Frequently Asked Questions

  1. All I get is a big jumble, it doesn't look anything like an ambient occlusion map!
  2. Some of the portions of my ambient occlusion map are distorted, or the wrong color.
  3. My model is very bright. What gives?
  4. Where are my smoothing groups?
  5. I reinstalled and my software is un-registered. Do I have to pay again?
  6. Can I generate 4096x4096 ambient occlusion textures?
  7. My model has multiple uv maps and the AO generation looks like a messed up combination of the maps.
  8. I get strange fuzzies and interference while using the Shadow Mapping method.
  9. I have a question that's not answered here. Where can I find a friendly person who I can talk to directly and who will answer my question honestly without giving me any BS?

All I get is a big jumble, it doesn't look anything like an ambient occlusion map!

Before you can generate an ambient occlusion map, you need to generate a UV unwrapped map for your model.

Some of the portions of my ambient occlusion map are distorted, or the wrong color.

Check and make sure that your UV unwrap has no overlapping polygons. Concave polygons were handled poorly by SMAK prior to version 1.4. If your model uses multiple texture maps, disabling all but one in the scene tree and generating the maps one at a time can solve this.

My model is very bright. What gives?

Some hardware and some early versions of SMAK may produce bright-looking washed out shading. This can sometimes be resolved by updating SMAK, by providing material data for your meshes, or by updating hardware drivers.

Where are my smoothing groups?

Smoothing groups were not loaded from .obj files until beta 1.1.

I reinstalled and my software is un-registered. Do I have to pay again?

Nope. Just contact our support line and we can issue you another key.

Can I generate 4096x4096 ambient occlusion textures?

This is not yet supported in SMAK, we are working to include it in a future version.

My model has multiple uv maps and the AO generation looks like a messed up combination of the maps.

You can disable materials for generation in the scene tree and generate each material independently.

I get strange fuzzies and interference while using the Shadow Mapping method.

Some Windows XP installations experience this problem. We're looking for a solution. In the meantime, the raytracing AO generation still works fine, and nobody has reported the problem on Windows Vista or 7.

I have a question that's not answered here. Where can I find a friendly person who I can talk to directly and who will answer my question honestly without giving me any BS?

The author answers support inquiries directly, usually within a couple hours.