon on February 01, 2018, 08:12:31 AM
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Hi, I am trying to set a ForestPack instance's distribution map with a python script in 3ds max and I am having problems with it.
First, I create a MaxPlus.Bitmap in which I load an existing file from disk. Then, a MaxPlus.BitmapTex and set my bitmap on it. Finally, I set this BitmapTex on the "distmap" property of Forestpack.
When the script completes, the forest appears empty (though the distmap button in the sidebar indicates my distmap).
If I now manually click to reselect the map from the material editor it works! ???
I am not sure what changes when I do this, like some weird conversions or setting missing properties... or do I just need to trigger some kind of update?
Here's example code:
BMM_GRAY_8 = 3 # 8-bit grayscale bitmap.
# Bitmap open mode flags
BMM_NOT_OPEN = 0
BMM_OPEN_R = 1
BMM_OPEN_W = 2
node_name = "forest_flowers"
conf = {
"width": 32,
"height": 32,
"name": "bla" + str(random.randint(1, 15000))
}
def create_bitmaptex(bm, conf):
bt = MaxPlus.Factory.CreateDefaultBitmapTex()
bt.SetBitmap(bm)
bt.SetFilterType(0)
# wtf, isUIAction has to be true for Display to work...
bt.SetMapName(bm.GetStorage().GetBitmapInfo().GetName(), True)
return bt
def load_bitmap(bmpath, conf):
width = conf["width"]
height = conf["height"]
storage = MaxPlus.Factory.CreateStorage(BMM_GRAY_8)
info = storage.GetBitmapInfo()
info.SetWidth(width)
info.SetHeight(height)
info.SetName(conf["name"] )
info.SetPath(bmpath)
info.SetGamma(2.2)
info.SetBitmapType(BMM_GRAY_8)
storage.Allocate(info, BMM_OPEN_R)
bm = MaxPlus.BitmapManager.Load(info)
bm.SetStorage(storage)
return bm
def add_to_current_library(mat):
MaxPlus.MaterialLibrary.GetCurrentLibrary().Add(mat)
try:
forest_pack = MaxPlus.INode.GetINodeByName(node_name)
# use one of the forestpack distmaps for example
bmpath = os.path.join(
"C:/",
"Program Files (x86)",
"Itoo Software",
"Forest Pack Pro",
"distmaps",
"images",
"spread2.bmp"
)
print("bitmap path", bmpath)
bm = load_bitmap(bmpath, conf)
print("bitmap", bm)
bm.Display()
bt = create_bitmaptex(bm, conf)
print("bitmaptex", bt)
add_to_current_library(bt)
forest_pack.Object.GetParameterBlock()\
.GetParamByName("distmap")\
.SetValue(bt)
MaxPlus.ViewportManager.ForceCompleteRedraw()
# The value of distmap is now of type MaxPlus.Texmap
print("distmap value", forest_pack.Object.GetParameterBlock()\
.GetParamByName("distmap")\
.Value)
except Exception as e:
traceback.print_exc()
As an aside, initially I wanted to make this work with procedurally generated bitmaps, but that failed worse - manual reselection did not fix it, (I am guessing) because the bitmap's in-memory storage doesn't persist.
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Hi, unfortunately i cannot help you with Python scripts, because i'm not familiar with this language (we use exclusively C++ and a little of Maxscript).
But changing a texture map from MaxScript seems to work fine. I did this:
- I create a FP object, and assign a texture map of type "Bitmap" to Distribution->Map.
- Then i change the bitmap, setting $Forest001.distmap.filename with the route of the bitmap, and FP is updated correctly.
Please note i use a texture map (Distribution->Map), not a bitmap directly (Distribution->Bitmap). The bitmap slot was not designed to be changed programatically.
I don't know if your Python script is correct, or if it's necessary some specific process to update the bitmap.
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Thank you for the response!
The Python api seems to work a bit differently. There is no filename property of the distmap, it can only reference either a TexMap object or a Bitmap (via SetMap and SetBitmap).
I just solved my issue, so I'll post the below for the benefit of others:
After some digging, it turned out a BitmapTex has a SetMapName method, which actually expects a filename, making it a bit of a misnomer.
Alternatively, it also worked if I first created an Asset with the bitmap path and set that on the texture using SetMap.
It seems that SetBitmap is useless, also as reported by https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/3ds-max-programming/applying-a-bitmap-image-to-a-texture/m-p/4229576/highlight/true#M9736 (https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/3ds-max-programming/applying-a-bitmap-image-to-a-texture/m-p/4229576/highlight/true#M9736).
(that's using the c++ api)
Pity, because it seemed to match my use case better.
Therefore, I suspect there is no chance of applying generated in-memory bitmaps...
This part of the max api is confusing, and the documentation is somewhat scant.
Thank you again.
A bit of example code that works:
import os
bmpath = os.path.join(
"C:/",
"Program Files (x86)",
"Itoo Software",
"Forest Pack Pro",
"distmaps",
"images",
"dense.bmp"
)
tex = MaxPlus.Factory.CreateDefaultBitmapTex()
tex.SetMapName(bmpath)
node = MaxPlus.INode.GetINodeByName("forest_flowers")
node.Object.GetParameterBlock().GetParamByName("distmap").SetValue(tex)
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Thanks for the information ! It may be useful for other users.