having some glass problems {3Ds max 2010}

[Repent_]

I'm having some glass problems in 3Ds max 2010

So I'm making an icon for a Death match game.. bla bla bla

Anyway... So I wanted to put a dark burgundy glass dome in the center of the icon but, I'm not getting the look I was going for

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/1893/image1szx.jpg
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/1893/image1szx.jpg


http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/8292/testrender23.png
http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/8292/testrender23.png

any tips ?
oh & btw I'm doing it in max so I can make the skulls smash together when they hit start lol.

[Repent_]

Hay thanks for all the help everyone lol I fixed it =P
http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/5368/deathmatchsplash.png

[KalleW]

Nice to see it worked out. I read the post earlier and to tell you the truth I didn't respond.

Because the post was too vague for me to really say anything. Saying you don't think you got the look down tells no one anything about the specifics.

And about getting glass down it could have been any number of effects you thought were missing. Like refraction for example. And I mean what's the point of me explaining refraction and how to achieve it if it wasn't even what you wanted?

And your solution seemed to be making it darker and adding another light source for another high light. How was I supposed to know that was what you wanted?

This is of course a bit of an exaggeration but you get the point. The more specific you are the better answers you can expect.

Best of luck in the future!

[Repent_]

well here is how I set it up. I won't even try to explain it , that would take me days to type it out =\

http://img51.imageshack.us/img51/8241/humm.jpg

[rfletchr]

You might want to take a look at the A&D Materials and a environment map. Since your using mental ray you might as well take advantage of raytracing. Some reflections and subtle refraction from the glass dome would look cool.

Not to say its not looking nice but with some good shaders and a little extra work you could push it a hell of a lot further

[Repent_]

I'm using them lol. if you have 3Ds 2010 I'll drop you a copy & you can have a look ..

[rfletchr]

If you post a screen of your A&D material i might be able to suggest some changes. mostly tho your not giving the raytracer enough to work with, at the moment your only getting a specular highlight from your omni lights. If you add an map into the environment slot(get a spherical HDR Environment map) you will see a massive difference in the quality of your glass.

Check the reflection and refractions colours of your glass. you can tint these to match the colour of the glass. Also slightly reducing the glossyness of the reflection and refraction might look nice.

[Repent_]

http://img682.imageshack.us/img682/8695/image1wv.png

[rfletchr]

thats a pro material. They are pretty limited. Try changing to an Arch & Design Material. you get much more control. there is a presets drop down. use a thin walled glass preset. or put a shell modifier on the glass to give it some thickness and use a physical glass preset

I have to stress that Glass is TOTALLY dependent on what surrounds it. get an environment map in there.

[Repent_]

Yeah that's a little better

the way it was
http://img686.imageshack.us/img686/5368/deathmatchsplash.png

The edits you suggested
http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/9894/okayf.png

[rfletchr]

You might want to improve your lighting also. I generally use skylights and a couple of tinted area lights. If you set the skylight's sky color to 'use scene environment' you'll get a nice colour range bleeding in from the light probe.
I keep looking at the tribal pattern thinking it would look cool with a metalic effect. http://mentalraytips.blogspot.com/2007_10_01_archive.html that blog is writting by one of Mental Image's programmers and is full of cool mental ray tips

If your using the skylight with MR make sure that Final Gather is turned on, otherwise it will have no effect. Also be aware that FG precision will need to be increased if you plan on rendering an animation (this will get slow)

[Repent_]

Okay well here is the MAX file & an OBJ port
http://www.filefront.com/15109795/undefined

& here is where I ended up with
http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/1007/qdhwp01.jpg