gmax

by Steve "Biggs" Beardall

Article Type: Review / Interview
Article Date: April 18, 2002

Product Info

Product Name: gmax
Category: Utility
Developer: Discreet
Min. Spec: See Resources
Files & Links: Click Here




Game modders and software companies have shared a strange relationship over the years; a company would release a new and happening title only to find that the user community would almost immediately take the thing to bits and more often than not modify the hell out of it (legally or not). You only need to go look at European Air War, Falcon 4.0, or Quake for that matter, to know what I mean. Being a newbie in the mod making world, and apprentice 3ds max user I was more than a little interested, when Discreet release gmax last September and opened what seem to be an enormous world of potential for people like me.

At present there are two ways of obtaining a copy of gmax the first is to download it from their web site, or with a supported software title, like Flight Simulator 2002 for instance. Once downloaded, or plucked from the CD-ROM, it occupies a surprisingly small space for this day and age—a mere 79MB! Set the installer in motion, and in no time at all it’ll be ready to go. In order to run gmax on your PC you’re going to need to complete the online registration, after a few moments the splash screen disappears and after being asked which video driver I wanted to use (Heidi is the default software driver) you’re greeted by the UI (User Interface).

User interface

Most of the UI is dominated by the view ports, and it is through these that you work in the virtual world. Working in 3-D, on a 2-D screen is a little strange to start with and it kind of reminds me of the technical drawing lessons of my schooldays. The default views are Left, Top, Front and Perspective, though you can alter these to something you might prefer instead. The first three give you regular 2-D views from specific angles and the last is more what you might think a proper 3-D view of your chosen object. Above the view ports are the transform tools (amongst other things), these effectively become your hands when manipulating objects, or sub-objects, during the process of building a model or character. Learning the keyboard shortcuts and using the right-click mouse button menu are a must as it saves you a lot of travelling back and forth switching between tasks.

Command panel

Over on the right of the screen you’ll find the command panel. This is effectively the nerve centre of gmax and is broken down into six sections (loosely speaking). First, there’s the create panel, which is for exactly that—creating things. Here you’ll find pretty much all the primitive shapes and splines you’ll ever need to make objects including…err teapots! Back in the early days of 3-D animation the designers needed a primitive shape for testing algorithms and the teapot was chosen, apparently it is still considered a good benchmark. Also hidden at further sub-levels are things like Booleans and tools for making compound objects and lofts. The modifiers tab contains a huge selection of handy tools to alter objects in a very controlled way, such as bend, twist, relax, lathe, etc., and modifiers for applying maps.

Bend modifier

Next are the hierarchy and motion tabs, these contain controls relating to animation and the use of forward and inverse kinematics. Getting your character to move around, or those tank tracks to rumble, are dealt with in here. The display panel controls how objects are seen in the view ports and what their viewable properties are. If you find the work area is becoming cluttered you can hide all the bits and pieces you’re not directly working on. Last comes the utilities tab in which you’ll find an assortment of various tools, including a polygon counter for those who need to work within a budget and want to keep the in-game rendering time down. Sound like a lot? Well to be honest there is a lot more that I haven‘t even begun to mention, but it would turn this humble review into something resembling War and Peace.

Speaking of big books, the user reference and tutorials are very comprehensive (if a little dry sometimes) and some of the topics and procedures can be a little difficult to wrap your head around, so printing them out can help learning the more technical side of things, though costly on the paper! I’d also recommend visiting a helpful forum, or buy some good beginner type books to help compound your knowledge base.

But what does all this give us? Discreet's gmax is essentially a slightly cut-down / modified version of 3ds max Rev4, which means for anyone wanting to start learning 3-D modeling it’s a vastly powerful tool. Having compared the differences in the user guide they’ve not really taken all that much out, other than the ability to render images and a few more specialist bits. It would be really easy to become intimidated and / or frustrated by the huge toolset and features available; in reality, however, once you’ve acquired a few of the basics you can begin to create some funky objects.

Say you need to make a pot, for a scene. A very quick and precise way of making one is by using a spline and applying the lathe modifier to it.

Smooth spline

Lathe tool

We now have the beginnings of our pot, hardly low poly I know, but this just an example.

Then adding ‘edit mesh’ you select the faces you want to apply a map to. Here you can see I’m using cylindrical mapping with the UVW map modifier.

Cylinder mapping

Within the material editor, having defined the material properties you want to use, apply the bitmap. Finally if you need precise control over how and where the map fits, you’d use something like the UVW unwrap. Et voila, one pot!!

Finished pot

Now having made your object all that remains is to export / convert the gmax file into the native game format. In Flight Simulator 2002 it's either .BDL for scenery objects or .MDL for vehicles/ aircraft.



So you've had a very brief taste of what gmax can do, but where did this amazing, and free, product come from? And who are the people behind it? I had the opportunity to speak to Paul Perreault via email recently, he is the product manager for gmax. I was interested to understand a little about the gmax concept, he also put me straight about some misconceptions I’d heard too…

Steve Beardall (S.B.): gmax has received a warm welcome within the various user groups and game fans alike. Are you pleased with reactions so far?

Paul Perreault (P.P.): We are very pleased with the popularity of gmax so far. The cool thing is that people are excited about gmax—even though there aren’t many game packs available. By the end of April, we should have several game packs for some really popular titles—and it will be really exciting to see what people do with gmax then.

S.B. How long was the design time for gmax, from initial concept to its launch? Perhaps you could say a little about the concept / philosophy behind its creation.

P.P. gmax is certainly a unique product, and probably Discreet was the only company that could pull something like this off because of our technology and knowledge of the games business. 3ds max is a very popular tool for game developers, and we have a pretty good understanding of what the games development process looks like. gmax was created to leverage the work of the tools programmers at games companies, and create real value for these tools. Gmax allows game companies to release their tools to their customers and gives them the power to edit and personalize their game experiences.

The gmax concept was hatched a few years ago, and bounced around internally here until we had the resources to commit to it. The actual development time was pretty minimal—less than 2 man-years of engineering time. The plug-in / component architecture of 3ds max makes products like gmax really attractive: we can develop and release very powerful tools with minimum effort. The gmax business model took more time to iron out than engineering the product.

S.B. Was gmax seen as a logical extension to 3dMax, or was there other governing factors that prompted you to produce it? (Such as an increase in game companies using 3dmax for game production, for example).

P.P. gmax is a perfect compliment to 3ds max for game artists and level designers at games companies. Plus it gives them the option of publishing a game pack, which is the set of tools that customizes gmax for a particular game. gmax is really a way for us to get closer to our customers, to have a better understanding of their needs and issues. The process of releasing a gmax game pack allows us to see, hear, and touch the very core of the game development process. It’s also an opportunity for our customers to give us direct feedback about our tools and technologies. Its really win win for both sides.

S.B. Clearly gmax is going to undergo evolutionary changes, as users' needs change. (I say this as already in V1.1 there's the ability to import additional formats, such as .3ds and .DXF formats) In what direction do you see gmax developing, in the coming years?

P.P. Plain and simple: gmax will grow as game technologies grow. In addition, the message I get when I look at the registration numbers (150,000 and counting) is that these people are interested in 3d or computer graphics in some way. gmax is obviously a great way to get valuable experience with a professional toolset, and valuable experience with how games are made. So we are looking at other opportunities that allow people to leverage the skills they are learning with gmax.

S.B. What has been the response from software developers, generally speaking?

P.P. Quite honestly, explaining gmax has been a bit tougher than we anticipated—its a unique product with a unique business model and many people have a limited amount of time to try and understand new things. But once they "get it" the feedback is generally very complimentary. Game developers love the fact that by releasing their tools to the community (in the form of a gmax game pack) they are essentially training next year's artists and programmers. Finding qualified personnel is difficult—and gmax gives game developers the means to keep an eye out for new talent. Using gmax to create content for a gmax-ready game means that the user can model low poly content, is familiar with the architecture of the game, and is in some way interested and committed to the game development process. It’s a really cool product, and game companies are starting to realize that.

S.B. I remember reading in a questionnaire recently that you might be considering a commercial version. Has there been any progression with this idea?

P.P. I don’t think we would ever sell gmax itself. But the answers to the questionnaire you are referring to indicate that some portion of the user community may be willing to purchase technology from us. Beyond that, I can’t comment on future plans.

S.B. One of my small gripes with gmax has been the need for an 'on-line' registration process. Could you tell us what the reasons are for using such a system? Does Discreet frown on those who use the 'registry key' work-around?

P.P. The system requirements published on our website and in the read-me include the need for internet access—just as someone would need a monitor or a keyboard. We decided on that mechanism because it was the best way for us to get accurate data about who and how many people are using gmax. I compare this scenario to registering for any other service that’s offered over the internet: Yahoo accounts, reading the New York Times online, etc. Contrary to some of the comments I’ve read, we are not in the business (or interested in) selling our registration lists to advertisers or marketers—that’s not our bag—so no one is going to get spammed or wake up to find 30 messages from porn sites in their inbox. We state this in our online privacy policy. And if you notice, we mail users registration confirmation and a password after successfully registering the product. That password may be useful in the future, so users should hang on to it. For the record, we do frown upon any mechanism to defeat our design or proper use of our software. Its really not that much to ask...

S.B. The material editor in gmax seems greatly simplified, compared to the 3ds max version. What were the reasons for these changes?

P.P. Yeah, we put some good cycles into simplifying that feature and I think we were mostly successful with the changes we made. We did this because the 3ds max material editor is a very "generalized" interface that needs to meet the needs of both real-time and rendered content creators. For gmax we had the luxury of knowing that the use case was for creating (real-time) game content—so we could afford to narrow the focus of that tool considerably. One aspect I love to highlight is that we reduced the number of mouse-clicks necessary to create multi-sub object materials. We also designed a much more intuitive method to manage materials. People that have used 3ds max and gmax have told us that they like the improvements we made…which is a great feeling.

S.B. The developer version of gmax, I’ve heard has a pretty hefty price tag. What benefits do you get in the dev' kit, compared to 3ds max Rev4 or the free version you get with a game pack?

P.P. I’m not sure where these perceptions come from, so I think I should clarify a few things about gmax dev. First of all, gmax dev is targeted at games companies and game publishers—its not an off the shelf tool. Regarding the hefty price tag: gmax dev currently costs roughly $USD 2500 per seat, which is cheaper than 3ds max by about $1000. There is a fee that we charge for releasing a game pack—but this is purely optional and is very reasonable. Competition would like game developers to believe gmax is costly—and this is what we call spreading FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt).

S.B. Are there any up and coming titles you'd like tell us about that will be using gmax and additional game packs?

P.P. Stay tuned for new game packs for Command and Conquer, Renegade and Dungeon Siege coming soon!

S.B. Are their any other things (I may have missed) that you'd like to mention?

P.P. One of the coolest things I’ve seen over the past few months are new gmax related websites sprouting up. Microsoft Flight Simulator users and Trainz users have really taken to the product and are posting tutorials, files, hints, tips, etc., for getting user created content into games. There really are a bunch of really talented people out there and gmax is giving them a way to show their stuff like never before. A struggling artist could model texture and animate their own content in gmax, and then show this content in game, like a demo reel. And that’s pretty cool…



My thanks to Paul Perreault for taking the time to answer those questions.

One of the nice things about the game pack in Flight Simulator 2002 Pro is that there are a few samples included that can be viewed as a part of the learning process and you begin to realise how much effort goes into making a single aircraft. Typically, a model including several LODs (Levels Of Detail), can have somewhere in the region of 14,000 faces for an external model—makes you realise how important it is to keep the rendering time down.

Hi res model

A feature mentioned above is that with the new 1.1 version comes the ability to import mesh formats such as .3ds, or .DXF, as standard. With the 3ds format, for instance, there are quite literally hundreds of websites out there that have free mesh objects available for download. A lot are of excellent quality and quite often come already textured / skinned and require minimal effort to import them into your chosen game engine. And if that weren't enough then there are also commercial sites that specialise in producing mesh objects for a fee, it all depends how much effort you want to put into your add-ons, or just enhancing your game scenery.

I’m very enthusiastic by what gmax offers. It’s diverse enough to allow multiple ways to design, create and animate objects for game engines in a way that suits your own particular style. For many people, gmax gives them the power to put something of themselves into their favourite title which is a big plus. By allowing end users to customize the look and feel of games, gmax also offers game companies the potential of extended shelf life for their products too. Like any big software package, however, gmax can require a great deal of time and dedication to master.

I am hopeful that more game production companies will wake up to what gmax and gmax game packs offer instead of relying only on in-house software tools. If game companies do realize the opportunities gmax affords, the prospect for both producer and modder alike is an exciting one indeed.




Discreet's gmax


Review System:

• CPU: Athlon XP1600
  
• OS: Win XP
  
• Video: Voodoo5500
  
• RAM: 512DDR ram
  
• Sound: SoundBlaster 5.1

Resources

Articles:

• 2002/04/18: gmax (review)

Files:

• gmax consumer version (free) 21.4 MB

Official Sites:

• Discreet (makers of gmax and 3ds max)

Community Sites:

• 3DCafe.com
• gmaxsupport.com

Minimum Specifications:

• Windows^® 2000, or Windows^® 98
• Intel^® or AMD processor at 300 MHz
• 128MB RAM and 300MB swap space
• Graphics card supporting 1024 x 768 x 16-bit color (OpenGL and Direct3D hardware acceleration supported)
• Windows-compliant mouse
• CD-ROM drive
• Internet Explorer 5.0 and above
• Internet connection

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