3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [64]
Caution
The Display Driver Selection dialog box displays the options only for the drivers that it finds on your system, but just because an option exists doesn't mean it works correctly. If a driver hangs your system, you can restart it from a command line with the –h flag after 3dsmax.exe to force Max to present the Graphics Driver Setup dialog box again or use the Start⇒Programs⇒Autodesk⇒3ds Max 2012⇒Change Graphics Mode program icon to restart the program. •
The Configure Driver option opens a dialog box of configurations for the driver that is currently installed. The various configuration dialog boxes include options such as specifying the Texture Size, which is the size of the bitmap used to texture map an object. Larger maps have better image quality but can slow down your display.
All the display driver configuration settings present tradeoffs between image quality and speed of display. By tweaking the configuration settings, you can optimize these settings to suit your needs. In general, the more memory available on your video card, the better the results.
FIGURE 4.8
You use the Display Driver Selection dialog box to select a different display driver.
On the CD-ROM
You can learn more about the various display drivers in Bonus Chapter 1, “Installing and Configuring 3ds Max 2012,” on the CD. •
Gamma preferences
The Gamma and LUT panel, shown in Figure 4.9, controls the gamma correction for the display and for bitmap files. It also includes a Browse button for loading an Autodesk Look-up Table (LUT) file. A Look-up Table is a file that holds all the color calibration settings that can be shared across different types of software and hardware within a studio to maintain consistency.
FIGURE 4.9
Enabling gamma correction makes colors consistent regardless of the monitor.
Setting screen gamma
Have you ever noticed in an electronics store that television-screen displays vary in color? Colors on monitor screens may be fairly consistent for related models but may vary across brands. Gamma settings are a means by which colors can be consistently represented regardless of the monitor that is being used.
Gamma value regulates the contrast of an image. It is a numerical offset required by an individual monitor in order to be consistent with a standard. To enable gamma correction for Max, open the Gamma and LUT panel in the Preference Settings dialog box and click the Enable Gamma/LUT Correction option. To determine the gamma value, use the spinner or adjust the Gamma value until the gray square blends in unnoticeably with the background.
Note
3ds Max cannot create LUT files, but it can use existing LUT files created in other software packages, such as Combustion. •
Propagating gamma settings
Although gamma settings have a direct impact on the viewports, they do not affect the colors found in the Color Selector or in the Material Editor. Using the Affect Color Selectors and Affect Material Editor options, you can propagate the gamma settings to these other interfaces also.
Setting bitmap gamma
Many bitmap formats, such as TGA, contain their own gamma settings. The Input Gamma setting for Bitmap files sets the gamma for bitmaps that don't have a gamma setting. The Output Gamma setting is the value set for bitmaps being output from Max.
Note
Match the Input Gamma value to the Display Gamma value so that bitmaps loaded for textures are displayed correctly. •
Other preference panels
The remaining preference panels, including Rendering, Animation, Inverse Kinematics, Gizmos, MAXScript, Radiosity, mental ray, and Containers, are covered in the related chapters.
Cross-Reference
The details of the Rendering Preferences panel are