I've been searching the net, but havn't been able to find a solutuon for this query, maybe I'm just putting the wrong words into google!
Anyway, what I'm tring to do is create an image in 3dsmax with the same feel as the image below (taken from the Navyfield game). I am currently modding the game, so it 'has' to have the same feel to it.
As you can imagine, anything rendered in 3dsmax is far to sharp, Is there a filter you can add to max, or would I need to add a filter in photoshop, or is it just a matter of the textures I add? I've attached an image of the rought layout model I've made so far, you can see the image is far to sharp and doesn't really fit the style at all.
Its just my luck really, everytime I try to make real images they look cartoony, now when I want a cartoony image it looks to real!
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Ther other thing you could do is try changing the AA settings to a different algorithm. That can have a major effect on how the image looks. Again, realtime engines use a limited set of specific algorithms and you may be using something too sharp in Max
You're off to a good start but there is quite a bit more work to do here, why don't you post this in the 3d wips section? You'll probably get a lot more feedback there. Also you could visit military-meshes.com, I'm sure the people there can be of great help as well.
Also: Is that 3D or isometric? That might be worth a thought too.
Softer (more steps) bevels might help the edges, and some more fuzzy lighting might help like area lights, or a cluster of tiny weak lights, or a light probe lighting setup.
A touch of film grain after the fact (or just a mild noise filter) might help too.
I'm pretty sure the image in game is isometric, I've rendered the scene like that too.
I'll try a render when I get home with the lighting changes, desaturation and more bevels and see if it helps, thanks for the suggestions so far