Directx 9.0 and 3dsmax 5.1

[synkronizer]

I just finished installing the 3dsmax 5.1 DirectX9 Update.
Can anyone tell me the new functions that just opened up to me?

What can i do now i couldn't do before?
I know there must be some impressive stuff there, but i don't know where to look...

[synkronizer]

my graphics cards supports directX9, by the way

[kuman]

well i don't think this just just for dx9, but if you switch your interface to dx instead of gl, you'll see a new material option open in the material editor called the metal bump shader and in there you can see things like normal maps and bump maps in real time in max interface. its ok, not the best real time i've seen for normal mapping but its something new.

-k

[synkronizer]

Where can i find this metal shader?

Is it the one called 'metal' in the shader basic parameters, is it under the 'standard' button or is it a map?

I can't find one called 'metal bump shader'

In fact, where are the hardware shaders in max?

[kuman]

first you need to switch your preferences viewport display acceleration to diretx instead of open gl or heidi. then if you look in a standard material at the bottom a new drop down menu should appear called the metal bump shader.

check it out if you want, but like i said, its one of the crappier real time shader displays that i've seen. if you really wanna preview normal maps, i'd suggest using ati's normal map viewer, you can download it somewhere off their web page.

good luck
-k