3D Studio Max Tutorial

3DStudio Max course notes – Joseph Brabet.

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Week 1 a. Basic concepts

i. Fast modelling ii. Model only what you can see

iii. Modify parameters at any time in future b. User interface

1. Menu bar 2. Command panels 3. Object categories 4. Rollout 5. Active viewport 6. Viewport navigation controls 7. Animation playback controls 8. Animation keying controls 9. Snaps 10. Window/Crossing selection toggle 11. Keyboard shortcut override toggle 12. Absolute/Relative coordinate toggle and coordinate display 13. Prompt line and status bar 14. MAXScript mini-listener 15. Track bar 16. Time slider 17. Main toolbar


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Viewport navigation controls:

Zoom

Zoom All

Pan

Arc Rotate

Zoom Extents

Zoom Extents All Wheel mouse shortcuts:

1: scroll wheel to zoom 2: press wheel while moving mouse to pan 3: hold ALT key, press wheel and move mouse to Arc Rotate.

Customize > Preferences > General > Use Large Toolbar Buttons (turn off, then restart 3DS Max)

2. Setting up workspace: units, snaps, etc a. Customize > Units Setup > Metric > Millimeters b. Customize > Grid & Snap Settings > Snaps > Grid Point & Vertex c. Customize > Grid & Snap Settings > Home Grid > Grid Spacing: 100mm d. Customize > Grid & Snap Settings > Home Grid > Inhibit Grid Subdivision etc: OFF e. Customize > Grid & Snap Settings > Home Grid > Inhibit Perspective View etc: OFF f. Toolbar: 2D Snap ON, Angle Snap ON, Percent Snap ON

3. To use Snap Override during a drag operation: a. Left-click, press Shift, and then right-click to display the menu. b. Release the left mouse button, and then left-click to select the snap you want. c. Release the Shift key, right-click, and continue the drag operation (the geometry remains

locked to the mouse). d. Left-click to complete the operation.

4. Modelling with primitives a. Create panel > Geometry button > Standard Primitives > Object Type rollout > various

5. Cancelling an action a. Right-click while keeping left mouse button still depressed. Then release both buttons.

6. AutoGrid a. Create panel > Any object category > Object Type rollout b. Extras toolbar > AutoGrid c. Object Type rollout d. AutoGrid—AutoGrid is available only after you select an object button (such as Box). When

you turn AutoGrid on, the cursor includes an axis tripod to help you orient the grid. Before clicking and as you position the cursor over a visible mesh object, the cursor jumps to the nearest point on that surface. The tripod's X and Y axes form a plane tangent to the object surface (forming an implied construction grid), and the Z axis is perpendicular to the plane.

e. After creating the object, 3ds max places it on the temporary construction grid. When creating an object, if the cursor isn't over another object, 3ds max places the object on the current active grid.

f. Tip: If you want to make the grid permanent, hold down the ALT key before you click. The grid becomes active and 3ds max turns AutoGrid off. This method applies only to the first click when you create objects that require multiple clicks. So, for instance, if you want to


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create a Line shape that snaps to the faces of a sphere, turn on Face in the Grid And Snap Settings dialog.

7. Transforms a. To transform an object using the controls on the toolbar:

i. On the toolbar, click one of the three transform buttons: Select And Move, Select And Rotate, or Select And Scale. These buttons are usually referred to as Move, Rotate, and Scale.

ii. Position the mouse over the object you want to transform. iii. If the object is already selected, the cursor changes to indicate the transform. iv. If the object is not selected, the cursor changes to a plus sign to show that the object

can be selected. v. Drag the mouse to apply the transform.

vi. If you drag the mouse over an unselected object, it becomes selected and is also transformed.

vii. Tip: You can use the Transform gizmo to easily restrict transforms to one or two axes. See Using the Transform Gizmo.

b. To cancel a transform: Right-click while you’re dragging the mouse. c. To transform a selected object from the quad menu:

i. Right-click the selected object. ii. The quad menu appears, showing the three transforms on its Transform (lower-right)

quadrant. iii. Choose one of the transforms. iv. The equivalent transform button is selected on the toolbar. v. Drag the object or its transform gizmo to apply the transform.

d. Using Transform Type-In i. The Transform Type-In allows you to enter precise transform values to apply to

selected objects. You can access equivalent controls as the Coordinate Display on the status bar, or you can open a small dialog that remains on your screen while you work. The contents update to match the currently active transform and object selection.

e. To use transform type-in: i. Apply a transform to a selected object.

ii. Either use the Coordinate Display type-in fields on the status bar, or choose Tools menu > Transform Type-In.

iii. The keyboard shortcut for accessing the dialog is F12. You can also open the Transform Type-In by right-clicking a transform button on the main toolbar.

f. You can do any of the following, switching from one to the other as required: i. Type a value in an axis field and press ENTER to apply the transform change to the

object in the viewport. ii. Drag a spinner in an axis field to update the object in the viewport.

iii. Drag the object to apply the transform and read the resulting change in the dialog. iv. For example, if Move is active, the dialog fields read out both the absolute and offset

positions of the selected object in world space. If no object is selected, the fields turn gray.

g. Show Transform Gizmo i. Views menu > Show Transform Gizmo

ii. Keyboard > X 8. Selection techniques

a. To select an object: i. Click one of the selection buttons on the toolbar: Select Object, Select by Name,

Select and Move, Select and Rotate, Select and Scale, or Select and Manipulate. ii. In any viewport, move the cursor over the object you want to select.

iii. The cursor changes to a small cross when it’s positioned over an object that can be selected.

iv. The valid selection zones of an object depend on the type of object and the display mode in the viewport. In shaded mode, any visible surface of an object is valid. In wireframe mode, any edge or segment of an object is valid, including hidden lines.

v. While the cursor displays the selection cross, click to select the object (and to deselect any previously selected object).

vi. A selected wireframe object turns white. A selected shaded object displays white brackets at the corners of its bounding box.

b. To select all objects: i. Choose Edit menu > Select All.

ii. This selects all objects in your scene. c. To invert the current selection:

i. Choose Edit menu > Select Invert.


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ii. This reverses the current selection pattern. For example, assume you begin with five objects in your scene, and two of them are selected. After choosing Invert, the two are deselected, and the remaining objects are selected.

d. To extend or reduce a selection: i. Hold down CTRL while you click to make selections.

ii. This toggles the selection state of the objects you select. Use this method to select or deselect objects. For example, if you have two objects selected and CTRL+click to select a third, the third object is added to the selection. If you now CTRL+click any of the three selected objects, that object is deselected.

e. To lock a selection: i. Select an object.

ii. Click the Selection Lock Toggle on the status bar to turn on locked selection mode. iii. While your selection is locked, you can drag the mouse anywhere on the screen

without losing the selection. The cursor displays the current selection icon. When you want to deselect or alter your selection, click the Lock button again to turn off locked selection mode. SPACEBAR is the keyboard toggle for locked selection mode.

f. To deselect an object, do any of the following: i. Click an empty area anywhere outside the current selection.

ii. Hold down the ALT key, and either click an object, or drag a region around the object to deselect it.

iii. Hold down the CTRL key and click to deselect a selected object. This also selects non-selected objects.

iv. Choose Edit menu > Select None to deselect all objects in the scene. 9. Groups

a. General Features of Groups i. Once you group objects, you can treat them as a single object in your scene. You can

click any object in the group to select the group object. ii. When you create a group, all of its member objects are rigidly linked to an invisible

dummy object. The group object uses the pivot point and the local transform coordinate system of this dummy object.

iii. Groups can be nested. That is, groups can contain other groups, up to any level. b. Accessing Objects in a Group

i. You can open and close groups to access the individual objects contained in them without dissolving the group. These commands maintain the integrity of the group.

ii. Open: Temporarily opens the group so that you can access its member objects. While a group is open, you can treat the objects (or nested groups) as individuals. You can transform them, apply modifiers, and access their modifier stacks.

iii. Close: Restores the group when you’re finished working with the individual objects. c. Dissolving Groups

i. You can permanently dissolve groups by either ungrouping or exploding them. Both commands dissolve groups, but to different levels.

ii. Ungroup: Goes one level deep in the group hierarchy. It separates the current group into its component objects (or groups), and deletes the group dummy object.

iii. Explode: Similar to Ungroup, but dissolves all nested groups as well, leaving independent objects.

10. Help menu > Hotkey Map a. move your cursor over the parts of the keyboard image to highlight different areas, showing

the shortcuts assigned to the various keys

Week 2

1) Rotating around a different point

a) Move tool b) Hierarchy panel > Pivot > Affect Pivot Only c) Move pivot point d) Turn off ‘Affect Pivot Only’ e) Rotate object

2) Calculations a) Click inside any numeric field, anywhere in Max b) Press Control-N and the Numeric Expression Evaluator window will pop up c) Type in a calculation (eg 100*2.5) and the result (250) will appear at the bottom of the window d) Press ENTER to automatically paste the result into the original numeric field

3) Undo; Hold & Fetch a) Activating


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i) Edit menu > Undo or Redo ii) Toolbar > Undo or Redo iii) Keyboard > CTRL+Z (Undo) or CTRL+Y (Redo)

b) By default, there are 20 levels of Undo. You can change the number of levels with the Customize > Preferences > General tab > Scene Undo group.

c) Some actions cannot be undone (for example, applying modifiers, and changing certain parameters in command panels). When you know something cannot be undone, use Hold first. Then if you want to undo it, use Fetch. Hold and Fetch are also commands on the Edit menu.

d) The Hold buffer is a temporary file (maxhold.mx) under the directory specified as the AutoBackup path in the Configure Paths dialog.

4) ProBoolean Compound Object a) A Boolean object combines two or more other objects by performing a Boolean operation or operations

on them. ProBoolean adds a range of functionality to the traditional 3ds Max Boolean object, such as the ability to combine multiple objects at once, each using a different Boolean operation. Naming objects; Assigning wireframe colour to an object.

b) ProBoolean supports Union, Intersection, Subtraction, and Merge. The first three operations work similarly to their counterparts in the standard Boolean compound object. The Merge operation intersects and combines two meshes without removing any of the original polygons. This can be useful for cases in which you need to selectively remove parts of the mesh.

c) Also supported are two variants of the Boolean operations: Cookie Cutter and Imprint. Cookie Cutter performs the specified Boolean operation but does not add the faces from the operands into the original mesh. It can be used to cut a hole in a mesh or to get the portion of a mesh inside of another object. The Imprint option inserts (imprints) the intersection edges between the operands and the original mesh without removing or adding faces. Imprint only splits faces and adds new edges to the mesh of the base object (original selected object).

d) To create a ProBoolean compound object: i) Set up objects for the Boolean operation. For example, to subtract spherical shapes from a box,

create the box and spheres and arrange the spheres so that their volumes intersect the box where the subtractions should take place.

ii) Select the base object. In the example in step 1, you would select the box. iii) On the Create panel > Geometry section, choose Compound Objects from the drop-down list, and

then click ProBoolean. iv) On the Parameters rollout, choose the type of Boolean operation you want to use: Union,

Intersection, Subtraction, etc. Also choose how the software will transfer the next operand you pick into the Boolean object: Reference, Copy, Move, or Instance. You can also choose to retain the original material, or keep the default Apply Material choice: Apply Operand Material.

v) Click the Start Picking button. vi) Pick one or more objects to participate in the Boolean operation. vii) As you pick objects, you can also change, for each newly picked object, the Boolean operation

(Merge, etc.) and options (Cookie or Imprint), as well as how the next operand is transferred to the Boolean (Reference, Copy, etc.) and the Apply Material choice. You can continue picking operands as long as the Start Picking button stays pressed in. Each of the objects you pick is added to the Boolean operation.

viii) When the Modify panel is active, you can add objects to a selected ProBoolean object by clicking the Start Picking button and then picking the objects to add.

5) Modify Panel a) Name area; Colour square.

6) Selecting objects by name a) Do one of the following:

(1) On the Main toolbar, click Select By Name. ii) Choose Edit menu > Select By > Name. iii) Choose Tools menu > Selection Floater.

b) The Select Objects or Selection Floater dialog is displayed. By default, these dialogs list all objects in the scene. Any selected objects are highlighted in the list.

c) Choose one or more objects in the list. Use CTRL to add to the selection. d) Click Select to make the selection. e) Select Object closes, while Selection Floater remains active.

7) Stairs, Doors, Windows, AEC Extended a) Create panel > Geometry > Stairs

i) In any viewport, drag to set the length. Release the mouse button, then move the cursor and click to set the width you want.

ii) Move the cursor up or down to define the rise of the stairs, and click to end. iii) Adjust the stairs with the options in the Parameters rollout.

b) Create panel > Geometry > Doors i) Click & drag to show width ii) Release mouse button iii) Click to show depth


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iv) Move mouse up and click to show height. c) Create panel > Geometry > Windows

i) Same creation method as doors d) Create panel > Geometry > AEC Extended

i) Foliage ii) Wall

e) Inserting Doors and Windows in a Wall i) For best results, perform this procedure in a wireframe viewport. ii) Create a window or door (hereafter referred to as "window" for brevity) directly on an existing wall.

You can define the window's exact dimensions after insertion. Use edge snap for the first snaps to place and align the window on the wall and to establish its exact depth. Snap to and then click the near top edge of the wall to start creation. Drag to another edge snap point on the near top edge of the wall and release to align the window with the wall segment and to set its width. Snap to the rear top edge of the wall to set the proper depth and click. Move the cursor downward and click to define the window height. This final click doesn't require a snap, as it simply defines a rough height.

iii) The window should now be cut out of the wall. On the Modify panel for windows or doors, set the correct width and height. Change the depth if it's different from the snap depth you set above.

iv) Use vertex snap to move the window or door from a reference point to a known point on the wall segment. Then

v) Next, use relative offset values from this new position to accurately locate the window or door. As an example, following the next two steps, you could move a window from its top left corner to the top left corner of the wall segment so that you can then move it 3 feet to the right and 2 feet down.

vi) With the window or door selected, set the coordinate system to Local. vii) On the Coordinate Display, activate Offset mode and then enter the offset distances on the X axis

for horizontal and the Y axis for vertical. 8) The modifier stack

a) Using the Modifier Stack i) The modifier stack and its editing dialog are the keys to managing all aspects of modification. You

use these tools to: (1) Find a particular modifier and adjust its parameters. (2) View and manipulate the sequence of modifiers. (3) Copy, cut, and paste modifiers between objects, or sets of objects. (4) Deactivate the effect of a modifier in the stack, the viewport display, or both. (5) Select a modifier’s components, such as gizmo or center. (6) Delete modifiers.

b) Bend, Twist, Taper modifiers c) Sub-objects

i) Accessing Boolean Operands 9) Normal Align

a) Activating: i) Main toolbar > Normal Align (on Align flyout) ii) Tools menu > Normal Align iii) Keyboard > ALT+N

b) To align normals: i) Select a source object. This is the object that moves during alignment. ii) Click Normal Align on the Main toolbar, or choose Tools > Normal Align. iii) Drag across the surface of the source object. iv) The Normal Align cursor appears, attached to a pair of cross hairs. A blue arrow at the cursor

indicates the current normal. v) Move the cursor and blue arrow until you locate the normal you want to use, then release. vi) The blue arrow remains as reference to the source normal. vii) Drag across the surface of the target object. viii) A green arrow at the cursor indicates the current normal. ix) Move the cross hairs and green arrow until you locate the normal you want to use as a target, then

release. x) The source object moves into alignment with the target normal, and the Normal Align dialog

appears. xi) Do one of the following:

(1) Click OK to accept the alignment. (2) Using the dialog, make modifications to the alignment before clicking OK.

10) Cloning a) Definitions of Copies, references & instances

i) Copy: Creates a completely separate clone from the original. Modifying one has no effect on the other.

ii) Instance: Creates a completely interchangeable clone of the original. Modifying an instanced object is the same as modifying the original.


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iii) Reference: Creates a clone dependent on the original up to the point when the object is cloned. Changing parameters for modifiers that were applied to the object before the object was referenced, will change both objects. However, a new modifier can be applied to one of the reference objects, and it will affect only the object to which it is applied.

b) Cloning object/s: i) Make a selection. > Edit menu > Clone ii) Make a selection. > Hold down SHIFT key. > Move, rotate, or scale the selection with the mouse.

c) Note: i) If you SHIFT+Move an object and specify two copies, the second copy is offset from the first copy

by the same distance that the first copy is offset from the original. For Rotate, two copies of the rotated object are created, with the second copy rotated twice as far as the first. For Scale, two copies of the scaled object are created, with the second copy twice (or half) the size of the first copy.

11) Arrays a) Tools menu > Array

i) Linear Arrays (1) Use Incremental Move settings where you know the spacing you want between objects. (2) Use Totals Move settings when you know the overall space or volume you want the array to

occupy. (3) For either of these two types of arrays, enter a value for one axis. Leave the other transforms at

their default values. ii) Circular Arrays

(1) Move objects pivot point, OR: (2) Rotate around Transform Coordinate Center

(a) Create panel > Helpers > Point (b) Pick location in viewport (c) Choose Rotate tool (d) Set Reference Coordinate System menu to ‘Pick’ (e) Choose point object in viewport (f) Choose “Use Transform Coordinate Center” from toolbar

12) Exercise: model the room 13) FFD’s

a) Modify panel > Make a selection. > Modifier List > Object-Space Modifiers > FFD(box) or FFD(cyl) b) Make a selection. > Modifiers menu > Free Form Deformers > FFD Box or FFD Cylinder

Week 3 1) Shapes/Splines

a) Start New Shape—A shape can contain a single spline or it can be a compound shape containing multiple splines. You control how many splines are in a shape using the Start New Shape button and check box on the Object Type rollout. The check box next to the Start New Shape button determines when new shapes are created. When the box is on, the program creates a new shape object for every spline you create. When the box is off, splines are added to the current shape until you click the Start New Shape button.

b) Interpolation rollout – Turn on “Adaptive” for smoother shapes. This will generate larger mesh sizes, however. “Optimize” will reduce number of steps in straight line segments to 1.

c) Creation Method rollout i) Many spline tools use the Creation Methods rollout. On this rollout you choose to define splines by

either their center point or their diagonal. ii) Edge—Your first mouse press defines a point on the side or at a corner of the shape and you drag a

diameter or the diagonal corner. iii) Center—Your first mouse press defines the center of the shape and you drag a radius or corner

point. d) Line

i) To create a line: (1) Go to the Create panel and choose Shapes. (2) In the Object Type rollout, click the Line button. (3) Choose a creation method. (4) Click or drag the start point. (5) Clicking creates a corner vertex; dragging creates a Bezier vertex. (6) Click or drag additional points. (7) Clicking creates a corner vertex; dragging creates a Bezier vertex. (8) Do one of the following:

(a) Right-click to create an open spline. (b) Click the first vertex and click Yes in the "Close spline?" dialog to create a closed spline.


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ii) To create a line using rectilinear and angle-snap options: (1) These two options aid in creating regular shapes: (2) While creating a spline with the mouse, press and hold SHIFT to constrain new points to 90-

degree-angle increments from previous points. Use the default Initial type setting of Corner and click all subsequent points to create fully rectilinear shapes.

(3) While creating a spline with the mouse, press and hold CTRL to constrain new points to angle increments determined by the current Angle Snap setting. To set this angle, go to Customize menu > Grid and Snap Settings, click the Options tab in the Grid and Snap Settings dialog, and change the value in the Angle (deg) field.

(4) The angle for each new segment relates to the previous segment, so the angle snap works only after you've placed the first two spline vertices (that is, the first segment). Angle Snap need not be enabled for this feature to work.

iii) To create a line from the keyboard: (1) Enter values in the X, Y, and Z fields to specify a vertex coordinate. (2) Click Add Point to add a vertex to the current line at the specified coordinate. (3) Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each additional vertex. (4) Do one of the following:

(a) Click Finish to create an open spline. (b) Click Close to connect the current vertex to the first vertex and create a closed spline.

iv) Automatic Conversion to an Editable Spline (1) Because the Line tool has no dimension parameters to be carried over to the Modify panel, it

converts to an editable spline when you move from the Create panel to the Modify panel. While you are creating the line, the Create panel displays the original controls, such as Interpolation, Rendering, Creation Method, and Keyboard Entry. After creating the line, when you go to the Modify panel you have immediate access to the Selection and Geometry rollouts to edit the vertices or any part of the shape.

v) Rendering and Interpolation rollouts (1) All spline-based shapes share these parameters. See Splines for an explanation of these

parameters. vi) Creation Method rollout

(1) Creation method options for lines are different from other spline tools. You choose options to control the type of vertex created when you click or drag vertices.

(2) You can preset the default types of spline vertices during line creation with these settings: (3) Initial Type group

(a) Sets the type of vertex you create when you click a vertex location. (b) Corner—Produces a sharp point. The spline is linear to either side of the vertex. (c) Smooth—Produces a smooth, nonadjustable curve through the vertex. The amount of

curvature is set by the spacing of the vertices. (4) Drag Type group

(a) Sets the type of vertex you create when you drag a vertex location. The vertex is located at the cursor position where you first press the mouse button. The direction and distance that you drag are used only when creating Bezier vertices.

(b) Corner—Produces a sharp point. The spline is linear to either side of the vertex. (c) Smooth—Produces a smooth, nonadjustable curve through the vertex. The amount of

curvature are set by the spacing of the vertices. (d) Bezier—Produces a smooth, adjustable curve through the vertex. The amount of curvature

and direction of the curve are set by dragging the mouse at each vertex. vii) Keyboard Entry rollout

(1) Keyboard entry for lines is different from keyboard entry for other splines. Entering keyboard values continues to add vertices to the existing line until you click Close or Finish.

(2) Add Point—Adds a new point to the line at the current X/Y/Z coordinates. (3) Close—Closes the shape, adding a final spline segment between the most recent vertex and the

first. (4) Finish—Finishes the spline without closing it.

e) Rectangle i) Note different creation methods ii) Note corner radius allows rounded rectangles

f) Arc i) Creation Method rollout

(1) These options determine the sequence of mouse clicks involved in the creation of the arc. (2) End-End-Middle—Drag and release to set the two endpoints of the arc, and then click to

specify the third point between the two endpoints. (3) Center-End-End—Press the mouse button to specify the center point of the arc, drag and

release to specify one endpoint of the arc, and click to specify the other endpoint of the arc. g) Donut

i) To create a donut: (1) Go to the Create panel and choose Shapes.


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(2) Click Donut. (3) Choose a creation method. (4) Drag and release the mouse button to define the first donut circle. (5) Move the mouse and then click to define the radius of the second concentric donut circle. (6) The second circle can be larger or smaller than the first.

h) Ngon i) Parameters rollout

(1) Radius—Specifies the NGon radius. (2) Inscribed—The radius is measured from the center to the corners of the NGon (3) Circumscribed Radius—the radius is measured from the center to the sides of the NGon. (4) Sides—Specifies the number of sides and vertices used by the NGon. Range=3 to 100. (5) Corner Radius—Specifies the degree of rounding to apply to the corners of the NGon. A

setting of 0 specifies a standard unrounded corner. (6) Circular—When on, specifies a circular NGon.

i) Star i) Parameters rollout

(1) Radius 1—Specifies the radius of the inner vertices (the valley) of the star. (2) Radius 2—Specifies the radius of the outer vertices (the points) of the star. (3) Points—Specifies the number of points on the star. Range=3 to 100. (4) A star has twice as many vertices as the specified number of points. Half the vertices lie on one

radius, forming points, and the remaining vertices lie on the other radius, forming valleys. (5) Distortion—Rotates the outer vertices (the points) about the center of the star. This produces a

sawtooth affect. (6) Fillet Radius 1—Rounds the inner vertices (the valleys) of the star. (7) Fillet Radius 2—Rounds the outer vertices (the points) of the star.

j) Text i) Use Text to create splines in the shape of text. The text can use any Windows font installed on your

system, or a Type 1 PostScript font installed in the directory pointed to by the Fonts path in the Configure Paths dialog. Since fonts are loaded only at first use, changing the font path later in the program has no effect. The program must be restarted before the new path is used, if the font manager has been used by the program.

ii) Parameters rollout (1) Font list—Choose from a list of all available fonts. Available fonts include:

(a) Fonts installed in Windows. (b) Type 1 PostScript fonts located in the directory pointed to by the Fonts path in the

Configure Paths dialog. (2) Note: The four text-alignment buttons require multiple lines of text for effect because they act

on the text in relation to its bounding box. If there's only one line of text, it's the same size as its bounding box and has nowhere to go.

(3) Size—Sets the text height where the height measuring method is defined by the active font. The first time you enter text, the default size is 100 units.

(4) Kerning—Adjusts the kerning (the distance between letters). (5) Leading—Adjusts the leading (the distance between lines). This has an effect only when

multiple lines of text are included in the shape. (6) Text edit box—Allows for multiple lines of text. Press ENTER after each line of text to start

the next line. (a) The initial session default is "MAX Text." (b) The edit box does not support word wrap. (c) You can cut and paste single- and multi-line text from the Clipboard.

k) Helix i) To create a helix:

(1) Go to the Create panel and choose Shapes. (2) Click Helix. (3) Choose a creation method. (4) Press the mouse button to define the first point of the Helix start circle. (5) Drag and release the mouse button to define the second point of the Helix start circle. (6) Move the mouse and then click to define the height of the Helix. (7) Move the mouse and then click to define the radius of the Helix end.

ii) Parameters rollout (1) Radius 1—Specifies the radius for the Helix start. (2) Radius 2—Specifies the radius for the Helix end. (3) Height—Specifies the height of the Helix. (4) Turns—Specifies the number of turns the Helix makes between its start and end points. (5) Bias—Forces the turns to accumulate at one end of the helix. Bias has no visible affect when

the height is 0.0. (a) A bias of -1.0 forces the turns toward the start of the helix. (b) A bias of 0.0 evenly distributes the turns between the ends.


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(c) A bias of 1.0 forces the turns toward the end of the helix. (6) CW/CCW—The direction buttons set whether the Helix turns clockwise (CW) or

counterclockwise (CCW). 2) Extrude modifier

a) Amount—Sets the depth of the extrusion. b) Segments—Specifies the number of segments that will be created in the extruded object. c) Capping group

i) Morph—Creates cap faces suitable for morphing. ii) Grid—Creates cap faces in a grid pattern. This cap type deforms and renders better than morph

capping. d) Output group

i) Patch—Produces an object that you can collapse to a patch object ii) Mesh—Produces an object that you can collapse to a mesh object iii) NURBS—Produces an object that you can collapse to a NURBS surface.

e) Smooth—Applies smoothing to the extruded shape. 3) Normals

a) The normal of each face can point in a different direction. b) A normal is a vector that defines which way a face or vertex is pointing. The direction of the normal

indicates the front, or outer surface of the face or vertex. c) You can manually flip or unify face normals to fix surface errors caused by modeling operations or by

importing meshes from other programs. 4) Lathe nodifier

a) Select a shape. > Modify panel > Modifier List > Lathe b) Select a shape. > Modifiers menu > Patch/Spline Editing > Lathe c) Parameters

i) Degrees—Determines the number of degrees that the object is spun around the axis of revolution (0 to 360, default=360). You can set keyframes for Degrees to animate the circular growth of a lathed object. The Lathe axis auto-sizes itself to the height of the shape being lathed.

ii) Weld Core—Simplifies the mesh by welding together vertices that lie on the axis of revolution. Keep it turned off if you intend to create morph targets.

iii) Flip Normals—Depending on the direction of the vertices on your shape, and the direction of rotation, the lathed object might be inside out. Toggle the Flip Normals check box to fix this.

iv) Segments—Determines how many interpolated segments are created in the surface between the start and endpoint. This parameter is also animatable. Default=16 (1) Note: You can create up to 10,000 segments using the segments spinner. Try not to create

geometry that is more complex than you need. Often you can get satisfactory results by using smoothing groups or smoothing modifiers, rather than increasing segmentation.

v) X/Y/Z—Set the direction of the axis of revolution relative to the pivot point of the object. vi) Min/Center/Max—Align the axis of revolution to the minimum, center, or maximum extents of the

shape. 5) Bevel modifier

a) Parameters rollout i) Capping group

(1) You can determine whether or not the beveled object is capped at either end with the check boxes in the Capping group.

(2) Start—Caps the end with the lowest local Z value (bottom) of the object. When turned off, the bottom is open.

(3) End—Caps the end with the highest local Z value (top) of the object. When turned off, the end is left open.

ii) Surface group (1) The first two radio buttons set the interpolation method used between levels; a numeric field

sets the number of segments to interpolate. (2) Linear Sides—When active, segment interpolation between levels follows a straight line. (3) Curved Sides—When active, segment interpolation between levels follows a Bezier curve. For

visible curvature, use multiple segments with Curved Sides. (4) Segments—Sets the number of intermediate segments between each level.

iii) Smooth Across Levels—Controls whether smoothing groups are applied to the sides of a beveled object. Caps always use a different smoothing group than the sides. (1) When turned on, smoothing groups are applied to the sides. The sides appear rounded. (2) When turned off, smoothing groups are not applied. The sides appear as flat bevels.

iv) Intersections group (1) Prevents sharp corners from overlapping neighboring edges. (2) Bevel works best with rounded shapes or shapes with corners greater than 90 degrees. Acute

angles (less than 90 degrees) produce extreme bevels and often overlap nearby edges. (3) Keep Lines From Crossing—Prevents outlines from crossing over themselves. This is

accomplished by inserting extra vertices in the outline and replacing sharp corners with a flat line segment.


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(4) Separation—Sets the distance to be maintained between edges. The minimum value is 0.01. v) Bevel Values rollout vi) Start Outline—Sets the distance the outline is offset from the original shape. A non-zero setting

changes the original shape's size. (1) Positive values make the outline larger. (2) Negative values make the outline smaller.

vii) Level 1—Includes two parameters that indicate the change from the Start level. viii) Height—Sets the distance of Level 1 above the Start level. ix) Outline—Sets the distance to offset the Level 1 outline from the Start Outline.

6) Bevel Profile modifier a) The Bevel Profile modifier extrudes a shape using another shape path as the "beveling profile." It's a

variation on the Bevel modifier. b) Important: Bevel Profile fails if you delete the original beveling profile. Unlike a loft object, which

incorporates the shape, Bevel Profile is simply a modifier. c) Note: Although this modifier might seem similar to a loft object with varying scale settings, it's actually

different because it uses different outline values as distances between line segments rather than as scale values. This more complex method of resizing a shape results in some levels having either more or less vertices than others, and generally works better with text, for example.

d) Parameters rollout i) Bevel Profile group

(1) Pick Profile—Selects a shape or NURBS curve to be used for the profile path. ii) Intersections group

(1) Keep Lines From Crossing—Prevents beveled surfaces from self intersecting. This requires more processor calculation and can be time-consuming in complex geometry.

(2) Separation—Sets the distance that sides should be kept apart to prevent intersections. 7) Grid Helper

a) To create a grid object: i) Click Create panel > Helpers > Standard > Object Type rollout > Grid. ii) A Parameters rollout appears on the Create panel. iii) In a viewport, drag a rectangle and release the mouse button. This creates and selects a grid object,

which appears in white wireframe, divided into four quadrants with coordinate axes at the center. iv) While the newly created grid object is still selected, you can change its settings on the Parameters

rollout. You can also create a grid object during object creation. Turn on AutoGrid, then press ALT during object creation. A grid is created at the same time as the object and remains displayed and active.

b) To activate a grid object: i) A grid object requires activation before use. Standard selection doesn't activate it unless you turn on

the option to do so (see User Grids). Only one grid can be active for construction at a time, whether it's the home grid or a grid object. Activating a user grid "deactivates" the home grid. Activating a grid object enables options to reactivate the home grid on the Views menu > Grids submenu and the Quad menu. If you have more than one grid object in your scene, you have to activate each one separately. Select the grid object you want to make active and follow the same procedure. Activating another grid object deactivates the current one.

ii) Select a grid object. iii) Do one of the following:

(1) From the Views menu, choose Grids > Activate Grid Object. (2) Right-click the selected grid object and choose Activate Grid from the quad menu.

iv) The grid object changes to show its internal grid structure. Except for its main axes, the home grid disappears in all viewports.

c) To return to the home grid, do one of the following: i) From the Views menu, choose Grids > Activate Home Grid. ii) Right-click the selected grid object and choose Activate Home Grid from the quad menu. iii) This deactivates the grid object and returns the home grid in all views. iv) If you delete an activated grid object, the home grid also reactivates. v) You can assign a keyboard shortcut to Activate Home Grid in the Keyboard panel of the Customize

User Interface dialog. This is useful if you need to move back and forth between different grids. d) To use a grid object as construction plane:

i) When activated, a grid object replaces the home grid as the frame of reference for creating objects. An activated grid object creates a true plane in 3D space. No matter how small an activated grid object appears on screen, its XY plane is effectively infinite, just as if it were the XY plane of the home grid.

ii) Activate the grid object. iii) Create any category of object from the Create panel. The software creates the object directly on the

plane of the grid object, with the object's Z axis perpendicular to the plane. Like other objects in the software, you can move and rotate grid objects freely using standard transformation methods. These transforms, along with alignment, are essential in positioning a construction plane in 3D space.

8) Measuring distances:


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a) To measure the distance between two points: i) Choose Tools menu > Measure Distance. ii) Click in the viewport where you want to start measuring from. iii) Click again in the viewport where you want to measure to.

(1) A distance is returned in the status bar. Additional information, detailing the distance along the X, Y, and Z coordinates is displayed as well.

Week 4 1. Transform Gizmo

a. Press + or – on main keyboard to change transform gizmo size 2. Section spline

a. Section Parameters rollout i. Create Shape—Creates a shape based on the currently displayed intersection lines. A

dialog is displayed in which you can name the new object. The resulting shape is an editable spline consisting of curve segments and corner vertices, based on all intersected meshes in the scene.

b. Update group i. Provides options for specifying when the intersection line is updated.

ii. When Section Moves—Updates the intersection line when you move or resize the Section shape.

iii. When Section Selected—Updates the intersection line when you select the section shape, but not while you move it. Click the Update Section button to update the intersection.

iv. Manually—Updates the intersection line only when you click the Update Section button. v. Update Section—Updates the intersection to match the current placement of the Section

object when using When Section Selected or Manually option. vi. Note: When using When Section Selected or Manually, you can offset the generated cross

section from the position of the intersected geometry. As you move the section object, the yellow cross-section lines move with it, leaving the geometry behind. When you click Create Shape, the new shape is generated at the displayed cross-section lines in the offset position.

c. Section Extents group i. Choose one of these options to specify the extents of the cross-section generated by the

section object. ii. Infinite—The section plane is infinite in all directions, resulting in a cross section at any

mesh geometry in its plane. iii. Section Boundary—The cross-section is generated only in objects that are within or

touched by the boundary of the section shape. iv. Off—No cross section is displayed or generated. The Create Shape button is disabled.

d. Color swatch—Click this to set the display color of the intersection. e. Section Size rollout

i. Provides spinners that let you adjust the length and width of the displayed section rectangle.

ii. Length/Width—Adjust the length and width of the displayed section rectangle. iii. Note: If you convert the section grid to an editable spline, it's converted to a shape based

on the current cross section. 3. Edit Spline modifier

a. Vertex i. To set a vertex type:

1. Right-click any vertex in a selection. 2. Choose a type from the shortcut menu. Each vertex in a shape can be one of

four types: a. Smooth: Nonadjustable vertices that create smooth continuous curves.

The curvature at a smooth vertex is determined by the spacing of adjacent vertices.

b. Corner: Nonadjustable vertices that create sharp corners. c. Bezier: Adjustable vertex with locked continuous tangent handles that

create a smooth curve. The curvature at the vertex is set by the direction and magnitude of the tangent handles.

d. Bezier Corner: Adjustable vertex with discontinuous tangent handles that create a sharp corner. The curvature of the segment as it leaves the corner is set by the direction and magnitude of the tangent handles.

ii. Geometry rollout


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iii. New Vertex Type— Four radio buttons in this group let you determine the tangency of the new vertices created when you shift copy segments or splines with Connect Copy turned on. This has no effect on the tangency of vertices created using the Create Line button.

1. Linear—New vertices will have linear tangency when this is turned on. 2. Smooth—New vertices will have smooth tangency when this is turned on. 3. Bezier—New vertices will have bezier tangency when this is turned on. 4. Bezier Corner—New vertices will have bezier corner tangency when this is

turned on. iv. Create Line—Adds more splines to the selected object. These lines are separate spline

sub-objects; create them in the same way as the line spline. To exit line creation, right-click or click to turn off Create Line.

v. Break—Splits a spline at the selected vertex or vertices. Select one or more vertices and then click Break to create the split. There are now two superimposed non-connected vertices for every previous one, allowing the once-joined segment ends to be moved away from each other.

vi. Attach—Attaches another spline in the scene to the selected spline. Click the object you want to attach to the currently selected spline object. The object you're attaching must also be a spline.

vii. Reorient—When on, reorients attached splines so that each spline's creation local coordinate system is aligned with the creation local coordinate system of the selected spline.

viii. Attach Mult.—Click this button to display the Attach Multiple dialog, which contains a list of all other shapes in the scene. Select the shapes you want to attach to the current editable spline, then click OK.

ix. Refine group 1. The Refine function includes a number of functions useful for building spline

networks for use with the Surface modifier. 2. Refine—Lets you add vertices without altering the curvature values of the

spline. Click Refine, and then select any number of spline segments to add a vertex each time you click (the mouse cursor changes to a "connect" symbol when over an eligible segment). To finish adding vertices, click Refine again, or right-click in the viewport.

3. You can also click existing vertices during a refine operation, in which case the software displays a dialog asking if you want to Refine or Connect Only to the vertex. If you choose Connect Only the software will not create a vertex, the software simply connects to the existing vertex.

4. The Refine operation creates a different type of vertex depending on the types of vertices on the endpoints of the segment being refined.

5. If the bordering vertices are both Smooth types, the Refine operation creates a Smooth type vertex.

6. If the bordering vertices are both Corner types, the Refine operation creates a Corner type vertex.

7. If either of the bordering vertices is a Corner or Bezier Corner, the Refine operation creates a Bezier Corner type.

8. Otherwise, the operation creates a Bezier type vertex. x. Connect—When on, creates a new spline sub-object by connecting the new vertices.

When you finish adding vertices with Refine, Connect makes a separate copy of each new vertex and then connects all of the copies with a new spline.

1. Note: You must turn on Connect before clicking Refine. 2. After turning on Connect and before beginning the refinement process, turn on

any combination of these options: 3. Linear—When on, makes all segments in the new spline straight lines by using

Corner vertices. When Linear is off, the vertices used to create the new spline are of the Smooth type.

4. Bind First—Causes the first vertex created in a refinement operation to be bound to the center of the selected segment. See Bound Vertex.

5. Closed—When on, connects the first and last vertices in the new spline to create a closed spline. When Closed is off, Connect always creates an open spline.

6. Bind Last—Causes the last vertex created in a refinement operation to be bound to the center of the selected segment. See Bound Vertex.

xi. End Point Auto-Welding 1. Automatic Welding—When Automatic Welding is turned on, an end point

vertex that is placed or moved within the threshold distance of another end point of the same spline is automatically welded. This feature is available at the object and all sub-object levels.


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2. Threshold Dist.—The threshold distance spinner is a proximity setting that controls how close vertices can be to one another before they are automatically welded. Default=6.0.

xii. Weld—Converts two end vertices, or two adjacent vertices within the same spline, into a single vertex. Move either two end vertices or two adjacent vertices near each other, select both vertices, and then click Weld. If the vertices are within the unit distance set by the Weld Threshold spinner (to the right of the button), they're converted into a single vertex. You can weld a selection set of vertices, as long as each pair of vertices is within the threshold.

xiii. Connect—Connects any two end vertices, resulting in a linear segment, regardless of the tangent values of the end vertices. Click the Connect button, point the mouse over an end vertex until the cursor changes to a cross, and then drag from one end vertex to another end vertex.

xiv. Insert—Inserts one or more vertices, creating additional segments. Click anywhere in a segment to insert a vertex and attach the mouse to the spline. Then optionally move the mouse and click to place the new vertex. Continue moving the mouse and clicking to add vertices. A single click inserts a corner vertex, while a drag creates a Bezier (smooth) vertex.

xv. Right-click to complete the operation and release the mouse. At this point, you're still in Insert mode, and can begin inserting vertices in a different segment. Otherwise, right-click again or click Insert to exit Insert mode.

xvi. Make First—Specifies which vertex in the selected shape is the first vertex. The first vertex of a spline is indicated as a vertex with a small box around it. Select one vertex on each spline within the currently edited shape that you want to change and click the Make First button.

1. On open splines, the first vertex must be the endpoint that is not already the first vertex. On closed splines, it can be any point that isn't already the first vertex. Click the Make First button, and the first vertices will be set.

xvii. Fuse—Moves all selected vertices to their averaged center. 1. Fuse is useful for making vertices coincide when building a spline network for

use with the Surface modifier. Note: Fuse doesn't join the vertices; it simply moves them to the same location.

xviii. Cycle—Selects successive coincident vertices. Select one of two or more vertices that share the exact same location in 3D space, and then click Cycle repeatedly until the vertex you want is selected.

1. Cycle is useful for selecting a specific vertex from a group of coincident vertices at a spline intersection when building a spline network for use with the Surface modifier. Tip: Watch the info display at the bottom of the Selection rollout to see which vertex is selected.

xix. CrossInsert—Adds vertices at the intersection of two splines belonging to the same spline object. Click CrossInsert, and then click the point of intersection between the two splines. If the distance between the splines is within the unit distance set by the CrossInsert Threshold spinner (to the right of the button), the vertices are added to both splines.

1. You can continue using CrossInsert by clicking different spline intersections. To finish, right-click in the active viewport or click the CrossInsert button again. CrossInsert is useful for creating vertices at spline intersections when building a spline network for use with the Surface modifier. Note: CrossInsert doesn't join the two splines, but simply adds vertices where they cross.

xx. Fillet—Lets you round corners where segments meet, adding new control vertices. You can apply this effect interactively (by dragging vertices) or numerically (using the Fillet spinner). Click the Fillet button, and then drag vertices in the active object. The Fillet spinner updates to indicate the fillet amount as you drag.

1. If you drag one or more selected vertices, all selected vertices are filleted identically. If you drag an unselected vertex, any selected vertices are first deselected.

2. You can continue using Fillet by dragging on different vertices. To finish, right-click in an active viewport or click the Fillet button again.

3. A fillet creates a new segment connecting new points on both segments leading to the original vertex. These new points are exactly <fillet amount> distance from the original vertex along both segments. New fillet segments are created with the material ID of one of the neighboring segments (picked at random).

4. For example, if you fillet one corner of a rectangle, the single corner vertex is replaced by two vertices moving along the two segments that lead to the corner, and a new rounded segment is created at the corner.

5. Note: Unlike the Fillet/Chamfer modifier, you can apply the Fillet function to any type of vertex, not just Corner and Bezier Corner vertices. Similarly, adjoining segments need not be linear.


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6. Fillet Amount—Adjust this spinner (to the right of the Fillet button) to apply a fillet effect to selected vertices.

xxi. Chamfer—Lets you bevel shape corners using a chamfer function. You can apply this effect interactively (by dragging vertices) or numerically (using the Chamfer spinner). Click the Chamfer button, and then drag vertices in the active object. The Chamfer spinner updates to indicate the chamfer amount as you drag.

1. If you drag one or more selected vertices, all selected vertices are chamfered identically. If you drag an unselected vertex, any selected vertices are first deselected.

2. You can continue using Chamfer by dragging on different vertices. To finish, right-click in an active viewport or click the Chamfer button again.

3. A chamfer "chops off" the selected vertices, creating a new segment connecting new points on both segments leading to the original vertex. These new points are exactly <chamfer amount> distance from the original vertex along both segments. New chamfer segments are created with the material ID of one of the neighboring segments (picked at random).

4. For example, if you chamfer one corner of a rectangle, the single corner vertex is replaced by two vertices moving along the two segments that lead to the corner, and a new segment is created at the corner.

5. Note: Unlike the Fillet/Chamfer modifier, you can apply the Chamfer function to any type of vertex, not just Corner and Bezier Corner vertices. Similarly, adjoining segments need not be linear.

6. Chamfer Amount—Adjust this spinner (to the right of the Chamfer button) to apply a chamfer effect to selected vertices.

xxii. Tangent group 1. Tools in this group let you copy and paste vertex handles from one vertex to

another. xxiii. Copy— Turn this on, then choose a handle. This action copies the selected handle tangent

into a buffer. xxiv. Paste—Turn this on, then click a handle. This pastes the handle tangent onto the selected

vertex. xxv. Length—When this is on, the handle length is also copied. When this is off, only the

handle angle is considered, the handle length is unchanged. xxvi. Hide and Bind group

1. Hide—Hides selected vertices and any connected segments. Select one or more vertices, and then click Hide.

2. Unhide All—Displays any hidden sub-objects. 3. Bind—Lets you create bound vertices. Click Bind, and then drag from any end

vertex in the current selection to any segment in the current selection except the one connected to the vertex. Before dragging, when the cursor is over an eligible vertex, it changes to a + cursor. While dragging, a dashed line connects the vertex and the current mouse position, and when the mouse cursor is over an eligible segment, it changes to a "connect" symbol. When you release over an eligible segment, the vertex jumps to the center of the segment and is bound to it.

4. Bind is useful for connecting splines when building a spline network for use with the Surface modifier.

5. Unbind—Lets you disconnect bound vertices from the segments to which they're attached. Select one or more bound vertices, and the click the Unbind button.

6. Delete—Deletes the selected vertex or vertices, along with one attached segment per deleted vertex.

xxvii. Display group 1. Show selected segs—When on, any selected segments are highlighted in red at

the Vertex sub-object level. When off (the default), selected segments are highlighted only at the Segment sub-object level.

2. This feature is useful for comparing complex curves against each other. b. Segment c. Spline

i. Insert—Inserts one or more vertices, creating additional segments. Click anywhere in a segment to insert a vertex and attach the mouse to the spline. Then optionally move the mouse and click to place the new vertex. Continue moving the mouse and clicking to add vertices. A single click inserts a corner vertex, while a drag creates a Bezier (smooth) vertex.

1. Right-click to complete the operation and release the mouse. At this point, you're still in Insert mode, and can begin inserting vertices in a different segment. Otherwise, right-click again or click Insert to exit Insert mode.


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ii. Reverse—Reverses the direction of the selected spline. If the spline is open, the first vertex will be switched to the opposite end of the spline. Reversing the direction of a spline is usually done in order to reverse the effect of using the Insert tool at vertex selection level.

iii. Outline—Makes a copy of the spline, offset on all sides to the distance specified by the Outline Width spinner (to the right of the Outline button). Select one or more splines and then adjust the outline position dynamically with the spinner, or click Outline and then drag a spline. If the spline is open, the resulting spline and its outline will make a single closed spline.

1. Note: Normally, if using the spinner, you must first select a spline before using Outline. If, however, the spline object contains only one spline, it is automatically selected for the outlining process.

2. Center—When off (default), the original spline remains stationary and the outline is offset on one side only to the distance specified by Outline Width. When Center is on, the original spline and the outline move away from an invisible center line to the distance specified by Outline Width.

iv. Boolean—Combines two closed polygons by performing a 2D Boolean operation that alters the first spline you select, and deletes the second one. Select the first spline, then click the Boolean button and the desired operation, and then select the second spline.

1. Note: 2D Booleans only work on 2D splines that are in the same plane. 2. There are three Boolean operations:

a. Union—Combines two overlapping splines into a single spline, in which the overlapping portion is removed, leaving non-overlapping portions of the two splines as a single spline.

b. Subtraction—Subtracts the overlapping portion of the second spline from the first spline, and deletes the remainder of the second spline.

c. Intersection—Leaves only the overlapping portions of the two splines, deleting the non-overlapping portion of both.

v. Mirror—Mirrors splines along the length, width, or diagonally. Click the direction you want to mirror first so it is active, then click Mirror.

vi. Copy—When selected, copies rather than moves the spline as it is mirrored. vii. About Pivot—When on, mirrors the spline about the spline object's pivot point (see

Pivot). When off, mirrors the spline about its geometric center. viii. Trim—Use Trim to clean up overlapping segments in a shape so that ends meet at a single

point. 1. To trim, you need intersecting splines. Click the portion of the spline you want

to remove. The spline is searched in both directions along its length until it hits an intersecting spline, and deleted up to the intersection. If the section intersects at two points, the entire section is deleted up to the two intersections. If the section is open on one end and intersects at the other, the entire section is deleted up to the intersection and the open end. If the section is not intersected, or if the spline is closed and only one intersection is found, nothing happens.

ix. Extend—Use Extend to clean up open segments in a shape so that ends meet at a single point.

1. To extend, you need an open spline. The end of the spline nearest the picked point is extended until it reaches an intersecting spline. If there is no intersecting spline, nothing happens. Curved splines extend in a direction tangent to the end of the spline. If the end of a spline lies directly on a boundary (an intersecting spline), then it looks for an intersection further along.

x. Infinite Bounds—For the purposes of calculating intersections, turn this on to treat open splines as infinite in length. For example, this lets you trim one linear spline against the extended length of another line that it doesn't actually intersect.

xi. Hide—Hides selected splines. Select one or more splines, and then click Hide. xii. Unhide All—Displays any hidden sub-objects.

xiii. Delete—Deletes the selected spline. xiv. Close—Closes the selected spline by joining its end vertices with a new segment. xv. Detach—Copies selected spline(s) to a new spline object, and deletes them from the

currently selected spline if Copy is clear. xvi. Copy—When selected, copies rather than moves the spline as it is detached.

xvii. Reorient—The spline being detached is moved and rotated so that its creation local coordinate system is aligned with the creation local coordinate system of the selected spline.

xviii. Explode—Breaks up any selected splines by converting each segment to a separate spline or object. This is a time-saving equivalent of using Detach on each segment in the spline in succession.


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1. You can choose to explode to splines or objects. If you choose Object, you're prompted for a name; each successive new spline object uses that name appended with an incremented two-digit number.

4. Shape Check Utility a. Utilities panel > Utilities rollout > More button Utilities dialog > Shape Check b. The Shape Check utility tests spline and NURBS-based shapes and curves for self-intersection and

graphically displays any instances of intersecting segments. Self-intersecting shapes used to produce lathed, extruded, lofted, or other 3D objects can result in rendering errors.

c. The utility is "sticky" in that once you've picked a shape object for it to check, you can pan/zoom viewports and it will continually display the locations of intersecting curves in the shape you pick.

5. Lofting a. How to create

i. Select a path or shape. > Create panel > Geometry > Compound Objects > Object Type rollout > Loft > Creation Method rollout

ii. Select a path or shape. > Create menu > Compounds > Loft > Creation Method rollout b. Creation Method rollout

i. Get Path—Assigns a path to the selected shape or changes the current assigned path. ii. Get Shape—Assigns a shape to the selected path or changes the current assigned shape.

iii. Tip: Hold down CTRL while getting the shape will flip the direction of the shape's Z axis. iv. Tip: Move/Copy/Instance—Lets you specify how the path or shape is transferred to the

loft object. It can be moved, in which case no copy is left behind, or transferred as a copy or an instance.

v. Tip: Use the Instance option if you expect to edit or modify the path after the loft is created.

c. Path Parameters rollout i. Path—Lets you set a path level by entering a value or dragging the spinner. If Snap is on,

the value will jump to the previous snap increment. The Path value depends on the selected measuring method. Changing the measuring method causes the Path value to change.

ii. Inserting different shapes at different positions on the path iii. Snap—Lets you set a consistent distance between shapes along the path. The Snap value

depends on the selected measuring method. Changing the measuring method also changes the Snap value to keep snap spacing constant.

iv. On—When On is turned on, Snap is active. Default=off. v. Percentage—Expresses the path level as a percentage of the total path length.

vi. Distance—Expresses the path level as an absolute distance from the first vertex of the path.

vii. Path Steps—Places shapes on path steps and vertices, rather than as a percentage or a distance along the path.

viii. When Path Steps is on, the following take place: 1. The Path spinner specifies the step along the path. The first step, at 0, is the first

vertex. 2. The total number of steps, including vertices, appears in parentheses beside the

Path spinner. 3. The current path level is indicated by the standard yellow X when it's a step,

and by a small boxed X when it's a vertex. 4. Get Shape places a selected shape on the specified step or a vertex of the path. 5. Adaptive Path Steps on the Skin Parameters rollout is unavailable. (If it were

available, the path steps and shapes would change positions along the path, depending on the result of the adaptive algorithm.)

ix. Pick Shape—Sets the current level at any shape on the path. When you pick a shape on the path, Snap is turned off and Path is set to the level of the picked shape, where a yellow X appears. Pick Shape is available only from the Modify panel.

x. Previous Shape—Jumps the path level from its current location to the previous shape along the path. A yellow X appears at the current level. Clicking this button turns Snap off.

xi. Next Shape—Jumps the path level from its current location to the next shape along the path. A yellow X appears at the current level. Clicking this button turns Snap off.

d. Skin Parameters rollout i. Options group

1. Shape Steps—Sets the number of steps between each vertex of the cross-section shapes. This value affects the number of sides around the perimeter of the loft.

2. Path Steps—Sets the number of steps between each main division of the path. This value affects the number of segments along the length of the loft.

ii. Optimize Shapes—When on, the Shape Steps setting is ignored for straight segments of cross-section shapes. If multiple shapes are on the path, only straight segments that have a match on all shapes are optimized. Default=off.


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iii. Optimize Path—When on, the Path Steps setting is ignored for straight segments of the path. Curved sections respect the Path steps setting. Available only with Path Steps mode. Default=off.

iv. Adaptive Path Steps—When on, analyzes the loft and adapts the number of path divisions to generate the best skin. Main divisions along the path occur at path vertices, shape locations, and deformation curve vertices. When off, main divisions along the path occur only at path vertices. Default=on.

v. Contour—When on, each shape follows the curvature of the path. The positive Z axis of each shape is aligned with the tangent to the path at the shape's level. When off, shapes remain parallel and have the same orientation as a shape placed at level 0. Default=on.

vi. Banking—When on, shapes rotate about the path whenever the path bends and changes height in the path's local Z axis. The bank amount is controlled by the software. Banking is ignored if the path is 2D. When off, shapes do not rotate about their Z axis as they traverse a 3D path. Default=on.

vii. Constant Cross Section—When on, the cross sections are scaled at angles in the path to maintain uniform path width. When off, the cross sections maintain their original local dimensions, causing pinching at path angles.

viii. Linear Interpolation—When on, generates a loft skin with straight edges between each shape. When off, generates a loft skin with smooth curves between each shape. Default=off.

ix. Flip Normals—When on, reverses the normals 180 degrees. Use this option to correct objects that are inside-out. Default=off.

x. Quad sides—When on, and when two sections of a loft object have the same number of sides, the faces that stitch the sections together are displayed as quads. Sides between sections with different numbers of sides are not affected, and are still connected with triangles. Default=off.

xi. Transform Degrade—Causes the loft skin to disappear during sub-object shape/path transformations. For example, moving a vertex on the path causes the loft to disappear. When off, you can see the skin during these Sub-Object transformations. Default=on.

6. Layers a. Procedures b. To create a new layer:

i. When you create new layers, 3ds max names them sequentially by default: Layer01, Layer02, and so on. After creating a layer, you can rename it. 3ds max assigns a random color to all new layers. You can accept the default settings or specify other colors. On the main toolbar, click Layer Manager. In the Layer Manager, click Create New Layer. 3ds max displays a new layer in the list with the temporary name Layer01. Click the Layer to enter a new name. To create more than one layer, click New again and enter the new layer name. Tip: If an existing layer is highlighted when you create a new layer, the new layer inherits the properties of the highlighted layer. You can modify the properties of the new layer, if necessary, as illustrated in the following procedures.

c. To make a layer current: i. On the main toolbar, click Layer Manager. In the Layer Properties dialog, click the

second column next to the layer name. A check box appears indicating that the layer is current. Note: The current layer is also displayed in the title bar of the Layer Manager.

d. To make a layer current (alternate method): i. On the Layers toolbar > Layer List, select a layer. The highlighted layer becomes the

current layer. e. To hide a layer:

i. On the Layers toolbar, click Layer Manager. In the Layer Manager, select the layers you want to hide. In the Hide column, click Off to turn Hide on for the highlighted layer(s). The hide icon displays. Tip: You can hide all layers by clicking Hide/Unhide All Layers on the Layer Manager toolbar.

f. To freeze a layer: i. Freezing layers is useful when you want to edit objects associated with particular layers

but also want to view, without editing, objects on other layers. You can't edit or select objects on a frozen layer; however, the objects are still visible if the layer is on. You can make a frozen layer current, and you can add new objects to the frozen layer. On the main toolbar, click Layer Manager. In the Layer Manager, select the layers you want to freeze. In the Freeze column, click Off to turn Freeze on for the highlighted layer(s). The Freeze icon displays. Tip: You can freeze all layers by clicking Freeze/Unfreeze All Layers on the Layer Manager toolbar.

g. To assign a color to a layer: i. You can assign a color to a layer using the Layer Properties dialog. For example, you can

assign the color red to a layer named HVAC to help you identify the mechanical equipment in your scene. On the main toolbar, click Layer Manager. In the Layer


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Manager, select a layer and click the Color icon. In the Layer Color dialog, select a color, and then click OK.

h. To rename a layer: i. You might want to rename a layer to better define how it's used in your scene. You can

rename a layer at any time during a 3ds max session. However, you can't rename Layer 0. On the main toolbar, click Layer Manager. In the Layer Manager, select a layer to rename. Click the layer’s name again and enter a new name.

i. To delete a layer: i. You can delete an empty layer at any time during a 3ds max session. However, you can't

delete the current layer, Layer 0, or a layer that contains objects. On the main toolbar, click Layer Manager. In the Layer Manager, select one or more layers, and then click Delete Empty Layer.

j. To open the object properties dialog for an object selection: i. On the main toolbar, click Layer Manager. Select one or more objects in the Layer

Manager. Click the Object Properties icon to open the Object Properties dialog for the highlighted objects.

k. To open the layer properties dialog for an layer selection: i. On the main toolbar, click Layer Manager. Select one or more layers in the Layer

Manager. Click the Layer Properties icon to open the Layer Properties dialog for the highlighted layers.

7. Drawing a roof: a. Turn on 3D Snap. b. Set Snap to Vertex only. c. Create a box in the perspective window. d. Select the box. e. Go to the Modify panel. f. Change the box Length Segs and Width Segs to 2. g. Right click the word “Perspective” in the perspective viewport. h. Choose “Wireframe.” i. Create panel > Shapes > Line button j. Draw a line with either three or four segments, around one single plane of the roof. Make sure that

the line is closed. k. Repeat the process for the remaining roof planes. l. Use the Select Objects tool from the main toolbar. m. Select the large wireframe box. n. Right click on it and choose “Hide Selection” from the quad menu that appears. o. Right click on the word “Perspective” in the perspective viewport. p. Choose “Smooth + Highlights” from the popup menu. q. Select one of the line objects that you drew in step “j” or “k” r. Modify Panel > Geometry rollout > Attach Mult. button s. Attach Multiple dialog > All button t. Attach Multiple dialog > Attach button u. Modify Panel > Modifier list > Surface modifier v. Modify Panel > Parameters rollout > Flip Normals [only if necessary] w. Modify Panel > Modifier list > Smooth modifier x. DO NOT turn Auto Smooth on!

8. Creating corrugated iron sheeting: a. Draw zigzag line with Grid Points snap turned on. b. Go to Vertex sub-object level of line. c. Select top row of vertices using window selection. d. Select all vertices. e. Right click any vertex. f. Tools1 menu > Smooth. g. Right click any vertex again. h. Tools1 menu > Bezier. i. Select end an end vertex. j. Adjust Bezier arm to suit. k. Repeat for other end. l. Select top row of vertices only. m. Open Axis Constraints toolbar. n. Turn on X-constraint. o. Selection rollout > Lock Handles > ON. p. Adjust one Bezier arm. q. Other Bezier arms follow automatically. r. Repeat for bottom row of vertices if necessary.

9. Creating a chimney a. Draw pyramid (representing a roof).


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b. Draw box penetrating roof (representing the chimney) c. Draw a Section spline with AutoGrid turned on, on roof plane. d. Generate the section shape with “Create Shape” button. e. Go to spline sub object level of shape generated in previous step. f. Delete pyramid triangle; keep only chimney rectangle. g. Turn on 2D point snap. h. Select rectangle tool on Create panel > Shapes i. Draw rectangle on chimney top. j. Move chimney top rectangle to appropriate height. k. Use Edit Spline modifier to attach second spline to first. l. Apply Cross Section modifier m. Apply Surface modifier n. Apply Smooth modifier (to unsmooth automatically!)

10. Creating a roof a. Create a box, Length 88, Width 111, Height 66. b. Modify the box: Length Segs 2, Width Segs 3, Height Segs 1. c. Perspective viewport: right click “Perspective” d. Choose “Wireframe” from the popup menu. e. Turn on Point Snap, 3D mode, Vertex only (not Grid Points, etc). f. Line tool: Draw a triangle in 3D space, snapping to the appropriate vertices of the box, to represent

the shape of the end of the roof. Make sure the spline is closed. g. Repeat this process for the other end of the roof. h. Draw a four sided shape in 3D space, snapping to the appropriate vertices of the box, to represent

the shape of the side of the roof. Make sure the spline is closed. i. Repeat this process for the other side of the roof. j. Select the box. k. Right click the box (be careful not to right click the lines by mistake). l. Choose “Hide Selection” from the popup quad menu. m. Perspective viewport: right click “Perspective” n. Choose “Smooth + Highlights” o. Select only one of the line objects. p. Modify Panel > Geometry rollout > Attach Mult. button q. Attach Multiple dialogue > All button r. Attach Multiple dialogue > Attach button s. Apply the “Surface” modifier. t. If the roof appears black, Modify Panel > Parameters rollout > Flip Normals u. Apply the “Smooth” modifier. Roof is complete.

11. Spacing Tool a. The Spacing tool lets you distribute objects based on the current selection along a path defined by a

spline or a pair of points. b. The distributed objects can be copies, instances, or references of the current selected object. You

define a path by picking a spline or two points and by setting a number of parameters. You can also specify how the spacing between objects is determined and whether the pivot points of the objects align to the tangent of the spline.

c. To distribute objects along a path: i. Select the objects to distribute.

ii. Click Spacing Tool, or choose Tools menu > Spacing Tool. iii. Note: The Spacing tool is also available on rollouts for various components of the Railing

object. iv. On the Spacing Tool dialog, click Pick Path or Pick Points to specify a path. v. If you click Pick Path, select a spline from your scene to use as the path.

vi. If you click Pick Points, pick a start and an end to define a spline as the path. When you're finished with the Spacing tool, the software deletes this spline.

vii. Choose a spacing option from the Parameters list. viii. The parameters available for Count, Spacing, Start Offset, and End Offset are dependent

on the spacing option you choose. ix. Specify the number of objects to distribute by setting the value of Count. x. Depending on the spacing option you choose, adjust the spacing and offsets.

xi. Under Context, choose Edge to specify that spacing be determined from the facing edges of each object's bounding box, or choose Centers to specify that spacing be determined from the center of each object's bounding box.

xii. Turn on Follow if you want to align the pivot points of the distributed objects to the tangent of the spline.

xiii. Under Type of Object, select the type of object to output (copy, instance, or reference). xiv. Click Apply.


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Week 5 1) Edit Mesh

a) Vertex editing b) Polygon editing c) Scale vertices on cylinder d) Soft selection e) Attach (for multiple booleans) f) Smoothing groups (faces)

i) Smoothing groups define whether a surface is rendered with sharp edges or smooth surfaces. ii) Smoothing groups are numbers assigned to the faces or patches of an object. Each face or patch can

carry any number of smoothing groups up to the maximum of 32. If two faces or patches share an edge and share the same smoothing group, they will render as a smooth surface. If they don't share the same smoothing group, the edge between them will render as a corner.

2) Edit Poly Modifier a) The Edit Poly modifier provides explicit editing tools for different sub-object levels of the selected

object: vertex, edge, border, polygon, and element. The Edit Poly modifier includes most capabilities of the base Editable Poly object, except for Vertex Color information, Subdivision Surface rollout, Weight and Crease settings, and Subdivision Displacement rollout. Edit Poly lets you animate sub-object transforms and parameter changes. In addition, because it's a modifier, you can retain the object creation parameters and change them later.

3) Paint Deformation: a) Paint Deformation lets you push, pull, or otherwise affect vertices by dragging the mouse cursor over the

object surface. At the object level, Paint Deformation affects all vertices in the selected object. At sub-object levels, it affects only selected vertices (or vertices that belong to selected sub-objects), and recognizes soft selection.

b) By default, deformation occurs in the normal direction of each vertex. 3ds Max continues to use a vertex's original normal for the direction of deformation, but you can opt to use the altered normal direction for a more dynamic modeling process, or even deform along a specific axis.

c) To paint deformation onto a mesh object: i) Apply an Edit Poly modifier to an object, or convert the object to Editable Poly format. Paint

Deformation uses existing geometry, so the object should have enough mesh resolution for the desired deformation.

ii) Do either of the following: (1) To deform anywhere on the object, remain at the object level, or work at a sub-object level

with no sub-objects selected. (2) To deform only specific areas of an object, go to a sub-object level and then select the sub-

objects in the area to deform. iii) On the Paint Deformation rollout, click Push/Pull. iv) Set Push/Pull value to a negative value to push into the object surface, or to a positive value to pull

the surface outward. The higher the absolute value, the greater the effect. v) Set Brush Size and Brush Strength. vi) Position the mouse cursor over the surface to be deformed. vii) As you move the mouse, the “brush” reorients dynamically to show the normal direction of the

portion of the mesh currently under the cursor. You can use the normal direction of deformed surfaces as the push/pull direction by choosing Deformed Normals.

viii) Press the mouse button and drag to deform the surface. If you paint in the same spot repeatedly without lifting the mouse button, the effect is cumulative up to the maximum Push/Pull Value setting.

4) Collapse Utility a) Utilities panel > Utilities rollout > Collapse button b) Menu bar > Modify > Collapse c) First object selected is object to subtract from d) Other objects are objects to subtract

5) Editable Mesh a) Create or select an object. > Quad menu > Transform quadrant > Convert To: submenu > Editable Mesh b) Create or select an object. > Modify panel > Right-click the base object in the stack. > Convert to:

Editable Mesh c) Create or select an object. > Utilities panel > Collapse button > Collapse Selected button d) Vertex—Turns on Vertex sub-object level, which lets you select a vertex beneath the cursor; region

selection selects vertices within the region. e) Edge—Turns on Edge sub-object level, which lets you select a face or polygon edge beneath the cursor;

region selection selects multiple edges within the region. When Edge sub-object level is on, hidden edges are displayed as dashed lines, allowing for more precise selection.


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f) Face—Turns on Face sub-object level, which lets you select a triangular face beneath the cursor; region selection selects multiple triangular faces within the region.

g) Polygon—Turns on Polygon sub-object level, which lets you select all coplanar faces (defined by the value in the Planar Threshold spinner) beneath the cursor. Usually, a polygon is the area you see within the visible wire edges. Region selection selects multiple polygons within the region.

h) Element—Turns on Element sub-object level, which lets you select all contiguous faces in an object. Region selection lets you select multiple elements.

6) Mesh Select a) Less memory than Edit Mesh b) Cannot transform c) Requires Xform modifier for move/rotate/scale operations

7) Xform modifier a) Use the XForm (short for Transform) modifier to apply transformations (Move, Rotate, Scale) to objects.

The XForm modifier has two main functions: i) To animate transformations of a sub-object selection. You can also animate the position of the

modifier's center. ii) To transform an object at any point in the stack.

b) To use the XForm modifier: i) Choose a location in an object's stack and apply the XForm modifier. ii) The Gizmo sub-object level is automatically activated. All transform buttons are available on the

toolbar. iii) Move to a nonzero frame and turn on Auto Key to animate the next step. iv) Transform the gizmo. v) As you transform the gizmo, the selected geometry is transformed with it.

c) To use XForm as a scaling modifier: i) Apply XForm to an object or a sub-object selection. ii) Scale the gizmo. iii) The rescaled geometry becomes "part of the stack" because the scale transform is carried with

XForm, instead of being applied after the modifiers. 8) Meshsmooth

a) To apply MeshSmooth to an object: i) Select an angular object. ii) Apply the MeshSmooth modifier. iii) Set MeshSmooth parameters.

b) To apply MeshSmooth to sub-objects: i) Select an object. ii) Apply a Mesh Select modifier. iii) Select a group of vertices or faces. iv) Apply MeshSmooth. v) In the Subdivision Method rollout, turn off Apply To Whole Mesh. vi) This lets MeshSmooth work only on the sub-object selection. vii) Set MeshSmooth parameters.

9) Tesselate modifier a) The Tessellate modifier subdivides faces in the current selection. It's particularly useful for smoothing

curved surfaces for rendering, and creating additional mesh resolution for other modifiers to act on. If no sub-object selection has been passed up the stack, then the entire object is tessellated. This modifier lets you tessellate polygonal faces; the tessellation available in an editable mesh does not (it works on faces, even at the Polygon selection level).

10) Shell modifier a) To solidify an object:

i) Create an object to solidify. The object should have some holes in its surface. For example, start with a primitive sphere, convert it to Editable Poly, and delete some vertices or polygons.

ii) Optionally create an open spline to serve as the profile for the edges connecting the inner and outer surfaces. For example, go to Create panel > Shapes and click Line. Then, in the Top viewport, draw the spline in the Top viewport from top to bottom. Where the spline protrudes to the right, the edge surface will be convex, and where it protrudes to the left, the surface will be concave.

iii) Apply the Shell modifier to the object from step 1. iv) To use custom edges, turn on Bevel Edges, click the Bevel Spline button, and then select the spline

from step 2. v) By default, Shell keeps the material IDs of the new surfaces consistent with those of the original

object. To change these, turn on the different Override options, specify appropriate material IDs, and apply a Multi/Sub-Object material.

vi) Likewise, Shell keeps the texture coordinates of the new surfaces consistent with those of the original object. To change these on the new edges, change the Edge Mapping choice, and with the Strip and Interpolate choices, optionally change the TV Offset setting.

11) Path deform modifier a) To use the PathDeform modifier:


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i) Select an object. ii) Apply PathDeform. iii) On the Parameters rollout, click Pick Path. iv) Select a spline or NURBS curve. v) Deform the object by adjusting the various controls in the Path Deform panel and by editing the

path object. 12) Wave modifier

a) To wave an object: i) Select an object and apply the Wave modifier. ii) Tip: To see the effect clearly, apply Wave to a broad, flat object that has many segments. iii) Set one or both values for amplitude, or the vertical height of the wave in current units. iv) Amplitude 1 produces a sine wave from one edge to the other, while Amplitude 2 creates a wave

between the opposite edges. Switching a value from positive to negative reverses the position of peaks and troughs.

v) Set the length of the wave and the distance in current units between crests of both waves. vi) The greater the length, the smoother and more shallow the wave for a given amplitude.

b) To add a phase effect: i) Set a phase value to shift the wave pattern over the object. Positive numbers move the pattern in one

direction, while negative numbers move them in the other. This effect is especially clear when animated.

c) To add a decay effect: i) Set a decay value to increase or decrease the amplitude. ii) A decay value decreases the amplitude as the distance from the center increases. As the Decay value

increases, the wave is concentrated at the center and flattens until it disappears (completely decays). 13) Ripple modifier

a) Parameters i) Amplitude 1/ Amplitude 2—Amplitude 1 produces a ripple across the object in one direction, while

Amplitude 2 creates a similar ripple at right angles to the first (that is, rotated 90 degrees about the vertical axis).

ii) Wave Length—Specifies the distance between the peaks of the wave. The greater the length, the smoother and more shallow the ripple for a given amplitude. Default=50.0.

iii) Phase—Shifts the ripple pattern over the object. Positive numbers move the pattern inward, while negative numbers move it outward. This effect becomes especially clear when animated.

iv) Decay—Limits the effect of the wave generated from its center. v) The default value of 0.0 means that the wave will generate infinitely from its center. Increasing the

Decay value causes the wave amplitudes to decrease with distance from the center, thus limiting the distance over which the waves are generated.

Week 6

1) Shapemerge compound object

a) To start command: i) Select an object. > Create panel > Geometry > Compound Objects > Object Type rollout >

ShapeMerge ii) Select an object. > Create menu > Compound > ShapeMerge

b) To create a ShapeMerge object: i) Create a mesh object and one or more shapes ii) Align the shapes in the viewport so they can be projected toward the surface of the mesh object. iii) Select the mesh object, and click the ShapeMerge button. iv) Click Pick Shape, and then select the shape. v) The geometry of the surface of the mesh object is altered to embed a pattern matching that of the

selected shape. 2) Cameras

a) To create a target camera: i) Do one of the following:

(1) Click Cameras on the Create panel, then click Target in the Object Type rollout. (2) Choose Create menu > Cameras > Target Camera.

ii) Drag in a Top or Perspective viewport. The initial point of the drag is the location of the camera, and the point where you release the mouse is the location of the target.

iii) The camera is now part of the scene. It is aimed at the target, which is a separate object. iv) Set the creation parameters.

b) To change a viewport to a Camera view: i) Right-click the viewport label. The Viewport Properties menu is displayed.


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ii) Choose Views. The name of each camera is displayed at the top of the Views submenu. iii) Choose the name of the camera you want. The viewport now shows the camera's point of view. The

default keyboard shortcut for camera viewports is C. iv) Making a camera viewport active does not automatically select the camera. To adjust a camera by

using its viewport and the Modify panel at the same time, select the camera and then make the Camera viewport active.

c) To control the display of camera objects, do one of the following: i) Go to the Display panel and in the Hide By Category rollout, turn Cameras on or off. Choose Views

> Hide > Hide By Category, and toggle the menu item Hide Cameras. ii) Choose Tools menu > Display Floater, and on the Object Level tab turn Cameras on or off.

Cameras appear in viewports if Cameras is off; if Cameras is on, they don't appear. When camera icons are displayed, the Zoom Extents commands include them in views. When camera icons are not displayed, the Zoom Extents commands ignore them.

d) To see the safe frame: i) Right-click the viewport label and choose Show Safe Frame. The safe frames are displayed in three

concentric boxes. The outermost safe frame matches the render output resolution. The safe frame matches the render output resolution.

ii) Orange rectangle: action safe area iii) Light blue rectangle: title safe area

e) To apply two-point perspective to a camera: i) Select a camera. ii) Tip: For best results, set a viewport to this camera’s view. The change in perspective appears both

in the viewport and when you render this view. iii) Select a camera. > Right-click. > Tools 1 (upper-left) quadrant of the quad menu > Apply Camera

Correction Modifier On the 2-Point Perspective Correction rollout, click Guess. iv) The Camera Correction modifier creates a first-guess Amount value for the two-point perspective. v) Adjust the Amount and Direction to get the effect you want. vi) In the viewports, the camera’s field-of-view “cone” distorts or moves to show the perspective

adjustments. vii) Render the view.

3) Lights a) Target Spotlight

i) A spotlight casts a focused beam of light like a flashlight, a follow spot in a theater, or a headlight. A target spotlight uses a target object to aim the camera.

ii) Create menu > Standard Lights > Target Spotlight iii) Create menu > Lights > Target Spotlight iv) Turn on shadows v) Set colour of light vi) Set multiplier if necessary to determine overall brightness vii) Adjust hotspot/falloff cones

b) Target Direct Light i) Directional lights cast parallel light rays in a single direction, as the sun does (for all practical

purposes) at the surface of the earth. Directional lights are primarily used to simulate sunlight. You can adjust the color of the light and position and rotate the light in 3D space. Because directional rays are parallel, directional lights have a beam in the shape of a circular or rectangular prism instead of a "cone."

4) Shadow Types a)

Shadow Type Advantages Disadvantages

Advanced Ray-Traced

Supports transparency and opacity mapping. Uses less RAM than standard ray-traced shadows. Recommended for complex scenes with many lights or faces.

Slower than shadow maps. Does not support soft shadows. Processes at every frame.

Area Shadows

Supports transparency and opacity mapping. Uses very little RAM. Recommended for complex scenes with many lights or faces. Supports different formats for area shadows.

Slower than shadow maps. Processes at every frame.

mental ray Shadow Maps Can be quicker than ray-traced shadows with the mental ray renderer.

Not as accurate as ray-traced shadows.

Raytrace Shadows Supports transparency and opacity mapping. Processes only once if there are no

Can be slower than shadow maps. Does not support soft shadows.


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animated objects.

Shadow Maps

Produces soft shadows. Processes only once if there are no animated objects. Fastest shadow type.

Uses a lot of RAM. Does not support objects with transparency or opacity maps.

b) 5) Shadow Map parameters

a) Size—Sets the size (in pixels squared) of the shadow map that's computed for the light. The shadow map size specifies the amount of subdivisions for the map. The greater the value, the more detailed the map will be.

b) Bias—Map Bias moves the shadow toward or away from the shadow-casting object (or objects). c) Sample Range—The sample range determines how much area within the shadow is averaged. This

affects how soft the edge of the shadow is. Range=0.01 to 50.0. 6) Place Highlight

a) Create a sphere or a geosphere. b) Create a light – e.g. an omni light. c) Select the light. d) Tools menu > Place Highlight e) Drag your cursor over the surface of the sphere. The position of the light will change accordingly, in real

time. 7) Light Lister

a) Tools menu > Light Lister... b) To use global settings:

i) On the Light Lister dialog, on the Configuration rollout, choose General Settings. ii) The General Settings rollout appears. iii) Make changes to the settings.

c) To set individual lights: i) On the Configuration rollout, choose All Lights. The Lights rollout displays settings for all the

scene lights (subject to a limit of 150 lights). Alternatively, you can select the lights to adjust, and then on the Configuration rollout choose Selected Lights.

ii) Tip: If you change the light selection, the Light Lister does not update interactively. Click Refresh to update the list.

iii) On the Lights rollout, change the settings for any light on the list. See Interface, below. iv) Some changes show up immediately in the viewport.

8) Global illumination – skylight & Light Tracer a) The Skylight light models daylight. It is meant for use with the Light Tracer. You can set the color of the

sky or assign it a map. The sky is modeled as a dome above the scene. b) To create a Skylight:

i) On the Create panel, click Lights. ii) Standard is the default choice of light type. iii) In the Object Type rollout, click Skylight. iv) Click a viewport. v) The light is now part of the scene. vi) Note: The position of the Skylight, and its distance from objects, has no effect. The Skylight object

is simply a helper. Skylight always comes from “overhead.” vii) Set the creation parameters. viii) Cast Shadows—Causes the skylight to cast shadows.

(1) Note: Cast Shadows is off by default. (2) Note: The Cast Shadows toggle has no effect when using radiosity or light tracer.

9) Light Tracer a) The Light Tracer provides soft-edged shadows and color bleeding for brightly-lit scenes such as outdoor

scenes. Unlike radiosity, the Light Tracer does not attempt to create a physically accurate model, and can be easier to set up.

b) Main toolbar > Render Scene > Render Scene dialog > Choose Default Scanline Renderer as the active production renderer. > Advanced Lighting panel > Select Advanced Lighting rollout > Choose Light Tracer from the drop-down list.

c) Rendering menu > Render > Render Scene dialog > Choose Default Scanline Renderer as the active production renderer. > Advanced Lighting panel > Select Advanced Lighting rollout > Choose Light Tracer from the drop-down list.

d) To set up a scene for the Light Tracer: i) Create the geometry for an outdoor scene. ii) Add a Skylight to illuminate it. iii) One or more spotlights can also work well. If you use the physically based IES Sun or IES Sky

lights, using an exposure control is essential. (1) Important: Reduce the intensity of the spotlights so that they do not overpower the Skylight. A

good rule of thumb is to make sure the multipliers of all the lights, including the Skylight, add


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up to approximately 1.0. If the multipliers add up to two or three, the Skylight is likely to be blasted out with excessive light from the spot or direct lights.

iv) Choose Rendering > Advanced Lighting. On the Select Advanced Lighting rollout, choose Light Tracer from the drop-down list.

v) Active should turn on, and the Parameters rollout for the Light Tracer should appear. vi) Adjust the Light Tracer parameters, right-click the viewport you want to render to make it active,

and then click Render Scene. vii) Adjust your rendering settings, and then click Render. viii) The scene renders with soft-edged shadows and color bleeding. ix) Important Parameters

(1) Rays/Sample—The number of rays cast per sample (or pixel). Increasing this value increases the smoothness of the effect, at a cost of render time. Decreasing this value results in a grainier effect, but renders more quickly. Default=250. Tip: To get a “first draft” preview of the effect of light tracing, reduce the value of Rays/Sample and the Filter Size.

(2) Filter Size—The size, in pixels, of the filter used to reduce noise in the effect. Default=0.5. Tip: Filter Size is especially useful when Adaptive Undersampling is turned off, and Rays/Sample has a low value.

(3) Subdivision Contrast—The contrast threshold that determines when a region should be further subdivided. Increasing this value causes less subdividing to occur. Too small a value can cause unnecessary subdividing. Default=5.0. Decreasing the subdivision contrast threshold can reduce noise in soft shadows and bounced lighting.

Week 7

1) Advanced Lofting

a) Inserting shapes along the path (revision) b) Output as Patch rather than as Mesh c) Scale deformation

i) You can loft objects such as columns and bugles from a single shape that changes only its scale as it travels along a path. Use Scale deformation when you want to make these types of objects. Tip: By animating scale, a loft object can appear to travel along a path. Using this technique, you can create animations in which letters or lines write themselves onto the screen.

ii) Tip: These are the properties of Scale deformation curves: (1) The two curves are red for X-axis scaling and green for Y-axis scaling. (2) Default curve values are at 100%. (3) Values greater than 100% make the shape larger. (4) Values between 100% and 0% make the shape smaller. (5) Negative values scale and mirror the shape.

d) Twist Deformation i) Twist deformation lets you create objects that spiral or twist along their length. Twist specifies the

amount of rotation about the path. ii) These are the properties of Twist deformation curves:

(1) A single red curve determines shape rotation about the path. (2) The default curve value is 0 degrees of rotation. (3) Positive values produce counterclockwise rotation, when viewed from the start of the path. (4) Negative values produce clockwise rotation. (5) Both twist deformation and banking produce rotation about the path. Twist rotation is added to

a shape after the banking angle is applied. You can use Twist deformation to exaggerate or reduce the amount of banking.

e) Teeter Deformation i) Teeter deformation rotates shapes about their local X axis and Y axis. Teetering is what the

software does automatically when you select Contour on the Skin Parameters rollout. Use Teeter deformation when you want to manually control contour effects.

f) Bevel Deformation i) Positive values reduce the shape, bringing it closer to the path. ii) Negative values add to the shape, moving it away from the path.

g) Fit Deformation i) Draw end view rectangle or shape ii) Draw line for length of car iii) Draw top view of car iv) Draw side view of car v) Loft shape (i) along path (ii) vi) Modify > Deformations > Fit vii) Turn off Make Symmetrical button on window toolbar


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viii) Turn on Display X-axis button on window toolbar ix) Turn on Get Shape button on window toolbar x) Select shape (iii) – top view of car xi) Turn on Display Y-axis button on window toolbar xii) Select shape (iv) – side view of car xiii) If necessary, press Swap Deform Curves button xiv) If necessary, press Rotate 90 CCW button on window toolbar xv) Adjust control points in Fit Deformation window

2) Patches a) Patch objects offer a flexible alternative to mesh and NURBS modeling and animation. Mainly used for

creating organic forms in 3d. b) Quad Patch

i) Create panel > Geometry > Patch Grids > Quad Patch ii) Create menu > Patch Grids > Quad Patch iii) Quad Patch creates a flat grid with a default of 36 visible rectangular facets. A hidden line divides

each facet into two triangular faces for a total of 72 faces. c) Tri Patch

i) Create panel > Geometry > Patch Grids > Tri Patch ii) Create menu > Patch Grids > Tri Patch iii) Tri Patch creates a flat grid with 72 triangular faces. The face count remains at 72, regardless of its

size. The faces become larger to fill the area as you increase the size of the grid. d) Edit Patch Modifier

i) Create or select an object > Modify panel > Modifier List > Object–Space Modifiers > Edit Patch ii) Create or select an object > Modifiers menu > Patch/Spline Editing > Edit Patch iii) The Edit Patch modifier provides editing tools for different sub-object levels of the selected object:

vertex, edge, patch, and element. The Edit Patch modifier matches all the capabilities of the base Editable Patch object, except that you cannot animate sub-objects in Edit Patch.

e) Editable Patch Surface i) Create or select an object > Modify panel > Right-click object's entry in the stack display > Convert

To: Editable Patch ii) Create or select an object > Right-click the object > Transform (lower-right) quadrant of the quad

menu > Convert To: > Convert to Editable Patch iii) Editable Patch provides controls for manipulating an object as a patch object and at five sub-object

levels: vertex, handle, edge, patch, and element. iv) Editable Patch objects provide the same basic functionality as the Edit Patch modifier. Because

working with them requires less processing and memory, we recommend you use Editable Patch objects rather than the Edit Patch modifier whenever possible.

3) NURBS a) NURBS stands for Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines. NURBS have become an industry standard for

designing and modeling surfaces. They are especially suited for modeling surfaces with complicated curves.

b) NURBS Models: Objects and Sub-Objects i) Like Shape objects, a NURBS model can be an assemblage of multiple NURBS sub-objects. For

example, a NURBS object might contain two surfaces that are separate in space. NURBS curves and NURBS surfaces are controlled by either point or control vertex (CV) sub-objects. Points and CVs behave somewhat like the vertices of spline objects, but there are differences. The parent object in a NURBS model is either a NURBS surface or a NURBS curve. Sub-objects can be any of the objects listed here. A NURBS curve remains a Shape object unless you add a surface sub-object to it when you convert it to a NURBS surface (without changing its name).

ii) Surfaces—There are two kinds of NURBS surfaces. A point surface is controlled by points, which always lie on the surface. A CV surface is controlled by control vertices (CVs). Instead of lying on the surface, CVs form a control lattice that surrounds the surface. (This is similar to the lattice used by the FFD [free-form deformation] modifiers.)

iii) Curves—There are also two kinds of NURBS curves. These correspond exactly to the two kinds of surfaces. A point curve is controlled by points, which always lie on the curve. A CV curve is controlled by CVs, which don't necessarily lie on the curve.

iv) Points—Point surfaces and point curves have point sub-objects. You can also create separate point sub-objects that are not part of a surface or a curve.

v) CVs—CV surfaces and CV curves have CV sub-objects. Unlike points, CVs are always part of a surface or a curve.

vi) Imports—Imports are 3ds max objects, including other NURBS objects. Within the NURBS model, they render as NURBS; but they retain their original parameters and modifiers.

vii) Sub-objects can be dependent sub-objects whose geometry is related to the geometry of other sub-objects.

c) Creating NURBS Models i) You can create a NURBS curve on the Shape panel of the Create panel.


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ii) You can create a NURBS surface on the Geometry panel of the Create panel. When you use this technique, the NURBS surface is initially a flat rectangle. You can alter it using the Modify panel.

iii) You can turn a standard geometry primitive into a NURBS object. iv) You can turn a torus knot into a NURBS object. v) You can turn a prism extended primitive into a NURBS object. vi) You can turn a spline object (Bezier spline) into a NURBS object. vii) You can turn a patch grid object (Bezier patch) into a NURBS object. viii) You can turn a loft object into a NURBS object. ix) To turn objects other than NURBS curves and surfaces into NURBS objects, use the Modify panel.

Right-click the object's name in the stack display (see Modifier Stack) and choose Convert To: NURBS.

x) In viewports, the quad menu also lets you convert objects to NURBS. Right-click the object, and in the Transform (lower-right) quadrant, choose Convert To: > Convert to NURBS.

xi) In addition, the modifiers Extrude and Lathe let you choose NURBS output, which creates a NURBS object.

d) NURBS Toolbox button e) To cut a hole in a CV surface:

i) Create a CV surface in the Top viewport. Create panel > Geometry > NURBS Surfaces > Point Surf ii) Modify shape of point surface using move and point sub-object level iii) Create a closed CV curve sub-object that lies on top of (or above) the surface. iv) In the toolbox, turn on Normal Projected Curve, then in the Top viewport select first the CV curve,

then the surface. v) This creates a projection of the CV curve that lies on the surface, and can trim it. vi) In the normal projected curve's parameters, click to turn on Trim. vii) A hole appears in the surface. Depending on the orientation of the Normal Projected curve, you

might see everything but the hole. viii) Use the Flip Trim toggle to invert the trim. ix) Note: Trims aren't displayed in viewports if the NURBS surface's Surface Trims toggle is turned off

on the General rollout's Display group box. f) To create a blend between two NURBS surfaces (in same object)

i) In a NURBS object that contains two surfaces, two curves, or a surface and a curve, turn on Blend. ii) Click one surface near the edge that you want to connect. The edge that will be connected is

highlighted in blue. Drag to choose the other edge you want to connect. When the edge you want is highlighted, click and then drag to the other surface. The edge of the other surface is also highlighted in blue. Drag on the other surface to choose the edge to connect, and then release the mouse button to create the blend surface. The surface that owns the highlighted edge is highlighted in yellow, to help you distinguish which edge you are choosing when two surfaces have coincident edges. The blend surface is created. Changing the position or the curvature of either parent surface will change the blend surface as well.

iii) Adjust the blend parameters. g) To create an offset surface:

i) In a NURBS object that contains at least one surface, turn on Offset. ii) Click the surface you want to offset, and drag to set the initial distance of the offset surface. The

offset surface is created. iii) Adjust the Offset parameter.

h) To create a mirror surface: i) In a NURBS object that contains at least one surface, turn on Mirror. ii) On the Mirror Surface rollout, choose the axis or plane you want to use. iii) Click the surface you want to mirror, and drag to set the initial distance of the mirror surface. The

mirror surface is created. A gizmo (yellow by default) indicates the direction of mirroring. Transforming the mirror surface's gizmo changes the orientation of the mirror, letting you mirror along an axis that isn't aligned with a local coordinate axis. The Flip Normals control lets you flip the surface normals at creation time. (After creation, you can flip normals using controls on the Surface Common rollout.)

iv) Adjust the Offset parameter.


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Week 8

1) Materials

a) To get a material from a library:

i) On the Material Editor toolbar, click Get Material . A modeless Material/Map Browser is displayed.

ii) In the Browse From group box at the upper left, make sure that Material Library is chosen. iii) If you have opened a library, the list of materials shows the contents of the library. iv) If you haven't opened a library, click Open in the file area of the Browser. A file dialog is displayed.

Choose a library. After you open the library, the list of materials updates to show the library contents.

v) Note: Open also lets you get materials from a 3ds Max scene (a .max file). vi) In the list of materials, double-click the name of the material you want to get. vii) You can also drag the name of the material to the sample slot. viii) The material you chose replaces the previous material in the active sample slot.

b) To apply a material to a single object (fast way): i) Drag and drop the sample slot from the Material Editor onto the object in a viewport.

c) To apply a material to single or multiple objects (safe way):

i) Select object or objects in the viewport. You can use the “Select by Name” button on the toolbar to make it even easier, or press “H” on the keyboard instead.

ii) On the Material Editor toolbar, click the “Put Material To Scene” button . d) To get a material from a scene:

i) Click a sample slot to make it active. Be careful not to click the sample slot of a material you want to use later.

ii) On the Material Editor toolbar, click Get Material . A modeless Material/Map Browser is displayed.

iii) In the Browse From group box at the upper left, make sure that either Selected or Scene is chosen. The Selected option lists only materials in the current selection. If no objects are selected, the list of materials is blank. The Scene option lists all the materials currently in the scene.

iv) In the list of materials, double-click the name of the material you want to get. You can also drag the material name to the sample slot. The material you chose replaces the previous material in the active sample slot.

v) Warning: When you get a material from a scene, initially it is a hot material.

e) Pick Material from Object (Eyedropper) : i) Pick Material From Object lets you select a material from an object in the scene. Click the

eyedropper button, and then move the eyedropper cursor over the objects in the scene. When the eyedropper cursor is over an object containing a material, it fills with "ink" and a tooltip with the name of the object pops up. Click the object. The material is placed in the active sample slot.

ii) If the material is already in the active sample slot, the eyedropper has no effect. f) To remove a material from an object:

i) On the Material Editor toolbar, click Get Material. ii) The Material/Map Browser appears. iii) Drag the entry NONE from the top of the list in the Browser to the object. iv) The object now has no material applied to it.

g) Select By Material i) Select By Material allows you to select objects in the scene, based on the active material in the

Material Editor. This button is unavailable unless the active sample slot contains a material used in the scene.

ii) Click a sample slot that contains a material in the scene. (1) White corner brackets indicate materials that are in the scene.

iii) Click Select By Material in the Material Editor. (1) This button is unavailable unless the active sample slot contains a material in the scene.

iv) A Select Objects dialog is displayed. The names of objects with the active material applied are highlighted.

v) Click Select to select objects with the active material applied. (1) You can also change the selection by choosing other objects. If you change the selection, you

must then click Assign Material To Selection to apply the active material to newly selected objects.


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h) To save a material in a library: i) On the Material Editor toolbar, click Get Material. The Material/Map Browser is displayed. ii) In the Browse From group, choose Mtl Library. This makes the File group available. iii) To use a different library from the one that is active, click Open. iv) On the Material Editor toolbar, click Put to Library. A Put to Library dialog is displayed. Either

change the material name or leave it as is, and then click OK. i) Positioning a bitmap map

i) On the Bitmap Parameters rollout, click the Bitmap button and assign a bitmap. ii) In the Cropping/Placement group, turn on Apply to see the results of cropping in the sample slot

(and in shaded viewports if Show Map In Viewport is active). iii) Turn on Place. iv) Click View Image. A frame window appears, displaying the image surrounded by a region outline

(a dashed line at the outer edges of the image, with handles on the sides and corners). v) Move the image by adjusting the spinners at the top of the window, or by dragging the region

outline. vi) The reduced image "decals" on the sample sphere. The diffuse color is visible around the image.

j) Sample slots: i) By default, six sample slots are visible at once. The Material Editor actually holds 24 materials at

one time. You can use the scroll bars to move among the sample slots, or you can change the number of sample slots visible at once to 15 or 24 slots. Seeing more slots at once can be helpful if you are working with a complex scene.

ii) Important: While the Material Editor can edit no more than 24 materials at a time, a scene can contain an unlimited number of materials. When you are through editing one material, and have applied it to objects in the scene, you can use that sample slot to get a different material from the scene (or create a new one) and then edit it.

k) Shading types: i) Anisotropic - Creates surfaces with noncircular, "anisotropic" highlights; good for modeling hair,

glass, or metal. ii) Blinn: Creates smooth surfaces with some shininess; a general-purpose shader. iii) Metal: Creates a lustrous metallic effect. iv) Multi-Layer: Creates more complex highlights than Anisotropic by layering two anisotropic

highlights. Not available for Raytrace material. v) Oren-Nayar-Blinn: Creates good matte surfaces such as fabric or terra-cotta; similar to Blinn. vi) Phong: Creates smooth surfaces with some shininess; similar to Blinn, but doesn't handle highlights

(especially glancing highlights) as well. vii) Strauss: Creates both nonmetallic and metallic surfaces; has a simple set of controls. Not available

for Raytrace material. viii) Translucent: Translucent shading is similar to Blinn shading, but it also lets you specify

translucency, where light is scattered as it passes through the material. You can use translucency to simulate frosted and etched glass. Not available for Raytrace material.

l) Material types: i) Advanced Lighting Override: Used to fine-tune the effects of a material on Advanced Lighting,

including light tracing and radiosity solutions. Radiosity Override is not required for calculating advanced lighting, but it can enhance the result.

ii) Blend: Mixes two other materials together. Can use a mask or a simple amount control. iii) Composite: Mixes up to 10 materials. iv) Double-Sided: Contains two materials, one for the front and one for the back faces of an object. v) Ink 'n Paint: Creates cartoon effects with flat shading and “inked” borders. vi) Lightscape: Supports import and export of data from the Lightscape product. vii) Matte/Shadow: Displays the environment but receives shadows. This is a special-purpose material.

The effect is similar to using a matte in filmmaking. viii) Morpher: Lets you morph between materials using the Morpher modifier. ix) Multi/Sub-Object: Lets you apply multiple sub-materials to a single object's sub-objects. x) Raytrace: Supports the same kind of diffuse mapping as Standard material, but also provides fully

raytraced reflections and refractions, along with other effects such as fluorescence. xi) Shell: Contains a material that has been rendered to a texture, as well as the original material upon

which the texture is based. xii) Shellac: Mixes two materials by applying a "shellac" material to another. xiii) Top/Bottom: Contains two materials, one for faces that point upward, the other for faces that point

downward. m) Map types:

i) 2D maps (1) Bitmap: An image saved as an array of pixels in one of a number of still-image file formats,

such as .tga, .bmp, and so on, or an animation file such as .avi, .flc, or .ifl. (Animations are essentially sequences of still images.) Any of the bitmap (or animation) file types that 3ds max supports can be used as a bitmap in a material.


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(2) Bricks: Creates bricks or other tiled materials with colors or material mappings. Includes commonly defined architectural brick patterns, but you can also customize patterns.

(3) Checker: Combines two colors in a checker pattern. You can replace either color with a map. (4) Combustion: Works in conjunction with the Discreet combustion product. You can paint

directly on a bitmap or object and have the result update in the Material Editor and viewports. The map can include other combustion effects. Painting and other effects can be animated.

(5) Gradient: Creates a linear or radial ramp of three colors. (6) Gradient Ramp: Creates a great variety of ramps, using as many colors, maps, and blends as

you choose. (7) Swirl: Creates swirled (spiraling) patterns of two colors or maps.

ii) 3D maps: (1) Cellular: Generates a cellular pattern that's useful for a variety of visual effects, including

mosaic tiling, pebbled surfaces, and ocean surfaces. (2) Dent: Generates three-dimensional bumps over a surface. (3) Falloff: Generates a value from white to black based on the angular falloff of the face normals

on the surface of the geometry. The Falloff map provides greater flexibility when creating opacity falloff effects. Other effects include Shadow/Light, Distance Blend, and Fresnel.

(4) Marble: Simulates the grain of marble with two explicit colors and a third intermediate color. (5) Noise: Noise is a turbulence pattern in three dimensions. Like Checker in 2D, it is based on

two colors, either of which can be mapped. (6) Particle Age: Alters the color (or map) of a particle based on the particle's life. (7) Particle MBlur: (MBlur is short for Motion Blur.) Alters the opacity of the leading and trailing

ends of particles based on their rate of movement. (8) Perlin Marble: An alternative, procedural marble map with a turbulence pattern. (9) Planet: Simulates the contours of a planet as seen from space. (10) Smoke: Generates fractal-based turbulence patterns to simulate the effects of smoke in a beam

of light, or other cloudy, flowing mapping effects. (11) Speckle: Generates a speckled surface for creating patterned surfaces that can simulate granite

and similar materials. (12) Splat: Generates a fractal pattern similar to splattered paint. (13) Stucco: Generates a fractal pattern similar to stucco. (14) Water: Creates watery or wavy effects by generating a number of spherical wave centers and

randomly distributing them. (15) Wood: Creates a 3D wood grain pattern.

iii) Compositor maps: (1) Composite: Composites multiple maps. Unlike Mix, Composite doesn't have explicit controls

for the amount of mixing. Instead, it bases the mix amount on the maps' alpha channel. (2) Mask: A mask is a map itself, used in this case to control where a second map is applied to the

surface. (3) Mix: Mix mixes two colors or two maps. You can adjust the amount of mixing using a blend

level you specify. The blend level can be mapped. (4) RGB Multiply: Combines two maps by multiplying their RGB and alpha values.

iv) Colour modifier maps: (1) Output: Applies bitmap output functions to parametric maps, such as Checker, that don't have

these settings. These functions adjust the colors of the map. (2) RGB Tint: Tints the color of a map based on red, green, and blue values. (3) Vertex Color: Displays the effects of assigned vertex colors in the rendered scene.

v) Reflection & Refraction maps: (1) Flat Mirror: Generates reflections for flat surfaces. You assign it to faces rather than to the

object as a whole. (2) Raytrace: Creates accurate, fully raytraced reflections and refractions. (3) Reflect/Refract: Generates reflections or refractions automatically, based on surrounding

objects and the environment. (4) Thin Wall Refraction: Generates refractions automatically, simulating objects and the

environment seen through a refractive material such as glass or water. 2) Mapping

a) UVW Mapping modifier b) UVW Xform modifier

3) Bitmap diffuse map a) Create box b) Maps rollout

i) Diffuse color map ii) Bitmap iii) Choose any bitmap

4) Create second bitmap diffuse map a) Click little square button next to diffuse color rectangle.


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i) Choose any bitmap b) Coordinates rollout

i) Turn off “Tiling” checkboxes. c) Bitmap Parameters rollout

i) Cropping/Placement group ii) Turn on “Apply” checkbox iii) Change “W” and “H” to “0.5” iv) Adjust U and V spinners to move bitmap on box.

5) Tinting a bitmap: a) “Maps” rollout

i) Reduce diffuse color map percentage to a smaller number e.g. 50 b) “Blinn Basic Parameters” rollout

i) Change diffuse color. c) Render to see results (not visible in viewport)

6) Reflective and Refractive materials a) Setup

i) Activate Perspective viewport. ii) Create a box

(1) Length: 50 (2) Width: 200 (3) Height: 200

iii) Create a geosphere centred in front of the box: (1) Radius 50

iv) Put yellow brick material on box v) Turn on 2 lights:

(1) Right click “Perspective” (2) Click “Configure...” (3) “Rendering Method” tab (4) “Rendering Options” group (5) Turn on “Default Lighting” checkbox (6) Select “2 lights” radio button

b) Reflect/Refract reflections i) New sample slot ii) Maps rollout iii) Reflection map

(1) Reflect/Refract map iv) Save as “reflect refract reflections” v) Put same material onto box vi) Put brick material onto ball vii) See failed result.

c) Flat Mirror reflections: i) Put default material onto box ii) Apply “Edit Mesh” iii) Go to Polygon subobject mode iv) Select one face of the box. v) Material Editor:

(1) Create Flat Mirror reflection map material (2) Select flat mirror material. (3) Press “Assign to selection” button in Material editor

vi) Render to see results. d) Raytrace reflections

i) Easy but SLOW! ii) Works on both curved and flat objects.

e) Reflect/Refract refractions i) Put yellow brick material onto box. ii) Put Reflect/Refract map into REFRACTION map of new material. iii) Render to see results.

f) Thin Wall Refraction i) Create lots of teapots ii) Create thin walled box in front of them.


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iii) Create thin wall refraction material in refraction map. iv) Render to see results.

7) Rendering a) Dialogue Box

i) Output Size ii) Save File (Files…)

b) Show Safe Frame

Week 9 1) Radiosity

a) Units i) Customize > Units Setup… > System Unit Setup > Metric > Millimeters ii) Alternatively, Utilities > More… > Rescale World Units iii) Accurate & realistic dimensions

b) Photometric Lights i) Create Panel > Lights > Photometric (click on Standard to change) ii) Help > 3ds max 6 Reference > Lights and Cameras > Lights > Photometric Lights > Common

Lamp Values for Photometric Lights iii) IES Sun and IES Sky for natural light

c) Material reflectance i) white painted wall = 80% reflectance ii) Customize > Preferences > Radiosity > Material Editor > Display Reflectance & Transmittance

Information d) Exposure control

i) Rendering > Environment > Exposure Control > Logarithmic Exposure Control ii) Click Render Scene to preview the lighting. At this stage, the radiosity will not be processed but

you can quickly confirm that the direct lighting is correct. Adjust the position of the lights if desired.

e) Turn on Radiosity i) Choose Rendering > Advanced Lighting > Radiosity. Make sure that Active is turned on. ii) On the Radiosity Parameters rollout, click Start to process radiosity. Once the Radiosity calculation

has been completed, you should see your results in the viewports. The light levels are stored with the geometry and you can interactively navigate around the model without reprocessing the scene.

iii) Click Render Scene again. The renderer will calculate the direct lighting and shadows, and the radiosity solution (indirect lighting) will be integrated as a modulated ambient light.

iv) Notes: (1) If objects vary strangely in brightness, increase “Refine Iterations” to 5 or 6 or 10 in Radiosity

Processing Parameters. (2) Every time an object/material/light is added/deleted/modified, you must recalculate the

Radiosity processing parameters. (3) For ultimate quality, Rendering > Advanced Lighting > Radiosity > Rendering Parameters >

Regather Indirect Illumination (very time and RAM consuming). Turn on “Adaptive Sampling” to speed up rendering time.

f) Example: i) Create a box 4000 (L) x 5000 (W) x 3000 (H) ii) Apply the “Normal” modifier to the box. iii) Display panel > Display Properties rollout > Backface cull checkbox > ON iv) Create a small box in the corner of the main box (something to look at). v) Create panel > Lights button > Standard drop down list > change to Photometric vi) Create panel > Lights button > Free Point button vii) Activate the Front viewport. viii) Click once in the top right hand corner of the box (room). ix) Modify panel > General Parameters > Shadows checkbox > ON x) Add materials as described above in (c) xi) Turn on Exposure Control as described above in (d) xii) Turn on Radiosity as described above. xiii) Render

2) Lighting Analysis: a) Select an object that has radiosity solution information. > Rendering menu > Advanced Lighting >

Lighting Analysis 3) Glowing neon:

a) Create Architectural material in the Material Editor. b) Change Diffuse colour to bright neon colour.


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c) Change Luminance cd/m2 to at least 500; up to 1000 or more. d) Advanced Lighting Override rollout: Emit Energy (based on luminance): ON. e) Reset radiosity solution and start radiosity processing. f) Render.

4) Volume lights a) To use volume light:

i) Create a scene with lights. ii) Create a Camera or Perspective view of your scene. iii) Avoid making the view axis parallel to the cone of a spotlight. This tends to create only a washed-

out scene, possibly with rendering artifacts. iv) Choose Rendering > Environment. v) Under Atmosphere on the Environment panel, click Add. vi) The Add Atmospheric Effect dialog is displayed. vii) Choose Volume Light, and then click OK. viii) Click Pick Light, and then click a light in a viewport to add the light to the list of volume lights. ix) You can also use a Select By Name dialog to select multiple lights. Click Pick Light, and then press

H to display the dialog. x) Set the parameters for volume light.

b) To add a light to the list: i) Click Pick Light. ii) Click the light in a viewport.

c) To remove a light from the list: i) Open the list of volume lights. ii) Choose the light you want to remove the volume light effect from. iii) Click Remove Light.

d) To assign volume light to a light through the Modify panel: i) Open the Modify panel of a light. ii) Open the Atmospheres & Effects rollout. iii) Click Add. iv) Select Volume Light from the Add Atmosphere or Effect dialog and click OK. v) Highlight Volume Light from the Atmospheres & Effects list and click setup to adjust the Volume

Light parameters. vi) Note: Volume Lights don’t support negative multiplier values.

e) Volume Lighting tutorial i) Create rectangle in Front viewport ii) iii) Create room:

(1) Box 4000x5000x3000 (a) 9 segments width, height & depth.

(2) Apply Edit Mesh modifier (a) Polygon sub-object mode (b) Delete several rectangles from one side of box

(3) Apply Shell modifier (a) Outer Amount: 200mm (b) Parameters: Turn “Straighten Corners” on (last one).

iv) Create camera (1) Target camera (2) Camera location: upper left corner (3) Target: lower right corner (4) Lens length: 24mm (5) Lift up camera to normal height using Hand tool.

v) Create light (1) Standard Lights (2) Target Spot

vi) Select light & light target (1) Lock selection (2) Move aim centre of light to middle of wall. (3) Shadows: On (4) Spotlight Parameters: Rectangle (5) Spotlight Parameters: Adjust aspect to suit wall height & width

vii) Render to see scene without volume lighting effect yet. viii) Atmospheres & Effects rollout

(1) Add button > Volume Light > OK (2) Render to see basic Volume Lighting

ix) Volume Light > Setup > Volume Light Parameters (1) Turn “Exponential” on (2) “Filter Shadows”: High (or turn “Auto” off & use higher setting)


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(3) “Density” = 0.3 or 0.5 (not 5.0 default – too bright) (4) Rendering Volume Light at some angles can introduce aliasing problems. To eliminate aliasing

problems, activate the Near and Far Attenuation settings in the light object that the Volume Light applied to.

(5) Noise (6) Turn ON (7) Amount 0.5 (8) Size: play

5) Sun & Shadows a) Create menu > Lights > Daylight System b) Click “Yes” button on the dialogue that appears. c) Click location for North point in Top viewport. d) Drag to show size of compass rose. e) Move mouse to show distance of sun icon from compass rose. f) Modify panel > Daylight Parameters rollout > Setup button g) Control Parameters rollout > Get Location button > Map: Australia > Melbourne h) Set time and date. i) Use the standard radiosity techniques as described earlier.

6) To match your viewport background with the rendered background: a) Activate the viewport you plan to render. b) Right-click the viewport label and choose Show Safe Frame. c) This turns on Safe Frames in the viewport. Note: You can also use View menu > Configure > Safe

Frame tab. In the Application group, turn on Show Safe Frames In Active View. d) In the Material Editor, create a material that contains the bitmap for your rendered background.

i) In the Material Editor > Coordinates rollout, turn on Environ. ii) In the Mapping field, Screen is automatically selected. This is the only mapping type you can use

for this purpose. e) On the main menu, choose Rendering > Environment.

i) Drag the map from the Material Editor > Maps rollout to the Environment Map button in the Environment dialog. Click OK on the Instance (Copy) Map dialog.

f) In the Viewport Background dialog > Background Source group, click Files to assign the same bitmap. i) In the Aspect Ratio group, turn on either Match Viewport or Match Rendering Output. Click OK.

g) Render the viewport. h) The background displayed in the rendered scene should exactly match the background displayed in the

Live area of the safe frames. Note: When you use the Match Bitmap option, the bitmap reverts to its original aspect ratio and does not match the rendered scene, unless you're rendering to the same aspect ratio.

7) To remove a background image: a) Activate the viewport with the background image visible. b) On the Views menu choose Viewport Background.

i) Notice the name and path of the background file is displayed in the Current field in the Background Source group

ii) In the Background Source group, click Devices. c) In the Select Image Input Device dialog, choose No I/O Handlers from the drop-down list, then click

OK. d) In the Bitmap Manager Error dialog, click OK. e) The current field no longer displays the background file name. Instead No I/O Handler is listed in the

Current field. f) Click OK to close the Viewport Background dialog. g) Next time you open up the Viewport Background dialog, no filename will be displayed in the Current

field. Tip: This technique will only work on systems that don't have any other Image Input Devices installed.

Week 10 1) Miscellaneous modifiers

a) Volume Select, Slice, Cap Holes, Mirror, Delete Mesh, Noise modifier 2) Advanced materials

a) Composite material example: i) materials are superimposed from top to bottom, as listed in the rollout. Materials are

combined using additive opacity, subtractive opacity, or mixed using an Amount value. ii) Create sony logotype in Photoshop: blue text with alpha channel

(1) Create text (2) Right-click layer thumbnail in Layers window


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(3) Choose “Layer transparency” (4) Select > Save Selection; accept defaults (5) Save as TIFF file, uncompressed, with Alpha channels

iii) To use the alpha channel that is part of the bitmap: (1) On the Maps rollout, assign the map to the Opacity component. (2) Click the map button for the Opacity component. (3) In the Bitmap Parameters rollout > Alpha Source group, choose Image Alpha. (4) In the Bitmap Parameters rollout > Mono Channel Output group, choose Alpha. (5) The bitmapped material will now have the transparency specified by the alpha

channel. This will appear in renderings. Transparency does not appear in viewports or ActiveShade renderings.

iv) v) To create an alpha channel based on intensity:

(1) In Bitmap Parameters rollout > Alpha Source group, turn on RGB Intensity. The software creates an alpha channel. Full-intensity areas of the image are opaque, zero-intensity areas are transparent, and intermediate colors become partially transparent.

vi) To use a completely opaque bitmap: (1) In Bitmap Parameters rollout > Alpha Source group, turn on None (opaque). The

software ignores the bitmap's alpha channel, if present, and does not create a new one.

3) Advanced mapping a) Mapping Modifiers

i) UVW Xform Modifier: Use it to adjust tiling and offset in existing UVW coordinates. If you have an object with complex UVW coordinates already applied (such as a Loft object, or a parametric object with generated coordinates), you can apply this modifier to adjust those coordinates further.

ii) MapScaler Modifier (Object Space): maintains the scale of a map applied to an object, with respect to the size of the object. This lets you resize the object, maintaining the scale of the map with respect to the object size. As you scale an object with a map applied, the map will scale along with the object.

iii) MapScaler Modifier (World Space): maintains the scale of the map, independent of the object size. If you scale an object with the MapScaler (WSM) modifier applied, the scale of the map itself is maintained as you scale the object.

b) UVW Xform modifier

Week 11

1. Selection Lock Toggle

a. Use with “Grid Point” 2d snap to move an object easily. 2. Applying a modifier to multiple objects at the same time

a. Create three cylinders; select them. b. Turn on “Use Pivot Points” in Modifier List c. Apply Bend modifier d. Remove Bend modifier, turn off “Use Pivot Points” and reapply modifier

3. AutoKey

a. Turn on AutoKey b. Move to another frame c. Make changes to object/s d. Repeat b and c if necessary e. Play animation

4. To animate using Set Key mode:


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a. Turn on Set Key mode. b. Select the objects you want to keyframe, right-click and choose Curve Editor.

c. Click Show Keyable icons, then use the keyable icons in the controller window to define which tracks will be keyed. A red key means the track will be keyed.

d. Click Key Filters and then turn on the tracks you want to keyframe. By default, Position Rotation, Scale and IK Parameters are turned on. In this example, turn off Rotation and Scale.

e. Select the objects in the viewport you want to animate. f. Move to the frame you want to set a key on. g. Move the objects as desired.

h. Click the Set Keys button. A key will appear in the track bar. The

Set Key button will flash red to show that it has set a key. i. Repeat this process, moving the time slider and setting keys.

5. Time configuration a. To define the active time segment:

i. Click Time Configuration. ii. In the Time Configuration dialog > Animation group, set Start Time to

specify the beginning of your active time segment. iii. Do one of the following:

1. Set End Time to specify the end of your active time segment. 2. Set Length to specify the amount of time in the active time

segment and automatically set the correct End Time. iv. You can enter positive or negative values in any spinner, but you must

use the same format used by the time display. v. You can change the active time segment without affecting the keys

you've created. For example, if you have keys scattered over a range of 1000 frames, you can narrow your active time segment to work on only frames 150 to 300. You can only work on the 150 frames in the active segment, but the remainder of the animation stays intact. Returning the active segment from 0 to 1000 restores access and playback of all the keys.

vi. Changing the active time segment has the following effects: 1. - Restricts the range of time you can use with the time slider. 2. - Restricts the range of time displayed when using the

animation playback buttons. vii. The default setting for the active time segment runs from frames 0 to

100, but you can set it to any range. b. To stretch out your existing animation over a longer time:

i. In the Time Configuration dialog > Animation group, click Re-scale Time FIRST. DO NOT CHANGE ANY VALUES BEFORE PRESSING “RE-SCALE TIME.”

ii. Change the value in Length to be the number of frames you want the action to fill.

iii. Click OK. iv. The animation is rescaled to the new number of frames. v. This also works to compress animations into a shorter space of time. To

avoid losing frames during the rescaling, use sub-frame animation. c. To use sub-frame animation:

i. In the Time Configuration > Time Display group, turn on FRAME:TICKS or MM:SS:TICKS. Click OK.

ii. Move the time slider to set keyframes in between keys.


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iii. Tip: Use this when you scale an animation down from a longer length to insure that you won’t lose any keys. You can then move the keys to frames and revert to frames without ticks.

6. Ghosting a. As you’re trying to animate objects, the ghosting feature can be very helpful.

This feature displays a copy of the object being animated before and after its current position.

b. To enable ghosting, choose Views�Show Ghosting. 7. Animating a camera along a path with Path Constraint

a. Create FREE camera (not Target Camera) by single clicking in Front or Left viewports

b. Draw path as a single spline. Unless you want the camera to roll along the floor, move the spline up above the floor surface to eg 1500mm.

c. Rotate the camera’s pivot point (Hierarchy Panel > Pivot > Affect Pivot Only) so that the X direction is aligned with camera lens direction.

d. Rotate and/or move the camera close to starting position of spline e. Select camera f. Animation menu > Constraints > Path Constraint g. If necessary, rotate camera to align with path h. Motion Panel > Path Parameters rollout > Path Options group > Follow (turn

on). i. Motion Panel > Path Parameters rollout > Path Options group > Constant

Velocity (turn on): j. Constant Velocity—Provides a constant velocity along the path. When off, the

velocity of the object along the path varies depending on the distance between the vertices on the path.

k. Loop—By default, when the constrained object reaches the end of a path it can no longer move past the end point. The loop option changes this behavior so that when the constrained object reaches the end of the path it loops back to the starting point.

l. Relative—Turn on to maintain the original position of the constrained object. The object will follow the path with an offset distance based on its original world space position.

8. Parameter Out-of-Range Types to create a loop: a. On the Create panel, click Geometry, then click Box. b. On the left side of the Front viewport create a small box. c. Turn on Auto Key and move the time slider to frame 10. d. Turn on Toolbar/Select and move the box to the right side of the Front viewport. e. Open Track View, right-click Filters, and then select Animated Tracks Only. f. Choose the Position track for the box in the Track View Hierarchy, and then

click Parameter Curve Out-of-Range types. g. In the Parameter Curve Out-of-Range Types dialog, select Ping Pong and click

OK. h. Click Play in the Viewport Controls. The box moves back and forth repeatedly.

While the animation is playing, experiment by turning on Position Ranges on the Track View toolbar and moving the ends and middle of the Position track bar back and forth in the Track View Key window. You can adjust the range bar independent of its keys and change the nature of the loop.

i. Curve Editor > Utilities menu > Track View Utilities > Create Out of Range Keys

j. Before: 0 After: 90 Samples: 9 9. Linking

a. Linking and Unlinking Objects i. Use Select and Link and Unlink Selection on the toolbar to make and

remove links between objects. b. Linking Objects

i. ii. The general process of creating links is to build the hierarchy from child

to parent. You click Select And Link on the toolbar, select one or more


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objects as children, and then drag the link cursor from the selection to a single parent object. The selected objects become children of the parent object.

iii. Once objects are linked, any transformations applied to the parent are also applied to its children. For example, if you scale the parent to 150%, the size of its children and the distance between the children and the parent are also scaled by 150%.

c. Unlinking Objects

i. Click Unlink Selection to remove the link from selected objects to their parents. Any children of the selected object are unaffected.

ii. You can quickly unlink an entire hierarchy by double-clicking the root object to select the object and all of its children. Then click Unlink Selection.

d. Displaying Links i. A complex mesh hierarchy can be displayed with the links visible, or

even with the links replacing the mesh objects. To display links, first select the linked objects. On the Display panel > Link Display rollout, turn on Display Links to see the links. You can also turn on Link Replaces Object to see only the links and not the objects.

e. Hierarchy Panel Commands i. Once you have set up a hierarchy using the Select and Link command,

you can manage it using the Hierarchy panel. ii. You use the Pivot tab to adjust the pivot points of objects in the

hierarchy. You use the Link Info tab to apply locks or inheritance to movement within the hierarchy.

f. Link info i. This part of the Hierarchy panel contains two rollouts. The Locks

rollout has controls to restrict the movement of objects in a particular axis. The Inherit rollout has controls to limit the transforms that a child inherits from its parent object.

g. Locks rollout i. X, Y, Z—Turn on any axis in the Move, Rotate, or Scale group box to

lock the axis. For example, if Rotate > X and Y are turned on, you'll be able to rotate the object only around the Z axis. All locks are relative to an object's local coordinate system.

h. Inherit rollout i. The Inherit rollout constrains the links between a selected object and its

parent for any axis of position, rotation, or scale. ii. X, Y, Z—Turn off any axis in the Move, Rotate, or Scale group boxes

to prevent inheritance. iii. When you turn on an axis, transform information passes from the parent

to the child for that axis. When you turn off an axis, transform information on that axis is ignored by the child.

Week 12

1. Mental Ray

a. Rendering Menu > Render... b. Common Tab > Assign Renderer Rollout > Production [ ] ... > Mental Ray c. Indirect Illumination Tab > Global Illumination > Enable > d. Max Num Photons per Sample : 250,000 e. Max Sampling Radius > ON > 25,000 (one tenth of Max Num Photons per Sample) f. Geometry Properties > All Objs Generate and Receive GI & Caustics > ON g. Final Gather: Better quality but much longer render times.

2. Depth of Field effect a. Create a camera.


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b. Select camera. c. Modify panel > Parameters rollout > Multi-Pass Effect > Depth of Field d. Adjust Target Distance spinner to determine in-focus area of scene. e. Modify panel > Depth of Field Parameters rollout > Sampling > Total passes f. Rendering will take 12 times longer!!! Beware!!!

3. Volume lights a. Open the Modify panel of a light. b. Open the Atmospheres & Effects rollout. c. Click Add. d. Select Volume Light from the Add Atmosphere or Effect dialog and click OK. e. Highlight Volume Light from the Atmospheres & Effects list and click setup to

adjust the Volume Light parameters. 4. Waves map

a. Waves is a 3D map that creates watery or wavy effects. It generates a number of spherical wave centers and randomly distributes them over a sphere. You can control the number of wave sets, the amplitude, and the speed of the waves. This map works effectively as both a diffuse and bump map at the same time. It can also be useful in combination with an opacity map.

b. Color #1 and #2—Click the color swatches to change the colors used in the pattern. Use one color for the wave troughs and the other for the wave peaks.

5. Tileable textures in Photoshop a. Create/open image in Photoshop b. Filter > Other > Offset. Enter values as HALF of existing image height/width c. Use Clone/Stamp Tool (S) to smooth over horizontal & vertical lines d. Save as an uncompressed TIFF file in IBM byte order.

6. To use standard fog: a. Create a Camera view of your scene. b. In the camera's creation parameters, turn on Show in the Environment Ranges group.

Standard fog is based on the camera's environment range values. c. Set Adjust Near Range and Far Range to include the objects you want to fog in your

rendering. As a general guideline, set Far Range just beyond the objects, and Near Range to intersect the object geometry closest to the camera.

d. Choose Rendering > Environment. e. Under Atmosphere on the Environment panel, click Add. The Add Atmospheric

Effect dialog is displayed. f. Choose Fog, and then click OK. g. Make sure you choose Standard as the type of fog.

7. Particle systems - Spray a. On the Create panel, make sure the Geometry button is active and Particle Systems is

chosen in the object category list, then click Spray. b. From the Create menu, choose Particles > Spray. c. Drag in a viewport to create the Spray emitter. The emitter's direction vector points in

the negative Z direction of the active construction plane. For example, if you create the emitter in the Top viewport, the particles will move downward in the Front and Left viewports.

d. Increase the Speed to a large number like 2000 for scenes drawn in millimetres. e. Apply a light coloured/transparent material if you want more visible drops.

8. Blinking Indicator a. Create box b. Create material c. Turn on “Autokey” d. Go to frame 10

i. Change “Self-illumination” to 100 e. Go to frame 20

i. Change “Self-illumination” to 0 f. Repeat previous two steps several times g. Turn off AutoKey h. Play and enjoy

9. Visibility Track a. Select object in Track View


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b. Track menu > Add Visibility Track c. Add Keys tool

i. Add keys along dashed line d. Change key values from 1.0 to less than 1.0 (0.0 or more) e. You can also right click any object in a viewport:

i. Choose Tranform > Properties... ii. General tab > Rendering Control > Visibility > 0.0 to 1.0

10. Video Post: Cut between two cameras a. Create animation

i. Create box (cube) ii. Turn on Autokey.

iii. Go to frame 50 iv. Reduce height of box. v. Go to frame 100.

vi. Move box. vii. Open the Curve Editor.

viii. Adjust movement (position change) to begin at frame 50, not frame 0. b. Create two cameras

i. Activate the Perspective view. ii. Create menu > Cameras > Create Camera From View (CTRL-C)

iii. Adjust camera view to include first 50 frames of the animation. iv. Create second camera manually in Top viewport. v. Change Camera01 view to Camera02.

vi. Adjust camera view to include second 50 frames of animation. c. Video Post

i. Rendering menu > Video Post ii. Add Scene Event button (blue teapot with bent arrow)

iii. Label: “height change” iv. Choose “Camera01” v. Video Post Parameters group:

1. VP Start Time: 0 2. VP End Time: 50

vi. OK vii. Add Scene Event button (blue teapot with bent arrow)

viii. Label: “Move box” ix. Choose “Camera02” x. Video Post Parameters group:


xi. OK xii. Add Image Output Event button (yellow rect, arrow leaving)

xiii. Files button xiv. AVI file, named, Cinepak compression. xv. Video Post Parameters group:


xvi. Execute Sequence button (running man) 11. Video Post: Crossfade between two cameras

a. Save previous scene. b. File menu > Save As... > “two cameras crossfade.max” c. Rendering menu > Video Post d. Click Camera01 in queue. e. Control-click or Shift-click Camera02 in queue. f. Video Post toolbar > Add Image Layer Event button (blue and yellow squares) g. Click “Adobe Premier Transition Filter” h. Choose “Cross Fade Transition” i. VP Start Time: 40; VP End Time: 60. j. OK k. Change Camera01 end time to frame 60. l. Change Camera02 start time to frame 40 (cameras should overlap by 20 frames)


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m. Double click Image Output Event in queue (something.avi) n. Click Files... button o. Change file name of AVI file p. OK q. Execute Sequence button (running man)

12. Creating Grass

a. Draw V-shaped line in Top viewport b. Apply Extrude modifier with 4 segments c. Apply Taper modifier d. Apply Bend modifier; adjust Direction parameter to suit e. Create a Copy of blade of grass for backup purposes. f. Right click original object’s modifier stack and Collapse All; Hold/Yes g. Draw a Plane object with 44 segments in each direction. h. Apply Noise modifier to plane; Adjust Scale and Z-strength for gentle undulations. i. Select original Line object (blade of grass) j. Create panel > Geometry > Compound Objects > Scatter button k. Pick Distribution Object button: pick plane l. Scatter Objects rollout > Source Object Parameters group > Duplicates: 1500+ m. Scatter Objects rollout > Distribution Object Parameters group > Random Faces n. Transforms rollout > Rotation group > Z: 45 (degrees) random rotation

13. Animating Material colour change a. Create geosphere b. Open Material Editor c. Click Diffuse colour rectangle d. Choose any colour. e. Apply Material to geosphere f. Turn on Auto Key button g. Go to frame 80 h. Open Material Editor i. Click Diffuse colour rectangle j. Choose a different colour. k. Turn off Auto Key l. Scrub playback head to preview animation of material colour. m. Save file as “Simple Material Animation.max”

14. Animating Material – complete change from one material to another. a. Create a geosphere in a new scene. b. Create two completely different materials:

i. E.g. yellow bricks and foliage, or ii. E.g. Marble diffuse map and Swirl diffuse map.

c. Go to empty sample slot. d. Click “Standard” button to change material to a “Blend” material. e. Drag and drop first two materials onto Material 1 & 2 buttons respectively. f. Apply material to geosphere. g. Turn on Auto Key button near timeline. h. Go to frame 80 i. Open Material Editor j. Change Mix amount from 0.0 to 100 k. Turn off Auto Key button. l. Animation will NOT preview in viewport. m. You must render entire file (320x240 pixels recommended) to see material change. n. Click “Render Scene Dialogue” button in toolbar o. Common Parameters rollout > Time Output > Render Active Time Segment p. Common Parameters rollout > Render Output > Files button q. Specify filename and choose AVI file format with Cinepak compression. r. Check that viewport to render is Perspective or Camera! s. Press Render button

15. To match your viewport background with the rendered background: a. Activate the viewport you plan to render. b. Right-click the viewport label and choose Show Safe Frame.


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c. In the Material Editor, create a material that contains the bitmap for your rendered background. (Diffuse Map) (LAKEDUSK.JPG in 3dsMax\Maps\Backgrounds)

d. In the Material Editor > Coordinates rollout, turn on Environ. e. In the Mapping field, Screen is automatically selected. This is the only mapping type

you can use for this purpose. f. On the main menu, choose Rendering > Environment. g. Drag the map from the Material Editor > Maps rollout to the Environment Map

button in the Environment dialog. Click OK on the Instance (Copy) Map dialog. h. Views Menu > Viewport Background... i. Background Source group > Files button: assign the same bitmap. j. In the Aspect Ratio group, turn on either Match Viewport or Match Rendering

Output. Click OK. k. Render the viewport. l. The background displayed in the rendered scene should exactly match the

background displayed in the Live area of the safe frames. Note: When you use the Match Bitmap option, the bitmap reverts to its original aspect ratio and does not match the rendered scene, unless you're rendering to the same aspect ratio.

16. To remove a background image: a. Activate the viewport with the background image visible. b. On the Views menu choose Viewport Background. c. Notice the name and path of the background file is displayed in the Current field in

the Background Source group d. In the Background Source group, click Devices. e. In the Select Image Input Device dialog, choose No I/O Handlers from the drop-

down list, then click OK. f. In the Bitmap Manager Error dialog, click OK. g. The current field no longer displays the background file name. Instead No I/O

Handler is listed in the Current field. h. Click OK to close the Viewport Background dialog. i. Next time you open up the Viewport Background dialog, no filename will be

displayed in the Current field. Tip: This technique will only work on systems that don't have any other Image Input Devices installed.

17. Shadows on a background image a. Create a ground or floor plane that matches the background image ground plane. b. Apply a Matte/Shadow material (not map) to the ground plane. c. Make sure you have lights that cast shadows d. Render the scene. The plane will disappear and only shadows on it will be visible.

18. Camera Match Utility a. Tools menu > Camera Match b. Utilities panel > Utilities rollout > Camera Match button c. The Camera Match utility uses a bitmap background photo and five or more special

"CamPoint" objects to create or modify a camera so that its position, orientation, and field-of-view matches that of the camera that originally created the photo.

d. The Camera Matching tutorial takes you through steps to match a camera to a bitmap background photo. It’s an involved process, but the results are worth the work. The general process that you follow in that tutorial is described in the following procedures.

19. To use camera matching: a. Load a bitmap as a background for the renderer. b. Load a bitmap as a background for the viewport. Identify on the bitmap at least five

features that will be used for the match. These should be objects or corners of objects in the scene that can be identified and tracked. They should remain visually throughout the scene, and should not change their shape too much or they won’t work.

c. Create CameraPoints, which are helper objects found in these locations: Create panel > Helpers > Camera Match > Object Type rollout > CamPoint, and Create menu > Helpers > Camera Point.

d. You must have accurate measurements of distances between at least five features in your scene, which can’t be all on a single plane. Try to use points that are distributed


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throughout the scene rather than features that are all clustered in the front or back. This will give the most accurate results.

e. Position these CameraPoints to correspond to points in your photo. You can use the Transform Type-In to position the points in the correct locations in 3D space.

f. Use the Camera Match utility to assign the CameraPoints to pixel locations on the bitmap.

g. Choose Create Camera and a camera is created to match the one that took the picture. If there are errors and the camera cannot be created, readjust the point positions in 3D space, and reassign them to the bitmap. It’s easy to make a mistake doing either, but once you get it right the match should work.

Documents

3D Studio Max Tutorial