Loading the Bitmap2Material node - Using Bitmap2Material inside 3ds Max
- [Educator] Assuming that we have installed all of the substance-based applications that we will be using in this course, and that the Substance for 3DS Max plugin is also installed, we're ready to start using the Bitmap2Material 3 application right here inside of Max itself. With our start scene open then, let's hit the M key to open up the Slate Material Editor, and then jump into the Curtains tab that has already been set up for us. In the Material and Map Browser search field, we can start to type the word substance, and then in the case of 3DS Max 2018, drag a Substance to Not Substance node onto the work area.
We are using this because Bitmap2Material 3 is, in reality, just a substance archive that has been set up to perform some very specific and very clever functions on the image or images that we feed into it. To be able to use those functions, we will need to double click on the Substance node to load its options into the Parameter Editor, and then click on the Load Substance button, found in the Substance Package Browser Rollout, after which we will need to navigate to our Bitmap2Material 3 installation directory which, in my case, can be found at C:\Program Files\Algorithmic\Bitmap2Material and then we need to jump into the 3 and Data folders where we should be able to see the Bitmap2Material_3-1.sbsar archive.
Once we open this, we quite literally have Bitmap2Material 3 ready for use inside 3DS Max. Now a quick tip that you might want to make note of at this point, in order to save yourself both time and frustration is if I just right-click on the Parameter rollouts here, and then opt to close them all up. You will notice if you have any experience using the Bitmap2Material standalone that the configuration or order of the rollouts is a little bit different than the standalone app, given that they are all being sorted alphabetically here.
Now we could, if we really wanted, simply left-click and drag the handle of a rollout, and then place it in a new location. Unfortunately, though, as soon as I close the Material Editor, and then reopen it again, those changes are undone with the rollouts automatically resetting back to default. Leaving things as they are then, if we zoom in on the Substance node in the Editor window, we can see on the left-hand side that we have a number of inputs with one of the main input being essential, and on the right, we have a number of outputs which, given their names, clearly can't be applied directly to a mesh, which means that we now need to add a material to the mix.
The obvious question, though, is which one? Well, we have already said that we will be using a bit of a mixed-bag approach to workflows in 3DS Max, and so with the Bitmap2Material node selected, let's make use of its default Metal Roof set up, by coming to the Substance menu, and using the Substance to Physical Material option which instantly creates a physical material for us, and hooks up all of the relevant outputs from the Bitmap2Material node. An option that is a fantastic time saver.
To finish this exercise off then, let's select both of our curtains in the scene and then apply the Physical Material to them. Of course we don't, as of yet, have anything worth rendering because we haven't given the Bitmap2Material node an image with which to work its magic. And so, let's move on to our next exercise and do just that.