Ok just a general bunch of questions.
Is it possible to extend or rewrite the multi-sub material within max?
Is it possible to extend for example a standard material and adjust how the vertex lighting affects the diffuse(eg add overbright on the standard material, or add support for vertex alpha etc…) ?
Yes, this is very possible. Here is an example that I threw together a few days ago for a similar question.
-------------------------------------------------
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-- Super Sub Material
-- written by: Thomas Blue
-- history:
-- Wednesday, June 28, 2006 - started development
--
-- TODO:
--
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plugin material superSubMaterial
name:"Super Sub"
classID:#(0x6c44a2d8, 0x3193df7)
extends:multimaterial replaceUI:true version:1
(
parameters main rollout:params
(
-- add delegates
)
rollout params "Super Sub Parameters"
(
-- add ui elements
)
on create do
(
-- setup initial material settings
)
)
No reason why this couldn’t be done either. Just needs some creative coding if you plan to use texture alpha with vertex alpha.
Thanks
Is there anywhere where i can find more info on extending materials/rewriting the ui section but keeping the funcionality in the maxscript help?
Read about scripted plugins in the ms help file. You can also change the replaceUI:true to false to keep the base material UI. I just prefer to make my own UI when I make a material plugin.