Max's Viewport as alternative rendering engine

[Gregory.Glezakos]

Now, Max2021 is out here's a list of what i think is missing to make the view port a fully fledged real time rendering engine alternative:

1. Direct Vertex Color/Map display, without need for baking.
2. Real time Glossy Refractions.
3. Real time Subsurface Scattering, single/multi, with forward/backward controls.
4. Real time volumetrics for environment fog, lights and objects; VBDs would be a plus.
5. Shading Displacement; surface or volume based.
6. Parallax and Signed Distance Field OSL maps.

7. RTX support for real time GI, shadows, reflections, refractions.

Thanks,

Greg

[Gregory.Glezakos]

We can scratch No1 off that list; Vertex Maps can be shown in the viewport already through the Slate Material.

[yiannisk]

You do not need to bake anything in order to see vertex colours and no need for a special material either. 

Just enable the correct option in the properties.
OR hit the display button after enabling the Vertex Paint modifier.
Many people are not aware of this awesome modifier. You should definitely check it out. 
It's like Photoshop for Vertex Painting, even supports layering. 

Vertex paint modifier

 
I think 2021 viewport rendering although not using RTX is quite satisfactory.
It even matches the final Arnold rendering quite close. If not identical in some cases. 

https://youtu.be/s8aBlIn44Kg

[Gregory.Glezakos]

I think you missed the point here.

Not talking about "seeing" or displaying" vertex colors in the viewport, but rather using them and display them through the Material Editor mostly for masking purposes within other maps and materials, not the modifier or through object properties. And while that is indeed possible, there are some bugs regarding VC0 than need fixing.

Like i said, no1 can be off that list; it's working already... mostly...

[Anonymous]

Reflection needs to be improved.  There some highlights in the nose, ears, inner eye corner and mouth corners that shouldn't be there.   It also appears in Blender, but was able to correct it by checking Screen Space Reflection.  Don't think Max has anything to deal with this.  Below are the comparison of different viewports in the order of Max, Modo, Unreal, and Blender. 

 

 

 

[gavinwhelan3d]

Would love all this. especially Volumetrics. 

Add to this list:

-The ability to display UDIM in the view port. 

- A post process thing/tool to add collor correction, effects in the viewport.

[shawnolson]

Thank you for your ideas. One thing we are trying to do is ask for ideas to be split up more into bite-sized components that can be turned into individual features that we can deliver one at a time. When done this way, it allows us to better prioritize our design decisions based on user feedback between the various ideas (for example, in that list, is your order your personal order of importance and is it most other users' order of importance?)

Could you perhaps break these into separate ideas? I will archive this idea in preference of separate ideas.

[sebastian___]

Someone should submit an idea for volumetrics and fog in viewport. Even if it's just a rough approximation. Especially fog should be easy to do, since it was even in Quake 2 game.

And maybe another idea for the ability to export previews from viewport with high resolution, DOF and motion blur. The one with high resolution I think it's already possible.