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3DS MAX – I

Unit–I : 3DS MAX Basics Introduction – Work area – Uses In Various Engineering Sectors- Features - Ports and

Configuration- Animation Options – Time Line and Time Slider- Using primitives – modules –

shapes – components-Operating Tools- Application-Tools Link- Unlink- Selection Tools- Mirror

and Snaps- Software Interface- Navigation Panel- Tab Panel- Media Panel- Grid and Snap Set

Up:- Selection Sets, Align, Layers, Render, Material Editor - Interface for Command Panel -

Create, Modify, Hierarchy, Object Categories- Array.

Unit–II : 3DS Max Primitives Extended Primitives- Group Menu- P Q R Axis- Co Ordinates, Family Parameters - Modeling

Hedra, Torous Nut, Chamfer Box- Chamfer Cylinder-Parameters Modifier - Bend, Taper, Twist,

Shell, Slice, Wave, Noise - Appling Parametric Modifiers With Shell Modifiers - Limit Effects

Gizmo Center-Geometrical 3d Object With Parameters – Modeling- Interior Object- Sofa,

Tables, Beds and Cupboards - 2d to 3d perspectives – Modeling characters - Modeling

architecture - Polygon modeling - Nurbs modeling-Color - Materials - Textures - utilities -

applying materials - UVS - Projections.

Unit–III : Drawing Shapes Concepts of 2D Shapes- Line-Spline-Editable Spline and Default Shapes- Visualization On Arc,

Rectangle, Polygon, Circle, Ellipse - Extrude Lathe, Loft- Boolean-Using Editable Spline -

Attach and Cross Section – Segments- Splines - Modeling Concepts- Belevel Profile - Vertex

Parameters - Segment Parameters - Spline Parameters- - Convert 3d Objects to Editable

Polygon -Vertex Edge Polygon-Elements Adding - Scaling - Rotation Movement Of Scale

Parameters and Modeling.

Unit–IV : Image Shining Apply Material On Surfaces - UVW Mapping Tiling - Diffuse Mapping and Creating New

Tercouse - Bitmap Material Creating Mirror and Glosyness - Multi Material Editing Maps-

Architectural Maps - Shellac Maps - Raytral Maps - Materials Object Maps - Blend Materials -

Composite Materials - UVW Mapping – Tiling - Browsing jpeg as Materials - Rendering - Scan

Line Rendered-Creating Subtraction and 3d Objects From 2d Lines and Shapes - Apply Mirror- -

Editable Spline- Segment and Line.

Unit–V : Walkthrough Concepts- Frame Rate and Time Configuration- Walk Through- Rising and Droppings Camera

on Stair Cases and Exterior Elevations-Modifiers and Parameter Modify Tools - Mesh Smooth

and Interaction- Projections – UV working – Export UV to Photoshop –Importing Photoshop

Images to MAX-Creating Character Model – Applying textures – Finalizing Character model and

Texture.

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UNIT I

Introduction

Autodesk 3ds Max, formerly 3D Studio Max, is 3D computer graphics software for making 3D animations, models, and images. It was developed and produced by Autodesk Media and Entertainment. It has modeling capabilities, a flexible plugin architecture and can be used on the Microsoft Windows platform. It is frequently used by video game developers, TV commercial studios and architectural visualization studios. It is also used for movie effects and movie pre-visualization.

In addition to its modeling and animation tools, the latest version of 3ds Max also features shaders (such as ambient occlusion and subsurface scattering), dynamic simulation, particle systems, radiosity, normal map creation and rendering, global illumination, a customizable user interface, and its own scripting language

The original 3D Studio product was created for the DOS platform by the Yost Group and published by Autodesk. After 3D Studio DOS Release 4, the product was rewritten for the Windows NT platform, and renamed "3D Studio MAX." This version was also originally created by the Yost Group. It was released by Kinetix, which was at that time Autodesk's division of media and entertainment. Autodesk purchased the product at the second release mark of the 3D Studio MAX version and internalized development entirely over the next two releases. Later, the product name was changed to "3ds max" (all lower case) to better comply with the naming conventions of Discreet, a Montreal-based software company which Autodesk had purchased. At release 8, the product was again branded with the Autodesk logo, and the name was again changed to "3ds Max" (upper and lower case). At release 2009, the product name changed to "Autodesk 3ds Max".

Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 System Requirements

32-Bit 3ds Max 2012 or 3ds Max Design 2012 for Windows

Operating system: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Professional operating system, Microsoft® Windows Vista® Business operating system (SP2 or higher), or Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional operating system (SP3 or higher)

For general animation and rendering (typically fewer than 1,000 objects or 100,000 polygons):

Intel® Pentium® 4 1.4 GHz or equivalent AMD® processor with SSE2 technology*

2 GB RAM (4 GB recommended)

2 GB swap space (4 GB recommended)**

3 GB free hard drive space

Direct3D® 10 technology, Direct3D 9, or OpenGL-capable graphics card† (256 MB or higher video card memory, 1 GB or higher recommended)

Three-button mouse with mouse driver software

DVD-ROM drive††

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Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 8.0 internet browser or higher or Mozilla® Firefox® 3.0 internet browser or higher

Internet connection for web downloads and Autodesk® Subscription-aware access

64-Bit 3ds Max 2012 or 3ds Max Design 2012 for Windows

Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional x64, Microsoft Windows Vista Business x64 (SP2 or higher), or Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 (SP3 or higher)

For general animation and rendering (typically fewer than 1,000 objects or 100,000 polygons):

Intel® 64 or AMD64 processor with SSE2 technology*

4 GB RAM (8 GB recommended)

4 GB swap space (8 GB recommended)**

3 GB free hard drive space

Direct3D 10, Direct3D 9, or OpenGL-capable graphics card† (256 MB or higher video card memory, 1 GB recommended)

Three-button mouse with mouse driver software

DVD-ROM drive††

Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 or higher or Mozilla Firefox 3.0 or higher browser

Internet connection for web downloads and Autodesk Subscription-aware access

For large scenes and complex data sets (typically more than 1,000 objects or 100,000 polygons):

Intel® 64 or AMD64 processor with SSE2 technology*

8 GB RAM

8 GB swap space**

3 GB free hard drive space

Direct3D 10, Direct3D 9, or OpenGL-capable graphics card† (1 GB or higher video card memory)

Three-button mouse with mouse driver software

DVD-ROM drive††

Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 or higher or Mozilla Firefox 3.0 or higher browser

Internet connection for web downloads and Autodesk Subscription-aware access

3ds Max 2012 or 3ds Max Design 2012 for Macintosh

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Boot Camp

You can install Autodesk 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design 2012 software on a Mac® computer on a Windows® partition. The system must use Boot Camp® application program to help manage a dual OS configuration and meet the minimum system requirements.

Intel®-based Mac Pro or MacBook® Pro computer¹

Mac® OS X 10.5.x or higher operating system

Boot Camp V 2.0 or higher

Minimum 2 GB RAM (4 GB recommended for 32-bit Windows, 8 GB or more for 64-bit Windows)

Minimum 20 GB disk space for Apple OS partition, minimum 20 GB for Windows OS partition

Work Area

1. Menu bar

2. Window/Crossing selection toggle

3. Snap tools

4. Command panels

5. Object categories

6. Rollout

7. Active viewport

8. Viewport navigation controls

9. Animation playback controls

10. Animation keying controls

11. Absolute/Relative coordinate toggle and coordinate display

12. Prompt line and status bar

13. MAXScript mini-listener

14. Track bar

15. Time slider

16. Main toolbar

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Most of the main window is occupied by the viewports, where you view and work with your scene. The remaining areas of the window hold controls and show status information.

One of the most important aspects of using 3ds Max is its versatility. Many program functions are available from multiple user-interface elements. For example, you can open Track View for animation control from the Main toolbar as well as the Graph Editors menu, but the easiest way to get to a specific object's track in Track View is to right-click the object, and then choose Track View Selected from the quad menu.

You can customize the user interface in a variety of ways: by adding keyboard shortcuts, moving toolbars and command panels around, creating new toolbars and tool buttons, and even recording scripts into toolbar buttons.

MAXScript lets you create and use custom commands in the built-in scripting language. For more information, access the MAXScript Reference from the Help menu.

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Features

MAXScript

MAXScript is a built-in scripting language that can be used to automate repetitive tasks, combine existing functionality in new ways, develop new tools and user interfaces, and much more. Plugin modules can be created entirely within MAXScript.

Character Studio

Character Studio was a plugin which since version 4 of Max is now integrated in 3D Studio Max, helping users to animate virtual characters. The system works using a character rig or "Biped" skeleton which has stock settings that can be modified and customized to the fit character meshes and animation needs. This tool also includes robust editing tools for IK/FK switching, Pose manipulation, Layers and Keyframing workflows, and sharing of animation data across different Biped skeletons. These "Biped" objects have other useful features that help accelerate the production of walk cycles and movement paths, as well as secondary motion.

Scene Explorer

Scene Explorer, a tool that provides a hierarchical view of scene data and analysis, facilitates working with more complex scenes. Scene Explorer has the ability to sort, filter, and search a scene by any object type or property (including metadata). Added in 3ds Max 2008, it was the first component to facilitate .NET managed code in 3ds Max outside of MAXScript.

DWG Import

3ds Max supports both import and linking of DWG files. Improved memory management in 3ds Max 2008 enables larger scenes to be imported with multiple objects.

Texture Assignment/Editing

3ds Max offers operations for creative texture and planar mapping, including tiling, mirroring, decals, angle, rotate, blur, UV stretching, and relaxation; Remove Distortion; Preserve UV; and UV template image export. The texture workflow includes the ability to combine an unlimited number of textures, a material/map browser with support for drag-and-drop assignment, and hierarchies with thumbnails. UV workflow features include Pelt mapping, which defines custom seams and enables users to unfold UVs according to those seams; copy/paste materials, maps and colors; and access to quick mapping types (box, cylindrical, spherical).

General Keyframing

Two keying modes — set key and auto key — offer support for different keyframing workflows.

Fast and intuitive controls for keyframing — including cut, copy, and paste — let the user create animations with ease. Animation trajectories may be viewed and edited directly in the viewport.

Constrained Animation

Objects can be animated along curves with controls for alignment, banking, velocity, smoothness, and looping, and along surfaces with controls for alignment. Weight path-controlled animation between multiple curves, and animate the weight. Objects can be constrained to animate with other objects in many ways — including look at, orientation in

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different coordinate spaces, and linking at different points in time. These constraints also support animated weighting between more than one target.

All resulting constrained animation can be collapsed into standard keyframes for further editing.

Skinning

Either the Skin or Physique modifier may be used to achieve precise control of skeletal deformation, so the character deforms smoothly as joints are moved, even in the most challenging areas, such as shoulders. Skin deformation can be controlled using direct vertex weights, volumes of vertices defined by envelopes, or both.

Capabilities such as weight tables, paintable weights, and saving and loading of weights offer easy editing and proximity-based transfer between models, providing the accuracy and flexibility needed for complicated characters.

The rigid bind skinning option is useful for animating low-polygon models or as a diagnostic tool for regular skeleton animation.

Additional modifiers, such as Skin Wrap and Skin Morph, can be used to drive meshes with other meshes and make targeted weighting adjustments in tricky areas.

Skeletons and Inverse Kinematics (IK)

Characters can be rigged with custom skeletons using 3ds Max bones, IK solvers, and rigging tools powered by Motion Capture Data.

All animation tools — including expressions, scripts, list controllers, and wiring — can be used along with a set of utilities specific to bones to build rigs of any structure and with custom controls, so animators see only the UI necessary to get their characters animated.

Four plug-in IK solvers ship with 3ds Max: history-independent solver, history-dependent solver, limb solver, and spline IK solver. These powerful solvers reduce the time it takes to create high-quality character animation. The history-independent solver delivers smooth blending between IK and FK animation and uses preferred angles to give animators more control over the positioning of affected bones.

The history-dependent solver can solve within joint limits and is used for machine-like animation. IK limb is a lightweight two-bone solver, optimized for real-time interactivity, ideal for working with a character arm or leg. Spline IK solver provides a flexible animation system with nodes that can be moved anywhere in 3D space. It allows for efficient animation of skeletal chains, such as a character’s spine or tail, and includes easy-to-use twist and roll controls.

Integrated Cloth Solver

In addition to reactor’s cloth modifier, 3ds Max software has an integrated cloth-simulation engine that enables the user to turn almost any 3D object into clothing, or build garments from scratch. Collision solving is fast and accurate even in complex simulations.(image.3ds max.jpg)

Local simulation lets artists drape cloth in real time to set up an initial clothing state before setting animation keys.

Cloth simulations can be used in conjunction with other 3ds Max dynamic forces, such as Space Warps. Multiple independent cloth systems can be animated with their own objects and forces.

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Cloth deformation data can be cached to the hard drive to allow for nondestructive iterations and to improve playback performance.

Integration with Autodesk Vault

Autodesk Vault plug-in, which ships with 3ds Max, consolidates users’ 3ds Max assets in a single location, enabling them to automatically track files and manage work in progress. Users can easily and safely share, find, and reuse 3ds Max (and design) assets in a large-scale production or visualization environment.

Ports and Configuration

3ds Max defaults to a 2 x 2 arrangement of viewports. Thirteen other layouts are available, but the maximum number of viewports on the screen remains four.

Using the Layout Panel of the Viewport Configuration dialog, you can pick from the different layouts and customize the viewports in each. The viewport configuration is saved with your work.

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Resizing the Viewport

After choosing a layout you can resize the viewports so they have different proportions by moving the splitter bars that separate the viewports. This is available only when multiple viewports are displayed.

Changing the View Type

As you work, you can change the view in any viewport quickly. For example, you can switch from front view to back view. You can use either of two methods: menu or keyboard shortcut.

Click or right-click the Point-Of-View (POV) viewport label of the viewport you want to change. Then from the POV viewport label menu, click the view type that you want.

Click the viewport you want to change, and then press one of the keyboard shortcuts in the following table.

Key View type

T Top view

B Bottom view

F Front view

L Left view

C Camera view. If your scene has only one camera, or you select a camera before using this keyboard shortcut, that camera supplies the view. If your scene has more than one camera, and none are selected, a list of cameras appears.

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P Perspective view. Retains viewing angle of previous view.

U Orthographic User view. Retains viewing angle of previous view. Allows use of Zoom Region .

Understanding Views

each viewport can be set to display either of two types of views: axonometric or perspective.

Axonometric views show the scene without perspective. All lines in the model are parallel to one another. The Top, Front, Left, and Orthographic viewports are axonometric views.

Axonometric View of a Scene

Orthographic View

Whether produced on computer or paper, most 3D design relies on 2D representations for accurate description of objects and their positioning. Maps, plans, cross-sections, and elevations are all examples of 2D representations. Each of these views represents an orthographic view. In familiar terms, you might think of these views as "flat" or "straight-on," or as "looking at right angles."

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Orthographic views of a model

Orthographic views are two-dimensional, each defined by two world coordinate axes. Combinations of these axes produce three pairs of orthographic views: top and bottom; front and back; left and right.

Perspective views show the scene with lines that converge at the horizon. The Perspective and Camera viewports are examples of perspective views.

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Perspective view of the same model

Perspective views most closely resemble human vision, where objects appear to recede into the distance, creating a sense of depth and space. Axonometric views provide an undistorted view of the scene for accurate scaling and placement. A common workflow is to use axonometric views to create the scene, then use a perspective view to render the final output.

Animation Options

You can locate the basic animation tools in the following areas of the interface:

Track View

Provides detailed animation editing capabilities in several floating or dockable windows. Track Bar

Provides quick access to keyframes and interpolation controls. Can be expanded for function curve editing.

Motion Panel

Use this panel to adjust transform controllers that affect all position, rotation, and scale animation..

Hierarchy Panel

Use this panel to adjust all parameters governing the linkage of two or more objects. These include inverse kinematics parameters and pivot point adjustments.

Time Controls

Use these controls to move through time in the viewport displays. You can move to any point in time, and play animations in the viewports.

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Time Line and Time Slider

Time line

These are the controls for the Time Configuration dialog. You can display this dialog by right-clicking any of the time control buttons to the right of the Auto Key button.

Frame Rate group

These four option buttons, labeled NTSC, Film, PAL, and Custom let you set the frame rate in frames-per-second (FPS). The first three buttons force the standard FPS for that choice. The Custom button lets you specify your own FPS by adjusting the spinner.

FPS (Frames Per Second)

Sets the frame rate of your animation in Frames per Second. Use frame rates of 30 fps for video, 24 for film, and lower rates for web and media animations.

Time Display group

Specifies the method for displaying time in the time slider and throughout 3ds Max. Choices are Frames or in minutes, seconds and ticks.

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Specifies the method for displaying time in the time slider and throughout 3ds Max (in frames, in SMPTE, in frames and ticks, or in minutes, seconds, and ticks).

For example, if the time slider is at frame 35, and the Frame Rate is set to 30 fps, the time slider would display the following numbers for the different Time Display settings:

Frames: 35

SMPTE: 0:1:5

FRAME: TICKS: 35:0

MM:SS: TICKS: 0:1:800

SMPTE is the Society of Motion Picture Technical Engineers standard used to measure time for video and television production.

Playback group

Real Time

Real Time causes viewport playback to skip frames to keep up with the current Frame Rate setting. A choice of five playback speeds is available: 1x is normal speed, 1/2x is half speed, and so on. The speed settings affect only the playback in the viewports.

These speed settings can also be used with the Motion Capture utility.

When Real Time is off, viewport playback occurs as rapidly as possible and displays all frames.

Active Viewport Only

Causes playback to occur only in the active viewport. When off, all viewports display animation.

Loop

Controls whether the animation playback occurs only once, or repeatedly. When on, playback repeats until you stop it by clicking an animation control button or the time slider channel. When off, the animation plays once and then stops. Clicking Play rewinds to the first frame and plays again.

Direction

Set the animation to play forward, reverse, or ping-pong (forward and then reverse, repeating). This affects only the playback in the interactive renderer. It does not apply when rendering to any image output file. These options are available only when Real Time is off.

You can recall these settings automatically upon startup or reset by saving a maxstart.max file..

Animation Group

Start Time/End Time

Sets the active time segment displayed in the time slider. Choose any time segment before or after frame 0. For example, you can set an active time segment from –50 to 250.

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Length

Displays the number of frames in the active time segment. If you make this greater than the total frames in the active segment, the End Time field increases accordingly.

Frame Count

The number of frames that will render. Always the length plus one.

Current Time

Specifies the current frame for the time slider. As you adjust this, the time slider moves accordingly and the viewport updates.

Re-scale Time

Stretches or shrinks the animation for the active time segment to fit into the new time segment you specify. Relocates the position of all keys in all tracks. As a result, the animation plays over a greater or lesser number of frames, making it faster or slower.

Key Steps group

Controls in this group let you configure the method used when you turn on Key Mode.

Use TrackBar

Allows key mode to honor all keys in the track bar. This includes any parameter animation in addition to transform keys.

To make the following controls available, turn off Use TrackBar.

Selected Objects Only

Considers only the transforms of selected objects when you use Key Steps mode. If you turn this off, the transforms of all (unhidden) objects in the scene are considered. Default=on.

Use Current Transform

Disables Position, Rotation, and Scale and uses the current transform in Key Mode. For example, if the Rotate button is selected in the toolbar, you stop at each rotation key. If none of the three transform buttons are on, Key Mode considers all transforms.

To make the following control available, turn off Use Current Transform.

Position, Rotation, Scale

Specifies which transforms are used by Key Mode. Clear Use Current Transform to make the Position, Rotation, and Scale check boxes available.

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Time Slider

The time slider shows the current frame and lets you move to any frame in the active time segment. Right-clicking the slider bar opens the Create Key dialog, which lets you create position, rotation, or scale keys without using the Auto Key button.

When you are in Auto Key mode, you can right-click and drag the time slider to create a key that has the source at the initial time slider position, and the destination at the subsequent time slider position.

In Set Key mode, holding down the right mouse button and dragging the time slider allows you to move a pose in time without losing it in the viewport.

To move one frame back or forward, click the arrow on the left or right side of the time slider, respectively. Or simply place your cursor anywhere on the time line, click and the time slider will jump to your cursor position. In Key Mode, clicking an arrow jumps to the adjacent key.

The Track View Key window displays a time slider as well. The movement of the two time slider is synchronized. Moving the time slider in the Track View window also moves the time slider below the viewports, and vice versa.

Using Primitives – Modules

Standard Primitives

Geometric primitives are familiar as objects in the real world such as beach balls, pipes, boxes, doughnuts, and ice cream cones. In 3ds Max, you can model many such objects using a single primitive. You can also combine primitives into more complex objects, and further refine them with modifiers.

A collection of standard primitive objects

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3ds Max includes a set of 10 basic primitives. You can easily create the primitives with the mouse in the viewport, and most can be generated from the keyboard as well. These primitives are listed in the Object Type rollout and on the Create menu.

You can convert standard primitive objects to editable mesh objects, editable poly objects, and NURBS surfaces. You can also convert primitives to patch objects

All primitives have name and color controls, and allow you to enter initial values from the keyboard

Extended Primitives

Extended Primitives are a collection of complex primitives for 3ds Max. The topics that follow describe each type of extended primitive and its creation parameters.

A collection of extended primitive objects

These primitives are available from the Object Type rollout on the Create panel and from the Create menu Extended Primitives.

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All primitives offer AutoGrid. They all have name and color controls, and allow you to enter initial values from the keyboard

Shapes

A shape is an object made from one or more curved or straight lines. 3ds Max includes the following shape types: splines and NURBS curves.

Using Shapes

Shapes are 2D and 3D lines and groups of lines that you typically use as components of other objects. Most of the default shapes are made from splines

3ds Max supplies 11 basic spline shape objects, two types of NURBS curves, and five extended splines. You can create these shapes quickly with mouse or keyboard entry and combine them to form compound shapes. For specifics about creating the various shapes

Splines include the following object types:

Line,

Rectangle,

Circle,

Ellipse,

Arc,

Donut.

NGon,

Star,

Text,

HelixSection.

Extended Splines include the following object types:

WRectangle.

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Channel.

Angle.

Tee, and

Wide

This topic covers general aspects of spline and extended spline creation, including the parameters available on rollouts common to all spline objects.

Interface

Object Type rollout (Splines and Extended Splines)

Rendering rollout

Lets you toggle shape renderability in the viewports and rendered output, specify cross-section settings, and apply mapping coordinates.

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You can animate render parameters, such as the number of sides, but you cannot animate the Viewport settings.

You can convert the displayed mesh into a mesh object by applying an Edit Mesh or Edit Poly modifier or converting to an editable mesh or editable poly object. If Enable In Viewport is off when converting, closed shapes will be “filled in” and open shapes will contain only vertices; no edges or faces. If Enable In Viewport is on when converting, the system will use the Viewport settings for this mesh conversion. This gives maximum flexibility, and will always give the conversion of the mesh displayed in the viewports.

Enable In Renderer

When on, the shape is rendered as a 3D mesh using the Radial or Rectangular parameters set for Renderer.

Enable In Viewport

When on, the shape is displayed in the viewport as a 3D mesh using the Radial or Rectangular parameters set for Renderer.

Use Viewport settings

Lets you set different rendering parameters, and displays the mesh generated by the Viewport settings. Available only when Enable in Viewport is turned on.

Generate Mapping Cords

Turn this on to apply mapping coordinates. Default=off.

3ds Max generates the mapping coordinates in the U and V dimensions. The U coordinate wraps once around the spline; the V coordinate is mapped once along its length. Tiling is achieved using the Tiling parameters in the applied material. For more information, see Mapping Coordinates.

Real-World Map Size

Controls the scaling method used for texture mapped materials that are applied to the object. The scaling values are controlled by the Use Real-World Scale settings found in the applied material's Coordinates rollout. Default=off.

Viewport

Choose this to specify Radial or Rectangular parameters for the shape as it will display in the viewports when Enable In Viewport and Use Viewport Settings are on.

Available only when both Enable In Viewport and Use Viewport Settings are on.

Renderer

Choose this to specify Radial or Rectangular parameters for the shape as it will display when rendered. These settings are also used for viewport rendering when Enable In Viewport is on but Use Viewport Settings is off.

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Radial

Renders the shape with a circular cross-section.

Thickness

The diameter of the rendered spline mesh. Default=1.0. Range=0.0 to 100,000,000.0.

Splines rendered at thickness of 1.0 and 5.0, respectively

Sides

The number of sides (or facets) for the rendered spline mesh. For example, a value of 4 results in a square cross section.

Angle

The rotational position of the rendered cross-section. For example, if the spline mesh has a square cross section you can use Angle to position a flat side down.

Rectangular

Displays the spline's mesh shape as a rectangle.

Length

The size of the cross–section along the local Y axis.

Width

The size of the cross–section along the local X axis.

Angle

The rotational position of the rendered cross-section. For example, if the spline mesh has a square cross section you can use Angle to position a flat side down.

Aspect

The ratio of width to length. Adjusting Aspect automatically changes the Length setting to establish the indicated aspect ratio with respect to the Width value.

When Lock is on, the Aspect setting is unavailable and adjusting Width or Length automatically changes the other to maintain the aspect ratio.

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Auto Smooth

When on, the rendered spline is automatically smoothed using the the Threshold setting (see following).

NoteTurning Auto Smooth on does not always yield optimal smoothing quality. For best results, it might be necessary to change the Threshold value or to turn off Auto Smooth, depending on your requirements and the other settings.

Threshold

The angle, in degrees, used to determine whether smoothing occurs. Any two adjacent spline segments are put in the same smoothing group if the angle between them is less than the threshold angle.

Interpolation rollout

These settings control how a spline is generated. All spline curves are divided into small straight lines that approximate the true curve. The number of divisions between each vertex on the spline are called steps. The higher the number of steps, the smoother the curve.

Steps

Spline steps can be either adaptive (that is, set automatically by turning on Adaptive) or specified manually.

When Adaptive is off, use the Steps setting to specify the number of divisions between each vertex. Splines with tight curves require many steps to look smooth while gentle curves require fewer steps. Range=0 to 100.

Optimize

When on, removes unneeded steps from straight segments in the spline. Default=on.

Adaptive

When off, enables manual interpolation control using Optimize and Steps. Default=off.

When on, Adaptive sets the number of steps for each spline to produce a smooth curve. Straight segments always receive 0 steps.

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Optimized spline left and adaptive spline right. Resulting wireframe view of each, respectively, on the right.

The main use for manual interpolation of splines is in morphing or other operations where you must have exact control over the number of vertices created.

Creation Method rollout

Many spline tools use the Creation Method setting. Here you choose to define splines by either their center point or their diagonal.

Text and Star do not have a Creation Method rollout.

Line and Arc have unique Creation Methods rollouts that are discussed in their respective topics.

Edge

Your first click defines a point on the side or at a corner of the shape and you drag a diameter or the diagonal corner.

Center

Your first click defines the center of the shape and you drag a radius or corner point.

Keyboard Entry rollout

You can create most splines using keyboard entry. The process is generally the same for all splines and the parameters are found on the Keyboard Entry rollout. Keyboard entry varies

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primarily in the number of optional parameters. The image above shows a sample Keyboard Entry rollout for the Circle shape.

The Keyboard Entry rollout contains three fields for the X, Y, and Z coordinates of the initial creation point, plus a variable number of parameters to complete the spline. Enter values in each field and click the Create button to create the spline.

ApplicationTools

Link

Use the Select and Link button to define the hierarchical relationship between two objects by linking them as child and parent.

You link from the currently selected object (child) to any other object (parent).

You can link an object to a closed group. When you do, the object becomes a child of the group parent rather than any member of the group. The entire group flashes to show that you've linked to the group.

A child inherits the transformations (move, rotate, scale) applied to the parent, but the child's transformations have no effect on the parent. If you want the child not to inherit the transforms, use the Link Inheritance (Selected) Utility or use the controls found in Link Info in the Hierarchy panel.

You can also create hierarchical linkages using Schematic View. Use the Connect button on the Schematic View toolbar to create hierarchical linkages between nodes.

Procedures

To link two objects:

1. Click (Select And Link).

2. Drag a line from an object (the child) to any other object (the parent).

Note: You do not need to select the child object first.

Unlink

Use the Unlink Selection button to remove the hierarchical relationship between two objects.

Unlink Selection detaches a child object from its parent object.

Procedures

To unlink a child object from a parent object:

1. Select the child object you want to unlink.

2. Click (Unlink Selection).

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Selection Tools

Select Object lets you select an objects and sub-objects for manipulation.

Object selection is affected by several other controls:

The active Selection Region type: Rectangular, Circular, Fence, Lasso, or Paint.

The active selection filter (All, Geometry, Shapes, Lights, and so forth).

The state of the crossing selection tool (which determines whether completely surrounded objects or surrounded and crossing objects are selected).

You can also select objects by name with the Select From Scene dialogSelect From Scene list; press the H key to access the dialog.

A number of objects selected together is called a selection set. You can name selection sets in the Named Selection Sets field on the main toolbar and then recall them for later use.

The Smart Select command activates the Select Object function and, with repeated invocations, cycles through the available Selection Region methods. By default, Smart Select is assigned to the Q key; you can use Customize User Interface to assign it to a different keyboard shortcut, a menu, etc.

Procedures

In versions of 3ds Max prior to 3ds Max 2011, holding down the Ctrl toggled an object’s selection state. That is no longer the case. To add an object to a selection, use Ctrl. To remove an object from a selection, use Alt.

To add objects to a selection set:

1. Hold down the Ctrl key and select the objects to add.

A0dding objects doesn't change a named selection set.

To remove individual objects from a selection set:

1. Hold down the Alt key and select the objects to remove.

Removing objects doesn't change a named selection set.

To select objects and move, rotate, or scale them:

Use Select And Move, Select And Rotate, or Select And Scale, available from the main toolbar and the quad menu Transform quadrant.

When you rotate a selection set, the pivot of rotation depends on which option is selected on the Use Center flyout on the toolbar.

These tools are restricted to a specific axis or plane, which you can choose from the Axis Constraints toolbar or specify with the transform gizmo.

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Select From Scene

This dialog, named Select From Scene or Select Objects in most contexts, lets you select or designate objects by choosing them from a list of all objects currently in the scene. Select From Scene is a modal, read-only version of Scene Explorer; you can’t use it to change object properties such as name and color. Other differences between Select From Scene and Scene Explorer include:

No hierarchy manipulation; you can’t link or unlink objects.

Hidden and frozen objects don’t appear in the list.

Because the dialog is modal, you must close it before continuing.

To select an object and close the dialog, double-click the object’s list entry.

All toggle settings such as Select Dependents, Display Children, and the Display buttons persist. That means they survive Reset operations and even quitting and restarting 3ds Max. This also applies to the position and size of the dialog. To return all dialog settings to their defaults, delete this file: [program folder]\plugcfg\DefaultModalSceneExplorer.ini.

The Select From Scene dialog name and functionality are context dependent. When a transform such as Select And Move is active, the dialog lets you choose from all objects in the scene. But

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when certain modes are active, the choices in the dialog are more limited. For example, when Select and Link is active, the dialog is entitled Select Parent, and shows linkable objects but not the child object already selected. Similarly, if Group Attach is active, the dialog is named Attach To Group and lists groups but not solitary objects.

If you prefer to use the legacy Select Objects dialog instead of Select From Scene, it’s available as an option. Open the CurrentDefaults.ini file (see Market-Specific Defaults), find the [Scene Explorer] section, and change SelectByNameUsesSceneExplorer setting. If set to 1, then Select By Name and related commands use the Select From Scene dialog. If set to 0, thenSelect By Name and related commands use the legacy Select Objects dialog. The latter’s functionality is essentially the same as the Selection Floater, except that it’s modal, not modeless.

Procedures

To select objects by name:

1. Do one of the following:

o On the main toolbar, click (Select By Name).

o Choose Edit menu Select By Name.

o Press H.

The Select From Scene dialog opens. By default, it lists all objects in the scene, displaying any hierarchies as collapsible branches. Currently selected objects are highlighted in the list.

2. Choose one or more objects in the list by doing one of the following:

o To select a single object and close the dialog, double-click the object name.

o Drag, or click and then Shift+click to select a contiguous range of objects and Ctrl+click to select noncontiguous objects.

o In the field above the list, type a search phrase. As you type, all matches for the current phrase are highlighted in the list. To highlight only objects whose case matches the search phrase exactly, turn on Find Case Sensitive (from the Select menu) .

Note: In some cases, such as when linking objects, you can select only one object.

3. Click Select.

The selection is made as the dialog closes.

To highlight a single item from among multiple highlighted items:

Clicking one list item among several highlighted items does not unhlighlight the rest. When several items are highlighted, but you want to highlight only one of them, do either of the following:

If any items are not highlighted, click one of them to remove highlighting from the rest, and then highlight the one you want.

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If all items are highlighted, the preceding method isn’t practical. In that case, on the upper toolbar click Select None, and then highlight the one you want.

This modeless dialog lets you select objects in the scene. You can keep the dialog open while you work in your scene, making it easier to select objects.

ImportantThe Selection Floater command is available only as a Customize User Interface action; to use it you must first add it explicitly to the user interface.

Interface

[select objects field]

Enter a name to highlight objects in the list whose names begin with the text you specify.

Find Case Sensitive

When on, the select objects field above the list is case-sensitive. For example, if the list contains objects named apple and Apple and Find Case Sensitive is on, typing “a” will highlight only the apple entry. Also, sorts the list so uppercase names come before lowercase.

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[objects list]

Lists objects according to the current Sort and List Types choices. Does not display hidden and frozen objects.

To highlight an object name in the list, click with the mouse. To highlight multiple object names, drag, or click and then Ctrl+click or Shift+click, or use the search field above the list. To select highlighted objects, click the Select button.

Alternatively, you can highlight and select a single object in the list by double-clicking its name. After selecting objects, the dialog remains open until you close it explicitly.

All/None/Invert

These buttons alter the pattern of selection in the list window.

Influences

When you highlight an object in the list window and then click the Influences button, the selected object's influences are highlighted as well.

Display Subtree

Displays each item in the list so that its hierarchical branch is included (for example, Thigh/Shin/Foot). Hierarchical branches are indented.

Display Influences

When this is on and you select an item in the list window, all of its influences are shown in blue. If you want to highlight these influences, click Influences.

Select Subtree

When this is on and you select an item in the list window, all of its hierarchical children are selected as well.

Select Dependents

When this is on and you select an item in the list window, all of its dependent objects are selected as well.Dependents include instances, references, and objects sharing a common modifier (the same objects that appear green when Show Dependencies is on in the View menu).

When both Select Subtree and Select Dependents are on, the subtree of any newly selected node is first selected, and then the dependents are selected. In other words, dependents of the subtree are selected, but not the subtrees of all dependents.

Sort group

Lets you choose the sort order of the items displayed in the list. This option is unavailable when Display Subtree is on; in that case, sorting is always alphabetical.

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Alphabetical

Sorts from numeric characters at the top, then A to Z at the bottom. When Find Case Sensitive is on, all upper-case names come before lower-case names.

By Type

Sorts by category, using the same order as the check boxes in the List Types group.

By Color

Sorts by object wireframe color. The sorting order is arbitrary; the value of this option is that objects of the same color are grouped together.

By Size

Sorts based on the number of faces in each object. The object with the least number of faces is listed first, followed by objects with successively greater number of faces.

List Types group

Determines the types of objects to display in the list.

All/None/Invert

These buttons alter the pattern of activation of the List Types options.

Selection Sets group

Lists any named selection sets that you have defined in the scene. When you choose a selection set from the drop-down list, 3ds Max highlights its component objects in the main list.

Mirror and Snaps

Mirror

Clicking Mirror displays the Mirror dialog, which enables you to move one or more objects while mirroring their orientation.

The Mirror dialog also allows you to mirror the current selection about the center of the current coordinate system. You can create a clone with the mirror dialog at the same time. If you mirror a hierarchical linkage, you have the option to mirror the IK limits.

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Mirroring an object

The Mirror dialog uses the current reference coordinate system, as reflected in its name. For example, if Reference Coordinate System is set to Local, the dialog is named Mirror: Local Coordinates. There is one exception: If Reference Coordinate System is set to View, Mirror uses Screen coordinates.

As you adjust the various settings in the Mirror dialog, you see the results in the viewports.

Procedures

To mirror an object:

1. Make any object selection.

2. Do one of the following:

o On the main toolbar, click (Mirror).

o On the Tools menu, choose Mirror.

3ds Max opens the Mirror dialog.

3. Set the mirror parameters in the dialog and click OK.

The active viewport changes to show the effect of each parameter as you set it. When you click OK, 3ds Max creates the choice of mirror that you see previewed.

To make a clone using mirror:

1. Make any object selection

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2. Do one of the following:

o On the main toolbar, click (Mirror).

o On the Tools menu, choose Mirror.

3ds Max opens the Mirror dialog.

3. In the Clone Selection group, choose Copy, Instance, or Reference.

4. Make any additional settings as desired and then click OK.

Interface

Mirror Axis group

The mirror axis choices are X, Y, Z, XY, XZ, and YZ. Choose one to specify the direction of mirroring. These are equivalent to the option buttons on the Axis Constraints toolbar.

Offset

Specifies the distance of the mirrored object's pivot point from the original object's pivot point.

Clone Selection group

Determines the type of copy made by the Mirror function. Default is No Clone.

No Clone

Mirrors the selected object without making a copy.

Copy

Mirrors a copy of the selected object to the specified position.

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Instance

Mirrors an instance of the selected object to the specified position.

Reference

Mirrors a reference of the selected object to the specified position.

If you animate the mirror operation, mirroring generates a Scale key. If you set Offset to a value other than 0.0, mirroring also generates Position keys.

SNAPS

2D SNAP, 2.5D SNAP, 3D SNAP

The buttons on the Snaps Toggle flyout provide control over the range of 3D space where snaps are active. A wide variety of snap types is available from the Snaps dialog, which you can use to activate different snap types as you work.

2D, 2.5D, 3D Snaps flyout

Object Snapping

Object snapping lets you snap to specific portions of existing geometry during creation and transforms of objects or sub-objects. You can also snap to the grid, and you can snap to tangents, midpoints, pivot points, face centers and other options.

The mode you choose maintains its state when you switch levels.

Transforming Around Snap Points

When snapping is on and Auto Key is off, rotations and scales occur about the snap point. For example, if you're using Vertex snapping and you're rotating a box, you can rotate it about any of its corner vertices. See To use snaps to move an absolute distance: below.

When Auto Key is on and either Select And Rotate or Select And Scale is active, the Snaps Toggle button is disabled, and rotation and scaling take place about the pivot point of the object.

Snap Handle When Moving an Object

When 2D, 2.5D, or 3D snaps are turned on and the Move tool is active, the Move gizmo shows a small circle at its center.

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A circle at the center of the Move gizmo shows that snaps are active.

Not only does the circular handle indicate that snaps are active, it helps increase the accuracy of snaps, compared to releases prior to Autodesk 3ds Max 2012. You can use the gizmo controls as before, or drag the handle itself: In either case, 3ds Max shows the original position of the object, and by default a rubber-band line stretches from the original position to the new destination. When you drag the snap handle or the Move gizmo, the axis center is the start snap point.

The green line shows start and destination points.

When you drag the circular snap handle, axis constraints don’t apply, and Use Axis Constraints is automatically turned off.

When you drag an axis or a plane, axis constraints apply, and Use Axis Constraints is automatically turned on.

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When you drag from a snap point other than the axis center (for example, a vertex), the state of Use Axis Constraints determines whether movement is constrainted or not.

When start and destination points are snapped or aligned, the color of the snap points and rubber band changes from Snap Point Active (default=green) to Snap Point Snapped (default=yellow).

Note: You can customize the colors of the snap indicators: In the Customize User Interface dialog Colors panel, choose Elements Snaps.

Dragging from the snap handle is equivalent to using the Snap Options Use Axis Center As Start Snap Point that was available in older versions of 3ds Max. In addition, you can use other snap points on the object that you are moving. For example, when snapping to vertices, the following illustrations show that you can snap from a vertex on the object you are moving.

Vertex snap: Snapping from the upper-left corner of the box.

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Snapping the upper-left corner of the box to a vertex on the dodecahedron.

Tip When you snap from a location other than the snap handle (the axis center), be careful of two things:

Make sure the Move cursor is visible when you click. Otherwise, you might deselect the object you are trying to move.

If the vertex (or other snap location) is close to an axis of the Move gizmo, the move might be constrained along that axis.

Using the snap handle or the Move gizmo corresponds to the toggle Use Axis Constraints, or to

(Snaps Use Axis Constraints Toggle) on the Axis Constraints toolbar

Procedures

To turn snap off during a transform:

Press S to toggle snapping off when it gets in the way. Press S again to turn it back on.

To use snaps to move a relative distance:

1. Turn on Snaps with the S key, or by clicking (Snaps Toggle).

2. Lock your selection set by pressing the spacebar, or by clicking (Selection Lock Toggle) on the status bar.

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3. Wherever you click in the viewport, the snap will stay relative to the distance of your cursor to the object.

To use snaps to move an absolute distance:

1. Turn on (Snaps Toggle).

2. Click the selection. Snap uses the point you click for the snap source.

3. Move to whatever target snap you desire. The object will snap to an absolute distance.

Example: To rotate a box around a vertex using snaps:

1. Make sure (Auto Key) is off.

2. Select the box.

3. On the main toolbar, click (Select And Rotate).

4. Turn Snaps on by pressing S on the keyboard.

5. On the Tools menu, choose Grids And Snaps Grid And Snap Settings. Turn on Vertex and turn off Grid Points.

6. Lock your selection set by clicking (Selection Lock Toggle) on the status bar.

7. On the toolbar, choose (Use Transform Coordinate Center) (hold the mouse down on Use Pivot Point Center to open the flyout).

8. Move your cursor over any vertex in the box. The blue snap cursor will appear, and then you can rotate the box around that vertex.

Interface

There are three snap modes:

2D Snap

The cursor snaps only to the active construction grid, including any geometry on the plane of that grid. The Z axis, or vertical dimension, is ignored.

2.5D Snap

The cursor snaps only to the vertices or edges of the projection of an object onto the active grid.

Suppose you create a grid object and make it active. You then position the grid object so you can see through the grid to a cube further off in 3D space. Now with 2.5D set, you can snap a

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line from vertex to vertex on the distant cube, but the line is drawn on the active grid. The effect is like holding up a sheet of glass and drawing the outline of a distant object on it.

3D Snap

This is the default tool. The cursor snaps directly to any geometry in 3D space. 3D snapping lets you create and move geometry in all dimensions, ignoring the construction plane.

Right-click this button to display the Grid and Snap Settings dialog, which lets you change snap categories and set other options.

ANGLE SNAP TOGGLE

Angle Snap Toggle determines the incremental rotation for a number of features, including the standard Rotate transform. As you rotate an object (or group of objects), the object moves around a given axis in the increment you set.

Angle Snap Toggle also affects Pan/Orbit camera controls, FOV and Roll camera settings, and Hotspot/Falloff spotlight angles.

Procedures

To turn angle snap on:

On the main toolbar, click (Angle Snap Toggle). When on, angle snap affects all rotational transforms.

To rotate an object an even number of degrees:

Turn on (Angle Snap Toggle) and rotate the object.

By default, the rotations take place in 5-degree increments.

To rotate an object a precise degree of rotation, do one of the following:

Click (Select And Rotate), then right-click it to display the Transform Type-In dialog. Enter the exact rotation you want.

Right-click to see the quad menu, then click the settings button next to Rotate to open the Transform Type-In dialog. Enter the exact rotation you want.

Right-click (Angle Snap Toggle), then on the Grid And Snap Settings dialog, click the Options tab. Set the Angle value in the General group to the precise degree of rotation you need, then rotate the object. Rotation snaps to the angle increment you specified.

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Interface

The angle increment is set on the Options panel of the Grid and Snap Settings dialog. Right-click the Angle Snap Toggle button to display the Options panel of the Grid and Snap Settings dialog. The default is 5 degrees.

PERCENT SNAP TOGGLE

Percent Snap Toggle increments scaling of objects by the specified percentage

Interface

The snap percent increment is set in the Grid And Snap Settings dialog. The default is 10 percent. Right-click the Percent Snap Toggle button to display the Grid and Snap Settings dialog.

This is a general-purpose snap system that applies to any operation involving a percentage, such as scaling or squashing.

SPINNER SNAP TOGGLE

Spinner Snap Toggle sets the single-click increment or the decrement value for all of the spinners in 3ds Max.

Procedures

To set and toggle spinner snap:

1. Do one of the following:

o Choose Customize menu Preferences.

o Right-click the Spinner Snap Toggle button on the main toolbar.

Either method opens the Preference Settings dialog General panel. The two controls for spinner snap are in the Spinners group on this panel.

2. Set a value in the Snap field.

3. Turn on Use Snap.

When you exit the dialog, the Spinner Snap Toggle button is turned on.

4. As you work, use the Spinner Snap Toggle button to toggle the alternate setting.

Interface

The amounts for Spinner Snap are controlled by settings on the General panel of the Preferences dialog. Default=1.0.

When drawing a Line spline or Wall object, Ortho Snapping Mode constrains line creation to the horizontal or vertical directions relative to the active grid. That is, with Ortho on, you can draw only lines that are parallel to lines of the active grid.

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Ortho is particularly useful for drawing plans where all lines must be at 90 degrees to each other, such as a house plan. To constrain line-drawing to other angle increments, use Polar Snapping Mode instead.

ORTHO SNAPPING MODE

The following provisions apply to using Ortho:

Use of Ortho is mutually exclusive of use of the Polar Snapping Mode toggle; only one can be active at a time.

Ortho Snapping applies primarily to the creation of line splines and wall objects. It can be used while creating other objects, but results are likely to be unsatisfactory.

Ortho mode displays a compass which gives a readout of the current angle of the input relative to the positive direction of the local X axis.

Note If you hold down the Alt key in Ortho mode, the next point becomes doubly constrained by both the previous point and the first point of the current object. This allows you to close splines precisely. In this mode, two compasses are displayed; one each at the first and previous points.

Procedures

To add Ortho Snapping Mode to the Snaps toolbar:

1. Open the Snaps toolbar, if necessary. To do so, right-click an empty part of the main toolbar, such as the area directly below one of the drop-down lists, and choose Snaps.

2. Drag the right end of the toolbar to the right to make room for a new button.

3. Choose Customize menu Customize User Interface.

This opens the Customize User Interface dialog.

4. On the dialog, click the Toolbars tab.

5. Scroll down the Action list on the dialog to the Ortho Snapping Mode item. You can jump to the O section by clicking any item in the list and then pressing O on the keyboard.

6. Drag the Ortho Snapping Mode item from the list to the empty section of the Snaps toolbar. This adds the button to the toolbar.

7. Close the Customize User Interface dialog.

3ds Max automatically saves the toolbar in its revised state and makes the new button a permanent part of the user interface.

To use Ortho:

1. Turn on (Ortho Snapping Mode).

2. Begin to draw a Line spline.

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An orange compass appears where you place the first point, along with a red number indicating the angle of the current line segment with the positive direction of the local X axis.

3. Move the mouse cursor around in the viewport.

The line jumps to 90-degree angle increments on the local X axis, while the compass reading updates to show the current angle.

4. Click to place the next vertex.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you're ready to complete the shape.

6. Do either of the following:

o To finish the shape at the most recent vertex without closing it, right-click anywhere.

o To finish the shape by closing it, position the mouse cursor close to the first point and then click. A small dialog opens asking if you want to close the spline; click Yes.

POLAR SNAPPING MODE

When drawing a Line spline or Wall object, Polar Snapping Mode constrains line creation to angle increments determined by the Angle Snap setting relative to the active grid. To change the Angle Snap setting, right-click the Angle Snap Toggle button on the main toolbar and in the Options panel General group, edit the Angle setting.

Polar is particularly useful for drawing plans where angles between all lines must conform to specific angle increments, such as 45 degrees. If all lines must be at 90-degree angles to each other, use the Ortho Snapping Mode toggle instead.

The following provisions apply to using Polar:

Use of Polar is mutually exclusive of use of the Ortho toggle; only one can be active at a time.

Polar applies primarily to the creation of line splines and wall objects. It can be used while creating other objects, but results are likely to be unsatisfactory.

Polar mode displays a compass that provides a readout of the current angle of the input relative to the positive direction of the local X axis.

NoteIf you hold down Alt in Polar mode, the next point becomes doubly constrained by both the previous point and the first point of the current object. This allows you to close splines precisely. In this mode, two compasses are displayed; one each at the first and previous points.

Procedures

To add Polar Snapping Mode to the Snaps toolbar:

1. Open the Snaps toolbar, if necessary. To do so, right-click an empty part of the main toolbar, such as the area directly below one of the drop-down lists, and choose Snaps.

2. Drag the right end of the toolbar to the right to make room for a new button.

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3. Choose Customize menu Customize User Interface.

This opens the Customize User Interface dialog.

4. On the dialog, click the Toolbars tab.

5. Scroll down the Actions list on the dialog to the Polar Snapping Mode item. You can jump to the P section by clicking any item in the list and then pressing P on the keyboard.

6. Drag the Polar Snapping Mode item from the list to the empty section of the Snaps toolbar. This adds the button to the toolbar.

7. Close the Customize User Interface dialog.

3ds Max automatically saves the toolbar in its revised state and makes the new button a permanent part of the user interface.

To use Polar:

1. Turn on (Polar Snapping Mode).

2. Begin to draw a line spline.

An orange compass appears where you place the first point, along with a red number indicating the angle of the current line segment with the positive direction of the local X axis.

3. Move the mouse cursor around in the viewport.

The line jumps to specific angle increments from the X-axis, while the compass reading updates to show the current angle. You set the angle increment in the Grid And Snap Settings dialog

Options panel General group, which you can access by right-clicking the Angle Snap Toggle button on the main toolbar.

4. Click to place the next vertex.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you're ready to complete the shape.

6. Do any of the following:

o To finish the shape at the most recent vertex without closing it, right-click anywhere.

o To finish the shape by closing it, position the mouse cursor close to the first point and then click. A small dialog opens asking if you want to close the spline; click Yes.

o To finish the shape by closing it while constraining the line to the polar snap, first position the mouse cursor close to the first point, press and hold Alt to constrain the mouse by both the previous point and the first point, and then click. This vertex is automatically placed at the current angle increment from the first point, so that you need only click the first point to close the shape.

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Setting Snap Options

You can access a number of snap features from the Options tab of the Grid And Snap Settings dialog. Right-click any of the snap buttons on the main toolbar to display the Grid And Snap Settings dialog or choose Tools menu Grids And Snaps Grid And Snap Settings, then click the Options tab.

Navigation Panel

Tab Panel

In 3ds max, the tab panel is off by default. To display the tab panel, right-click the Main toolbar and select Tab Panel from the pop-up menu.

The tab panel is a row of tabbed toolbars located directly below the menu bar at the top of the 3ds max window. The tabs offer quick access to many of the tools available in the command panel, as well as many of the items found in the menus. Each tab on the tab panel can become a separate floating toolbar that can be resized, or docked at the sides or bottom of the 3ds max interface.

The tabs can display icon buttons or text buttons. You can rearrange the items by holding down the ALT key, then dragging them from one toolbar or tab panel to another. You can also copy items to other tabs or toolbars by holding CTRL when you drag the buttons. You can create new tabs for your own tools, as well as dragging scripts from the Macro Recorder onto the toolbars in the tab panel.

Some tools may be duplicated on several toolbars to enhance productivity and speed workflow. Rendering buttons, for example, are found on the Main toolbar but also on the rendering toolbar for convenience.

Based on your screen size and number of tabs, it is possible to have tabs or buttons extend off the screen apparently out of reach. If you move the cursor over an open area, you will get a hand cursor that allows you to scroll the tabs or the buttons within a tab. In addition, you can click the middle mouse button over any tab or button to get the hand cursor.

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Procedures

To switch from one tab to another:

Click the tab label and it appears instantly.

To move a tab left or right:

Right-click the tab label and select Move Left or Move Right. If you get to the end, the tab will wrap around to the other side. Move Left or Right is used for repositioning the tabs into your own preferred order.

To scroll the tab panel:

Press on any tab with the middle mouse button to scroll the tab panel right or left.

To float a toolbar from the tab panel, do one of the following:

Press the tab label and drag into the viewport.

Right-click the tab label and choose Convert To Toolbar.

To move a toolbar to the tab panel:

Right-click the title bar of an existing toolbar and choose Move To Tab Panel. This moves the toolbar to a tabbed slot in the tab panel and removes it from its previous location (either floating or docked).

To create a new tab:

1. Right-click a tab label and choose Add Tab.

2. In the Add Tab dialog, enter the name of the new tab, and click OK.

To move a button to a different position on a tab:

Hold down ALT and drag the button to where you want it.

To copy a button to a different tab or toolbar:

Hold down CTRL and drag the button to where you want it copied.

To move a button from one tab to another:

1. Float the toolbar containing the button.

2. Click the label of the tab where you want the button to go.

3. Hold down the ALT key and drag the button from the floating toolbar to the displayed tab.

You can also create and drag icon or text buttons from the Customize User Interface dialog directly to any open tab in the tab panel.

To hide and unhide the tab panel:

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1. Customize Menu > Show UI > Show Tab Panel.

2. Press Y to toggle the display of the tab panel. Use this in Expert Mode to gain access to your tools.

To hide and unhide individual tabs:

1. Float the tab, and then close it by clicking the X button at the upper-right corner of the toolbar.

2. To unhide it, right-click in the blank area in the upper-right of the tab panel. A history list of all toolbars appears: those displayed are preceded by a check mark; those that are hidden have no check mark. Click the ones you need to retrieve.

Interface

The tab panel includes the following toolbars. Right-click any tab label to display the Tab Right-Click menu.

Objects—Contains buttons for Standard and Extended Primitives, and Patch Grids.

Shapes—Contains buttons for Shapes and NURBS curves.

Compounds—Contains buttons for all Compound Objects.

Lights & Cameras—Contains buttons for Lights and light related scripts, as well as Cameras.

Particles—Contains buttons for particle systems and space warps that affect particle systems.

Helpers—Contains buttons for standard helpers, atmospheric gizmos, and camera match helpers.

Space Warps—Contains buttons for many space warps.

Modifiers—Contains buttons for many modifiers.

Modeling—Contains buttons for tools for modeling.

Rendering—Contains buttons for rendering related features.

Grid And Snap Set Up

Home Grid Settings

The Home Grid panel of the Grid And Snap Settings dialog sets the spacing and other characteristics of the home grid. Choosing useful home grid settings can simplify the construction process. The home grid provides a visual reference for creating objects in a scene.

In 3ds Max, grids have these primary uses:

An aid in visualizing space, scale, and distance.

Construction planes where you create and align objects in your scene.

A reference system for using grid snaps.

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Procedures

To set grid spacing for unit measure:

1. From the menu bar, choose Tools menu Grids And Snaps Grid And Snap Settings.

2. Click the Home Grid tab.

3. Adjust the value for Grid Spacing, which is in current units.

For example, if you have units set to centimeters, you might make one grid space equal to 1.000 (one unit, or one centimeter in this case).

To set major grid divisions for multiple units:

1. From the menu bar, choose Tools menu Grids And Snaps Grid And Snap Settings.

2. Click the Home Grid tab.

3. Adjust the Major Lines Every Nth Grid Line value, which is the number of grid squares between major lines. The minimum is 2.

For example, if you use a grid spacing of one centimeter, you might use a value of 10 so the major grid divisions represent one decimeter.

In perspective viewports, you can set a fixed size for the displayed home grid. If Inhibit Perspective View Grid Resize is turned off however, the grid size adjusts as you zoom in or out.

To set view update options:

1. From the menu bar, choose Tools menu Grids And Snaps Grid And Snap Settings.

2. Click the Home Grid tab.

3. Under Dynamic Update, choose either Active Viewport (the default) or All Viewports.

To allow subdivision below grid spacing:

1. From the menu bar, choose Tools menu Grids And Snaps Grid And Snap Settings.

2. Click the Home Grid tab.

3. Turn off Inhibit Grid Subdivision Below Grid Spacing.

When you turn off this box, you can zoom indefinitely "deep" into any plane of the home grid. Each grid square subdivides into the same number of smaller grid spaces.

Interface

Note The layout of the Grid And Snap Settings dialog is generated at runtime. Because of this, it might appear slightly different than the illustration shown here.

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Grid Dimensions group

Grid spacing

Grid spacing is the size of the grid's smallest square. Use this spinner to adjust the spacing (which is in current units), or enter the value directly.

For example, if you have units set to centimeters, you might make one grid space equal to 1.000 (one unit, or one centimeter in this case).

Major Lines every Nth Grid Line

The home grid displays heavier or "major" lines to mark groups of grid squares. Use spinner to adjust the value, which is the number of grid squares between major lines, or you can enter the value directly, the minimum is 2.

For example, if you use a grid spacing of one centimeter, you might use a value of 10 so the major grid divisions represent one decimeter.

Perspective View Grid Extent

Sets the size of the home grid in the Perspective viewport.

This value is specified in terms of the Grid Spacing value, and represents the length of half the grid along an axis. This means that if Grid Spacing=10.0 and Perspective View Grid Extent=7, you will have a grid that is 140 x 140 units in size.

Inhibit Grid Subdivision Below Grid Spacing

Causes 3ds Max to treat the grid as a fixed set of lines when you zoom in on the home grid. In effect, the grid stops at the grid space setting. If you keep zooming, the fixed grid is lost from view. Zooming out is not affected. When you zoom out, the home grid expands indefinitely to maintain the major grid divisions. Default=on.

When this is turned off, you can zoom indefinitely into any plane of the home grid. Each grid square subdivides into the same number of smaller grid spaces.

For a grid spacing of one centimeter and a major division of 10, the next level down subdivides into millimeter spaces, and so on.

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Inhibit Perspective View Grid Resize

Causes 3ds Max to treat the grid in the Perspective viewport as a fixed set of lines when you zoom in or out. In effect, the grid maintains one size, no matter how much you zoom. Default=on.

When this is turned off, the grid in the Perspective viewport will subdivide to adjust its size when you zoom in or out.

Dynamic Update group

Dynamic Update

By default, only the active viewport updates as you change values for Grid Spacing and Major Lines every Nth. The other viewports update after you have completed changing the values. Choose All Viewports to have all viewports update as you change the values.

User Grid Settings

The User Grids panel controls automatic activation of grid objects and settings for AutoGrid.

Interface

Note The layout of the Grid And Snap Settings dialog is generated at runtime. Because of this, it might appear slightly different than the illustration shown here.

Grid object automation group

Determines if 3ds Max automatically makes grids active upon creation.

Activate grids when creating

Turn on to automatically activate the grid you created.

Tip If not turned on, you can activate the grid by selecting the grid, then right-clicking and choosing Activate Grid.

Auto Grid group

Auto Grid allows you to automatically create grids on the surface of objects. The task of creating objects that are aligned to other object surfaces has been simplified. Turn on Auto Grid in the Object Type rollout of a command panel. When you turn on AutoGrid, 3ds Max uses the setting in the User Grids dialog for world or object space.

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World space

Aligns grids to world space.

Object space

Aligns grids to object space.

Snap Settings

Snapping gives you additional control when creating, moving, rotating, and scaling objects by causing the cursor to “jump” to specific portions of existing geometry and other scene elements during creation and transformation of objects or sub-objects. The controls in this dialog set the snap strength and other characteristics such as the snap target.

Note Snapping functionality includes several features that enhance ease of use.

You can specify the portion of the geometry where you will snap. For example, when Vertex is the active snap type, creating and transforming objects snaps to the vertices of existing geometry. You can specify any combination of active snap types to provide multiple snapping points. For example, if Vertex and Midpoint are active, snapping occurs at both vertices and edge midpoints.

The default snap type is Grid Points.

Note Snapping is not on by default. You can toggle snapping by pressing the S key at any time, even in the middle of a transform. In this way you can combine snapping with free positioning.

Snapping works at sub-object levels. For example, you can use snaps to position a gizmo to the object on which you're working, or snap it to other objects in the scene.

You must activate a viewport in order to use snaps. Also, the Z-axis constraints don't apply to the home grid or grid objects, since grids don't have a Z axis.

Settings are stored in the 3dsmax.ini file. The state of the snap settings persists from session to session.

Snaps and Axis Constraints

Snaps take precedence over axis constraints. If you activate an axis constraint, such as Restrict to X, you can move the object only in X. But if you then turn on snaps, Restrict to X is suspended and not used.

You can override this by turning on Snaps Use Axis Constraint Toggle on the Axis Constraints toolbar, or by turning on Use Axis Constraints in Snap Options.

The Snaps Toolbar

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The most common Snaps settings are available from an optional toolbar. To toggle display of the Snaps toolbar, right-click an empty area of the main toolbar, such as the section under the Reference Coordinate System drop-down, and choose Snaps. The toolbar buttons are shown next to the relevant commands, below and in the Snap Options.

The same settings are also available from the snap quad menu, available with Shift+right-click.

Procedures

To set grid and snap settings:

1. Turn on (3D Snap Toggle).

2. Choose Tools menu Grids And Snaps Grid And Snap Settings to display the Grid and Snap Settings dialog.

3. In the Snaps tab, select one or more of the types of snaps you want active.

4. Create an object or transform an object.

Snap markers appear when the mouse cursor is over existing geometry or on a grid, depending on the active snap types. Each snap type has a different display; clicking when the snap-specific display is visible snaps to that spot.

To display the Snaps shortcut menu:

Hold Shift and right-click anywhere in any viewport. The quad menu that opens gives you access to various snap settings including Snaps Use Axis Constraints and Snap To Frozen Objects.

To use both constraint and snaps, do one of the following:

1. In the Grid and Snap Settings dialog Options tab Translation group, turn on Use Axis Constraints.

2. Hold Shift and right-click in the viewport, and then choose Options Transform Constraints from the Snap quadrant.

Example: To use 3D snaps and rotation transformations together:

1. Create a box.

2. Select the box and turn on (Selection Lock Toggle).

3. On the toolbar, turn on (3D Snaps Toggle), then click (Select And Rotate).

4. From the Use Center flyout on the main toolbar, choose ( Use Transform Coordinate Center ).

5. Activate the Perspective viewport and move the cursor over the grid.

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A blue icon displays when the cursor passes over a grid point.

6. When the blue icon displays, click and drag to rotate the box around the selected grid point.

You can rotate around anything you can snap to.

To turn snaps on and off during an operation:

Use the S keyboard shortcut to turn snap on and off.

Tip: You can select something with snap off, and then turn snap on to snap it to a snap target. Alternately you might want to snap to something, then position it freely wherever you want.

Interface

Use these check boxes on the Snaps tab to turn on any combination of snap settings.

After setting snaps, close the dialog using the Close button in the dialog's upper-right corner. Do not click the Clear All button, or you'll turn off all the snaps.

Override

This label changes to display the temporary snap type used by the Override system. For more information.

Clear All

Turns off all of the Snaps check boxes.

Note The layout of the Grid And Snap Settings dialog is generated at runtime. Because of this, it might appear slightly different than the illustrations shown here.

Standard snaps

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These are the standard snap types used for grids, mesh, and shape objects. Non-grid snap types, when active, take priority over Grid Points and Grid Lines snaps: if the mouse is equally near a grid point and some other snap type, it will choose the other snap type.

Note The button images shown below are from the Snaps toolbar.

Grid Points

Snaps to grid intersections. This snap type is on by default. Keyboard shortcut=Alt+F5.

Grid Lines

Snaps to any point on a grid line.

Pivot

Snaps to pivot points of objects. Keyboard shortcut=Alt+F6.

Bounding Box

Snaps to one of the eight corners of an object's bounding box.

Perpendicular

Snaps to the perpendicular point on a spline, relative to the previous point.

Tangent

Snaps to a tangent point on a spline, relative to the previous point.

Vertex

Snaps to vertices of mesh objects or objects that can be converted to editable meshes. Snaps to segments on splines. Keyboard shortcut=Alt+F7.

Endpoint

Snaps to the end points of edges on meshes or spline vertices. Keyboard shortcut=Alt+F8

Edge/Segment

Snaps anywhere along edges (visible or invisible) or spline segments. Keyboard shortcut=Alt+F10.

Midpoint

Snaps to the middle of edges on meshes and spline segments. Keyboard shortcut=Alt+F9.

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Face

Snaps anywhere on the surface of a face. Back faces are culled, so they have no effect. Keyboard shortcut=Alt+F11.

Center Face

Snaps to the center of triangular faces.

NURBS snaps

These options snap to objects or sub-objects in a NURBS model.

The NURBS snaps settings are aids for creating and transforming objects, and are not constraints. 3ds Max does not maintain the relationship between the NURBS object and other objects you create or transform.

CV

Snaps to a CV sub-object in a NURBS curve or NURBS surface.

Point

Snaps to a point sub-object in a NURBS model.

Curve Center

Snaps to the center of a NURBS curve.

The center of a NURBS curve is calculated parametrically, and might not be the same as the curve's apparent visual center.

Curve Normal

Snaps to a point normal to a NURBS curve.

This snap operates only while you are creating a new object that requires two or more clicks to create.

Curve Tangent

Snaps to a point tangent to a NURBS curve.

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This snap operates only while you are creating a new object that requires two or more clicks to create.

Curve Edge

Snaps to the edge of a NURBS curve (the current object moves or is created to lie along the curve).

Curve End

Snaps to the end of a NURBS curve.

Surf Center

Snaps to the center of a NURBS surface.

The center of a NURBS curve is calculated parametrically, and might not be the same as the curve's apparent visual center.

Surf Normal

Snaps to a point on a NURBS surface normal to previous point.

This snap operates only while you are creating a new object.

Surf Edge

Snaps to the edge of a NURBS surface.

ALIGN

Align lets you align the current selection to a target selection. After selecting an object to align, you click Align, available on the Align flyout, and then select another object to align the first object to. This opens the Align dialog with the name of the target object on its title bar. When performing sub-object alignment, the title bar of the Align dialog reads "Align Sub-Object Selection."

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Procedures Interface

Aligning objects along an axis

Left: X position, center

Upper right: Y position, minimum

Lower right: Y position, maximum

You can align the position and orientation of the bounding box of the source object to the bounding box of a target object.

You can use the Align tool with any selection that can be transformed. If an axis tripod is displayed, you can align the tripod (and the geometry it represents) to any other object in the scene. You can use this to align an object’s pivot point.

You can use objects within an XRef scene as references with all alignment tools on the Align flyout, except Align to View.

When performing sub-object alignment, the Current Object options and the Match Scale boxes are disabled. If you plan to align orientation for sub-objects, first switch to Local transform mode on the main toolbar so that the axis tripod is properly aligned with your sub-object selection.

Other alignment tools on the Align flyout are Quick Align , Normal Align, Place Highlight, Align to Camera, and Align to View.

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Procedures

To align objects by position:

To align an object with a point object:

1. Create a point helper object and position it at a target location in your scene. Rotate it as necessary to adjust final orientation.

2. Select a source object.

3. Do one of the following:

o On the main toolbar, click (Align).

o On the Tools menu, choose Align Align.

3ds Max displays the Align cursor. It is attached to a pair of cross hairs.

4. Move the cursor over the point object and click.

3ds Max opens the Align Selection dialog. If necessary, move the dialog out of the way so you can see the active viewport.

5. In the Align Position group, turn on X Position.

The selected source object shifts to align with the X axis of the point object.

6. Turn on Y Position and Z Position.

The source object moves so its center is at the point object.

7. Turn on X Axis, Y Axis, and Z Axis in the Align Orientation group to reorient the object to match the coordinates of the point.

To align objects by position and orientation:

1. Select a source object (the object to move into alignment with the target object).

2. Do one of the following:

o On the main toolbar, click (Align).

o On the Tools menu, choose Align Align.

3ds Max displays the Align cursor. When it is over an eligible target object, the cursor also shows crosshairs.

3. Position the cursor over the target object and click.

The Align Selection dialog appears. By default, all options in the dialog are turned off.

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4. In the Current Object and Target Object groups, choose Minimum, Center, Pivot Point, or Maximum.

These settings establish the points on each object that become the alignment centers.

5. Begin alignment by turning on any combination of X Position, Y Position, and Z Position.

The source object moves in relation to the target object, along the axes of the reference coordinate system. Setting all three moves the objects as close as possible, given the Current Object and Target Object settings.

6. In the Align Orientation group, turn on any combination of X Axis, Y Axis, or Z Axis.

The source object realigns accordingly. If the objects already share an orientation, turning on that axis has no effect. Once two axes are aligned in orientation, the third is automatic.

To align a gizmo to another object:

1. Display the gizmo level of the Sub-Object selection.

2. Do one of the following:

o On the main toolbar, click (Align).

o On the Tools menu, choose Align Align.

3. Click to select a target object in the viewport. (You can select the same object containing the gizmo to align the gizmo to a part of its own object.)

4. Use the available settings in the Align dialog to adjust the transformation of the gizmo.

To align a sub-object selection of geometry to another object:

1. Do one of the following:

o Convert the object to an editable mesh, and then make the sub-object selection at any level.

o Apply a Mesh Select or Poly Select modifier, make a sub-object selection, apply an XForm modifier (The Mesh/Poly Select modifier by itself doesn't allow transforms.), and then activate the Gizmo sub-object level of the XForm modifier.

2. Do one of the following:

o On the main toolbar, click (Align).

o On the Tools menu, choose Align Align.

3. In a viewport, click a target object.

4. Use the Align dialog controls to perform the alignment.

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Interface

Align Position group

X/Y/Z Position

Specifies the axis or axes on which to perform the alignment. Turning on all three options moves the selection to the target object's location.

Current Object/Target Object groups

Specify the points on the objects' bounding boxes to use for the alignment. You can choose different points for the current object and the target object. For example, you can align the current object's pivot point with the center of the target object.

Minimum

Aligns the point on the object's bounding box with the lowest X, Y, and Z values with the chosen point on the other object.

Center

Aligns the center of the object's bounding box with the chosen point on the other object.

Pivot Point

Aligns the object's pivot point with the chosen point on the other object.

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Maximum

Aligns the point on the object's bounding box with the highest X, Y, and Z values with the chosen point on the other object.

Align Orientation (Local) group

These settings let you match the orientation of the local coordinate systems between the two objects on any combination of axes.

This option is independent of the position alignment settings. You can leave the Position settings alone and use the Orientation check boxes to rotate the current object to match the orientation of the target object.

Position alignment uses world coordinates, while orientation alignment uses local coordinates.

Match Scale group

Use the X Axis, Y Axis, and Z Axis options to match the scale axis values between the two selected objects. This matches only the scale values you'd see in the Transform Type-In. It does not necessarily cause two objects to be the same size. There will be no change in size if neither of the objects has previously been scaled.

Layers Toolbar

The Layers toolbar simplifies interaction with the layer system in 3ds Max, allowing you to easily organize the layers in your scene. Most of these operations are available from the L ayer Manager, however the Layers toolbar provides shortcuts to several common actions, as well as the advantage of being able to work directly in the viewports.

Interface

Note The default UI does not display this toolbar; to see it, right-click an empty portion of any toolbar, and choose Layers from the menu.

The Layers toolbar provides the following controls:

Manage Layers Dialog

Layer List

Create New Layer

Add Selection to Current Layer

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Select Objects in Current Layer

Set Current Layer to Selection's Layer

Render

Rendering menu Render Setup

Command entry:Main toolbar (Render Setup)

Command entry:Rendered Frame Window (Render Setup)

Command entry:Keyboard F10

Rendering creates a 2D image or animation based on your 3D scene. It shades the scene's geometry using the lighting you've set up, the materials you've applied, and environment settings such as background and atmosphere.

The Render Setup dialog has multiple panels. The number and name of the panels can change, depending on the active renderer. These panels are always present:

Common panel

Contains the main controls for any renderer, such as whether to render a still image or an animation, setting the resolution of rendered output, and so on.

Renderer panel

Contains the main controls for the current renderer.

Additional panels can appear, depending on which renderer is active. Five renderers are provided with 3ds Max. Their controls are described in the section Renderers. Additional renderers might be available as third-party plug-in components.

At the bottom of the Render Setup dialog are controls that, like those in the Common Parameters rollout, apply to all renderers. These are described in this topic's Interface section, below.

Note Bitmap paging is always active and is managed automatically, enabling you to render scenes with large bitmaps, a large number of bitmaps, or very high resolution images (for example, 5,000 x 5,000 pixels or more).

Standard and ActiveShade Renderers

In 3ds Max, there are two different types of renderings. Production rendering is active by default, and is typically the one you use for finished renderings. This type of rendering can use any of the three aforementioned renderers. The second type of rendering is called ActiveShade. An ActiveShade rendering uses the default scanline renderer to create a preview rendering that can help you see the effects of changing lighting or materials; the rendering updates interactively as you change your scene. Rendering iwth ActiveShade is, in general, less precise than production rendering.

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Another advantage of production rendering is that you can use different renderers, such as the mental ray or VUE file renderer.

To choose between production and ActiveShade rendering, use the radio buttons described in the Interface section, following. To change the renderer assigned to production rendering, use the Assign Renderer rollout.

Procedures

To render a still image:

1. Activate the viewport to render.

2. Click (Render Setup).

The Render Setup dialog opens, with the Common panel active.

3. On the Common Parameters rollout, check the Time Output group to make sure the Single option is chosen.

4. In the Output Size group, set other rendering parameters or use the defaults.

5. Click the Render button at the bottom of the dialog.

By default, rendered output appears in the Rendered Frame Window.

Tip To render a view without using the dialog, click (Render Production).

To render an animation:

1. Activate the viewport to render.

2. Click (Render Setup).

The Render Setup dialog opens, with the Common panel active.

3. On the Common Parameters rollout, go to the Time Output group and choose a time range.

4. In the Output Size group, set other rendering parameters or use the defaults.

5. In the Render Output group, click Files.

6. On the Render Output File dialog, specify a location, name, and a type for the animation file, and then click Save.

Typically, a dialog appears that lets you configure options for the chosen file format. Change settings or accept the defaults, and then click OK to continue.

The Save File check box turns on.

7. Click the Render button at the bottom of the dialog.

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Note If you set a time range and do not specify a file to save to, the animation is rendered only to the window. This can be a time-consuming mistake, so an alert warns you about

it.

Tip Once you have rendered the animation this way, you can render it again without

using the dialog by clicking (Render Production) or pressing F9.

Interface

[rendering mode]

Production/IterativeChoose whether to render in production or iterative mode. (This is the default.)

ActiveShadeChoose to use ActiveShade.

Preset

From this drop-down list you can choose a set of preset rendering parameters, or load or save rendering parameter settings. See Preset Rendering Options.

Viewport

Chooses the viewport to render. By default, this is the active viewport. You can use this drop-down list to choose a different one. The list contains only currently displayed viewports.

Lock View

When on, locks the view to the one shown in the Viewport list. This enables you to adjust the scene in other viewports (which become active as you use them), and then click Render to render the viewport you originally chose. When off, Render always renders the active viewport.

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Render

Renders the scene.

When ActiveShade is chosen, the name of this button changes to ActiveShade, and clicking it opens a floating ActiveShade window.

If the scene you're rendering contains bitmaps that cannot be located, a Missing External Files dialog opens. This dialog lets you browse for the missing maps, or continue to render the scene without loading them.

Rendering Progress dialog

When you click Render, a rendering progress dialog shows the parameters being used, and a progress bar. The rendering dialog has a Pause button to the left of the Cancel button. When

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you click Pause, the rendering pauses, and the button's label changes to Resume. Click Resume to continue with the rendering.

Note The mental ray renderer does not support the Pause button. You can cancel a mental ray rendering, but you can't pause it.

Material Editor

The Material Editor provides functions to create and edit materials and maps.

Materials create greater realism in a scene. A material describes how an object reflects or transmits light. Material properties work hand-in-hand with light properties; shading or rendering combine the two, simulating how the object would look in a real-world setting.

You apply materials to individual objects or selection sets; a single scene can contain many different materials.

There are two interfaces to the Material Editor:

Compact Material Editor:If you have used 3ds Max prior to the release of 3ds Max 2011, the Compact Material Editor is the interface you are familiar with. It is a comparitively small dialog with quick previews of various materials. If you are assigning materials that have already been designed, the Compact Material Editor is still a convenient interface.

Slate Material Editor:The Slate Material Editor is a larger dialog in which materials and maps appear as nodes that you can wire together to create material trees, including phenomena built out of MetaSL shaders. If you are designing new materials, the Slate Material Editor is especially powerful, and it includes search tools to help you manage scenes that have a large number of materials.

Interface for Command Panel

The command panel comprises six user-interface panels that give you access to most of the modeling features of 3ds Max, as well as some animation features, display choices, and miscellaneous utilities. Only one panel is visible at a time. To display a different panel, you click its tab at the top of the command panel.

These are the panels:

Create panel

Contains controls for creating objects: geometry, cameras, lights, and so on.

Modify panel

Contains controls for applying modifiers to objects and editing editable objects such as meshes and patches.

Hierarchy panel

Contains controls for managing links in a hierarchy, joints, and inverse kinematics.

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Motion panel

Contains controls for animation controllers and trajectories.

Display panel

Contains controls that let you hide and unhide objects, along with other display options

Utilities panel

Contains miscellaneous utility programs.

By default, the command panel appears at the right of the 3ds Max window. You can "dock" it along other edges of 3ds Max window, or make it a floating panel

Create Panel

The Create panel groups the kinds of objects you create into seven categories. Each category has its own button. Within each category there can be several different subcategories of objects. A drop-down list lets you choose among object subcategories, and each kind of object has its own button, which you click to begin creation.

These are the categories of objects that the Create panel provides:

Geometry

Geometry is the renderable geometry of the scene. There are geometry primitives such as Box, Sphere, Pyramid, and more advanced geometry such as Booleans, Lofts, and particle systems, as well as Doors and Stairs, AEC Extended objects such as Terrain and Railing.

Shapes

Shapes are splines or NURBS curves. They have only one local dimension, although they can exist in 2D space, such as a Rectangle shape, or 3D space, such as a Helix.

You can give shapes a thickness so they will render, but primarily you use them for constructing other objects such as Lofts, or for motion trajectories.

Lights

Lights illuminate the scene and improve its realism. There are several kinds of lights, each of which models different types of lighting in the real world.

Cameras

Camera objects provide a view of the scene. The advantages of cameras over the views in the standard viewports are that cameras have controls similar to real-world cameras, and that you can animate a camera's position.

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Helpers

Helper objects are aids to constructing a scene. They help you position, measure, and animate the scene's renderable geometry.

Space Warps

Space warps produce various kinds of distortions in the space surrounding other objects. Some space warps are meant especially for use with particle systems.

Systems

Systems combine objects, controllers, and hierarchies to provide geometry associated with some kind of behavior. Also contains Sunlight and Daylight systems that simulate sunlight in your scenes

Modify Panel

From the Create panel of 3ds Max, you place basic objects in your scene, including 3D geometry, 2D shapes, lights and cameras, space warps, and helpers. Each object you add has its own set of creation parameters, which define its geometry and other characteristics, depending on the type of object. Once placed in a scene, objects carry their creation parameters with them. You can change these parameters on the Modify panel.

You also use the Modify panel to assign modifiers. Modifiers are tools for reshaping an object. While they mold the final appearance of the object, modifiers do not change its underlying creation parameters.

You use the Modify panel to:

Change the creation parameters for existing objects.

Apply modifiers to adjust the geometry of an object or a set of objects.

Change the parameters of modifiers and choose their components.

Delete modifiers.

Convert a parametric object to an editable object; see Modifier Stack Controls.

Note Some space warps can be created as modifiers. See World Space Modifiers (WSMs).

The Modify panel stays in view until you dismiss it by clicking the tab of another command panel. The top section of the panel always contains name and color controls, optionally the current modifier set buttons, the Modifier List, and the modifier stack and related controls. The remaining contents of the panel (various rollouts with options and controls) update when you select an object, giving you access only to what you can modify about that object.

What you can modify depends on whether an object is classed as a geometric primitive like a sphere, or as another kind of object, such as a light or a space warp. Each category has its own range of possibilities. The contents of the Modify panel are always specific to the category as

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well as to the selected object. When you make a change from the Modify panel, you immediately see the results transferred to the object.

You can change or delete modifiers by using the Modifier Stack Controls.

Procedures

To use the Modify panel:

1. Select an object.

2. On the Command panel, click the Modify tab to display the Modify panel.

The name of the object appears at the top of the Modify panel, and the remainder of the panel displays settings for the object or the modifier at the top of its stack.

3. You can now do any of the following:

o Change the parameters for the object. As you change these parameters, the object updates in the viewports.

o Apply a modifier to the object.

o Change the parameters for a modifier. As you change these parameters, the object updates in the viewports.

o Collapse the stack to create an editable surface such as an editable mesh.

To apply a modifier from the Modify panel:

1. Select an object.

2. On the Command panel, click the Modify tab to display the Modify panel. On the Modify panel, click the Modifier List to open the list of modifiers.

3. Scroll through the list to find the modifier you want. You can use any standard method:

o From the keyboard, press Up Arrow or Down Arrow to scroll one item at a time, or press Page Up or Page Down to scroll in screen-height increments, or use Home or End to jump to the top or bottom of the list. The name of the chosen modifier is highlighted, and the name appears at the top of the list.

Tip If you know the modifier name, you can jump to its section by pressing the keyboard key corresponding to first letter of the name. To cycle through all modifiers starting with that letter, press the key repeatedly.

o With the mouse, slide the scroll bar on the right side of the list, or turn the mouse wheel.

4. Apply the modifier. If using the keyboard, press Enter to apply the highlighted modifier. If using the mouse, simply click the modifier name to apply it.

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Hierarchy Panel

The Hierarchy panel provides access to tools to adjust the hierarchical linkage between objects. By linking one object to another, you create a parent-child relationship. Transformations applied to the parent are also transmitted to the child. By linking more objects to both parent and child objects you can create complex hierarchies.

Gyroscope assembled as a hierarchy.

The parent is the outer ring with handle.

The flywheel is the lowest child.

Common uses of linking are:

Creating complex motions.

Simulating jointed structures.

Providing the basis for inverse kinematics.

Setting rotational and sliding parameters for Bones.

The Hierarchy panel is divided into three areas:

Pivot

IK

Link Info

Array

The Array command displays the Array dialog, which enables you to create an array of objects based on the current selection.

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Procedures Interface

A one-dimensional array

The items in the Array Dimensions group let you create one-, two-, and three-dimensional arrays. For example, a row of five objects is a single-dimension array, even though it takes up three-dimensional space in the scene. An array of objects that's five rows by three columns is a two-dimensional array, and an array of objects that's five rows by three columns by two levels is a three-dimensional array.

Tip You can preview the array by turning on the Preview button. With Preview on, changing the array settings updates the viewports in real time.

Procedures

To create an array:

1. Select the objects to array.

2. Do one of the following:

o On the Extras toolbar, click (Array).

o On the Tools menu, choose Array.

3ds Max opens the Array dialog.

3. On the Array dialog, select the type of object to output: Copy, Instance, or Reference).

4. In the Preview group, click the Preview button to turn it on.

This lets you see the results of the array operation in the viewports, with changes appearing in real time.

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5. In the Array Transformation group, click the arrows to set Incremental or Totals array parameters for Move, Rotate, and Scale.

6. Enter coordinates for the Array Transformation parameters.

7. Indicate whether you want a 1D, 2D, or 3D array.

8. Set Count to the number of copies on each axis.

9. Enter the appropriate values in the numeric fields for Incremental Row Offsets.

10. Click OK.

The current selection is duplicated the specified number of times, with each object transformed as indicated.

To replace an array:

1. Undo the array to replace, using Edit Undo Create Array, or press Ctrl+Z.

2. Change the coordinate system and transform center, if needed.

3. Do one of the following:

o On the Extras toolbar, click (Array).

o On the Tools menu, choose Array.

3ds Max opens the Array dialog.

4. Adjust any parameters on the Array dialog that is displayed.

5. Click OK to create a new array, which replaces the previous version. Repeat these steps to fine-tune the array.

Example: To create an array of objects that numbers 5 x 4 x 3:

1. Create a teapot with a radius of 10 units.

2. Choose Tools Array to display the Array dialog.

3. In the Incremental set of parameters, set Move X (the upper-left field) to 50. This causes each object in the array to be positioned 50 units apart on the X axis.

4. In the Array Dimensions group, choose the 3D button to enable all the spinners in that group.

5. Set the 1D Count spinner to 5, the 2D Count spinner to 4, and the 3D Count spinner to 3.

This creates a row of 5 objects that are 50 units apart, and then 4 rows of those five objects, and then 3 rows of the 5 x 4 matrix of objects, resulting in a box array.

6. In the 2D row, set the Y spinner to 80.

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7. In the 3D row, set the Z spinner to 100.

8. Click OK.

A box array of teapots appears. The first dimensional array is five teapots created along the X world axis, 50 units apart (as specified in the Array Transform group). The second dimensional array is four layers created along the Y world axis, 80 units apart (as specified in the Array Dimensions group). The third dimensional array is three layers created along the Z world axis, 100 units apart. The total number of objects in the array is 60.

Example: To create a 360-degree array:

1. Reset 3ds Max.

2. Near the top of the Front viewport (away from its center), create a long, thin box at the twelve-o'clock position (as if the viewport were a clock face).

3. From the User Center flyout on the main toolbar, choose (Use Transform Coordinate Center).

4. Choose Tools Array.

5. Click the arrow button to the right of the Rotate label to enable the three Rotate fields in the Totals section.

6. Set the Z parameter to 360.0.

7. In the Array Dimensions group, choose 1D and set Count to 12.

8. Click OK.

3ds Max creates an array of 12 boxes in a full circle.

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Interface

Array Transformation group

Specifies which combination of the three transforms to use to create the array. You also specify the extent, along the three axes, for each transform. You can specify the extent of the transform in increments between each object, or in totals for all objects. In either case, the distances are measured between the pivot points of the objects. The arrays occur using the current transform settings, so the group title changes depending on the transform settings.

Click the left or right arrow button for Move, Rotate, or Scale to indicate whether you want to set Incremental or Total array parameters.

Incremental

Move

Specifies the distance between each arrayed object along the X, Y, and Z axes, in units.

Rotate

Specifies the degree of rotation about any of the three axes for each object in the array, in degrees.

Scale

Specifies the percentage of scale along any of the three axes for each object in the array, in percentages.

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Totals

Move

Specifies the overall distance, along each of the three axes, between the pivot points of the two outer objects in the resulting array. For example, if you're arraying 6 objects and set Move X total to 100, the six objects will be arrayed in a row that's 100 units between the pivot points of the two outer objects in the row.

Rotate

Specifies the total degrees of rotation applied to the objects along each of the three axes. You can use this, for example, to create an array that totals 360 degrees.

Re-Orient

Rotates the generated objects about their local axes while rotating them about the world coordinates. When clear, the objects maintain their original orientation.

Scale

Specifies the total scale of the objects along each of the three axes.

Uniform

Disables the Y and Z spinners and applies the X value to all axes, resulting in a uniform scale.

Type of Object group

Determine the type of copies made by the Array function. The default is Copy.

Copy

Arrays copies of the selected object to the specified position.

Instance

Arrays instances of the selected object to the specified position.

Reference

Arrays references of the selected object to the specified position.

Array Dimensions group

Lets you add to the Array Transformation dimension. The additional dimensions are positional only. Rotation and scale are not used.

1D

Creates a one-dimensional array, based on the settings in the Array Transformation group.

Count

Specifies the total number of objects along this dimension of the array. For 1D arrays, this is the total number of objects in the array.

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2D

Creates a two-dimensional array.

Count

Specifies the total number of objects along this second dimension of the array.

X/Y/Z

Specifies the incremental offset distance along each axis of the second dimension of the array.

3D

Creates a three-dimensional array.

Count

Specifies the total number of objects along this third dimension of the array.

X/Y/Z

Specifies the incremental offset distance along each axis of the third dimension of the array.

Total in Array

Displays the total number of entities that the array operation will create, including the current selection. If you're arraying a selection set, the total number of objects will be the result of multiplying this value times the number of objects in the selection set.

Preview

Toggles a viewport preview of the current array settings. Changing a setting updates the viewports immediately. If the update slows down feedback with large arrays of complex objects, turn on Display As Box.

Display as Box

Displays the array-preview objects as bounding boxes instead of geometry.

Reset All Parameters

Resets all the parameters to their default settings.

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UNIT II

Hedra Extended Primitive

Create panel > Geometry button > Extended Primitives > Object Type rollout

> Hedra button

Create menu > Extended Primitives > Hedra

Use Hedra to produce objects from several families of polyhedra.

Procedures

To create a polyhedron:

1 From the Create menu, choose Extended Primitives > Hedra.

2 In any viewport, drag to define a radius, then release to create the

polyhedron.

As you drag, a polyhedron emerges from the pivot point.

3 Adjust the Family Parameter and Axis Scaling spinners to vary the Hedra's

appearance.

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Family group

Use this group to select the type of polyhedron to create.

Tetra Creates a tetrahedron.

Cube/Octa Creates a cubic or octahedral polyhedron (depending on

parameter settings).

Dodec/Icos Creates a dodecahedron or icosahedron (depending on parameter

settings).

Star1/Star2 Creates two different star-like polyhedra.

(You can animate between Hedra types. Turn on the Auto Key button, go to any frame, and change the Family check box. There is no interpolation between types; the model simply jumps from a star to a cube or tetrahedron, and so on.)

Family Parameters Group

P, Q Interrelated parameters that provide a two-way translation between the vertices and facets of a polyhedron. They share the following:

■ Range of possible values is 0.0 through 1.0.

■ The combined total of the P and Q values can be equal to or less than 1.0.

■ Extremes occur if either P or Q is set to 1.0; the other is automatically set to 0.0.

■ Midpoint occurs when both P and Q are 0. In the simplest terms, P and Q change the geometry back and forth between vertices and facets. At the extreme settings for P and Q, one parameter represents all vertices, the other represents all facets. Intermediate settings are transition points, with the midpoint an even balance between the two parameters.

Axis Scaling group

Polyhedra can have as many as three kinds of polygonal facets, such as triangle, square, or pentagon. These facets can be regular or irregular. If a polyhedron has only one or two types of facet, only one or two of the axis scaling parameters are active. Inactive parameters have no effect.

P, Q, R Controls the axis of reflection for one of the facets of a polyhedron. In practice, these fields have the effect of pushing their corresponding facets in and out. Defaults=100.

Reset Returns axes to their default setting.

Vertices group

Parameters in the Vertices group determine the internal geometry of each facet of a polyhedron. Center and Center & Sides increase the number of vertices in the object and therefore the number of faces. These parameters cannot be animated.

Basic Facets are not subdivided beyond the minimum.

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Center Each facet is subdivided by placing an additional vertex at its center, with edges from each center point to the facet corners.

Center & Sides Each facet is subdivided by placing an additional vertex at ts center, with edges from each center point to the facet corners, as well as to the center of each edge. Compared to Center, Center & Sides doubles the number of faces in the polyhedron.

(If you scale the axis of the object, the Center option is used automatically, unless Center & Sides is already set.)

To see the internal edges turn off Edges Only on the Display command panel.

Radius Sets the radius of any polyhedron in current units.

Generate Mapping Coords Generates coordinates for applying mapped materials to the polyhedron. Default=on.

Torus Knot Extended Primitive

Create panel > Geometry > Extended Primitives > Object Type rollout > TorusKnot button

Create menu > Extended Primitives > Torus Knot

Use Torus Knot to create a complex or knotted torus by drawing 2D curves in the normal planes around a 3D curve. The 3D curve (called the Base Curve) can be either a circle or a torus knot.

Procedures

To create a Torus Knot:

1 On the Create menu, choose Extended Primitives > Torus Knot.

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2 Drag the mouse to define the size of the torus knot.

3 Click, then move the mouse vertically to define the radius.

4 Click again to finish the torus.

5 Adjust the parameters on the Modify panel.

Interface

Creation Method rollout

Diameter Draws the object from edge to edge. You can change the center location by moving the mouse.

Radius Draws the object from the center out.

Parameters rollout > Base Curve group

Provides parameters that affect the base curve.

Knot/Circle With Knot, the torus interweaves itself, based on various other parameters. With Circle, the base curve is a circle, resulting in a standard torus if parameters such as Warp and Eccentricity are left at their defaults.

Radius Sets the radius of the base curve.

Segments Sets the number of segments around the perimeter of the torus.

P and Q Describes up-and-down (P) and around-the-center (Q) winding numbers. (Active only when Knot is chosen.)

Warp Count Sets the number of "points" in a star shape around the curve. (Active only when Circle is chosen.)

Warp Height Sets the height of the "points" given as a percentage of the base curve radius.

Parameters rollout > Cross Section group

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Provides parameters that affect the cross section of the torus knot.

Radius Sets the radius of the cross section.

Sides Sets the number of sides around the cross section.

Eccentricity Sets the ratio of the major to minor axes of the cross section. A value of 1 provides a circular cross section, while other values create elliptical cross sections.

Twist Sets the number of times the cross section twists around the base curve.

Lumps Sets the number of bulges in the torus knot. Note that the Lump Height spinner value must be greater than 0 to see any effect.

Lump Height Sets the height of the lumps, as a percentage of the radius of the cross section. Note that the Lumps spinner must be greater than 0 to see any effect.

Lump Offset Sets the offset of the start of the lumps, measured in degrees.he purpose of this value is to animate the lumps around the torus.

Parameters rollout > Smooth group

Provides options to alter the smoothing displayed or rendered of the torus knot. This smoothing does not displace or tesselate the geometry, it only adds the smoothing group information.

All Smoothes the entire torus knot.

Sides Smoothes only the adjacent sides of the torus knot.

None The torus knot is faceted.

Parameters rollout > Mapping Coordinates group

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Provides methods of assigning and adjusting mapping coordinates.

Generate Mapping Coords Assigns mapping coordinates based on the geometry of the torus knot. Default=on.

Offset U/V Offset the mapping coordinates along U and V.

Tiling U/V Tile the mapping coordinates along U and V.

Chamfer Box Extended Primitive

Create panel > Geometry button > Extended Primitives > Object Type rollout > ChamferBox button

Create menu > Extended Primitives > Chamfer Box

Use ChamferBox to create a box with beveled or rounded edges.

Procedures

To create a standard chamfered box:

1 From the Create menu, choose Extended Primitives > Chamfer Box.

2 Drag the mouse to define the diagonal corners of the base of the chamfered box. (Press Ctrl to constrain the base to a square.)

3 Release the mouse button, and then move the mouse vertically to define the height of the box. Click to set the height

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4 Move the mouse diagonally to define the width of the fillet, or chamfer (toward the upper left increases the width; toward the lower right decreases it).

5 Click again to finish the chamfered box.

To create a cubic chamfered box:

1 On the Creation Method rollout, click Cube.

2 Beginning at the center of the cube, drag in a viewport to set all three dimensions simultaneously.

3 Release the button, and move the mouse to set the fillet or chamfer.

4 Click to create the object.

You can change a cube's individual dimensions in the Parameters rollout.

Interface

Creation Method rollout

Cube Forces length, width, and height to be equal. You can change a cube's individual dimensions in the Parameters rollout.

Box Creates a standard chamfered box primitive from one corner to the diagonally opposite corner, with individual settings for length, width, and height.

Length, Width, Height Sets the corresponding dimensions of the chamfered box.

Fillet Slices off the edges of the chamfered box. Higher values result in a more refined fillet on the edges of the chamfered box.

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Length, Width, Height Segs Sets the number of divisions along the corresponding axis.

Fillet Segs Sets the number of segments in the filleted edges of the box. Adding fillet segments increases the edge roundness.

Smooth Blends the display of the faces of the chamfered box, creating a smooth appearance in rendered views.

Generate Mapping Coords Generates coordinates for applying mapped materials to the chamfered box. Default=on.

Real-World Map Size Controls the scaling method used for texture mapped materials that are applied to the object.

ChamferCyl Extended Primitive

Create panel > Geometry button > Extended Primitives > Object Type rollout > ChamferCyl button

Create menu > Extended Primitives > Chamfer Cylinder

Use ChamferCyl to create a cylinder with beveled or rounded cap edges.

Procedures

To create a chamfered cylinder:

1 From the Create menu, choose Extended Primitives > Chamfer Cylinder.

2 Drag the mouse to define the radius of the base of the chamfered cylinder.

3 Release the mouse button, and then move the mouse vertically to define the height of the cylinder. Click to set the height.

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4 Move the mouse diagonally to define the width of the fillet, or chamfer (toward the upper left increases the width; toward the lower right decreases it).

5 Click to finish the cylinder.

Interface

Creation Method rollout

Edge Draws the object from edge to edge. You can change the center location y moving the mouse.

Center Draws the object from the center out.

Radius Sets the radius of the chamfered cylinder.

Height Sets the dimension along the central axis. Negative values create thechamfered cylinder below the construction plane.

Fillet Chamfers the top and bottom cap edges of the chamfered cylinder.Higher numbers result in a more refined fillet along the cap edge.

Height Segs Sets the number of divisions along the corresponding axis.

Fillet Segs Sets the number of segments in the filleted edges of the cylinder.Adding fillet segments curves the edges, producing a filleted cylinder.

Sides Sets the number of sides around the chamfered cylinder. Highernumbers shade and render as true circles with Smooth on. Lower numberscreate regular polygonal objects with Smooth off.

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Cap Segs Sets the number of concentric divisions along the center of the chamfered cylinder's top and bottom

Smooth Blends the faces of the chamfered cylinder, creating a smoothappearance in rendered views.

Slice On Enables the Slice function. Default=off.

When you create a slice and then turn off Slice On, the complete chamfered cylinder reappears. You can use this check box to switch between the two topologies.

Slice From, Slice To Sets the number of degrees around the local Z axis from a zero point at the local X axis.

For both settings, positive values move the end of the slice counterclockwise;negative values move it clockwise. Either setting can be made first. When the ends meet, the whole chamfered cylinder reappears.

Generate Mapping Coords Generates coordinates for applying mapped materials to the chamfered cylinder. Default=on.

Real-World Map Size Controls the scaling method used for texture mapped materials that are applied to the object.

Bend Modifier

Modify panel > Make a selection. > Modifier List > Object-Space Modifiers > Bend

Make a selection. > Modifiers menu > Parametric Deformers > Bend

The Bend modifier lets you bend the current selection up to 360 degrees about a single axis, producing a uniform bend in an object's geometry. You can control the angle and direction of the bend on any of three axes. You can also limit the bend to a section of the geometry.

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Procedures

To bend an object:

1 Select an object and apply the Bend modifier.

2 On the Parameters rollout, set the axis of the bend to X, Y, or Z. This is the axis of the Bend gizmo, not the axis of the selected object.

You can switch between axes at any time, but the modifier carries only one axis setting.

3 Set the angle of the bend along the chosen axis. The object bends to this angle.

4 Set the direction of the bend. The object swivels around the axis.

You can reverse angle and direction by changing a positive value to a negative value.

To limit the bend:

1 Turn on Limit Effect in the Limits group.

2 Set values for the upper and lower limits. These are distances in current units above and below the modifier's center, which is at zero on the gizmo's Z axis by default. You can make the upper limit zero or positive, and the lower limit zero or negative. If the limits are equal, the result is the same as turning off Limit Effect.

The bend is applied between these limits. The surrounding geometry, while unaffected by the bend itself, rotates to keep the object intact. This is analogous to bending a pipe, where the unbent sections rotate but remain straight.

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3 At the sub-object level, you can select and move the modifier's center. The Limit settings remain on either side of the center as you move it. This lets you relocate the bend area to another part of the object.

Interface

Modifier Stack

Gizmo sub-object You can transform and animate the gizmo like any other object at this sub-object level, altering the effect of the Bend modifier. Translating the gizmo translates its center an equal distance. Rotating and scaling the gizmo takes place with respect to its center.

Center sub-object You can translate and animate the center at this sub-object level, altering the Bend gizmo's shape, and thus the shape of the bent object.

Bend group

Angle Sets the angle to bend from the vertical plane. Range=-999,999.0 to

999,999.0.

Direction Sets the direction of the bend relative to the horizontal plane.

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Range=-999,999.0 to 999,999.0.

Bend Axis group

X/Y/Z Specifies the axis to be bent. Note that this axis is local to the Bend gizmo and not related to the selected entity. Default=Z.

Limits group

Limit Effect Applies limit constraints to the bend effect. Default=off.

Upper Limit Sets the upper boundary in world units from the bend center point beyond which the bend no longer affects geometry. Default=0. Range=0 to 999,999.0.

Lower Limit Sets the lower boundary in world units from the bend center point beyond which the bend no longer affects geometry. Default=0. Range=-999,999.0 to 0.

Taper Modifier

Modify panel > Make a selection. > Modifier List > Object-Space Modifiers >Taper

Make a selection. > Modifiers menu > Parametric Deformers > Taper

The Taper modifier produces a tapered contour by scaling both ends of an object's geometry; one end is scaled up, and the other is scaled down. You can control the amount and curve of the taper on two sets of axes. You can also limit the taper to a section of the geometry.

Twist Modifier

Modify panel > Make a selection. > Modifier List > Object-Space Modifiers >

Twist

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Make a selection. > Modifiers menu > Parametric Deformers > Twist The Twist modifier produces a twirling effect (like wringing out a wet rag) in an object's geometry. You can control the angle of the twist on any of three axes, and set a bias that compresses the twist effect relative to the pivot point. You can also limit the twist to a section of the geometry.

Procedures

To twist an object:

1. Select an object and apply Twist.

2. On the Parameters rollout, set Twist Axis to X, Y, or Z. This refers to the axis of the Twist gizmo, not the axis of the selected object. You can switch between axes at any time, but only one axis setting is carried with the modifier.

3. Set the angle of the twist. Positive values produce a clockwise twist, negative values a counterclockwise twist. An angle of 360 produces a complete revolution. The object twists to this amount beginning at the lower limit (by default, the location of the modifier's center).

4. Set the bias of the twist.

A positive value compresses the twist at the end away from the pivot point, a negative value toward the pivot point.

To limit the twist:

1.Turn on Limits group > Limit Effect.

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2.Set values for the upper and lower limits. These are distances in current units above and below the modifier's center, which is at zero on the gizmo's Z axis. The upper limit can be zero or positive, the lower limit zero or negative. If the limits are equal, the result is the same as turning off Limit Effect. The twist offset is applied between these limits. The surrounding geometry, while unaffected by the twist itself, is moved to keep the object intact.

3.At the sub-object level, you can select and move the modifier's center. The limit settings remain on either side of the center as you move it. This lets you relocate the twist area to another part of the object.

Interface

Modifier Stack

Gizmo You can transform and animate the gizmo like any other object at this sub-object level, altering the effect of the Twist modifier. Translating the gizmo translates its center an equal distance. Rotating and scaling the gizmo takes place with respect to its center.

Center You can translate and animate the center at this sub-object level, altering the Twist gizmo's shape, and thus the shape of the twisted object.

Twist group

Angle Determines the amount of twist around the vertical axis. Default=0.0.

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Bias Causes the twist rotation to bunch up at either end of the object. When the parameter is negative, the object twists closer to the gizmo center. When the value is positive, the object twists more away from the gizmo center. When the parameter is 0, the twisting is uniform. Range=100 to -100. Default=0.0.

Twist Axis group

X/Y/Z Specify the axis along which the twist will occur. This is the local axis of the Twist gizmo. Default=Z.

Limits group

Applies the twist effect only to vertices that lie between the lower and upper limits. The two spinners represent distance along the gizmo's Z axis (Z=0 is at the gizmo's center). When they are equal, it is the same as disabling the twist effect.

Limit Effect Applies limit constraints to the Twist modifier.

Upper Limit Sets the upper limit for the twist effect. Default=0.

Lower Limit Sets the lower limit for the twist effect. Default=0.

Shell Modifier

Modify panel > Make a selection. > Modifier List > Object-Space Modifiers > Shell

Make a selection. > Modifiers menu > Parametric Deformers > Shell The Shell modifier “solidifies” or gives thickness to an object by adding an extra set of faces facing the opposite direction of existing faces, plus edges connecting the inner and outer surfaces wherever faces are missing in the original object. You can specify offset distances for the inner and outer surfaces, characteristics for edges, material IDs, and mapping types for the edges.

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You'd typically use Shell on an object with part of its surface removed, such as a sphere with several deleted vertices or faces, as illustrated above. For best results, the original polygons should face outward. If an object has no faces with at least one free edge, Shell will not create any edges.

Examples of Shell Usage

Following are some examples of modeling tasks for which the Shell modifier would be appropriate:

■ An artist is modeling a vehicle such as a car, a tank, or, in this case, a helicopter. The artist builds a solid external shell as the body of the copter. When done, the modeler breaks up his model: he selects window areas and detaches them as new objects, followed by the area for the doors (also detached as new objects). The modeler now has open objects representing the body, windows, and doors. The modeler applies Shell to the body, and sets it to extrude both outward and inward a set number of units, setting the inward extrusion to be greater than the outward. Shell is applied to the windows next; these are set to extrude inward only. The modeler then copies the Shell modifier from the body to the doors, and reduces the doors' outward extrusion somewhat. The result is a solid body with an interior that can accept additional modeling, inset windows, and doors that are slightly less thick than the shell of the helicopter.

A designer is modeling a manufactured object that will need to be shown in an exploded view. It might be a cell phone, an engine, a mouse, shaped glass, or something similar; this example will use part of a cell phone. When working on the phone keypad area, if the modeler builds with detail in mind, she might accurately model the shell with a moderately dense mesh, using ShapeMerge to create the shapes for the holes where the keys will poke through, and then deleting those faces. When satisfied, the modeler applies the Shell modifier, sets Segments to 2, and then turns on the Bevel Edges option to use a curve for the profile of the holes' edges. She then applies a MeshSmooth modifier on top. The extra segment helps control the curve of the edges where the outer surface curves down to the keypad holes. The modeler then goes back to the cage portion of the stack and refines the base mesh details to her liking.

A modeler is creating a suit of futuristic armor for a character. The modeler copies a selection of polygons from the character mesh to a new object; for example, the polygons that make up the arm. The modeler deletes some faces from the copied arm, and perhaps cuts some holes from it. He then applies the Shell modifier, followed by a MeshSmooth modifier, resulting in form-fitting armor.

Procedures

To solidify an object:

1 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.

2 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.

3 Apply the Shell modifier to the object from step 1.

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4 To use custom edges, turn on Bevel Edges, click the Bevel Spline button, and then select the spline from step 2.

5 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

6 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. Shell

Inner/Outer Amount Distance in 3ds Max generic units by which the inner surface is moved inward and the outer surface is moved outward from their original positions. Defaults=0.0 / 1.0.

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The sum of the two Amount settings determines the thickness of the object's shell, as well as the default width of the edges. If you set both to 0, the resultant shell has no thickness, and resembles an object set to display as 2-sided.

Segments The number of subdivisions across each edge. Default=1.

Change this setting if you need greater resolution on the edge for use by subsequent modeling or modifiers.

Bevel Edges When on, and you specify a Bevel Spline, the software uses the spline to define the edges' profile and resolution. Default=off.

After you define a Bevel Spline, use Bevel Edges to switch between a flat edge whose resolution is defined by the Segments setting and a custom profile defined by the Bevel Spline.

Bevel Spline Click this button and then select an open spline to define the edge shape and resolution. Closed shapes such as Circle or Star will not work.

The original spline is instanced to the Bevel Spline, so changing the spline's shape and properties are reflected in the Bevel Spline. With non-corner vertices, you can change the edge resolution with the spline's Interpolation rollout settings.

Override Inner Mat ID Turn on to specify a material ID for all of the inner surface polygons using the Inner Mat ID parameter. Default=off.

If you don't specify a material ID, the surface uses the same material ID or IDs as the original faces.

Inner Mat ID Specifies the material ID for inner faces. Available only when Override Inner MatID is on.

Override Outer Mat ID Turn on to specify a material ID for all of the outersurface polygons using the Outer Mat ID parameter.

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Default=off.If you don't specify a material ID, the surface uses the same material ID or IDsas the original faces.

Outer Mat ID Specifies the material ID for outer faces. Available only whenOverride Outer MatID is on.

Override Edge Mat ID Turn on to specify a material ID for all of the newedge polygons using the Edge Mat ID parameter. Default=off.

If you don't specify a material ID, the surface uses the same material ID or IDs as the original faces from which the edges are derived.

Edge Mat ID Specifies the material ID for edge faces. Available only when Override Edge MatID is on.

Auto Smooth Edge Applies automatic, angle-based smoothing across the edge faces using the Angle parameter. When off, no smoothing is applied. Default=on.

This doesn't apply smoothing across the junction between the edge faces and the outer/inner surface faces.

Angle Specifies the maximum angle between edge faces that will be smoothed by Auto Smooth Edge. Available only when Auto Smooth Edge is on. Default=45.0.

Faces that meet at an angle greater than this value will not be smoothed.

Smooth Grp Sets the smoothing group for the edge polygons. Available only when Override Smooth Group is on. Default=0.

When Smooth Grp is set to the default value of 0, no smoothing group is assigned to the edge polygons. To specify a smoothing group, change the value to a number between 1 and 32.

Edge Mapping Specifies the type of texture mapping that is applied to the new edges. Choose a mapping type from the drop-down list:

■ Copy Each edge face uses the same UVW coordinates as the original face from which it's derived.

■ None Each edge face is assigned a U value of 0 and a V value of 1. Thus, if a map is assigned, the edges will take the color of the upper-left pixel.

■ Strip The edges are mapped in a continuous strip.

■ Interpolate The edge mapping is interpolated from the mapping of the adjacent inner and outer surface polygons.

TV Offset Determines the spacing of the texture vertices across the edges. Available only with the Edge Mapping choices Strip and Interpolate. Default=0.05.

Increasing this value increases the repetition of the texture map across the edge polygons

Select Edges Selects the edge faces. This selection is passed up the stack to other modifiers. Default=off.

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Select Inner Faces Selects the inner faces. This selection is passed up the stack to other modifiers. Default=off.

Select Outer Faces Selects the outer faces. This selection is passed up the stack to other modifiers. Default=off.

Straighten Corners Adjusts corner vertices to maintain straight-line edges.

If you apply Shell to a subdivided object with straight edges, such as a box set to 3x3x3 segments, you might find that the corner vertices don't stay in a straight line with the other edge vertices. This gives the edges a bulging look. To resolve this, turn on Straighten Corners.

Slice Modifier

Select an object. > Modify panel > Modifier List > Object-Space Modifiers > Slice

Select an object. > Modifiers menu > Parametric Deformers > Slice

The Slice modifier lets you create a cutting plane that slices through a mesh, creating new vertices, edges and faces based on the location of the slice plane gizmo. The vertices can either refine or split the mesh according to the selected options.

The Slice modifier slices through groups, selected objects or sub-object selections of faces. It works similarly to the Editable mesh > Edge > Slice function but does not require the objects to

be editable meshes.

You can animate the cutting plane, changing its position and rotation over time. You can also use the Remove Top and Remove Bottom options to createthe appearance and disappearance of objects by animating the Slice Plane gizmo.

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Top: Original object

Middle: Object without top

Bottom: Object without bottom, respectively

Multiple Slices

To create multiple slices in an object you need to apply multiple Slice modifiers. If the geometry doesn't need to remain parametric, you can collapse it into an editable mesh and use the Slice tool available under Editable Mesh (Edge) on page 2007 . This tool is easier to use when you need to make multiple slices in an object, but it does not stay parametric.

Warning: Slice and Sub-Object Selections

You can use Slice on sub-object selection sets by slicing or removing only the selected faces. However, because selected faces are sliced and unselected adjacent faces are not, there may be "holes" in the mesh on the edge where the slice occurs. These holes can be problematic, creating discontinuities in smoothing and rendering. Holes are created only when Operate On Faces is on.

Procedures

Example: To animate the appearance of a teapot using the Slice modifier:

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1 Create a teapot on

2 Apply a Slice modifier. The Slice Plane gizmo appears at the base of the teapot.

3 On the stack display, choose the Slice Plane gizmo.

4 Turn on the Auto Key button, and move the time slider to frame 100.

5 Move the Slice Plane gizmo above the top of the teapot. Play the animation to verify that the slice plane is animated.

6 Change the Slice type from Refine Mesh (the default) to Remove Top. Play the animation again.

7 Make a copy of the teapot in the same position (choose Edit menu > Clone and click OK to accept the default settings).

8 Put a Wireframe material on the clone and change the Slice type on the clone to Remove Bottom.

9 Play the animation. The wireframe teapot magically becomes a fully shaded one.

Example: To slice vertically through an object:

1 Create a teapot

2 Apply a Slice modifier. The Slice Plane gizmo appears at the base of the teapot.

3 On the stack display, open the Slice modifier and choose the Slice Plane gizmo.

4 Move the Slice Plane gizmo so it intersects the middle of the teapot.

5 Rotate the Slice Plane gizmo so it is vertical.

6 Turn on Remove Top. The back of the teapot is sliced away.

7 Turn on Remove Bottom. The front half of the teapot is sliced away.

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Interface

Modifier Stack

Slice Plane At this sub-object level, you can transform and animate the gizmo like any other object to determine where the slice occurs. Scaling the gizmo has no effect, because its extents are effectively infinite. If you need to limit the extent of the slice, use it on a sub-object selection set of faces, rather than on the entire object.

Slice Type Defines how the slice plane will affect the geometry to which it has been applied

■ Refine Mesh Adds new vertices and edges along the intersection of the geometry with the slicing plane. Faces cut by the plane are subdivided into new faces.

■ Split Mesh Adds a double set of vertices and edges along the plane boundary producing two separate meshes (one on either side of the slice plane), which you can modify differently if desired. Use this to break a mesh in two.

■ Remove Top Deletes all the faces and vertices above the Slice Plane.

■ Remove Bottom Deletes all the faces and vertices below the Slice Plane.

Operate On Choose one of these buttons to specify how the slice handles quads and other polygons.

■ Faces Treats the selection set as a set of triangular faces, slicing each one in turn

■ Polygons Converts the object to a polygon mesh based on visible edges, eliminating hidden edges

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Wave Modifier

Modify panel > Make a selection. > Modifier List > Object-Space Modifiers > Wave

Make a selection. > Modifiers menu > Parametric Deformers > Wave

The Wave modifier produces a wave effect in an object's geometry. You can use either of two waves, or combine them. Wave uses a standard gizmo and center, which you can transform to increase the possible wave

effects.

Procedures

To make an object wavey:

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1 Select an object and apply the Wave modifier

2 Set one or both values for amplitude, or the vertical height of the wave in current units.

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.

3 Set the length of the wave and the distance in current units between crests of both waves.

The greater the length, the smoother and more shallow the wave for a given amplitude.

To add a phase effect:

■ 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.

Phase effect on a wave

To add a decay effect:

■ Set a decay value to increase or decrease the amplitude.

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).

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Interface

Modifier Stack

Gizmo At this sub-object level, you can transform and animate the gizmo like any other object, altering the effect of the Wave modifier. Translating the gizmo translates its center an equal distance. Rotating and scaling the gizmo takes place with respect to its center.

Center At this sub-object level, you can translate and animate the center, altering the Wave gizmo's shape, and thus the shape of the wavy object.

Amplitude 1/Amplitude 2 Amplitude 1 produces a sine wave along the gizmo's Y axis, while Amplitude 2 creates a wave along the X axis (although peaks and troughs appear in the same direction with both). Switching a value from positive to negative reverses the positions of peaks and troughs.

Wave Length Specifies the distance in current units between the crests of both waves.

Phase Shifts the wave pattern over the object. Positive numbers move the pattern in one direction, while negative numbers move it in the other. This effect is especially clear when animated.

Decay Limits the effect of the wave generated from its origin. A decay value decreases the amplitude at increasing distance from the center. As this value increases, the wave is concentrated

Noise Modifier

Modify panel > Make a selection. > Modifier List > Object-Space Modifiers > Noise

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Make a selection. > Modifiers menu > Parametric Deformers > Noise

The Noise modifier modulates the position of an object's vertices along any combination of three axes. This important animation tool simulates random variations in an object's shape.

Using a fractal setting, you can achieve random, rippling patterns, like a flag in the wind. With fractal settings, you can also create mountainous terrain from flat geometry.

You can apply the Noise modifier to any kind of object. The Noise gizmo changes shape to help you visualize the effects of changing parameter settings. The results of the Noise modifier are most noticeable on objects that have greater numbers of faces.

Most of the Noise parameters have an animation controller. The only keys set

by default are for Phase.

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Procedures

To apply noise to an object:

1 Select an object and apply the Noise modifier. To animate, move to a nonzero frame and turn on the Auto Key button.

2 In the Parameters rollout > Strength group, increase Strength values along one or more of the three axes.

You begin to see noise effects as the strength goes up.

3 In the Noise group, adjust Scale. Lower values increase the dynamics of the Strength settings, making the effect more obvious. See Noise group, below, for other options.

If you've animated this procedure, you can change parameters as the animation runs to see the effects.

For another source of noise effects, go to the sub-object level of the Noise modifier and transform the gizmo and center of the modifier.

To create terrain effects:

When set for Fractal, the Noise modifier produces a random fractal noise that creates a variety of topological and terrain effects. You can animate these effects or use them to model static landscapes and other complex forms.

The following steps assume you begin with a broad object like a multi-segment box lying on the XY plane.

1 Apply the Noise modifier to the object.

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2 In the Parameters rollout > Noise group, turn on Fractal. Roughness and Iterations settings are now available.

3 Increase Strength on the Z axis and adjust other parameters.

Once you have a base terrain, you can select sub-objects with Edit Mesh and apply Noise to grow mountains in a smaller region. You can also apply a second Noise modifier to amplify the first one.

Interface

Modifier Stack

Gizmo/Center You can move, rotate, or scale the gizmo and center sub-objects to affect the noise. You can also animate the sub-object transforms.

Parameters rollout

Noise group

Controls the appearance of the noise, and thus its effect on the physical deformations of the object. By default, the controls are inactive until you change the settings.

Seed Generates a random start point from the number you set. Especially useful in creating terrain, because each setting can produce a different configuration.

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Scale Sets the size of the noise effect (not strength). Larger values produce smoother noise, lower values more jagged noise. Default=100. Fractal Produces a fractal effect based on current settings. Default=off. If you turn on Fractal, the following options are available: Roughness Determines the extent of fractal variation. Lower values are less rough than higher values. Range=0 to 1.0. Default=0. Iterations Controls the number of iterations (or octaves) used by the fractal function. Fewer iterations use less fractal energy and generate a smoother effect. An iteration of 1.0 is the same as turning Fractal off. Range=1.0 to 10.0. Default=6.0.

Strength group

Controls the magnitude of the noise effect. No noise effect occurs until some strength is applied.

X, Y, Z Set the strength of the noise effect along each of three axes. Enter a value for at least one of these axes to produce a noise effect. Default=0.0,0.0,0.0.

Animation group

Controls the shape of the noise effect by overlaying a sine wave for the noise pattern to follow. This keeps the noise within bounds, dampening random extremes. When Animate Noise is turned on, these parameters influence the overall noise effect. However, you can animate Noise and Strength parameters independently; these do not require Animate Noise to be on during animation or playback.

Animate Noise Regulates the combined effect of Noise and Strength parameters. The following parameters adjust the underlying wave.

Frequency Sets the periodicity of the sine wave. Regulates the speed of the noise effect. Higher frequencies make the noise quiver faster. Lower frequencies produce a smoother and more gentle noise.

Phase Shifts the start and end points of the underlying wave. By default, animation keys are set at either end of the active frame range. You can see the effect of Phase more clearly by editing these positions in Track View. Select Animate Noise to enable animation playback.

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UNIT III

Concepts of 2D Shape

Line Spline

Create panel > Shapes > Splines > Object Type rollout > Line

Create menu > Shapes > Line

Use Line to create a free-form spline made of multiple segments.

Example of line

Procedures

To create a line:

1 Go to the Create panel and choose Shapes.

2 On the Object Type rollout, click the Line button.

3 Choose a creation method.

4 Click or drag the start point.

Clicking creates a corner vertex; dragging creates a Bezier vertex.

5 Click or drag additional points.

Clicking creates a corner vertex; dragging creates a Bezier vertex.

6 Do one of the following:

■ Right-click to create an open spline.

■ Click the first vertex and click Yes in the "Close spline?" dialog to

create a closed spline.

To create a line from the keyboard:

1 Enter values in the X, Y, and Z fields to specify a vertex coordinate.

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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:

■ Click Finish to create an open spline.

■ Click Close to connect the current vertex to the first vertex and create a closed spline .

Creation Method rollout

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.

You can preset the default types of spline vertices during line creation with these settings:

Initial Type group

Sets the type of vertex you create when you click a vertex location.

Corner Produces a sharp point. The spline is linear to either side of the vertex.

Smooth Produces a smooth, nonadjustable curve through the vertex. The amount of curvature is set by the spacing of the vertices.

Drag Type group

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.

Corner Produces a sharp point. The spline is linear to either side of the vertex.

Smooth Produces a smooth, nonadjustable curve through the vertex. The amount of curvature are set by the spacing of the vertices.

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.

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Keyboard Entry rollout

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.

Add Point Adds a new point to the line at the current X/Y/Z coordinates.

Close Closes the shape, adding a final spline segment between the mostrecent vertex and the first.

Finish Finishes the spline without closing it.

Rectangle Spline

Create panel > Shapes > Splines > Object Type rollout > Rectangle

Create menu > Shapes > Rectangle

Use Rectangle to create square and rectangular splines.

Examples of rectangles

Procedures

To create a rectangle:

1 Go to the Create panel and choose Shapes.

2 Click Rectangle.

3 Choose a creation method.

4 Drag in a viewport to create a rectangle. Optionally, press Ctrl while dragging to constrain the spline to a square.

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Parameters rollout

Once you have created a rectangle, you can make changes using the following parameters:

Length Specifies the size of the rectangle along the local Y axis.

Width Specifies the size of the rectangle along the local X axis.

Corner Radius Creates rounded corners. When set to 0, the rectangle contains 90-degree corners.

Circle Spline

Create panel > Shapes > Splines > Object Type rollout > Circle

Create menu > Shapes > Circle

Use Circle to create closed circular splines made of four vertices.

Example of circle

To create a circle:

1 Go to the Create panel and choose Shapes.

2 Click Circle.

3 Choose a creation method.

4 Drag in a viewport to draw the circle.

Parameters rollout

Once you have created a circle, you can make changes using the followingparameter:

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Radius Specifies the radius of the circle.

Ellipse Spline

Create panel > Shapes > Splines > Object Type rollout > Ellipse

Create menu > Shapes > Ellipse

Use Ellipse to create elliptical and circular splines.

Examples of ellipses

Procedures

To create an ellipse:

1 Go to the Create panel and choose Shapes.

2 Click Ellipse.

3 Choose a creation method.

4 Drag in a viewport to draw the ellipse.

Optionally, press Ctrl while dragging to constrain the spline to a circle.

Parameters rollout

Once you have created an Ellipse, you can make changes using the followingparameters:

Length Specifies the size of the Ellipse along the local Y axis.

Width Specifies the size of the Ellipse local X axis.

Arc Spline

Create panel > Shapes > Splines > Object Type rollout > Arc

Create menu > Shapes > Arc

Use Arc to create open and closed circular arcs made of four vertices.

Procedures

To create an arc using the end-end-middle method:

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1 Go to the Create panel and choose Shapes.

2 Click Arc.

3 Choose the End-End-Middle creation method.

4 Drag in a viewport to set the two ends of the arc.

5 Release the mouse button, then move the mouse and click to specify a third point on an arc between the two endpoints.

Creating an arc using the End-End-Middle creation method

To create an arc using the center-end-end method:

1 Go to the Create panel and choose Shapes.

2 Click Arc.

3 Choose the Center-End-End creation method.

4 Press the mouse button to define the center of the arc.

5 Drag and release the mouse button to specify the start point of the arc.

6 Move the mouse and click to specify the other end of the arc.

Creating an arc using the Center-End-End creation method

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Creation Method rollout

These options determine the sequence of mouse clicks involved in the creationof the arc.

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.

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.

Parameters rollout

Once you have created an arc, you can make changes using the following parameters:

Radius Specifies the arc radius.

From Specifies the location of the start point as an angle measured from the local positive X axis.

To Specifies the location of the end point as an angle measured from the local positive X axis.

Pie Slice When on, creates a closed spline in the form of a pie. The start point and end point are connected to the center with straight segments.

Closed pie slice arcs

Reverse When on, the direction of the arc spline is reversed, and the first vertex is placed at the opposite end of an open arc. As long as the shape remains an original shape (and not an editable spline), you can switch its direction by toggling Reverse. Once the arc is converted to an editable spline, you can use Reverse at the Spline sub-object level to reverse direction.

Extrude Modifier

Select a shape. > Modify panel > Modifier List > Object-Space Modifiers >Extrude

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Select a shape. > Modifiers menu > Mesh Editing > Extrude

The Extrude modifier adds depth to a shape and makes it a parametric object.

Extrude Modifier

Above: Spline before extrusion

Below left: Extruded spline with Cap End off

Below right: Extruded spline with Cap End on

Lathe Modifier

Select a shape. > Modify panel > Modifier List > Lathe

Select a shape. > Modifiers menu > Patch/Spline Editing > Lathe

Lathe creates a 3D object by rotating a shape or NURBS curve about an axis.

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Interface

Modifier Stack

Axis At this sub-object level, you can transform and animate the axis of

revolution.

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Parameters rollout

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.

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Object resulting from 270-degree lathe

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.

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.

Segments Determines how many interpolated segments are created in the surface between the start and endpoint. This parameter is also animatable. Default=16.

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.

Capping group

Controls whether or not caps are created for the interior of the lathed object if Degrees is set to less than 360.

Cap Start Caps the start of the lathed object with Degrees set to less than 360 and a closed shape.

Cap End Caps the end of the lathed object with Degrees set to less than 360 and a closed shape.

Morph Arranges cap faces in a predictable, repeatable pattern necessary for creating morph targets. Morph capping can generate long, thin faces that don't render or deform as well as grid capping. Use morph capping primarily if you are lathing multiple morph targets.

Grid Arranges cap faces in a square grid trimmed at the shape boundaries. This method produces a surface of evenly sized faces that can easily be deformed by other modifiers.

Direction group

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Sets up the direction of the axis of revolution, relative to the pivot point of the object.

X/Y/Z Set the direction of the axis of revolution relative to the pivot point of the object.

Align group

Min/Center/Max Align the axis of revolution to the minimum, center, or maximum extents of the shape.

Loft Compound Object

Select a path or shape. > Create panel > Geometry > Compound Objects >

Object Type rollout > Loft

Select a path or shape. > Create menu > Compound Objects > Loft

Roadway created as a lofted shape

Loft objects are two-dimensional shapes extruded along a third axis. You create loft objects from two or more existing spline objects.

One of these splines serves the path. The remaining splines serve as cross-sections, or shapes, of the loft object. As you arrange shapes along the path, 3ds Max generates a surface between the shapes. You create shape objects to serve as a path for any number of cross-section shapes.

The path becomes the framework that holds the cross sections forming your object. If you designate only one shape on the path, 3ds Max assumes an identical shape is located at each end of the path.

The surface is then generated between the shapes. 3ds Max places few restrictions on how you create a loft object.

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You can create curved, three-dimensional paths and even three-dimensional cross sections. When using Get Shape, as you move the cursor over an invalid shape, the reason the shape is invalid is displayed in the prompt line.

Unlike other compound objects, which are created from the selected object as soon as you click the compound-object button, a Loft object is not created until you click Get Shape or Get Path, and then select a shape or path.

Loft is enabled when the scene has one or more shapes. To create a loft object, first create one or more shapes and then click Loft. Click either Get Shape or Get Path and select a shape in the viewports.

Once you create a loft object, you can add and replace cross-section shapes or replace the path. You can also change or animate the parameters of the path and shapes.

You can't animate the path location of a shape.

Procedures

To create a loft object:

Creating loft objects is detailed and offers many choices, but the basic process is quite simple.

1 Create a shape to be the loft path.

2 Create one or more shapes to be loft cross sections.

3 Do one of the following:

■ Select the path shape and use Get Shape to add the cross sections to the loft.

■ Select a shape and use Get Path to assign a path to the loft. Use Get Shape to add additional shapes.

You can use the loft display settings to view the skin generated by your loftin both wireframe and shaded views.

To create a loft with Get Path:

1 Select a shape as the first cross-section shape.

2 Click Create panel > Geometry > Compound Objects > Loft.

3 On the Creation Method rollout, click Get Path.

4 Choose Move, Copy, or Instance.

5 Click a shape for the path.

The cursor changes to the Get Path cursor as you move it over valid path shapes. If the cursor does not change over a shape, that shape is not a valid path shape and cannot be selected. The first vertex of the selected path is placed at the first shape's pivot and the path tangent is aligned with the shape's local Z axis.

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To create a loft with Get Shape:

1 Select a valid path shape as the path.

2 If the selected shape is not a valid path, the Get Shape button is unavailable.

3 Click Create panel > Geometry > Compound Objects > Loft.

4 On the Creation Method rollout, click Get Shape.

5 Choose Move, Copy, or Instance.

6 Click a shape.

The cursor changes to the Get Shape cursor as you move it over potential shapes. The selected shape is placed at the first vertex of the path.

TIP You can flip the shape along the path by holding down Ctrl when using Get Shape. For example, if you select the lowercase letter "b" with a Ctrl+click, the loft will look like the letter "d".

Creation Method Rollout

Select a path or shape. > Create panel > Geometry > Compound Objects >

Object Type rollout > Loft > Creation Method rollout

Select a path or shape. > Create menu > Compounds > Loft > Creation Methodrollout

You can choose between a shape or a path for creating the loft object using the Creation Method rollout, as well as the type of action for the loft object.

Interface

On the Creation Method rollout, you determine whether to use a shape or path for creating the loft object, and the type of action you want for the resulting loft object.

Get Path Assigns a path to the selected shape or changes the current assigned path.

Get Shape Assigns a shape to the selected path or changes the current assigned shape.

TIP Hold down Ctrl while getting the shape to flip the direction of the shape's Zaxis.

Surface Parameters Rollout

Select a path or shape. > Create panel > Geometry > Compound Objects >

Object Type rollout > Loft > Surface Parameters rollout

Select a path or shape. > Create menu > Compounds > Loft > Surface Parameters rollout

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On the Surface Parameters rollout, you control smoothing of the surface of the loft as well as designate if texture mapping is applied along the loft object.

Smoothing group

Left: Smoothing the length

Right: Smoothing the width

Rear: Smoothing both length and width

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Smooth Length Provides a smooth surface along the length of the path. This type of smoothing is useful when your path curves or when shapes on the path change size. Default=on.

Smooth Width Provides a smooth surface around the perimeter of the cross-section shapes. This type of smoothing is useful when your shapes change the number of vertices or change form. Default=on.

Boolean Compound Object

Select an object. > Create panel > Geometry > Compound Objects > Object

Type rollout > Boolean

Select an object. > Create menu > Compound > Boolean

A Boolean object combines two other objects by performing a Boolean operation on them.

Operand A (left); Operand B (right)

These are the Boolean operations for geometry:

Union The Boolean object contains the volume of both original objects. The intersecting or overlapping portion of the geometry is removed.

Intersection The Boolean object contains only the volume that was common to both original objects (in other words, where they overlapped).

Subtraction (or difference) The Boolean object contains the volume of one original object with the intersection volume subtracted from it.

The two original objects are designated as operand A and B.

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Beginning with version 2.5 of 3ds Max, a new algorithm computes the Boolean operation. This algorithm produces more predictable results and less complex geometry than earlier 3D Studio Booleans. If you open a file that contains a Boolean from an earlier version of 3ds Max, the Modify panel displays the interface for the earlier Boolean operation.

You can layer Booleans in the stack display, so that a single object can incorporate many Booleans. By navigating through the stack display, it's possible to revisit the components of each Boolean and make changes to them.

Subtraction: A-B (1); B-A (2)

Union (3); Intersection (4)

Editable Spline

Create or select a spline > Modify panel > Right-click spline entry in the stack display > Convert To: Editable Spline

Create a line > Modify panel

Create or select a spline > Right-click the spline > Transform (lower-right) quadrant of the quad menu > Convert To: > Convert to Editable Spline

Editable Spline provides controls for manipulating an object as a spline object and at three sub-object levels: vertex, segment, and spline.

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Interface

These creation parameters appear in these rollouts for editable splines. For splines to which the Edit Spline modifier has been applied, creation parameters are available by selecting the object type entry.

Rendering rollout

Controls here let you turn on and off the renderability of the shape, specify its thickness in the rendered scene, and apply mapping coordinates. The spline mesh can be viewed in the viewports. You can animate the render parameters, such as the number of sides. Viewport settings cannot be animated.

You can also convert the displayed mesh into a mesh object by applying an Edit Mesh modifier or converting to an Editable Mesh. The system will use the Viewport settings for this mesh conversion if Use Viewport Settings is turned on; otherwise it will use the Renderer settings. This gives maximum flexibility, and will always give the conversion of the mesh displayed in the viewports.

Enable In Renderer When on, the shape is rendered as a 3D mesh using the Radial or Rectangular parameters set for Renderer. In previous versions of the program, the Renderable switch performed the same operation.

Enable In Viewport When on, the shape is displayed in the viewport as a 3D mesh using the Radial or Rectangular parameters set for Renderer. In previous versions of the program, the Display Render Mesh performed the same operation.

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Use Viewport settings Lets you set different rendering parameters, and displays the mesh generated by the Viewport settings. Available only whenEnable in Viewport is turned on.

Generate Mapping Coords Turn this on to apply mapping coordinates. Default=off.

The U coordinate wraps once around the thickness of the spline; the V coordinate is mapped once along the length of the spline. Tiling is achieved using the Tiling parameters in the material itself.

Real-World Map Size Controls the scaling method used for texture mapped materials that are applied to the object.

Viewport Turn this on to specify Radial or Rectangular parameters for the shape as it will display in the viewport when Enable in Viewport is turned on.

Renderer Turn this on to specify Radial or Rectangular parameters for the shape as it will display when rendered or viewed in the viewport when Enable in Viewport is turned on.

Radial Displays the 3D mesh as a cylindrical object.

Thickness Specifies the diameter of the viewport or rendered spline mesh.Default=1.0. Range=0.0 to 100,000,000.0.

Splines rendered at thickness of 1.0 and 5.0, respectively

■ Sides Sets the number of sides (or facets) for the spline mesh n the viewport or renderer. For example, a value of 4 results in a square cross section.

■ Angle Adjusts the rotational position of the cross-section in the viewport or renderer. For example, if the spline mesh has a square cross section you can use Angle to position a "flat" side down.

Rectangular Displays the spline's mesh shape as rectangular.

■ Aspect Sets the aspect ratio for rectangular cross-sections. The Lock check box lets you lock the aspect ratio. When Lock is turned on, Width is locked to Depth that results in a constant ratio of Width to Depth.

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■ Length Specifies the size of the cross–section along the local Y axis.

■ Width Specifies the size of the cross–section along the local X axis.

■ Angle Adjusts the rotational position of the cross-section in the viewport or renderer. For example, if you have a square cross-section you can use Angle to position a "flat" side down.

■ Aspect The ratio of length to width. This control is linked to the Length setting; when Aspect is unlocked, changing Length changes Aspect and vice-versa. When Aspect is locked, the control is unavailable, and changingLength or Width automatically changes the Width or Length (respectively) to maintain the current aspect ratio.

Auto Smooth When on, the spline is auto-smoothed using the threshold specified by the Threshold setting. Auto Smooth sets the smoothing based on the angle between spline segments. Any two adjacent segments are put in the same smoothing group if the angle between them is less than the threshold angle.

Threshold Specifies the threshold angle in degrees. Any two adjacent spline segments are put in the same smoothing group if the angle between them is less than the threshold angle.

Interpolation rollout

The Interpolation controls set how the program generates a spline. All spline curves are divided into small straight lines that approximate the true curve. The number of divisions between each vertex on the spline is called steps. The more steps used, the smoother the curve appears.

Splines used in above lathed objects contained two steps (left) and 20 steps (right)

Steps Use the Steps field to set the number of divisions, or steps, the program uses between each vertex. Splines with tight curves require many steps to look smooth while gentle curves require fewer steps. Range=0 to 100.

Spline steps can be either adaptive or manually specified. The method used is set by the state of the Adaptive check box. The main use for manual interpolation is to create splines for morphing or other operations where you must have exact control over the number of vertices created.

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Optimize When on, removes unneeded steps from straight segments in the spline. Default=on.

Optimize was used to create spline in this lathed object.

Adaptive When on, automatically sets the number of steps for each spline to produce a smooth curve. Straight segments always receive 0 steps. When off, enables manual interpolation control using Optimize and Steps. Default=off

Selection rollout

Provides controls for turning different sub-object modes on and off, working with named selections and handles, display settings, and information about selected entities.

When you first access the Modify panel with an editable spline selected, you're at the Object level, with access to several functions available. You can toggle the sub-object modes and access relevant functions by clicking sub-object buttons at the top of the Selection rollout.

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You can work with parts of shapes and splines using shape sub-object selection of the Editable Spline object. Clicking a button here is the same as selecting a sub-object type in the Modifier List. Click the button again to turn it off and return to object selection level

Named Selections group

Copy Places a named selection into the copy buffer.

Paste Pastes a named selection from the copy buffer.

Lock Handles Normally you can transform the tangent handles of only one vertex at a time, even when multiple vertices are selected. Use the Lock Handles controls to transform multiple Bezier and Bezier Corner handles simultaneously.

Alike As you drag the handle of an incoming vector, all incoming vectors of the selected vertices move simultaneously. Likewise, moving the outgoing tangent handle on one vertex moves the outgoing tangent handle for all selected vertices.

All Any handle you move affects all handles in the selection, regardless of whether they're broken. This option is also useful when working with a single Bezier Corner vertex when you want to move both handles. Shift+click a handle to "break" the tangent and move each handle independently. The Alike option must be chosen to break the tangent.

Area Selection Lets you select automatically all vertices within a specific radius of the vertex you click. At the Vertex sub-object level, turn on Area Selection, and then set the radius with the spinner to the right of the Area Selection check box. This is useful when moving vertices that have been created using Connect Copy or Cross Section button.

Segment End Select a vertex by clicking a segment. In Vertex sub-object, turn on and select a segment close to the vertex that you want selected. Use this when there are a number of coincident vertices and you want to select a vertex on a specific segment. The cursor changes to a cross when it is over a segment. By holding down the Ctrl key you can add to the selection.

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Select By Selects vertices on the selected spline or segment. First select a spline or segment in sub-object spline or segment, then turn on vertex sub-object and click Select By and choose Spline or Segment. All the vertices on the selected spline or segment are selected. You can then edit the vertices.

Display group

Show Vertex Numbers When on, the program displays vertex numbers next to the selected spline's vertices at any sub-object level.

Selected Only When on, the vertex number or numbers appear only next to selected vertices.

Selection Info

At the bottom of the Selection rollout is a text display giving information about the current selection. If 0 or more than one sub-object is selected, the text gives the number selected. At the Vertex and Segment sub-object levels, if one sub-object is selected, the text gives the identification numbers of the current spline (with respect to the current object) and of the current selected sub-object. Each spline object contains a spline number 1; if it contains more than one spline, the subsequent splines are numbered consecutively higher. When a single spline is selected at the Spline sub-object level, the first line displays the identification number of the selected spline and whether it's open or closed, and the second line displays the number of vertices it contains. When more than one spline is selected, the number of splines selected is displayed on the first line, and the total number of vertices they contain is displayed on the second line.

Select an editable poly object. > Modify panel

Select an editable poly object. > Quad menu > Tools 1 quadrant > Top-level

Editable Poly (Object) functions are available when no sub-object levels are active.

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Interface

Edit Geometry rollout

Editable Poly (Vertex)

Select an editable poly object. > Modify panel > Selection rollout > Vertex

Select an editable poly object. > Modify panel > Modifier Stack display > Expand Editable Poly. > Vertex

Select an editable poly object. > Quad menu > Tools 1 quadrant > Vertex

Vertices are points in space: they define the structure of other sub-objects that make up the poly. When vertices are moved or edited, the geometry they form is affected as well. Vertices can also exist independently; such isolated vertices can be used to construct other geometry but are otherwise invisible when rendering.

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Procedures

To weld polygon vertices:

You can use either of two methods to combine several vertices into one, also known as welding. If the vertices are very close together, use the Weld function. You can also use Weld to combine a number of vertices to the average position of all of them.

Alternatively, to combine two vertices that are far apart, resulting in a single vertex that's in the same position as one of them, use Target Weld.

1 To use Weld:

■ On the Selection rollout, turn on Ignore Backfacing, if necessary. This ensures that you're welding only vertices you can see.

■ Select the vertices to weld.

■ If the vertices are very close together, simply click Weld. If that doesn't work, proceed to the next step.

■ Click the Settings button to the right of the Weld button. This opens the Weld Vertices dialog.

■ Increase the Weld Threshold value gradually using the spinner (click and hold on the up-down arrow buttons to the right of the numeric field and then drag upward). If you need the value to change more quickly, hold down the Ctrl key as you drag. When the threshold equals or exceeds the distance between two or more of the vertices, the weld occurs automatically, and the resulting vertex moves to their average location.

■ If not all the vertices are welded, continue increasing the Weld Threshold value until they are.

■ Click OK to exit

2 To use Target Weld:

1 On the Selection rollout, turn on Ignore Backfacing, if necessary. This ensures that you're welding only vertices you can see.

2 Find two vertices you want to weld, and determine the ultimate location of the resulting vertex. The two vertices must be contiguous; that is, they must be connected by a single edge. For this example, we'll call the vertices A and B, and the resulting vertex will be at vertex B's location.

3 Click the Target Weld button. The button stays highlighted, to indicate that you're now in Target Weld mode.

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4 Click vertex A and then move the mouse. A rubber-band line connects the vertex and the mouse cursor.

5 Position the cursor over vertex B, whereupon the cursor image changes from an arrow to a crosshairs. Reminder: Only vertices connected to the first vertex by a single edge qualify for target welding.

6 Click to weld the two. The resulting vertex remains at vertex B's position, and you exit Target Weld mode

Edit Vertices rollout

This rollout includes commands specific to vertex editing.

NOTE To delete vertices, select them and press the Delete key. This can create one or more holes in the mesh. To delete vertices without creating holes, use Remove (see below).

Remove Deletes selected vertices and combines the polygons that use them.The keyboard shortcut is Backspace.

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Removing one or more vertices deletes them and retriangulates the mesh to keep the surface intact. If you use Delete instead, the polygons depending on those vertices are deleted as well, creating a hole in the mesh.

WARNING Use of Remove can result in mesh shape changes and non-planar polygons.

Break Creates a new vertex for each polygon attached to selected vertices, allowing the polygon corners to be moved away from each other where they were once joined at each original vertex. If a vertex is isolated or used by only one polygon, it is unaffected.

Extrude Lets you extrude vertices manually via direct manipulation in the viewport. Click this button, and then drag vertically on any vertex to extrude it.

Extruding a vertex moves it along a normal and creates new polygons that form the sides of the extrusion, connecting the vertex to the object. The extrusion has the same number of sides as the number of polygons that originally used the extruded vertex.

Following are important aspects of vertex extrusion:

■ When over a selected vertex, the mouse cursor changes to an Extrude cursor.

■ Drag vertically to specify the extent of the extrusion, and horizontally to set the size of the base.

■ With multiple vertices selected, dragging on any one extrudes all selected vertices equally.

■ You can drag other vertices in turn to extrude them while the Extrude button is active. Click Extrude again or right-click in the active viewport to end the operation.

Chamfer box showing extruded vertex

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Extrude Settings Opens the Extrude Vertices dialog , which lets you perform extrusion via interactive manipulation.

If you click this button after performing a manual extrusion, the same extrusion is performed on the current selection as a preview and the dialog opens with Extrusion Height set to the amount of the last manual extrusion.

Weld Combines contiguous, selected vertices that fall within the tolerance specified in Weld dialog. All edges become connected to the resulting single vertex.

Weld is best suited to automatically simplifying geometry that has areas with a number of vertices that are very close together. Before using Weld, set the Weld Threshold To weld vertices that arerelatively far apart, use Target Weld instead.

Weld Settings Opens the Weld dialog, which lets you specify the weld threshold.

Chamfer Click this button and then drag vertices in the active object. To chamfer vertices numerically, click the Chamfer Settings button and use the Chamfer Amount value.

If you chamfer multiple selected vertices, all of them are chamfered identically. If you drag an unselected vertex, any selected vertices are first deselected.

Each chamfered vertex is effectively replaced by a new face that connects new points on all edges leading to the original vertex. These new points are exactly <chamfer amount> distance from the original vertex along each of these edges. New chamfer faces are created with the material ID of one of the neighboring faces (picked at random) and a smoothing group which is an intersection of all neighboring smoothing groups.

For example, if you chamfer one corner of a box, the single corner vertex is replaced by a triangular face whose vertices move along the three edges that led to the corner. Outside faces are rearranged and split to use these three new vertices, and a new triangle is created at the corner.

Alternatively, you can create open space around the chamfered vertices; for details, see Chamfer Vertices dialog.

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Top: The original vertex selection ,

Center: Vertices chamfered ,

Bottom: Vertices chamfered with Open on

Chamfer Settings Opens the Chamfer Vertices dialog on page 2136 , which lets you chamfer vertices via interactive manipulation and toggle the Open option.

If you click this button after performing a manual chamfer, the same chamfer is performed on the current selection as a preview and the dialog opens with Chamfer Amount set to the amount of the last manual extrusion.

Target Weld Allows you to select a vertex and weld it to a neighboring target vertex. Target Weld works only with pairs of contiguous vertices; that is, vertices connected by a single edge.

In Target Weld mode, the mouse cursor, when positioned over a vertex, changes to a + cursor. Click and then move the mouse; a dashed, rubber-band line connects the vertex to the mouse cursor. Position the cursor over another, neighboring vertex and when the + cursor appears again, click the mouse. The first vertex is moved to the position of the second, the two are welded, and Target Weld mode is automatically exited.

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Connect will not let the new edges cross. Thus, for example, if you select all four vertices of a four-sided polygon and then click Connect, only two of the vertices will be connected. In this case, to connect all four vertices with new edges, use Cut .

Remove Isolated Vertices Deletes all vertices that don't belong to any polygons.

Remove Unused Map Verts Certain modeling operations can leave unused (isolated) map vertices that show up in the Unwrap UVW editor, but cannot be used for mapping. You can use this button to automatically delete these map vertices.

Weight Sets the weight of selected vertices. Used by the NURMS subdivision option and by the MeshSmooth modifier. Increasing a vertex weight tends to pull the smoothed result toward the vertex.

Edit Geometry Rollout

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Vertex Properties rollout

Edit Vertex Colors group

Use these controls to assign the color, and illumination color (shading) of selected vertices.

Color Click the color swatch to change the color of selected vertices.

Illumination Click the color swatch to change the illumination color of selected vertices. This lets you change the illumination without changing the vertex's color.

Alpha Lets you set specific alpha values of selected vertices. These alpha values are maintained by the pipeline and can be used in conjunction with vertex color to provide full RGBA data for export.

Select Vertices By Group

Color/Illumination Determines whether to select vertices by vertex color values or vertex illumination values.

Color Swatch Displays the Color Selector, where you can specify a color to match.

Select Depending on which radio button is chosen, selects all vertices whose vertex color or illumination values either match the color swatch, or are within the range specified by the RGB spinners.

Range Specifies a range for the color match. All three RGB values in the vertex color or illumination must either match the color specified by the color Editable Poly swatch in Select By Vertex Color, or be within plus or minus the values in theRange spinners. Default=10

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UNIT IV

UVW Mapping Tiling

UVW Map Modifier

Select an object. Modify panel Modifier List UVW Map

Select an object. Modifiers menu UV Coordinates UVW Map

By applying mapping coordinates to an object, the UVW Map modifier controls how mapped and

procedural materials appear on the surface of an object. Mapping coordinates specify how

bitmaps are projected onto an object. The UVW coordinate system is similar to the XYZ

coordinate system. The U and V axes of a bitmap correspond to the X and Y axes. The W axis,

which corresponds to the Z axis, is generally only used for procedural maps. A bitmap's

coordinate system can be switched in the Material Editor to VW or WU, in which case the

bitmap is rotated and projected so that it is perpendicular to the surface.

Procedures Interface

Mapping a sphere and a box.

By default, primitive objects such as spheres and boxes have mapping coordinates, as do loft

objects and NURBS surfaces. Scanned, imported, or hand-constructed polygonal or patch

models do not have mapping coordinates until a UVW Map modifier is applied.

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NoteDrawings that are imported or linked from Autodesk Architectural Desktop and Autodesk

Revit do retain the mapping coordinates that were assigned to objects by those products.

If you apply a UVW Map modifier to an object with built-in mapping coordinates, the applied

coordinates take precedence if map channel 1 in the UVW Map modifier is used. The Generate

Mapping Coordinates option, available during the creation of primitives, uses map channel 1 by

default.

You use the UVW Map modifier to:

Apply one of the seven types of mapping coordinates to an object on a specified map

channel. A diffuse map on map channel 1 and a bump map on map channel 2 can have

different mapping coordinates and can be controlled separately by using two UVW Map

modifiers in the modifier stack

Apply one of the seven types of mapping coordinates to an object.

Transform the mapping gizmo to adjust map placement. Objects with built-in mapping

coordinates lack a gizmo.

Apply mapping coordinates to an object with no mapping coordinates, an imported

mesh, for example.

Apply mapping at the sub-object level.

Map Channels

You can control the type of mapping coordinates and the placement of the mapping gizmo for

each bitmap in a material that uses multiple bitmaps by assigning explicit map channels to the

bitmaps. In the Material Editor you assign each map a different channel number, then you add

multiple UVW Map modifiers to the object's modifier stack, each UVW Map modifier is set to a

different map channel. To change the type of mapping or gizmo placement for a particular

bitmap, you select one of the UVW Map modifiers in the modifier stack and change the

parameters. You can change the name of a UVW Map modifier in the Edit Modifier Stack dialog

to correlate the modifier to the bitmap.

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Transforming UVW Map Gizmos

Changing a map's location by moving the gizmo.

The UVW Map gizmo projects mapping coordinates onto an object. You can position, rotate, or

scale a gizmo to adjust map coordinates on an object; you can also animate the gizmo. Gizmo

transformations remain in effect if you select a new map type. For example, if you scale a

spherical mapping gizmo and then switch to planar mapping, then the planar mapping gizmo is

also scaled

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Gizmo Display for Different Map Types

For planar, spherical, cylindrical and shrink wrap maps, a short yellow line indicates the top of

the map. The green edge of the gizmo indicates the right side of the map. On a spherical or

cylindrical map the green edge is the seam where the left and right edge meet. Gizmo must be

selected in the modifier display hierarchy to display the gizmo.

Gizmos For Different Projection Types

Left to right: planar, cylindrical, box, and spherical

Effects of Transforming the UVW Map Gizmo

Moving the gizmo changes the center of projection and affects all types of mapping. Rotating

the gizmo changes the orientation of the map, which affects all types of mapping. Uniform

scaling does not affect spherical or shrink-wrap mapping. Non-uniform scaling affects all types

of mapping.

If you scale a gizmo smaller than the geometry, then a tiling effect is created, unless scaling has

no effect on the map type in use. Tiling based on gizmo size is in addition to tiling values set in

the Material Editor Coordinates rollout for the map or the UVW Map modifier tile controls.

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The size of the gizmo affects how the mapping is applied to an object.

Manipulators for UVW Map

The UVW Map modifier has graphic manipulators to help you adjust the mapping dimensions

and tiling when Real-World Map Size is off. When Real-World Map Size is on, you can adjust

positioning only for the Planar and Box mapping types.

Manipulators are visible and usable while the Select And Manipulate button is active. This

button is on the default toolbar. When you move the mouse over a manipulator, the manipulator

turns red to show that dragging or clicking it will have an effect. Also, a tooltip appears, showing

the object name, the parameter, and its value.

For more information on using the UVW Map manipulators, see the Procedures section.

UV width/length manipulators

In a viewport, drag the edges of the UVW Map gizmo to change the width or height.

UV tiling manipulators

In a viewport, drag the small circle next to the U edge or V edge to adjust the tiling in that

dimension.

Tile Controls

Use the UVW Tile controls if you want a map to repeat. Tiled maps are useful for bricks on a

wall, or tiles on a floor. Rather than creating one large map, seamless maps can be tiled to

surface a large area without visible seams, to give the illusion of a large map.

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Tiling in the UVW Map modifier affects only the objects that use this modifier. Tiling a map in the

Material Editor affects tiling on all the objects that use the material.

Material and UVW Map tiling are multiplied. For example, if a map in the Material Editor has a

tile value of 2 on one axis, and a UVW Map modifier has a tiling value of 3 on the same axis,

then the result is a tiling value of 6.

Objects with No Mapping Coordinates

If you render an object that doesn't have mapping coordinates or a UVW Map modifier, and the

object uses a material with 2D bitmaps or 3D procedural maps that use explicit map channels,

then a Missing Map Coordinates alert is displayed. The alert lists both the name of the object

and the UVW channels or Vertex Color channels that are missing the coordinates. For example:

(UVW 2): Torus01.

Mapping Selection Sets or Grouped Objects

You can apply one UVW Map modifier to a selection of objects. One large mapping gizmo will

encompass the entire selection unless the Use Pivot Points option is turned on in the modifiers

rollout before applying the UVW Map modifier. If the Use Pivot Points option is used then each

object is encompassed with its own mapping gizmo.

If any of the objects in the selection has had its pivot point shifted in the Hierarchy Pivot

panel, and you use the Use Pivot Points option with the UVW Map modifier, then the mapping

gizmos are centered to the pivot points rather than the object center and the mapping may be

tricky to position the way you want.

Procedures

To apply the UVW Map modifier:

1. Assign a mapped material to an object.

2. On the Modify panel Modifier List, choose UVW Map.

3. Adjust the mapping parameters.

By default, the UVW Map modifier uses planar mapping on map channel 1. You can change the

type of mapping and the map channel to suit your needs. There are seven types of mapping

coordinates, ninety-nine map channels, tiling controls, and controls to size and orient the

mapping gizmo in the UVW Map modifier.

NoteIf a UVW Map modifier is applied to multiple objects, the UVW Map gizmo is defined by the

selection, and the mapping that results is applied to all the objects.

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To use multiple UVW channels in the same object:

1. Assign Map channel 1 to an object. You can do this by either turning on Generate

Mapping Coordinates in the Parameters rollout of any primitive, or by assigning a UVW

Map modifier with channel 1 chosen.

Generate Mapping Coordinates uses map channel 1 by default.

2. Assign a UVW Map modifier (or a second one, if you're using the first to assign channel

1). Choose channel 2 for this modifier.

Both coordinate channels are now assigned to the geometry. The next step is to assign a

mapped material that uses both channels.

3. Create a material with two maps. You can do this using a Composite map, or a Blend

material with two maps, or you can have one map assigned to Diffuse and another

assigned to Bump. Perhaps the easiest way to see the effect is to composite two maps,

with the second map containing an alpha channel.

4. Go to the level of one of the maps and, in the Mapping list, choose Explicit Map Channel

2.

The other map is already assigned channel 1 by default.

5. Assign the mapped material to the object.

You can switch between viewing the maps in the viewport using the Show Map In Viewport

control in the Material Editor. You can adjust the mapping of channel 2 without altering the

mapping of channel 1 if you've assigned two UVW Map modifiers. Render the scene to see the

effect.

Example: To use the XYZ to UVW option:

The XYZ to UVW option lets you make a 3D procedural texture, like Cellular, follow the

animated surface of an object. If the object stretches, so does the 3D procedural texture.

1. In the Top viewport, create a box.

2. Create a material with a Cellular diffuse map.

3. In the Material Editor, on the Coordinates rollout of the Cellular map, open the Source

drop-down list, and choose Explicit Map Channel.

On the Coordinates rollout, the Map Channel parameter activates, leave the value at 1.

4. Assign the material to the box.

5. On the Modify panel Modifier List, choose UVW Map.

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6. On the UVW Map modifier, turn on XYZ to UVW.

By default, the Map Channel value is 1.

7. Render the Front viewport.

The cellular pattern renders normally on the surface of the box.

8. Right-click over the object and choose Convert To: Convert to Editable Mesh from

the Transform (lower-right) quadrant of the quad menu.

The box is converted to an editable mesh.

9. On the Modify panel Selection rollout, click (Vertex) to turn it on.

10. In the Front viewport, select the top vertices of the box, and move them up.

11. Render the Front viewport again.

The cellular pattern stretches with the box. This effect is enabled by the XYZ to UVW option. To

see the difference, we will change the Source option in the Coordinates rollout in the Material

Editor.

12. In the Material Editor, locate the diffuse Cellular material.

13. On the Coordinates rollout of the Cellular diffuse map, open the Source drop-down list

and choose Object XYZ.

14. Render the Front viewport.

The cellular pattern is no longer stretched.

To transform the UVW Map gizmo:

1. On the Modify panel, choose the UVW Mapping modifier in the stack display.

2. In the stack display, choose the Gizmo sub-object level.

The gizmo changes to a yellow color, with one green edge.

The green edge indicates the right edge of the texture.

3. Move, scale, or rotate the gizmo in the viewports, or use the Length and Width controls

in the UVW Map modifier.

Transforming the map gizmo shifts the bitmap, allowing you to orient and move the map on the

object's surface.

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To use manipulators to control the width and length:

1. On the Modify panel, choose the UVW Map modifier in the stack display.

You can also be at the Gizmo level of the modifier.

2. On the main toolbar, click to turn on (Select And Manipulate).

The UVW Map modifier's gizmo turns green, showing it is now a manipulator. Also, two small

circles appear next to two of the gizmo's edges.

3. Drag an edge of the gizmo to adjust the width or length.

A tooltip shows the new width or length value.

To use manipulators to control tiling:

1. On the Modify panel, choose the UVW Map modifier in the stack display.

You can also be at the Gizmo level of the modifier.

2. On the main toolbar, click to turn on (Select And Manipulate).

The UVW Map modifier's gizmo turns green, showing it is now a manipulator. Also, two small

circles appear next to two of the gizmo's edges.

3. Drag one of the circles to adjust tiling in the U or V dimension.

A tooltip shows which dimension you are adjusting, and the new tiling value in that dimension.

Interface

Modifier Stack

Gizmo sub-object level

Enables gizmo transformations. At this sub-object level you can move, scale, and rotate the

gizmo in the viewports to position the mapping.

TipTo see the map move on the object surface as you transform the gizmo, enable one of

the Show Map In Viewport option

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Parameters rollout

Mapping group

Determines the type of mapping coordinates used. Different kinds of mapping are distinguished

by how the map is geometrically projected onto the object and how the projection interacts with

the object's surfaces.

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NoteWhen Real-World Map Size is on, only the Planar, Cylindrical, Spherical, and Box mapping

types are available. Similarly, if one of the other options (Shrink Wrap, Face, or XYZ To UVW) is

active, Real-World Map Size is unavailable.

Planar

Projects the map from a single plane flat against the object, somewhat like projecting a slide.

Planar projection is useful when only one side of an object needs to be mapped. It is also useful

for obliquely mapping multiple sides, and for mapping two sides of a symmetrical object.

Planar map projection

Cylindrical

Projects the map from a cylinder, wrapping it around an object. Seams where the edges of the

bitmap meet are visible unless a seamless map is used. Cylindrical projection is useful for

objects that are roughly cylindrical in shape.

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Cylindrical map projection

Cap

Applies planar mapping coordinates to the caps of the cylinder.

NoteIf the ends of the object geometry are not at right angles to the sides, the Cap projection

bleeds onto the sides of the object.

Spherical

Surrounds the object by projecting the map from a sphere. You see a seam and mapping

singularities at the top and bottom of the sphere where the bitmap edges meet at the sphere's

poles. Spherical mapping is useful for objects that are roughly spherical in shape.

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Spherical map projection

Shrink Wrap

Uses spherical mapping, but truncates the corners of the map and joins them all at a single

pole, creating only one singularity. Shrink-wrap mapping is useful when you want to hide the

mapping singularity.

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Shrink-wrap projection

Box

Projects the map from the six sides of a box. Each side projects as a planar map, and the effect

on the surface depends on the surface normal. Each face is mapped from the closest box

surface whose normal most closely parallels its own normal.

Box projection (shown on a box and on a sphere)

Face

Applies a copy of the map to every face of an object. Pairs of faces sharing a hidden edge are

mapped with the full rectangular map. Single faces with no hidden edge are mapped with a

triangular portion of the map.

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Face projection

XYZ to UVW

Maps 3D procedural coordinates to UVW coordinates. This "sticks" the procedural texture to the

surface. If the surface stretches, so does the 3D procedural map. Use this option with

procedural textures, like Cellular, on objects with animated topologies.

For more information on how to use this option, see Example: To use the XYZ to UVW option:.

TipIn the Material Editor's Coordinates rollout for the map, set Source to Explicit Map Channel.

Use the same map channel in the material and UVW Map modifier.

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A sphere with a 3D procedural texture is copied, and the copies are stretched.

Right: Using XYZ to UVW on the object enables the 3D procedural texture to stick and

stretch with the surface.

Length, Width, Height

Specify the dimensions of the UVW Map gizmo. The default scale of the mapping icon is

defined by the largest dimension of the object when you apply the modifier. You can animate

the projection at the gizmo level. Note the following facts about these spinners:

The dimensions are based on a bounding box of the gizmo.

The Height dimension is unavailable for the Planar gizmo: It does not have depth. Likewise, the

dimensions for Cylindrical, Spherical, and Shrink Wrap mapping all display the dimensions of

their bounding box and not their radiuses. No dimensions are available for the Face map: Each

face on the geometry contains the entire map.

The three dimensions are set to 1 or 2, depending on map type and dimensions, when

you load files created in Autodesk VIZ or earlier versions of 3ds Max. (This maintains

compatibility with files from previous releases, in which gizmos were scaled non-

uniformly to adjust their dimensions.).

The dimensions essentially become scale factors rather than measurements. You can reset the

values to dimensions by clicking the Fit or Reset buttons, which will lose the original non-

uniform scaling.

U Tile, V Tile, W Tile

Let you specify the dimensions of the UVW map, for tiling the image. These are floating-point

values, which you can animate to displace the map's tiling over time.

Flip

Reverses the image about the given axis.

Real-World Map Size

When on, uses real-world mapping for texture-mapped materials that are applied to the object.

The scaling values are controlled by the Use Real-World Scale settings found on the applied

material's Coordinates rollout. (Both Real-World Map Size and Use Real-World Scale should be

either off or on at the same time.) Default = off for 3ds Max, on for 3ds Max Design.

When on, the Length, Width, Height and Tiling spinners are unavailable.

Channel group

Each object can have up to 99 different UVW mapping coordinate channels; one per modifier.

The default mapping channel (from the Generate Mapping Coordinates toggle in the

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object’screation parameters) is always channel 1. The UVW Map modifier can specify

coordinates for any channel. This lets you have many different sets of coordinates on the same

face simultaneously.

ImportantThe UVW Map modifier works on only one map channel at a time. When you change

channels, 3ds Max copies the current edits to the new channel without alerting you. To apply

different UVW mapping in different channels, use multiple modifiers (Unwrap UVW or UVW

Map).

If you already have edits in that channel from another modifier, those edits could be overwritten.

To ensure preservation of your edits, save them before changing channels and then reload the

saved edits as necessary.

Map Channel

Sets the map channel. The UVW Map modifier defaults to channel 1, so mapping behaves in

the default fashion unless you explicitly change to another channel. Default=1. Range=1 to 99

If you specify a different channel, make sure any maps in the object’s material that should use

that mapping are also set to that channel.

You can use multiple UVW Map modifiers in the modifier stack, each one controlling the

mapping coordinates of different maps in a material.

The map channel setting is available in various places in 3ds Max, as follows:

Generate Mapping CoordsThis checkbox, present in the creation parameters of most

objects, assigns map channel 1 when on.

UVW Map, UVW Xform, and Unwrap UVWs modifiersThese modifiers let you set the

map channel to 1 through 99, thus specifying which UVW coordinates the modifier uses.

The modifier stack can pass these channels simultaneously for any face.

Material Editor Channel AssignmentYou assign the channel to be used by a map on

the Coordinates rollout at the map level in the Material Editor. The Explicit Map Channel

option must be active.

NURBS Surface Objects and Sub-ObjectsLet you specify which map channel the

surface uses.

Vertex Color Channel

Define the channel as a vertex color channel by choosing this option. Be sure to match any

material mapping in the coordinates rollout to be Vertex Color as well, or by using the Assign

Vertex Colors utility.

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Alignment group

X/Y/Z

Select one of these to flip the alignment of the mapping gizmo. Each specifies which axis of the

gizmo is aligned with the local Z axis of the object.

NoteThese options aren't the same as the Flip checkboxes beside the U/V/W Tile spinners. The

Alignment option buttons actually flip the gizmo orientation, while the Flip checkboxes flip an

assigned map's orientation.

Manipulate

When on, a gizmo appears on the object that lets you change parameters in the viewport. When

Real-World Map Size is on, Manipulate is available only with the Planar and Box mapping types.

For more information, see Manipulators for UVW Map.

TipTurn on snapping to adjust the mapping precisely.

Fit

Fits the gizmo to the extents of the object and centers it so that it's locked to the object's

extents. Unavailable when Real-World Map Size is on.

Center

Moves the gizmo so that its center coincides with the center of the object.

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Bitmap Fit

Displays the standard bitmap file browser so that you can pick an image. Unavailable when

Real-World Map Size is on.

For planar mappings, the map icon is set to the aspect ratio of the image. For cylindrical

mapping, the height (rather than the radius of the gizmo) is scaled to match the bitmap. For best

results, first use the Fit button to match the radius of the object and gizmo, and then use Bitmap

Fit.

Normal Align

Click and drag on the surface of the object to which the modifier is applied. The origin of the

gizmo is placed at the point on the surface where the mouse is pointing; the XY plane of the

gizmo is aligned to the face. The X axis of the gizmo lies in the object's XY plane.

Normal Align respects smoothing groups and uses the interpolated normal based on face

smoothing. As a result, you can orient the mapping icon to any part of the surface, rather than

having it "snap" to face normals.

View Align

Reorients the mapping gizmo to face the active viewport. The size of the icon is unchanged.

Region Fit

Activates a mode in which you can drag in the viewports to define the region of the mapping

gizmo. The orientation of the gizmo is not affected. Unavailable when Real-World Map Size is

on.

Reset

Deletes the current controller controlling the gizmo and plugs in a new one initialized using the

Fit function. Any animation to the gizmo is lost. As with all the alignment options, you can cancel

the reset operation by clicking Undo.

Acquire

Effectively copies the UVW coordinates from other objects When you pick an object from which

you want to acquire UVWs, a dialog prompts you whether the acquire should be done in an

absolute or relative fashion.

If you choose Absolute, the acquired mapping gizmo is positioned exactly on top of the mapping

gizmo you pick. If you choose Relative, the acquired mapping gizmo is positioned over the

selected object.

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Display group

This setting determines whether and how mapping discontinuities, also known as seams,

appear in the viewports. The seams appear only when the Gizmo sub-object level is active.

TipThe default seam color is green; to change it, go to Customize menu Customize User

Interface Colors tab, and then from the Elements drop-down list, choose UVW Map.

The options are:

Show No SeamsMapping boundaries don't appear in the viewports. This is the default

choice.

Thin Seam DisplayDisplays mapping boundaries on object surfaces in the viewports

with relatively thin lines. The line thickness remains constant as you zoom the view in

and out.

Thick Seam DisplayDisplays mapping boundaries on object surfaces in the viewports

with relatively thick lines. The line thickness increases when you zoom the view in and

decreases when you zoom out.

Real-World Mapping

Real-world mapping is an alternative mapping paradigm. The idea behind real-world mapping is

to simplify the correct scaling of texture-mapped materials applied to geometry in the scene.

This feature lets you create a material and specify the actual width and height of a 2D texture

map in the Material Editor. When you assign that material to an object in the scene, the texture

map appears in the scene with correct scaling.

By default, real-world mapping is of in 3ds Max, and on in 3ds Max Design.

Autodesk Materials require you to use real-world mapping.

For real-world mapping to work, two requirements must be met. First, the correct style of UV

texture coordinates must be assigned to the geometry. Essentially, the size of the UV space

needs to correspond to the size of the geometry. To this end, a new option called Real-World

Map Size has been added to many of the dialogs and rollouts that let you generate texture

coordinates (see list at the end of this topic). Any dialog or rollout that lets you turn on Generate

Mapping Coords also lets you enable Real-World Map Size. Also, you can toggle this option

globally on the Preferences dialog General panel.

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Most object parameters settings now include a Real-World Map Size toggle.

The second requirement is available in the Material Editor. All 2D texture maps, such as Bitmap,

provide a Use Real-World Scale checkbox on the Coordinates rollout. Like Real-World Map

Size, by default this checkbox is off in 3ds Max and on in 3ds Max Design. When on, the U/V

parameter names change to Width/Height and the Tiling label changes to Size. You can then

specify the horizontal/vertical offsets and size of the texture map in current system units.

2D map coordinates settings now include a Use Real-World Scale toggle.

Following is a list of affected features (note links to topics with more extensive information):

Bevel Modifier

Bevel Profile Modifier

Box Primitive

Capsule Extended Primitive

C-Ext Extended Primitive

ChamferBox Extended Primitive Create panel Geometry button

ChamferCyl Extended Primitive

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Cone Primitive

CV Curve

Cylinder Primitive Create panel

Doors

Editable Spline

Extrude Modifier

Gengon Extended Primitive

GeoSphere Primitive

Importing AutoCAD Drawing

Importing DXF Files

Lathe Modifier

L-Ext Extended Primitive

L-Type Stair

Loft Surface Parameters Rollout

Material Editor Coordinates Rollout

Material Editor Options

OilTank Extended Primitive

Plane Primitive

Point Curve

Pyramid Primitive

Railing

Renderable Spline Modifier

Sphere Primitive

Spindle Extended Primitive

Spline Rendering File Link Settings

Splines and Extended Splines

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Stairs

Sweep Modifier

Teapot Primitive

Torus Primitive

Tube Primitive

UVW Map Modifier

Wall

Windows

Diffuse Color Map

Material Editor Standard material Maps rollout Diffuse button (or Color button

for the Strauss shader)

Material Editor Raytrace material Maps rollout Diffuse button

Material Editor Arch & Design material General Maps rollout Main Maps group

Diffuse Color button

Material Editor Other materials that have a Diffuse Color component

You can use a bitmap file or procedural map to assign a pattern or texture to a material's diffuse

color. The colors of the map replace the material's diffuse color component. This is the most

common kind of map usage.

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Applying a texture with a diffuse color map

Using a map for the diffuse color is like painting an image on the surface of the object. For

example, if you want a brick wall in your scene, you can use a bitmap with an image of bricks as

the diffuse map in the material applied to the wall object.

NoteBy default, in a Standard material the diffuse map also applies to the ambient color. It isn't

strictly necessary to lock the two, though; by turning the lock off and using a different map for

each component, you can obtain interesting blend effects. But in general, the purpose of the

diffuse map is to simulate a single surface that is more complex than a basic material, and for

this purpose you can leave the lock on.

Procedures

To use a Diffuse color map:

1. Click the map button for Diffuse.

3ds Max opens the Material/Map Browser.

2. Choose a map from the Maps group, and then click OK.

(If you choose Bitmap as the map type, 3ds Max opens a file dialog that lets you choose the

image file.)

3. Use the map controls to set up the map.

Alternatively, you can use the Slate Material Editor to wire a map node to the Diffuse Color

component.

Bitmap Material Creating Mirror and Glosyness

Material Editor Standard material Maps rollout Glossiness button

Material Editor Raytrace material Maps rollout Glossiness button

Material Editor other materials that have a Glossiness component

You can use a bitmap file or procedural map to control where specular highlights appear. A map

assigned to the Glossiness material component determines which areas of the whole surface

are more glossy and which areas are less glossy, depending on the intensity of colors in the

map. Black pixels in the map produce full glossiness. White pixels remove glossiness

completely, and intermediate values reduce the size of the highlight.

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An object with a Glossiness map. The sea appears more reflective than the land.

The glossiness component is different from specular color in that glossiness affects the location

of highlights, while the specular map affects the color of highlights.

The Glossiness map is usually most effective when you assign the same map to both

Glossiness and Specular Level. (On the Maps rollout for a Standard or Raytrace material, you

can do this by dragging from one map button to the other; in the Slate Material Editor, you can

wire a single map node to both components.)

Procedures

To use a Glossiness map:

1. Click the map button for the Glossiness value.

3ds Max opens the Material/Map Browser.

2. Choose from the list of map types, and then click OK.

(If you choose Bitmap as the map type, 3ds Max opens a file dialog that lets you choose the

image file.)

3. Use the map controls to set up the map.

Alternatively, you can use the Slate Material Editor to wire a map node to the Glossiness

component.

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Multi Material Editing Maps

Material/Map Browser Materials Standard Multi/Sub-Object

The Multi/Sub-Object material lets you assign different materials at the sub-object level of your

geometry. You create a multi-material, assign it to an object, and then use the Mesh Select

modifier to select faces and choose which of the sub-materials in the multi-material are

assigned to the selected faces.

Figure mapped using a Multi/Sub-Object material

If the object is an editable mesh or editable poly, you can drag and drop materials to different

selections of faces, building a Multi/Sub-Object material on the fly.

You can also create a new Multi/Sub-Object material by dragging to faces selected with the Edit

Mesh modifier.

Sub-material IDs do not depend on the order of the list, and you can enter new ID values.

The Material Editor Make Unique function lets you make an instanced sub-material into a

unique copy.

At the Multi/Sub-Object material level, the sample slot's sample object shows a patchwork of the

sub-materials. When you edit a sub-material, the sample slot display depends on the setting of

the Simple Multi Display Below Top Level toggle in the Material Editor Options dialog.

Using Multi/Sub-Object Materials

Here are some usage tips with regards to mesh editing and managing sub-materials.

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When working at sub-object levels of Editable Meshes, Polys, Patches and Splines, or

with objects that have Edit Mesh, Spline or Patch modifiers applied to them, you can

browse by sub-material names if the object has a multi-sub-object material applied to it.

Sub-materials that are not assigned to an object, or surface of an object, can be

'cleaned' from the Multi-Sub-Object material by using the Clean MultiMaterial utility.

Duplicate maps, assigned to materials, can be changed to instances by using the

Instance Duplicate Maps utility.

Procedures

To create a Multi/Sub-Object material, do one of the following:

In the Slate Material Editor Browser panel Materials Standard group, drag a

Multi/Sub-Object material into the active View.

In the Compact Material Editor, activate a sample slot, click the Type button, then in the

Material/Map Browser , choose Multi/Sub-Object and then click OK.

3ds Max opens a Replace Map dialog. This dialog asks whether you want to discard the original

material in the sample slot, or retain it as a sub-material.

The controls for a Multi/Sub-Object material are essentially a list of the sub-materials it contains.

To assign a sub-material, do one of the following:

On the Multi/Sub-Object Basic Parameters rollout, click a sub-material button.

The parameters for the sub-material appear. By default, a sub-material is a Standard material

with Blinn shading.

In the Slate Material Editor, the default sub-materials appear as nodes in the active

View. You can double-click these nodes to see and adjust the material parameters, or

you can replace the Standard material nodes with nodes of a different type.

To make one of the sub-materials a solid color:

On the Multi/Sub-Object Basic Parameters rollout, click the color swatch next to the sub-

material button.

In the Color Selector, choose a color.

The color swatches for sub-materials are shortcuts. They assign the color you choose to the

sub-material's Diffuse component.

To assign one of the sub-materials to a sub-object selection:

1. Select the object, and assign a Multi/Sub-Object material to it.

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2. On the Modify panel, apply Mesh Select to the object.

3. Click Sub-Object and choose Face as the sub-object category.

4. Select the faces to which you will assign a sub-material.

5. Apply a Material modifier, and set the material ID value to the number of the sub-

material you want to assign.

The viewport updates to show the sub-material assigned to the selected faces.

The material ID values in the Multi/Sub-Object material and the material ID numbers in the

Select Face rollout correspond. If you set the ID to a number that doesn't correspond to a

material contained in the Multi/Sub-Object material, the faces render as black.

WarningSome geometric primitives do not use 1 as the default material ID, and some, such as

hedra or box, have multiple material IDs by default.

TipYou can also use the Edit Mesh modifier to assign a contained material to selected faces.

Apply Edit Mesh to the object, go to the Face sub-object level, and select the faces to assign.

Then on the Edit Surface rollout, set the material ID value to the ID of the sub-material. (You

can drag and drop a Multi/Sub-Object material to an Edit Mesh modifier as you can to an

editable mesh object.)

To add a new sub-material:

Click Add.

A new sub-material is added to the end of the list. By default, the new sub-material's ID number

is one greater than the highest material ID already in use.

To remove a sub-material:

1. Select the sub-material by clicking its small sample sphere in the Multi/Sub-Object Basic

Parameters rollout.

The small sample sphere is surrounded by a black and white border to show the sub-material is

selected.

If the list of sub-materials is longer than the rollout will hold, you can use the scroll bar at the

right to display other parts of the list.

2. Click Delete.

The sub-material is removed.

Deleting a sub-material is an undoable operation.

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Interface

Number

This field displays the number of sub-materials contained in the Multi/Sub-Object material.

Set Number

Sets the number of sub-materials make up the material. At the Multi/Sub-Object material level,

the sample slot's sample object shows a patchwork of the sub-materials. (When you edit a sub-

material, the sample slot display depends on the setting of the Simple Multi Display Below Top

Level toggle on the Material Editor Options dialog.)

Reducing the number of sub-materials removes sub-materials from the end of the list. You can

undo Set Number when you have used it to delete materials.

Add

Click to add a new sub-material to the list. By default, the new sub-material's ID number is one

greater than the highest material ID already in use.

Delete

Click to delete the currently chosen sub-material from the list. You can undo deleting a sub-

material.

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[sort list controls]

These buttons appear above three of the columns in the sub-materials list.

ID

Click to sort the list so it begins with the sub-material that has the lowest material ID, and ends

with the sub-material that has the highest material ID.

Name

Click to sort the list by the names you have entered in the Name column.

Sub-Material

Click to sort the list by the sub-material names that appear on the Sub-Material buttons.

[list of sub-materials]

Each sub-material has a single entry in this list. The rollout displays up to 10 sub-materials at a

time. If the Multi/Sub-Object material contains more than 10 sub-materials, you can scroll the list

using the scrollbar at the right.

Each sub-material in the list has the following controls:

Small sample sphere

The small sample sphere is a "mini-preview" of the sub-material. Click it to select this sub-

material. You must select a sub-material before you delete it.

ID

Shows the ID number assigned to this sub-material. You can edit this field to change the ID

number. If you assign two sub-materials the same ID, a warning message appears at the top of

the rollout.

When the Multi/Sub-Object material is applied to an object, faces in the object assigned the

same material ID number render with this sub-material.

You can click Sort by ID to sort the sub-material list by this value, from lowest to highest.

NoteSometimes the Sub-Material button shows a material number. This is not the sub-material

ID.

Name

Lets you enter a custom name for the material. A sub-material name appears in the Name field

when you're at the level of the sub-material. It also appears in the Browser and the Navigator.

Sub-Material button

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Click the sub-material button to create or edit one of the sub-materials. Each of the sub-

materials is a complete material in its own right, with as many maps and levels as you want.

By default, each sub-material is a Standard material with Blinn shading.

Color swatch

Click the color swatch to the right of the Sub-Material button to display the Color Selector and

choose a diffuse color for the sub-material.

On/Off toggle

Turns the sub-material on or off. When a sub-material is off, it appears black in the sample slot

and on objects in the scene. Default=on

Raytrace Maps

Material/Map Browser Materials Standard Raytrace

The Raytrace material is an advanced surface-shading material. It supports the same kinds of

diffuse surface shading that a standard material does. It can also create fully raytraced

reflections and refractions. It also supports fog, color density, translucency, fluorescence, and

other special effects.

Balls using raytrace material to reflect each other

The reflections and refractions Raytrace material generates are more accurate than those

produced by the Reflect/Refract map. Rendering raytraced objects can be slower than using

Reflect/Refract. On the other hand, Raytrace is optimized for rendering 3ds Max scenes. You

can further optimize it for your scene by excluding specific objects from raytracing.

NoteIf you want accurate, raytraced reflections or refractions in a standard material you can use

the Raytrace map, which uses the same raytracer. The Raytrace map and material share global

parameter settings.

ImportantRaytrace map and Raytrace material use a surface's normal to decide whether a ray

is entering or exiting a surface. If you flip the normals of an object, you can get unexpected

results. Making the material 2-Sided doesn't correct the problem as it often does with reflections

and refractions in Standard materials.

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In some cases, the colors in the Basic Parameters rollout of Raytrace material behave

differently from colors in standard materials. Standard material has a diffuse shading model that

does an excellent job of rendering solid, nonreflective objects such as plastic, ceramic, and so

on. In effect, this model applies color to the object. The color components in Raytrace material,

on the other hand, attempt to model their physical counterparts in nature.

In Raytrace material, the surface reflects its Diffuse color component without specular reflection,

while the Reflect color component controls the amount of specular reflection. These two

material components are layered together. The results you see depend on the layering effect.

For example, if the material is not transparent and completely reflective, no diffuse color is

visible. If the material is not transparent and completely nonreflective, only the diffuse color is

visible.

Raytrace material has a large user interface with a lot of controls. In general, if you are using

Raytrace to create reflections and refractions, the controls in the Basic Parameters rollout are

the only ones you need to adjust. The Extended Parameters rollout for Raytrace has controls for

special effects. The Raytracer Controls rollout affects the raytracer itself. Use the Raytracer

Controls to turn the raytracer on or off, and to toggle other options. Use theRaytracer Global

Parameters Rollout (Rendering Raytrace Globals) to set options globally (for all Raytrace

materials and maps in the scene), including recursion depth.

Shellac Maps

Material/Map Browser Materials Standard Shellac

Shellac material mixes two materials by superimposing one over the other. Colors in the

superimposed material, called the "shellac" material, are added to colors in the base material. A

Shellac Color Blend parameter controls the amount of color mixing.

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Top: Base material

Middle: Shellac material

Bottom: Materials combined with a shellac color blend value of 50%

NoteIf even one sub-material has its shading set to Wire (see Shader Basic Parameters

Rollout), the entire material displays and renders as a wire material.

Interface

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Base Material

Click to choose or edit the Base sub-material. By default, the Base material is a Standard

material with Blinn shading.

Shellac Material

Click to choose or edit the Shellac material. By default, the Shellac material is a Standard

material with Blinn shading.

Shellac Color Blend

Controls the amount of color mixing. At 0.0, the Shellac material has no effect. Increasing the

Shellac Color Blend value increases the amount of Shellac material color blended into the Base

material color. There is no upper limit on this parameter. Large values "overload" the Shellac

material colors. Default=0.0.

You can animate this parameter.

Blend Material

Material/Map Browser Materials Standard Blend

The Blend material lets you mix two materials on a single side of the surface. Blend has an

animatable Mix Amount parameter that lets you draw material morphing function curves to

control the way that the two materials are blended over time.

Blend material combines bricks and stucco.

NoteIf even one sub-material has its shading set to Wire (see Shader Basic Parameters

Rollout), the entire material displays and renders as a wire material.

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Procedures

To create a Blend material, do one of the following:

In the Slate Material Editor Browser panel Materials Standard group, drag a

Blend material into the active View (or double-click the Blend entry).

In the Compact Material Editor, activate a sample slot, click the Type button, then in the

Material/Map Browser , choose Blend and then click OK.

3ds Max opens a Replace Map dialog. This dialog asks whether you want to discard the original

material in the sample slot, or retain it as a sub-material.

The controls for Blend materials are similar to the controls for Mix maps.

To specify a component material, do one of the following:

On the Blend Basic Parameters rollout, click one of the two material buttons.

The parameters for the sub-material are displayed. By default, a sub-material is a Standard

material with Blinn shading.

In the Slate Material Editor, the default sub-materials appear as nodes in the active

View. You can double-click either of these nodes to see and adjust the material

parameters, or you can replace the Standard material nodes with nodes of a different

type.

To control the mix amount:

In the Basic Parameters rollout, adjust the Mix Amount value.

You can also control the mix amount by using a map.

Map used to reveal brick beneath stucco

To control the mix amount using a map, do one of the following:

In the Basic Parameters rollout, click the map button next to Mask.

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3ds Max opens the Browser so you can select a map type.

The intensity of pixels in this mixing map controls the mix. When the intensity is close to zero,

one of the component colors or maps is visible; when it is close to full intensity, the other

component is visible.

TipUsing a Noise map for the mixing map can create effective results with a natural

appearance.

The Mix Amount setting is unavailable when a map is assigned to the Mask parameter. If Use

Curve is off, the mixing map is used as is. When Use Curve is on, you can use the mixing curve

to shift the effect of the mask map's gradient ramp to reveal more of one material and less of the

other.

In the Slate Material Editor, add the map type you want to the active View, then wire the

map node to the Blend material’s Mask component.

Interface

Material 1/Material 2

Set the two materials to be blended. Use the checkboxes to turn the materials on and off.

Interactive

Chooses which of the two materials or the mask map is displayed on object surfaces in

viewports by the interactive renderer.

If one material has Show Map in Viewport on, this takes precedence over the Interactive setting.

Only one map at a time can be displayed in viewports.

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Mask

Click to assign a map to use as a mask. The degree of blending between the two materials

depends on the intensity of the mask map. Lighter (whiter) areas of the mask show more of

Material 1, while darker (blacker) areas of the mask show more of Material 2. Use the checkbox

to turn the mask map on or off.

Mix Amount

Determines the proportion of the blend (percentage). 0 means only Material 1 is visible on the

surface; 100 means only Material 2 is visible. Unavailable if you have assigned a mask map and

the mask's checkbox is on.

You can animate this parameter. Create Material Preview is useful for testing the effect.

Mixing Curve group

The mixing curve affects how gradual or how sharp the transition between the two colors being

blended will be. It affects the blend only when a mask map is assigned.

TipFor mottled effects, blend two standard materials using a noise map as a mask.

Use Curve

Determines whether the Mixing Curve affects the mix. This control is available only when a

mask is assigned and active.

Transition Zone

These values adjust the level of the Upper and Lower limits. If the two values are the same, the

two materials meet at a definite edge. Wider ranges give more gradual blending from one sub-

material to the other. The mixing curve displays the effect of changing these values.

Composite Material

Material Editor Material/Map Browser Maps Standard Composite

The Composite map type is made up of other maps, which you layer atop each other using the

alpha channel and other methods. For this type of map, you can use overlay images that

already contain an alpha channel, or employ built-in masking tools for overlaying only certain

parts of a map.

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Composite map combines stars, moon, and a glow into the sky.

The controls for a Composite map include the list of the maps it combines along with a blend

mode, opacity setting, and mask for each.

Viewports can display the multiple maps in a composite map. For multiple map display, the

display driver must be OpenGL or Direct3D. The software display driver does not support

multiple map display.

Procedures

To assign a map or mask:

1. On a Layer rollout, click an empty map or mask button. These are the large, square

buttons labeled “None.” The map button is on the left side; the mask button is on the

right.

The Material/Map Browser opens.

2. Choose a map type either by double-clicking its name in the list, or by highlighting its

name and then clicking OK. Make any further changes as necessary for the map type,

such as assigning an image file for a Bitmap map.

Alternatively, use the Slate Material Editor to wire a map to the Layer or Layer (Mask)

component you want to assign.

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To change the number of map layers:

To add a layer, on the Composite Layers rollout, click (Add A New Layer).

NoteThe Total Layers numeric field is read-only. It displays the current number of layers.

To delete a layer, find the layer to delete and click its (Delete This Layer) button.

To change the order of layers:

Drag a layer by its title bar to a new location. As you drag the layer, a blue line appears

where it will be repositioned. This works the same way as reordering any set of rollouts.

After you move a layer, the layers are renumbered to remain in order. For example, if there are

four layers, and you move Layer 4 above Layer 1, Layer 4 becomes Layer 2, Layer 2 becomes

Layer 3, and Layer 3 becomes Layer 4.

Interface

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Composite Layers rollout

Total Layers

The numeric field shows the number of map layers. To add a layer at the top of the stack of

layers, click the button.

Layer rollout

The Composite map uses a separate rollout for each layer’s controls, with as many rollouts as

there are layers. Each layer rollout is titled with the optional name first, followed by “Layer” and

then the layer number.

The layers are applied in order of increasing number; the layering in the material reflects the

order of layers in the interface. Layer 1 is lowest; layer 2 is immediately above layer 1, and so

on.

The map composites layers in the same order. Layer 2 modifies the output of Layer 1; Layer 3

modifies the output of Layer 2, and so on.

Hide this layer

When on, the layer is hidden and has no effect on the output. When a layer is hidden, the button

looks like this:

Color Correct This Texture

Applies a Color Correction map to the map and opens the Color Correction map interface. You

can use its controls to modify the map colors.

To return to the Composite map interface, click (Go To Parent) on the Material Editor

toolbar.

After the Color Correction map is assigned, you can return to it from the Composite map

interface by clicking this button again.

[map]

To assign a map to the layer, click this button and then use the Material/Map Browser.

Before assigning a map, the button reads “None.” When a map is assigned, the button image is

a thumbnail of the map, and clicking it takes you to the parameters for the map.

Delete this layer

Deletes the layer. This function is undoable.

Available only when the map contains more than one layer.

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Rename this layer

Opens a small dialog for naming or renaming the layer.

By default, each layer is named “Layer #” where # is the layer number. If you name a layer, the

text you enter precedes this default name; for example, “Decal Layer 3.” The space between the

custom name and the default name is inserted automatically. If you’ve already named a layer,

that name appears in the renaming dialog when you open it.

Duplicate this layer

Creates an exact copy of the layer and inserts it immediately adjacent to the layer.

Opacity

The relative transparency of the unmasked portions of the layer. At 100, the layer is completely

opaque. As you lower the Opacity value, more of the underlying layers show through.

[mask map]

To assign a mask map to the layer, click this button and then use the Material/Map Browser.

The mask works the same as the Mask map: Black areas are transparent; white areas are

opaque; and gray areas allow degrees of transparency. So, for example, if the layer is to be a

decal, the decal image area would be white and the rest of the image map would be black, so

underlying layers can show through.

After a mask map is assigned, the button image is a thumbnail of the map, and clicking it takes

you to the parameters for the map.

Hide the mask of this layer

To turn off the mask temporarily, click this button. When a mask is hidden, the button looks like

this:

Color Correct This Mask

Applies a Color Correction map to the mask map and opens the Color Correction map interface.

You can use its controls to modify the map colors.

To return to the Composite map interface, click (Go To Parent) on the Material Editor

toolbar.

After the Color Correction map is assigned, you can return to it from the Composite map

interface by clicking this button again.

[blend mode]

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Use the drop-down list to choose how the layer pixels interact with those in underlying layers. In

the following descriptions, A refers to the current (front) layer and B refers to the result or output

of underlying layers.

NoteBecause Layer 1 has no underlying layers, its blend mode setting has no effect.

NormalDisplays A without any blending. This is the default setting.

AverageAdds A and B and then divides by 2.

AdditionAdds each A and B pixel.

SubtractSubtracts A from B.

DarkenCompares the values of A and B, and, for each pixel, uses the darker of the two.

MultiplyMultiplies the color values of each A and B pixel. Because non-white color

channels have values of less than 1.0 (using a range of 0.0 to 1.0), multiplying them

tends to darken colors.

Color BurnColorizes darker pixels from B with the color from A.

Linear BurnSame as Color Burn but with less contrast.

LightenCompares the A and B pixels at each location and uses the lighter of the two.

ScreenMakes the light areas much lighter, and the darker areas somewhat lighter.

Color DodgeColorizes lighter pixels from B with the A color.

Linear DodgeSame as Color Dodge but with lower contrast.

SpotlightLike Multiply but with twice the brightness.

Spotlight BlendSame as Spotlight but also adds ambient illumination to B.

OverlayDarkens or lightens the pixels depending on the B color.

Soft LightIf the A color is lighter than mid-gray, the image is lightened. If the A color is

darker than mid-gray, the image is darkened.

Hard LightIf a pixel color is lighter than mid-gray, screen mode is applied. If a pixel color

is darker than mid-gray, multiply mode is applied.

PinlightReplaces the B colors depending on the brightness of the A color. If the A color is

lighter than mid-gray, B colors darker than the A color are replaced. And vice versa: If

the A color is darker than mid-gray, B colors lighter than the A color are replaced.

Hard MixProduces either white or black, depending on similarities between A and B.

DifferenceFor each pixel pair, subtracts the darker one from the brighter one.

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ExclusionSimilar to Difference but with lower contrast.

HueUses the color from A; the value (brightness) and saturation from B.

SaturationUses the saturation from A; the value and hue from B.

ColorUses the hue and saturation from A; the value from B.

ValueUses the value from A; the hue and saturation from B.

Tiling

Tiles Map

Material Editor Material/Map Browser Maps Standard Tiles

Using the Tiles procedural map, you can create brick or stacked tiling of colors or maps. A

number of commonly defined architectural brick patterns are available, or you can design

custom patterns.

Tiles used for the walls of a house

With the Tiles map, you can:

Assign many of the maps available through the Material Editor.

Load textures and use colors in the pattern.

Control the number of tiles in columns and rows.

Control the size of the grout gap and its roughness.

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Apply random variance in the pattern.

Control the stacking layout by shifting how the tiles line up.

Procedures

Example: To create a brick wall:

1. Create a wall using a Box primitive, or use an existing surface in one of your scenes.

2. On the Material Editor toolbar, click (Assign Material To Selection) to apply a

Standard material to the wall.

3. Open the Maps rollout. Click the Map button for Diffuse to display the Material/Map

Browser.

4. In the map list, select Tiles, then click OK.

Alternatively, use the Slate Material Editor to wire a Tiles map to the Diffuse Color component.

Now the Tiles map is assigned to the material.

5. On the Material Editor toolbar, click (Show Map In Viewport) to see the applied map.

6. On the Tiles map parameters Standard Controls rollout, use Preset Type to select the

type of tiles for the wall. Stack Bond is the default.

7. Open the Advanced Controls rollout. Under Tiles Setup, adjust Horizontal and Vertical

Count. The default is eight rows high, with three repeats of the pattern in each row.

Visually scale the size of the tiles to your scene. Also adjust Texture as well as Color

and Fade Variance to fine-tune the appearance of the tiles.

8. Under Grout Setup, adjust parameters for the texture of the grout, gap spacing between

tiles, and roughness of the grout. You can also create missing bricks in the map by

setting % Holes to a value above 0.

9. Under Miscellaneous, you can vary the color of the tiles by using the Random Seed

option.

Example: To match the tiles on the top and side of a wall:

1. Select a wall object whose material uses a Tiles map.

2. On the Modify panel, apply an Edit Mesh modifier to the object.

3. Go to the Face sub-object level.

4. Select the top face of the wall.

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5. Open the Material Editor. If you are using the Compact Material Editor, drag the wall’s

tile material to an unused sample slot to duplicate it. If you are using the Slate Material

Editor, select the material node, choose Select Select Children (Ctrl+C), then

Shift+drag the material node to make a copy of the material and its maps.

6. View the parameters for the copied Tiles map. In the Advanced Controls rollout Tiles

Setup group, adjust the horizontal and vertical count of the new material to match the

side of the wall.

7. Apply the new tile material to the selected faces on the top of the wall.

8. In the Stacking Layout group, align the tiles by using the Line Shift option.

Interface

Standard Controls rollout

Preset Type

Lists the commonly defined architectural tile bonds, or patterns, plus a custom pattern, which

you design by selecting options under the Advanced Controls and Stacking Layout rollouts. The

following illustrations show some of the different bonds:

Common Flemish

Fine Running

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Fine Stack

1/2 Running

Running

Stack

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Advanced Controls rollout

Show Texture Swatches

When on, the Texture swatch for Tiles or Grout updates to show the map you assign.

Default=on.

Tiles Setup group

Texture

Controls the display of the current texture map for the tiles. When on, the texture is used as the

tile pattern instead of the color swatch. When turned off, the color of the tiles is displayed;

clicking the color swatch displays the Color Selector.

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[Texture button]

Acts as a target where you drag and drop maps for the tiles. When you click this button with a

map assigned, 3ds Max displays the rollout for the map. Before a map is assigned, the label

reads "None."

The checkbox controls whether the map is used or not.

Horiz. Count

Controls the number of tiles in a row.

Vert. Count

Controls the number of tiles in a column.

Color Variance

Controls the color variation among the tiles.

Fade Variance

Controls the fading variation among the tiles.

Grout Setup group

Texture

Controls the display of the current texture map for the grout. When on, the texture is used as the

grout pattern instead of the color swatch. When off, the color of the grout is displayed, and

clicking the color swatch displays the Color Selector.

[Texture button]

Acts as a target where you drag and drop maps for the grout. When you click this button with a

map assigned, 3ds Max displays the rollout for the map. Before a map is assigned, the label

reads "None."

The checkbox controls whether the map is used or not.

Horizontal Gap

Controls the horizontal size of the grout between the tiles. This value is locked by default to the

vertical gap, so that both values change as you edit one or the other. To unlock them, click the

lock icon.

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Vertical Gap

Controls the vertical size of the grout between the tiles. This value is locked by default to the

horizontal gap, so that both values change as you edit one or the other. To unlock them, click

the lock icon.

% Holes

Sets the percentage of holes in the tiled surface caused by missing tiles. The grout shows

through the holes.

Rough

Controls the roughness of the edges of the grout.

Random Seed

Randomly applies patterns of color variation to the tiles. Does not require any other setting to

generate completely different patterns.

Swap Texture Entries

Swaps the texture maps or colors between the tiles and the grout.

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Stacking Layout group

NoteThis group of controls is active only when Custom Tiles is selected in Standard Controls

rollout Pattern Setup Preset Type.

Line Shift

Shifts every second row of tiles a distance of one unit.

Random Shift

Randomly shifts all rows of tiles a distance of one unit.

Row and Column Editing group

NoteThis group of controls is enabled only when Custom Tiles is selected in Standard Controls

rollout Pattern Setup Preset Type.

Row Modify

When on, creates a custom pattern for rows, based on the values of Per Row and Change.

Default=off.

Per RowSpecifies which rows to change. When Per Row equals 0, no rows change.

When Per Row equals 1, every row changes. When Per Row is a value greater than 1,

the change appears every N rows: A value of 2 changes every second row, a value of

three changes every third row, and so on. Default=2.

ChangeChanges the width of tiles in the affected rows. A value of 1.0 is the default tile

width. Values greater than 1.0 increase the width of tiles, and values less than 1.0

decrease it. Range=0.0 to 5.0. Default=1.0.

A value of 0.0 is a special case: When the Change value is 0.0, no tiles appears in that row, and

the underlying material shows through.

Column Modify

When on, creates a custom pattern for columns, based on the values of Per Column and

Change. Default=off.

Per ColumnSpecifies which columns to change. When Per Column equals 0, no

columns change. When Per Column equals 1, every column changes. When Per

Column is a value greater than 1, the change appears every N columns: A value of 2

changes every second column, a value of three changes every third column and so on.

Default=2.

ChangeChanges the height of tiles in the affected columns. A value of 1.0 is the default

tile height. Values greater than 1.0 increase the height of tiles, and values less than 1.0

decrease it. Range=0.0 to 5.0. Default=1.0.

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A value of 0.0 is a special case: When the Change value is 0.0, no tile appears in that column,

and the underlying material shows through.

Browsing jpeg as Materials

Asset Browser Utility

Utilities panel Utilities rollout Asset Browser button

The Asset Browser provides access from your desktop to design content on the World Wide

Web. From within the Browser you can browse the Internet for texture samples and product

models. This includes bitmap textures (BMP, JPG, GIF, TIF, and TGA), or geometry files (MAX,

DWG, and so on).

You can drag these samples and models into your scene for immediate visualization and

presentation. You can use the Ctrl key to drag geometry into predefined locations. You can also

use the Asset Browser to browse thumbnail displays of bitmap textures and geometry files on

your hard disk or shared network drives. Then you can either view them or drag them into your

scene or into valid map buttons or slots.

NoteThe thumbnail display of a geometry file is a bitmap representation of a view of the

geometry. Since the thumbnail display is not a vector-based representation, you can't rotate it or

perform zooms on it.

You can drag most graphic images that are embedded in a Web page into your scene. The

exception is images or regions of a Web page that are tagged as hyperlinks or other HTML

controls (such as when a bitmap is tagged as a button with hypertext links).

ImportantDownloaded content might be subject to use restrictions or license of site owner. User

is responsible for obtaining all content license rights.

Drag and Drop

You can assign files represented by the thumbnail images by dragging the thumbnails over

various parts of the Asset Browser or the 3ds Max user interface. There are three basic

methods of using drag in the Asset Browser :

Local Drag and Drop: You can drag thumbnails to the directory tree, and you can copy or move

files from one directory to another. As the default, when you drag to a folder within the same

partition or device, you perform a move. If you drag beyond the current partition or device (to

another drive, for example), you perform a copy. If you hold down the Ctrl key, you perform a

copy regardless of the destination. If you hold down the Shift key, you perform a move. You can

manipulate bitmap, 3ds Max scene, and DWG thumbnails in this way.

Bitmap Drag and Drop: You can drag the thumbnails that represent bitmap files to any bitmap or

map slot in the interface or onto any object in a viewport. You can also drag the thumbnails into

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the viewport background. When you drag a bitmap onto an object, 3ds Max creates a new

standard material with the bitmap as the diffuse map and assigns the material to that object.

Scene Drag and Drop: You can drag the thumbnails representing .max scene files directly over

an active viewport to merge the scene with the current scene. When you drag the thumbnail

over the active viewport and release the mouse, the objects in the file appear attached to the

mouse. Place them where you want them, and then click the mouse. Choose from the menu

whether you want to open the file, merge the file to the current scene, or XRef the file. To

cancel, you can select from the menu, or right-click. If you hold down the Ctrl key, and drag the

thumbnail over the active viewport, when you release the mouse button the objects in the

dragged file will snap into their old location in their original file.

TipWhen you drop scene files into your current scene, you can use AutoGrid to position the

geometry file on an object.

Procedures

To drag scene files from the World Wide Web:

1. In the Address bar, enter the URL of the scene files on the World Wide Web.

2. Select the thumbnail of the scene file with your mouse and drag it over the active

viewport.

The Internet Download dialog appears.

3. If you want objects placed in the viewport automatically, then in the Options group, turn

off Place Objects When Download Completes.

4. If you skipped step 3 (that is, if Place Objects When Download Completes is still on),

then when you release the mouse, the objects in the file appear attached to the mouse.

Place them where you want them, and then click the mouse. Choose from the menu

whether you want to open the file, merge the file to the current scene, or XRef the file.

To cancel, you can select from the menu, or right-click. If you hold down the Ctrl key

when you drag the thumbnail, the objects in the file are placed at the world space origin

of the current scene.

To drag thumbnails to the directory tree:

1. In the Asset Browser directory tree, make sure the place you want to copy or move the

thumbnail to is visible.

2. Select the thumbnail with your mouse and drag it to the directory tree destination.

3. As a default, if you drag to a folder within the same partition or device, a move is

performed. If you drag beyond the current partition or device (to another drive, for

example), a copy is performed. If you hold the Ctrl key down, a copy is performed,

regardless of the destination. If you hold the Shift key down, a move is performed.

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To drag bitmaps onto a map slot in the Material Editor:

1. Open the Material Editor and click the Maps rollout.

2. Open the Asset Browser and select the thumbnail of a bitmap with your mouse.

3. Drag the thumbnail to the map button of your choice on the Material Editor Maps rollout.

This assigns the bitmap as a map type for use in the Material Editor.

To drag a bitmap onto an object in a viewport:

1. Select a thumbnail of the bitmap with your mouse and drag it onto an object in a

viewport.

NoteIf you miss the object, the bitmap becomes the viewport background image.

The Bitmap Viewport Drop dialog is displayed:

A viewport background

Puts the bitmap into the viewport as a background.

An environment map

Includes the bitmap when you render the viewport.

2. A new standard material is created. The bitmap is assigned to its diffuse component,

and the new material is applied to that object.

To drag scene files from a local or shared disk:

1. From the Asset Browser's menu bar, choose Filter and then a geometry filter such as All

Geometry, Importable Files, or 3ds Max Files.

2. Select the thumbnail of the geometry file with your mouse and drag it over a viewport.

3. When you drag the thumbnail over the active viewport and release the mouse, the

merged objects appear attached to the mouse. Place them where you want them, and

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then click the mouse. Choose from the menu whether you want to open the file, merge

the file to the current scene, or XRef the file. To cancel, you can select from the menu, or

right-click. If you hold down the Ctrl key when you drag the thumbnail, the objects in the

file are placed at the world space origin of the current scene.

Interface

When you first start the Asset Browser, a window appears displaying the home page that is

installed locally on your computer system.

NoteYou can't change the home page for the Asset Browser.

Each subsequent time that you start the Asset Browser, it displays what was displayed last in

the previous Asset Browser session.

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The Asset Browser window contains:

A menu bar.

A toolbar.

An address bar.

A pane on the left displaying your computer system's directory hierarchy.

A pane on the right displaying a Web page, thumbnails, or an Explorer view of file

names.

At the bottom of the window, there is also a tabbed favorites bar (by default, it first contains a

Startup button) and a status bar.

Asset Browser menu bar

Contains the menus for the Asset Browser.

File menu

Contains commands for managing files.

Preferences

Displays the Preferences dialog, with which you can manage the cache directory and control

drag-and-drop operations.

Properties

Displays information about the file of the selected thumbnail.

Show Image

Displays the currently selected bitmap thumbnail in a Rendered Frame Window. You can also

double-click a thumbnail. This does not work for geometry thumbnails.

Print

Prints the page displayed in the Web pane. Print is available only when a Web page is

displayed.

Exit

Closes the Asset Browser window.

Filter menu

Filters the display of thumbnails according to the category or file type you select.

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All images

Displays thumbnails of all supported bitmap files, such as BMP, JPG, GIF, TIF, and TGA.

All geometry

Displays thumbnails of all supported geometry files, such as DWG and MAX.

All in cache

Displays thumbnails of all images stored in your cache directory. When turned on, the left pane

displaying the directory tree goes away, and the thumbnails you see might be in various

directories. Because the thumbnails point to the correct directories, you can still use them to

access the files and display or drag them to areas in the 3ds Max user interface.

ImportantIf a file has been subsequently renamed, deleted, or moved from the directory it was in

when its thumbnail was first created, then the thumbnail represents only the thumbnail bitmap

itself. If you assign that image to a map slot in 3ds Max, you'll be assigning the thumbnail

bitmap rather than the original image.

All files (*.*)

Displays thumbnails for all files.

See the following topics for information on the file types listed on the Filter menu:

AutoCAD (DWG) Files

IGES Files

AVI Animation File

BMP Image File

Kodak Cineon

CWS (Combustion Workspace) Files

GIF Image File

Radiance Image File (HDRI)

IFL Image File

JPEG File

PNG Image File

Adobe PSD File Reader

MOV QuickTime File

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MPEG Files

SGI's Image File Format

RLA Image File

RPF Image File

Targa Image File

TIF Image File

YUV Image File

Thumbnails menu

Sorts and sets the size of the displayed thumbnails.

Create Thumbnails

Creates thumbnails for bitmap and geometry files.

Sort by Name

Sorts by file names.

Sort by Type

Sorts by file extensions.

Sort by Size

Sorts by file size.

Sort by Date

Sorts by file creation date.

Large (200X200)

Sets the size to large (200 by 200 pixels).

Medium (100X100)

Sets the size to medium (100 by 100 pixels).

Small (50X50)

Sets the size to small (50 by 50 pixels).

Display menu

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Controls the display of:

The left pane, where the directory tree displays your computer system's folders.

The right pane, which can display files as thumbnails (a Thumbnail pane), or Web pages

(a Web pane).

The Favorites and status bars located at the bottom of the Asset Browser window.

Any available manufacturer data in the Product Information dialog that appears over the

right pane.

Directory Tree

Turns the directory tree in the left pane on or off. The directory tree displays the available

directories on your system. You can navigate and select the directories where you want to view

images. When you select and enter a directory containing valid bitmaps, the Browser displays

their thumbnails in the Thumbnail pane to the right. Right-clicking in the directory tree pane

displays a menu allowing you to change directories, delete directories, and add a directory to

your Favorites list.

TipTo refresh the contents of the directory tree, press Shift+F5.

Favorites Bar

Turns the Favorites bar on or off. The Favorites bar is located at the bottom of the Asset

Browser window.

Status Bar

Turns the status bar on or off. The status bar is located at the bottom of the Asset Browser

window.

Thumbnail Pane

Displays valid bitmaps and geometry files of a selected directory as thumbnails in the right

pane.

Thumbnail bitmaps for MAXScript files (MS, MCR, and MSE), dropScript files (.ds), and zipped

script files (MZP) display in the Thumbnail pane. By right-clicking the thumbnail, you can view

the file, look at its properties, run the script, or open it in the Web Pane. By double-clicking the

thumbnails for .ms, .mcr, and .ds files, you can open them in the MAXScript editor window.

Double-clicking .mzp files will open them in the associated zip utility.

Explorer Pane

Displays valid bitmaps and geometry files of a selected directory as file name icons in the right

pane. This is similar to how Windows displays file name icons in the Explorer.

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Web Pane

If there's a file named maxindex.htm in the selected directory, the Asset Browser displays it as a

Web page in the right pane. You can use the .htm file to display selected bitmaps as a Web

page. Also if you enter a URL in the address bar, the Asset Browser displays the page in this

pane.

Favorites menu

Adds and deletes Web sites and path names to the Favorites menu and the Favorites bar.

Add to Favorites

Displays the Favorite Location dialog.

Delete All Favorites

Removes all Web site and path name shortcuts from the Favorites menu and the Favorites bar.

Browse menu

Allows you to refresh thumbnails and Web pages, to move forward and backward between

recently viewed Web pages, to return to your home page, and to stop loading a Web page.

Refresh

For a Thumbnail pane, rereads the directory and redraws the thumbnails. For a Web pane,

rereads the URL and redisplays the Web page.

Forward

For a Web pane, displays a Web page you viewed before clicking the Back button.

Back

Returns to the last Web page viewed in the Web pane.

Home

Returns to the local copy of the home page that is installed on your computer system. This is

the page that displays when you first start the Asset Browser.

Stop

Stops loading a Web page. Use this button when a page you're trying to view takes too long to

load.

Toolbar

The buttons on the toolbar provide some of the same functions as the menu items on the menu

bar.

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Back to previous page

Returns to the last Web page viewed in the Web pane.

Forward to next page

Displays a Web page you viewed before clicking Back to previous page.

Stop

Stops loading a Web page. Use this button when a page you're trying to view takes too long to

load.

Refresh content

For a Thumbnail pane, rereads the directory and redraws the thumbnails. For a Web pane,

rereads the URL and redisplays the Web page.

Homepage

Returns to local copy of the Browser home page that is installed on your computer system. This

is the page that displays when you first start the Asset Browser.

Add to Favorites Bar

Displays the Favorite Location dialog that allows you to add Web sites and path names to the

Favorites menu and the Favorites bar. When you want to open that page or view the files from a

path name, you can click the appropriate shortcut button from the Favorites bar, or click the

appropriate menu item from the Favorites menu

Address

Displays the current path name or URL. Clicking the history arrow at the right end of the

address bar displays a list of recently viewed sites. You can select one of these to return to that

site.

Favorites Bar

The Favorites bar is at the bottom of the Asset Browser window. It displays tabbed buttons for

the startup page and for any shortcuts to directories and Web pages that you added to your

favorites list. Right-clicking over a favorites tab that you've added displays a menu that you can

use to modify or delete the favorites.

Startup

Returns to the directory or Web page where the Asset Browser started in the current session.

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Status Bar

The status bar is under the Favorites bar at the bottom of the Asset Browser window. The bar is

divided into three sections. The first section displays a progress meter when the Asset Browser

loads thumbnails. The second section displays the current filter selection (such as "All in

cache"). The third section displays messages, file names, or Web page shortcut labels when

you move your cursor over such items.

Rendering

Rendering shades the scene's geometry using the lighting you've set up, the materials you've

applied, and environment settings, such as background and atmosphere. You use the Render

Setup dialog to render images and animations and save them to files. The rendered output

appears in the Rendered Frame Window, where you can also render and do some setup.

Rendering "fills in" geometry with color, shadow, lighting effects, and so on.

NoteBitmap paging is always active and is managed automatically, enabling you to render

scenes with large bitmaps, a large number of bitmaps, or very high resolution images (for

example, 5,000 x 5,000 pixels or more).

Note3ds Max does not append any color-space information to rendered output. If necessary,

you can apply a color space such as sRGB to output images in an image-editing program like

Adobe Photoshop.

Environments and Rendering Effects

A variety of special effects, such as film grain, depth of field, and lens simulations, are available

as rendering effects. Another set of effects, such as fog, are provided as environment effects.

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Environment settings let you choose a background color or image, or choose an ambient color

value for when you render without using radiosity. One category of environment settings is the

exposure controls, which adjust light levels for display on a monitor.

Rendering effects provide a way for you to add blur or film grain to a rendering, or to adjust its

color balance.

Object-Level Rendering Controls

You can control rendering behavior at the object leve

Scan Line Renderer

The scanline renderer renders the scene as a series of horizontal lines. It is one of the

production renderers provided with 3ds Max, as opposed to the interactive renderer used in

viewports. Images produced by production renderers display in the rendered frame window, a

separate window with its own controls.

The scanline renderer is the original 3ds Max renderer, and it is the default production renderer

choice when you first use the Render Setup dialog or from Video Post.

Apply Mirror

Mirror Modifier

Modify panel Make a selection. Modifier List Object-Space Modifiers Mirror

Make a selection. Modifiers menu Parametric Deformers Mirror

The Mirror modifier provides a parametric method of mirroring an object or a sub-object

selection. You can apply the Mirror modifier to any type of geometry, and you can animate the

mirror effect by animating the modifier's gizmo.

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Mirroring a bench

TipWhen modeling the left or right side of a character for mirroring to the opposite side, use the

Symmetry modifier to create the other side. Its Weld Seam feature helps create a more natural-

looking model.

Procedures

To apply the Mirror modifier:

1. Apply the Mirror modifier to a selection.

2. Set the axis or axis pair on which to mirror the object.

3. To create a mirrored pair, specify an Offset amount and turn on Copy.

Interface

Modifier Stack

Mirror Center

Represents the axis of the mirror effect. You can move, rotate or scale the gizmo to affect the

mirroring. You can animate the gizmo transforms, which you can't do with the toolbar Mirror tool.

For more information on the stack display, see Modifier Stack.

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Parameters rollout

Mirror Axis group

X, Y, Z, XY, YZ, ZX

Specify the axis or axes about which the mirroring takes place. You can usually see the effect in

the viewport as you select the option.

Options group

Offset

Specifies the offset, in units, from the mirror axis. This is an animatable parameter.

Copy

Copies the geometry rather than simply mirroring it.

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UNIT Vhttp://www.jawa9000.com/Technical/UVs/UVs.htm - top

Frame Rate and Time Configuration

Animation and Time Controls

The main animation controls are found at the bottom of the program window, between the status bar and the viewport navigation controls, along with the time controls for animation playback within viewports.

Two additional important animation controls are the time slider and track bar, found on the status bar to the left of the main animation controls.

The time slider and track bar

Animation Controls

Auto Key Animation Mode and Set Key Animation Mode

Selection List

Default In/Out Tangents For New Keys

Key Filters

Go To Start

Previous Frame/Key

Play/S

Next Frame/Key

Go To End

Current Frame (Go To Frame)

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Time Controls

Key Mode

Time Configuration

Time Configuration

Status bar Time controls (Time Configuration) Time Configuration dialog

The Time Configuration dialog provides settings for frame rate, time display, playback, andanimation. You use this dialog to change the length of your animation, or stretch or rescale it. You also use it to set the start and end frames of the active time segment and your animation.

Procedures

To define the active time segment:

1. Click (Time Configuration).

2. In the Time Configuration dialog Animation group, set Start Time to specify the beginning of your active time segment.

3. Do one of the following:

Set End Time to specify the end of your active time segment.

Set Length to specify the amount of time in the active time segment and automatically set the correct End Time.

You can enter positive or negative values in any spinner, but you must use the same format used by the time display.

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.

Changing the active time segment has the following effects: it restricts the range of time you can use with the time slider, and it restricts the range of time displayed when using the animation playback buttons.

The default setting for the active time segment runs from frames 0 to 100, but you can set it to any range.

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To stretch out your existing animation over a longer time:

1. In the Time Configuration dialog Animation group, click Re-scale Time.

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

3. Click OK.

The animation is rescaled to the new number of frames.

This also works to compress animations into a shorter space of time. To avoid losing frames during the rescaling, see “To use sub-frame animation” in this set of procedures.

To add frames onto your existing animation:

This procedure adds new frames to the end of your animation, without affecting your existing work.

1. In the Time Configuration dialog Animation group End Time field, enter the number of the last frame of the animation.

For example, if your existing animation is 100 frames long and you want to add 50 frames, enter 150.

2. Click OK.

The number you entered is now the new length of the animation, shown on the time slider.

To move to an exact time in your animation:

In the Time Configuration dialog Animation group, enter the frame number in the

Current Time field, and press Enter.

The viewport updates to this frame.

To set the frame rate of your animation:

In the Time Configuration dialog Frame Rate group, do one of the following:

1. Choose one of the standard frame rates such as PAL or NTSC.

2. Choose Custom, and specify a frame rate in the FPS (frames-per-second) field.

To configure viewport playback:

In the Time Configuration Playback group, turn on or off the Real Time and Active Viewport Only boxes.

To play your animation in reverse or back and forth:

1. In the Time Configuration Playback group, turn off the Real Time.

2. Choose the direction of the animation playback by selecting Forward, Reverse, or Ping-Pong.

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3. Play the animation in the viewport using (Play Animation) or the / key.

To play your animation only once:

1. In the Time Configuration Playback group, turn off Loop.

2. Choose the direction of the animation playback by selecting Forward, Reverse or Ping-Pong.

3. Play the animation in the viewport using (Play Animation) or the / key.

The animation will play once and stop.

To play your animation in multiple viewports:

1. In the Time Configuration Playback group, turn off Active Viewport Only. Click OK.

2. Play your animation.

The animation now plays in all four viewports.

To use sub-frame animation:

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

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

TipUse 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.

To play an animation with sound:

In the Time Configuration Playback group, be sure you have Real Time turned on. If Real Time is not on, the sound will not play back during the animation.

Interface

These are the controls for the Time Configuration dialog. You can display this dialog by right-clicking any of the time control buttons to the right of the Auto Key button.

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Frame Rate group

These four option buttons, labeled NTSC, Film, PAL, and Custom let you set the frame rate in frames-per-second (FPS). The first three buttons force the standard FPS for that choice. The Custom button lets you specify your own FPS by adjusting the spinner.

FPS (Frames Per Second)

Sets the frame rate of your animation in Frames per Second. Use frame rates of 30 fps for video, 24 for film, and lower rates for web and media animations.

Time Display group

Specifies the method for displaying time in the time slider and throughout 3ds Max (in frames, in SMPTE, in frames and ticks, or in minutes, seconds, and ticks).

For example, if the time slider is at frame 35, and the Frame Rate is set to 30 fps, the time slider would display the following numbers for the different Time Display settings:

Frames: 35

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SMPTE: 0:1:5

FRAME: TICKS: 35:0

MM:SS: TICKS: 0:1:800

SMPTE is the Society of Motion Picture Technical Engineers standard used to measure time for video and television production.

Playback group

Real Time

Real Time causes viewport playback to skip frames to keep up with the current Frame Rate setting.

When Real Time is off, viewport playback occurs as rapidly as possible and displays all frames.

Active Viewport Only

Causes playback to occur only in the active viewport. When off, all viewports display animation.

Loop

Controls whether the animation playback occurs only once, or repeatedly. When on, playback repeats until you stop it by clicking an animation control button or the time slider channel. When off, the animation plays once and then stops. Clicking Play rewinds to the first frame and plays again.

Speed

A choice of five playback speeds is available: 1x is normal speed, 1/2x is half speed, and so on. The speed settings affect only the playback in the viewports. Default=1x.

These speed settings can also be used with the Motion Capture utility.

Direction

Set the animation to play forward, reverse, or ping-pong (forward and then reverse, repeating). This affects only the playback in the interactive renderer. It does not apply when rendering to any image output file. These options are available only when Real Time is off.

You can recall these settings automatically upon startup or reset by saving amaxstart.max file. See Startup Files and Defaults.

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Animation group

Start Time / End Time

Sets the active time segment displayed in the time slider. Choose any time segment before or after frame 0. For example, you can set an active time segment from –50 to 250.

Length

Displays the number of frames in the active time segment. If you make this greater than the total frames in the active segment, the End Time field increases accordingly.

Frame Count

The number of frames that will render. Always the length plus one.

Current Time

Specifies the current frame for the time slider. As you adjust this, the time slider moves accordingly and the viewport updates.

Re-scale Time

Stretches or shrinks the animation for the active time segment to fit into the new time segment you specify. Relocates the position of all keys in all tracks. As a result, the animation plays over a greater or lesser number of frames, making it faster or slower.

Key Steps group

Controls in this group let you configure the method used when you turn on Key Mode.

Use TrackBar

Allows key mode to honor all keys in the track bar. This includes any parameter animation in addition to transform keys.

To make the following controls available, turn off Use TrackBar.

Selected Objects Only

Considers only the transforms of selected objects when you use Key Steps mode. If you turn this off, the transforms of all (unhidden) objects in the scene are considered. Default=on.

Use Current Transform

Disables Position, Rotation, and Scale and uses the current transform in Key Mode. For example, if the Rotate button is selected in the toolbar, you stop at each rotation key. If none of the three transform buttons are on, Key Mode considers all transforms.

To make the following control available, turn off Use Current Transform.

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Position, Rotation, Scale

Specifies which transforms are used by Key Mode.

Clear Use Current Transform to make the Position, Rotation, and Scale checkboxes available.

Walk Through

1: Drawing the First Wall

Start by opening 3dsmax. Draw a spline (Line) as shown below. (You can find this tool by going to Create > Shapes > Line)

Renderable is turned on. The spline has a thickness of 6", has 4 sides and has an angle of 45 degrees. The angle is set to 45 degrees to rotate the profile to be flat instead of diamond shaped.

Step 2: Raising The Wall To Proper Height

Now that the spline has been drawn we need to bring it up to 10′ in height. To do this go to the "modify tab" and add an "edit poly" modifier. Next draw a box that is 10′ in height. This box will act as our measuring guide.

Go back to the "modify tab" and go to the "vertex" editing level. Pull the top vertices up to your 10′ measure mark. Now you have completed 1 wall.

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Step 3: Laying Out the Rest of Your Walls

In this step we will "instance" the walls to create a maze. You can create it as large or as small as you need to serve your purpose. Select your wall and SHIFT + Move the object to bring up the "Clone Options." Select instance and press OK. We used instance because if we edit 1 wall, it will make the same changes to the rest.

Next we will mirror the wall. You can access the mirror tool by going to TOOLS > MIRROR or by pressing the button at the top of the layout. Mirror the wall along the, axis. You should have a hallway at this point.

Now repeat this step again by mirroring both of the wall objects. on the Y axis. Continue instancing and mirroring until you have a large enough wall layout.

Note: Keep in mind that in any planar viewport is a horizontal mirror and Y is a vertical mirror.

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Step 4 – The Floor

For the flooring you can simply create a plane and line it up to the bottom of the walls.

You can create the plane by accessing the create panel. Change the width and length segments to 1, because we do not need the extra geometry.

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Step 5 – Mental Ray And Sun

For this tutorial I am using Mental Ray as my rendering engine and MR Sun and MR Sky as my lighting system. You can use whatever you prefer. I would also add a wall material. I chose a light gray.

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Step 6 – Drawing Your Path Spline (Camera Path)

Draw a spline (Line) in the middle of the hallways in the directions that you would like your camera to move along. Now move the spline up so it is at about eye height. A height of 5′5" to 6′ should work well

Varying the height of your spline in different locations can make for some interesting camera shots. This can be both good and bad depending on your use.

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Step 7 – Smoother Turns

We now need to smooth out the turns a bit… otherwise your camera will look like a soldier doing right and left face drill commands.

Select your spline and go to the "modify" panel. Select the "Vertex Level" and select all of the vertices (CTRL A). Now scroll down along the modify panel and find "Fillet". Use a 3′8" fillet or whatever you prefer. Your camera path should now be smoother along the turns, making it a bit more realistic.

You should have something similar to what is below.

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Step 8 – Creating Your Camera

To create your camera go to Create > Cameras > Target Camera. Click and drag it out at the start of your path spline. Position it close to you spline and raise it up to eye level. I used a 35mm camera lens. You can use whatever you desire, although keep in mind that with a smaller lens, your hallways will appear very long and often the walls will not be straight up and down.

Now you can check your camera by going to your perspective viewport and pressing "C". This will change the view to the camera.

At this point it is also wise to set your time configuration. For example, how long you want the animation to be as well as how many frames per second (FPS). You can find the "Time Configuration" button in the lower right corner of the interface. It has a clock on the button. Keep in mind that much of the time a frame rate of 29.97 or 30 is used.

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Step 9 – Assigning A Path Constraint Controller

Select your camera and go to the "Motion Tab" and expand the "Transform Rollout". Select the position line and click the box with the check in it. This will bring up the "Assign Position Controller" dialogue box, select "Path Constraint" and hit OK.

This has now assigned the path constraint controller to your camera.

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Step 10 – Adding Your Path

While in the motion tab roll down, click add path and select your spline in the viewport. This will attach the camera to the spline. This also moves the camera along the path from 0% to 100% in regards to your time line.

If you move the time slider while the top and camera views are open you will see that the camera moves along the path, but the target does not.

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Step 11 – Deciding Not To Use A Camera Target

One way to make your camera target work for you is not to use one. Your camera will only follow your path, you will not be able to look from left to right.

To use this method, select your camera and move down the motion rollout until you see the "Follow" option, select it. You may need to change your,YZ Axis orientation, test them with the camera viewport open for the proper axis.

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Step 12 – Deciding To Use A Camera Target

Using a target camera gives the user much more control, such as looking up, down and all around. Using a target also takes more time, as you have to keyframe your target for the duration of the animation.

As you drag your time slider you will notice that the camera follows the path, but the target does not.

To keyframe your target, turn on "AutoKey". This will automatically set a keyframe if you move an object, in this case, you will be moving the camera target. Move you time slider so that you camera goes around a corner, then move your target into a desired position, repeat this until you have a smooth flow around corners.

You should be doing all of this while using the top and camera views. By the end you should have many keyframe ticks on the time line.

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Step 13 – Corner Troubles

If you rendered out a test at this point, you can probably see a problem with turning the corners. The corners are probably too tight if you are using a 28mm lens and up.

To fix this you can do a few things… widen your hallways, which if you are working on a commercial job, you probably cannot.

Second, you can lower the lens size, while this is not a great option, it does work.

Third, you can edit your path so that it hugs the far wall (opposite of the turn), giving you more space. You can see the difference between my path splines below. To edit your path spline, select it and go to the modify tab.

Remember to turn "Auto Key" off before editing your spline. Your path spline will be animated if you do not.

Step 14 – Rendering

Now it is time to render. Press F10 to bring up the render properties window. Mental Ray should already be set up as your renderer.

Set your size,select "Active Segment" under time output, scroll down and find the render output area and select your folder and file name / type. Go to the "Indirect Illumination Tab" and double check and make sure "Finalgather" is turned on. You should be all set to render now.

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UV working

Export UVW to Photoshop

We are going to use UVW and Unwrap UVW Maps to texture our objects in this model. Here is

a screenshot for my 3d model. We will start to create a foot model.

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Step 1: You must finish your model totally before creating UVW Maps because it will be

damage all your UVW Maps. Now I’m going add two ID number for my model because it will be

very hard for you to apply texture to a detailed 3Dmodel like this. Please do as you see on these

pictures. First choose the top of the model give 2 number as and choose the bottom of the

model and give 1 number as I did.

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Step 2: I’ll apply generic materials to distinguish between the different parts of the model. So

you have to create a material . Open the “Material Editor”. Select a free a slot in there and

change the type from “Standard” to “Multi/Sub-Object”. Name the material “creature”

Step 3: Now, change the colour of each material using the “Colour Selector”, just use a different

colour for each of the materials, we need to distinguish them from each other.

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Step 4: It is now time to apply UVW for our model. Select ID number 2 apply the “UVW

Mapping” entry from the “Modifier List” Scroll down below and find the “Alignment” parameters,

first make sure Planer option is selected and then select “Z” and then click on “View Align” after

that click on “Fit”

Step 5: After that select the Convert to Editable Poly (Check the image below).

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Step 6: Repeat the same steps for the ID number 1. And again click on Convert to Editable

Poly. We are going to now apply Unwrap Map, select the “Unwrap Map” entry from the “Modifier

List”. Find the Parameter” rollout menu and then click on “Edit”. You now must see the UVW

Mapping. Select the both part and scale from Edit UVW’s window for to fit on the little square

area.

Step 7: And from tools menu select Relax Tool and click Start Relax.

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Step 8: Finally here is our model. I have added a checker map for to see how it is looking.

Importing Photoshop Image To 3D MAX

Editing UVWs

Open the UVW Texture Editor by going to Modify list > Unwarp UVW . This window will display all of the UVWs of a selected polygonal object. The main function of this window and the tools therein is to edit UVW points. UVW points do not affect the geometry’s makeup (position) but rather how the material maps wrap around the surface.

Default UVW Layout

By default, when you create a polygonal object, the UVWs go over the entire place. In other words, the UVWs are a mess. This image illustrates what the UVW layout looks like when a model gets finished. As you model, just throws the UVW points all over the UVW Grid. By the end, all the UVW points will need to be placed within the upper right corner of UVW Grid.

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Mapping Strategies

One quick way to get all the UVWs back inside the upper right UVW Grid, is to use the Automatic Mapping function found under Edit Polygons > Texture > Automatic Mapping. Using this function will break the UVWs down into ‘chunks’. Figure 4 illustrates these chunks with the default settings for Automatic Mapping.

Use other projection tools to map out areas that you wish to use in high detail areas. For our fish friend here, I want to have detail areas of the body, fins, and mouth region. Start picking the larger areas first by selecting the polygonal faces of the body.

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Overlapping UVWs

This image shows that I only selected one side of the body (in this case the fish’s left side). If I had chosen to select both sides and created the projection as I just mentioned, I would have overlapping UVWs. Sometimes, you will want to overlap UVWs to save UVW layout space, texture memory and file size. Other times (more often than not), you should keep your UVWs sets separate from one another.

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Moving UVWs

Create as many UVW projections as you see fit to get the areas of detail you need. One Automatic Projection won’t be enough and a bazillion projects will be too much (unless of course you have a bazillion faces).

Immediately after creating a projection with a selected set of faces, in the UVW Texture you will notice that the selected faces will have a Manipulator-like tool selecting them. You can move, rotate and scale according. At this point, it is strongly recommended that you move your selection to an unused area of this the window. This will prevent overlapping UVWs. Think of the window as a staging area where you can dump all your UVW sets like puzzle pieces on a tabletop. These pieces will sit there until you move them into their final resting place.

To edit UVWs, right-click hold and select UVW(s). Select the Move, Rotate or Scale tool to manipulate the UVW’s positions within the grid. No other tool will work in this window to move UVWs.

Be careful as you create new projections and move old selections around not to unintentionally stretch or pull UVW sets. Stretching UVWs from their original projections will cause the texture map(s) assigned to this surface to stretch and/or pull which will lead to bad looking textures.

What to Project?

When laying out your UVWs of your character, you want to lay out sets of UVWs that you will use to give areas of high detail first. Example: Face, torso, hands, areas of accurate details. This image illustrates all the areas I wanted to have particular UVW sets for so that I can create a fairly detailed map for my character. All the pieces that still ‘remain’ in the UVW Grid are areas of no detail meaning that they will just receive basic color.

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Back to Square One

Once you have laid out all your projections, you need to put all these projections back into the upper right UVW Grid before we can export these UVWs out to a texture file to be edited in Photoshop. This is where you must make the final decision on what gets the most detail level and what gets secondary detail levels and so on. Chances are, you will have to scale each

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UVW set so that you fit all the UVWs back into the upper right UVW Grid. Pick the highest detail UVW sets first and move them into the upper right UVW Grid and uniformly scale them to fit inside. In the case of my fish, I scale the body down to near 50%, the lower fins to 25%, inner mouth cavity about 15%, face about 30%, and the other fins about 32%. The no detail or low detail areas I scale down the most and tucked them away in a small opening. Figure 10 shows where I laid everything out and how I prepared the UVWs for export.

Exporting UVW Maps

There comes a time in life when a polygonal character model wants to expand his horizons. Soil his oats. Get dirty and use external texture maps that have customized just for him.

1. Select the polygonal surface.

2. In the UVW Texture Editor window, go to Tools >render UVW template> render UVW template.

3. Under File Name, hit the button and choose a save location and a name for the image. You may want to add a suffix such as UVW_map to the image name to avoid any confusion later on.

4. Select an image size in the Size X and Size Y areas. The larger the size, the more detail your maps can contain. Also keep in mind that larger maps will require a bit more time for rendering. I usually work with 512 x 512 unless I plan on the object having an extreme close-up in which case I will use 1024 x 1024 resolution.

5. Leave Color Value to white.

6. In Image Format, select a format that will be compatible with your raster image editor (Photoshop). I would recommend JPEG format because it uses an alpha channel and can be read by almost any raster image editor software. or basic jpg format

7. Hit OK to save the UVW map image.

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Painting UVWs in Photoshop

Once you have the UVW map in Photoshop, create and paint on layers that do not contain the original UVW layout! If anything, lock this layer so that you don’t accidentally paint on it. You should also name this layer UVWs or UVW map or something to remind you that this layer should not be touched.

Use many layers to generate the images you wish to use to texture the surface of your character. Figure 12 shows what I did the UVW map and the layers I used to create textures for the fish geometry. You may have noticed that the UVW layer is on top of everything in this figure. I like to keep the UVW layer on top so I can see were my edges end and keep my textures under better control.

Keep track of what UVWs are continuous edges, connecting edges (if you wish to create a seamless detail) and color safe choices.

You can use what every tools and techniques you like to generate your maps but try to avoid anything that is unnecessarily random or has sloppy control over placement of pixels.

You can use the areas outside the UVWs as notation areas for yourself or other people who might be working on this project. Figure 13 tells me what UVW sets are what.

When you are ready to take this texture map back to 3D Max, turn off the UVW layer before exporting as a JPEG file. Otherwise, you will see the UVW layout on top of your beautifully drawn textures. Save As with 24-bit resolution (32-bit will add an alpha channel that we don’t want to use).

You may notice that a few edges are not as perfectly seamed as you thought or some areas of detail don’t meet up with how you thought they would sit down on the surface. If this is the case, simply edit the texture map in Photoshop, perform another Save As and update the file linked to the shadier that is attached to our fishy friend.

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Bringing the Texture Map Back to 3d max

Now open the material and click diffuse button GOTO bitmap and browse the image UVW and apply to material

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Creating Character

Applying textures

Finalizing Character model and Texture.

Modeling Characters

'Low-Poly Character Modeling and Texturing'

The first thing you should ever do before even opening your 3D app is to get your ref ready. A

well-drawn and proportionally accurate drawing is also a good option. If you are not confident in

your drawing ability, either get someone else to draw your ref, download a drawing, or just use

photographs.

This is the guy I'm using. It's actually a compilation of two different guys, in order to get the

clothing.

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A Couple Tips for your Reference Images: - Make sure your reference images are the exact

same size and that the images line up with each other.

Best reference images are squares, so even if you don't need all that extra space, still

include it.

Make sure that everything is in the exact center of the image file. Especially the front or

back images.

Mirror your image to make sure it'll look right when modeled with symmetry.

Make sure that the background color of your reference image is not white or very light gray.

As you can see in 3dsmax, the wire frame usually shows up as white, and if your

background is white too, it makes it very difficult to work!

Setting up the Viewports:

1. Open 3dsmax

2. Your screen should have a 4-viewport split (top, front, left, and perspective). Click in Front.

3. Go to Views > Viewport Background (or press Alt+B)

4. Click the "Files..." button and find your front reference image.

5. In the Aspect Ration area (bottom left) choose Match Bitmap.

6. To the right, Check "Lock Zoom/Pan

7. Click OK and Repeat for the Left Viewport. The Window Should Look like this -

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Before we really get started, I want to explain a few things in hopes that you won't get lost later. To

the left of the screen is a set of tabs. Each of these lets you access a different set of important

tools and features in 3d studio max.

The First one is Create

In Create you can make a bunch of primitive objects. Box, Sphere, Cone, etc. There is a drop-down

menu at the top (Says Standard Primitives by default). If you change this, there are other types of

things that you can create. In the newer versions of max, you can even create stairs, and trees, and

other automatic objects here. But all we care about right now is the Box. But we'll get to that in a

minute...

The Second Tab is Modify

You will spend most of your time in this tab. It is where you can actually MODEL.

The Third Tab is Hierarchy

This tab will be important when we use the symmetry modifier to mirror the model. The location of the

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model's pivot is very important to making things like symmetry and mirror work. You can click the

Affect Pivot Only button, and move an objects pivot to Zero and then symmetry will work.

The Forth Tab is Motion

If you rig your character using Biped, all of the biped options will display here. There are a lot of things

you can do in here, but only when doing specific tools or doing specific things that involve animation

and controllers.

The Fifth Tab is Display

You can hide objects, freeze them (makes it so you can't select them, but they're still visible), and

change the display properties of an object here.

The Sixth Tab is Utilities

Some utilities are more useful then others. One thing of use you can find here is the poly counter. If

you click on the More button a list will appear and Polygon Counter should be in the list. This will let

you check what your character's poly count is.

Lets start:

1. Go to the Create Tab and click on Box.

2. In the Front viewport draw a box around the shoe. Set the Length, Width, and Height Segs to 1.

3. Go to the Modify Tab

4. Right-Click on the word Box and convert to Editable Poly.

Now you have a whole bunch of new stuff, where before you just had the parameters of the box.

By default you won't see this list - you have to click on the little + sign before the words Editable

Poly. Do that now.

For the total newbs reading this, the Vertices (vertex) are the dots, Edge is pretty self-explanatory,

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Border will select all the edges on an external border that you click on, Polygon are the faces of

the model - the squares/triangles that make up the surface (you should avoid n-gons in your

geometry at all costs. An n-gon is a polygon with more then 4 sides.) And element will select the

entire object.

You can also change selection type by clicking on the icons just below the word "Selection".

Useful Tip most people don't

know!

If you have a selection of one type, you can convert that selection to another type by holding down

the Ctrl Key and clicking on one of the other type's icons under Selection. Example: You have a

group of Polys selected, hold down Ctrl and click on the Vertex icon and your selection is

converted to all of the verts that made up the polys you had selected.

The options and tools available in the edit poly modifier will differ depending on what you have

selected. These are the most important tools that you will use over and over and over again while

modeling.

The image on the left shows what tools are available if you are in the Edges selection, and the

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image on the right shows the tools for Vertices. You will find that you often use Remove, Bride,

Connect, Chamfer, Target Weld, and Weld.

Some of the tools have a box icon next to them. With these, if you click the box instead of the main

button, you will get a window that opens with several options to choose from. You will click the box

most often. Clicking the button will use the tool with either the default settings, or whatever settings

you entered into the box last.

Go to vertex select mode, and grab the verts of the back of the box in the left viewport and pull

them back to the heel.

Go to edge select mode and select the vertical edges (the front and back of the foot) and click the

box next to the Connect tool. The window pops up - we only need one segment right now, so the

defaults are fine.

In the Top View select the edges along the heel and toe and repeat. Now you've made a division down

the center of the side and top of the foot. From the top now select the sides of the foot and click the

button next to connect, this time we want 2 segments.

Go back to vertex mode now and start moving things around in the different viewports so it matches

the shape of the foot. Switch between the side and top viewports to get the shape better. For the part

of the foot where it starts coming up in the front, I select the edges along the top of the foot, but not the

bottom and hit connect (only 1 segment) then connected the edge verts to one of the near verts to

avoid n-gons.

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Go to the Perspective Viewport now and take a look at the foot. Obviously it's not going to be quite

right, but it's closer. Start bringing in areas like the top of the shoe, around the heel, etc.

The temptation will be to start adding more geometry so you can match the shape better, but TRY

NOT TO. You will add detail with the texture. Think of this as a big lump of clay and you're just

aiming to get the general mass and shape of the object. Try to achieve the best shape you can

with as little geometry as possible. There's no point wasting a bunch of verts on the feet when

you've got a tight budget.

But Some new geometry is sometimes necessary... I decided that I wanted to define the heel of

the shoe, so I selected the edges circled above and clicked connect with the box. Change

segments to 2 and adjust the values of Slide and Pinch so that it's closer to the actual heel. Then

select one row of verts and pull them up.

Make sure to connect the new verts to other verts to avoid n-gons. Tris (3-sided polys) are okay,

Quads (4-sided polys) are okay, but not 5 or more.

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Check all the various angles frequently to judge if you're getting the volume and shape right.

Smoothing

Groups:

3D Studio Max uses smoothing groups to make low-poly geometry look smooth. In Real-time it's

called "Normal Smoothing". Most all 3D apps have the feature, but each call it something different.

(In Maya it's just Hard or Soft Edges for example)

To control the smoothing groups you have to be in Polygon select mode. Select a group of polys

(or your entire mesh if you want) and scroll down in the Polygon modifying area until you see the

Polygon Properties rollout.

The smoothing groups area looks like a grid of numbers. Each number is a group that will be

smoothed together. If you select a group of polys and you see several numbers grayed out that

means that these polys do not all share the same groups.

For the foot, first select all of the polys and click the Clear All button. The model will now look

completely faceted.

Now select just the heel, and the ball of the shoe (but not the indent) and click the 1 button.

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Now select just the indent and click the 2 button.

Now select the rest of the shoe and click the 3 button.

You've now assigned smoothing groups.The shoes are one of the few areas will I will separate out

areas for groups. For most of the model, I will have the entire mesh all be assigned to a single

smoothing group.

Once you're satisfied with the shape of the shoe, select the polys that make up the top border and

delete them. Then go to Border select mode and click on the open edge.

Now go to the Left viewport, HOLD DOWN SHIFT and MOVE the edges up. Instead of moving

them, it has created new polys!

Do this a few more times, going up the leg to around the knee. Remember, the fewer edges you

need to get the correct shape, the better. We're just working the left viewport right now, we will

move to the front viewport in a moment but first, lets add in a few small details.

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A lot of people feel like they need to add in an entire row of edges for every little detail, but that's a

waste. We want a little bit of geometry for the major wrinkles near the bottom of the pant leg, but

don't need an entire row of edges for it. Select the front edges and click connect and adjust the

slide so that the new edges are lower. Connect the edge verts to an existing vert to avoid n-gons.

Move the new verts outward to closer fit the contour of the leg.

Go ahead and do this around the knee area as well. Once you've got the side going up just past

the knee and are happy with the basic shape, switch to the front view.

Yikes! Okay... so it looks funky, That's okay! Just start moving things around so they line up a little

better from the front viewport. Remember things won't be perfect, but get it close.

Another useful and essential tool for poly modeling is the Cut Tool. To get to it, you need to scroll

further down in the editable poly modifier tools then the standard edit vert / edit edge area. It's

under the Edit Geometry Rollout.

Cut will let you cut new edges directly on the surface of your model. It's usually most useful in the

perspective viewport.

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Something to watch for though! It's common to think you've clicked on an already existing vert and

cut a new edge, but max thinks that you clicked just off the vert and has created a new vert. So

even though you can't really see it, you now have two verts sitting right next to each other. When

this happens just select the verts and Weld with a high threshold so that the two verts are welded

together.

I cut this edge along the bottom of the pants cuff and then pulled the edges out to give the bottom

of the pants more volume. You should also use cut in other areas around the pants to define other

wrinkles and deformations in the shape of the cloth. Remember though! Don't go overboard. Just

very basic volume defining changes.

Once you're satisfied with the shape of the legs so far, return to Border selection mode and select

the top of the legs. Once again, Hold Down Shift and move upwards a few times for the upper

legs.

The plan for the shirt and pants are to be separate meshes. The jacket is very baggy and extends

over the pants a lot, so the two objects will not connect directly. Because of this, I need some of

the pant geometry to continue up under the jacket. This is especially important for when the

character is rigged and animated. It's important that a big empty gap shouldn't appear under the

jacket.

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Shape the edges in the front viewport to match the legs better. It is ideal to have a V-shape

coming from the groin area. It will deform a lot better if you do this.

For the Groin area, I selected the inner edges, held down Shift and moved them to the side to

extrude new faces. Then I selected the bottom verts (circled in image) and clicked the REMOVE

button. The remaining verts need to be moved to the exact center. Select a single vert and at the

bottom of the max window under the animation timeline are three areas where you can enter

numbers. Change the X axis location of the vert to 0. This will move the vert to the center. Do this

for all of the verts you have here in the center of the groin.

Switch to the Perspective viewport and start tweaking and fixing all of the shape problems that are

bound to be there. If any side looks really flat, just bring in the edges more to round it out some.

You also need to attend to the butt. This area will require some cutting and a lot of small

adjustments to get it to look okay. In this model isn't not a huge deal if it looks perfect since it will

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be mostly covered by the jacket, but it's still a good idea to get the geometry fairly clean on it .

Chances are that the leg is very faceted at this point, so lets do the smoothing groups thing again

to smooth out our leg. Go to Polygon select mode and select the whole pant leg and set it to

smoothing group 4. Rotate around the leg and clean up any problems you can see with the mesh.

Now it's time for Symmetry. Go to the Hierarchy tab. Closer to the bottom are these two buttons.

Click them both.

Now at the top there is a button that says Affect Pivot Only. Click that button. The move cursor will

change a little to show that now you are controlling the pivot. In the X Axis entry at the bottom of

the screen, set it to 0. Now the model's Pivot is in the exact center.

Return to the Modify tab and click on the drop-down menu that says "Modifier List".

Scroll way down towards the bottom and find the modifier called Symmetry. If you're model

suddenly disappears check "Flip". If it's doing symmetry from the wrong directly, toggle through the

Mirror Axis until you get the right one.

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Now is a good time to go and fix any screaming errors that only now make themselves apparent.

You can go back to the Editable Poly and continue working on the model with the symmetry

modifier on the top of the stack. But when you go back to editable poly, suddenly you won't have

the symmetry anymore! But we can fix that! There is a set of icons directly under Editable Poly, but

above the parameters. The 2nd button is "show end result". If you click this button, it will show the

symmetry, even when working in the Editable Poly area.

Starting the jacket:

Since the Jacket is going to be a separate object, I'm not just going to extrude it from the pants like

I did the pants from the shoes. But I don't want to start from a box either. So I selected the edges

along the top of the pants and held down SHIFT and pulled up to create a new row of polys. I went

into Polygon edit mode, selected the new row and clicked the DETACH button.

At this point you will still have the legs selected. Deselect the legs and select the new detached

object you just created. Go into vertex mode and start moving the vets so that it matches the

reference. Also check the side view to adjust for that as well.

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Select the edges along the top and use the Shift+Move technique to create new sets of faces.

Make sure the center verts stay at x:0 so that the shirt won't end up with holes in it when you apply

symmetry to it.

When you go into perspective view you'll probably see some problems - certain parts may not

have enough edges and others may have too many. To remove a row of edges first select the

edges and click the remove button, but THEN you need to go to vert select mode and remove the

left over verts that used to make up the edges. Just select any isolated verts and click the remove

button.

To add in new rows of edges, just select the edges you want to make a new edge between and

click the connect button.

Instead of just continuing upwards, at this point I decided to get the neck setup so that I could build

between the two.

I went into polygon select mode, selected the top row of polys and held down SHIFT and moved

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them up towards the neck.

Instead of extruding new polys, like what happens when you hold shift on edges, this simply

makes an exact copy of the polys you had selected.

I adjusted the verts so they lined up in the front and side viewports and then went into perspective

view and cleaned up their locations. In addition to basic clean-up, I also removed a few edges

(remember when you remove an edge, you also need to go in and remove the verts too). The

amount of edges that were present lower in the torso weren't necessary for the collar.

At this point I did two things to help me continue working. I applied symmetry so I could judge the

total mass better, and I applied smoothing groups so that it wouldn't be faceted anymore. Just do it

the exact same way we did above (For smoothing, just select all of the polys and pick a smoothing

group number; for symmetry click on the Modifier List drop-down and scroll towards the bottom

where it says Symmetry).

Now to fill the gap between the bottom of the shirt and the collar. Select the bottom portion of the

shirt's top row of edges and hold shift and pull them up. Adjust the verts in the front and side views

so that they come to the bottom of the armpit.

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Next select just the front and back edges, and skip the edges that make up the bottom of the arm

hole. Hold shift and pull just those edges up. Do it again another one or two times as needed,

checking both front and side views to line up with the reference, and then the perspective view to

more accurately shape it as needed.

Doing the shoulders and connecting to the collar can be tricky. Instead of bring up an entire row of

edges, I selected JUST the edge circled below. Same as always, just hold down SHIFT and drag

the edge to create new faces. Then in vertex mode, I clicked the Target Weld button and dragged

the verts along the top of those edges to the base of the collar.

For the two edges shown selected in the image, I used Bridge. When you have two edges

selected and you click Bridge it will create a new poly between the two edges.

Use Bridge on the remaining edges on the front of the shirt and in the back where you can to fill

the gaps. Weld any verts together that you need to, and cut in any new edges where needed to

make it work

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For this part, I find it's best to just work in the perspective viewport so you have a better feeling for

what you need to fix and adjust.

For the Back, the number of edges didn't match perfectly so I had to do some cutting to make it all

fit correctly.

Now is a good time to look your model over and see if there are any areas that you can optimize.

Any place where you've got several edges close together where you could probably do just as

good with fewer. Just remember that any edges you remove, you also have to remove any isolated

vertices by selecting them afterwards and clicking the remove button.

If you need to, select all the polys and set them all to the same smoothing group again. Using

Bridge tends to add extra smoothing group info that you can get rid of by clicking Clear All and

then assigning a smoothing group to everything again

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Onto the sleeves:

In Border select mode, click on the edge opening for the arm, and then switch to the front view and hold

down SHIFT and pull outwards to start the sleeve.

I moved the edges down a bit and rotated them to an angle. Then I selected just the top sleeve

edges and connected just them. In vert select mode, I selected the new edge vert and connected it

to existing verts (make sure to switch to perspective and check the back to make sure to connect it

properly there).

Then in Vertex select mode I moved the vertices around so that they fit the shape of the arm

better. Once I had the shoulder started, I selected the border of the sleeve and while holding down

SHIFT I pulled it further down.

Continue working your way down, and use scale on the selected edges when you need to make

them smaller because this will make them smaller from other angles as well and reduce the

amount of fixing you'll need to do from the top/side views. It's hard to get a good second angle on

the arm so you'll have to do a lot of tweaking in perspective.

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Another important thing to take into account is how the arm will deform when rigged and animated.

With this baggy simple sleeve, a lot of geometry really isn't needed, but if you have too little

geometry in the joints, they will deform poorly. I decided that I needed one more loop at the elbow,

so i selected the edges just below the elbow and clicked connect and adjusted the Slide so that

the new edge was created near the elbow.

Time for some optimizing:

When you're tight for polys, any extra or not-totally-necessary edges are important to remove. The

arm has a lot of edges going around it - more then it needs, so I went back in and started welding

together any areas that could afford it.

Do a general all-over pass for anything you can optimize or tweak at this point, and set the

smoothing groups on the sleeve.

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A few things to point out - There are no holes in this head for the mouth or eyes. It depends a lot

on the game, and what the goals are, but a lot of very low-poly characters for games just have the

eyes textured straight on the geometry with the rest of the face. Not actual geometry eyes. Having

them painted directly in the texture tends to look better with really low-poly characters anyways,

plus it uses a LOT less geometry.

If this character was going to need to talk during cut-scenes, I'd set it up with a mouth that could

open and some very simple geometry for the interior of the mouth, but I'm not going to bother with

that here

One other thing to point out is that I selected the collar of the jacket and pulled in some faces so

that it's not just a floating flat poly edge anymore.

So on to the hands:

Most all of the hands detail is going to be in the texture. I'm going to leave the ring and pinky

fingers connected to save polys, and have the hand in a loose slightly-curled position. This is

using the assumption that the hand will not be animated. In this position the character can look like

it's hand is just relaxed, but it can also look like the character is holding something.

Off to the side of the character, go to the top viewport and make a box. The box should be short in

depth, and nearly square from the top view

Select the two edges of one of the sides and connect with TWO SEGMENTS. Go to vertex mode

and move the newly created edges so that the first two parts are about the same size, and the last

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one is larger.

Select the three faces that now exist on this side and click the Bevel button and in Bevel Type,

choose By Polygon so that it's extruding three separate segments instead of one large one.

Go into vertex edit mode and adjust the size and shapes of the digits so that they more closely

resemble the appropriate lengths for fingers.

Select the edges of all the fingers and connect so that you now have a new edge in the center of

each finger.

Switch to perspective view and along the top of each finger Cut it so that there are two edges

along the top, and it connects to the single edge like a V like in the image below. Do this for each

finger.

Do this again to create the 2nd set of joints on the fingers, then go to the perspective viewport and

select all the verts in the lower half of the finger, and ONE pair of verts from the top joint, and

rotate the finger downloads (you'll have to move the verts so they line up correctly after you use

rotate).

Do it so it looks like the image below

Repeat this on the 2nd knuckle, and do it for the other fingers

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Next select the edges on the side of the hand that would have the thumb and connect them and

pull that edge outwards. Select the face where the thumb would extrude from and do a bevel from

it. Connect the edges in it to create the joint.

Use Cut to cut in more detail along the top and bottom of the hand itself. Remember N-Gons are

no-nos, so any but funky polys that we created need to be cut up into quads and tris.

Once you're satisfied with the hand, move, rotate, and scale it so that it fits with the rest of the

body. Go to the Hierarchy Tab and click the Reset Transform and Scale buttons, then the Affect

Pivot Only button and in the axis number entry at the bottom center of the screen, set X to 0.

Now you can apply Symmetry to the hand and it'll appear on both sides of the body.

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Output :

Now To Unwrap It :

Most people learn to unwrap all/most of the character on to one huge unwrap sheet. It's how I learned it, and until I actually started working in a real game studio, it was the way I always did it. One big texture sheet is not a very good idea for us though. There are a few reasons. First of all, the largest texture size that we were ever allowed to use when working on PS2 was 256x256. The largest texture size we've ever been able to use on PSP is only 128x128. Now when you're texture can only be 128x128 in size, squeezing the entire character into that space will result in very blurry low-res textures. So instead, we segment the character up into pieces and each piece gets it's own unwrap and it's own texture. The Shoes get a 64x64 map. The legs get a 128x128. The torso gets a 128x128, the arms get a 128x128, the hands get a 64x64 and the head gets a 128x128. Some would argue that it costs more power for the engine to read multiple textures, but that difference is nominal, and when the visual result is significantly better, it's worth it. Another reason a studio might have for having each piece have separate textures is if they were using a swappable part system, or customizable characters. Then having each piece with its own texture is the best idea anyways.

So, with this in mind, I split the character up into a few pieces.

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I selected the polys of the feet and it the Detach button. You can name them (I named them "Shoes") or you can leave it alone, it's up to you. I did the same thing with the sleeves, and named them "Arms".

Once all the pieces are separated, I got the unwrapping texture ready. I use a simple checkerboard texture. Some people get more elaborate, having multi-colored squares with numbers or letters in them (it makes it easier to see if something needs to be flipped horizontal if you have numbers, etc. in the squares) but in this case, I don't feel anything too special is necessary.

Open the Material Editor by pressing the M key. Choose any blank material sphere and click the little Square button next to Diffuse. A list will appear and from it, choose "Bitmap" and then it will open the standard windows file finder and you can pick your texture here. Above I have the checkerboard I use, you can save it and use it.

Once you have the material setup, click the button in the material editor (in row of buttons along top, just under all the spheres) so that the texture will show in the view port. Then Select all of the parts of the character and click the assign button(image 2 below)to assign the material to those objects.

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The result will look something like the image above. The objects don't currently have any UV unwrapping done to them, so everything is a mess. This makes the texture appear all stretched and distorted on the object.

Let’s start with the foot again. Select the foot. If you still had the symmetry modifier on the legs and had not collapsed it yet, then you should only have one foot that isn't symmetry here. That's good - we can throw symmetry on this later after we've unwrapped it.

If you do have both feet, and no symmetry, go to element select mode, select one of the feet and delete it.

Okay, now, make sure that you click on the word Editable poly and make sure none of the sub-selection types is selected (make sure you aren't in vertex, element, etc. mode)

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Click on the Modifier List drop-down and scroll towards the bottom and find the modifier called "Unwrap UVW".

It should look like the image below, with a + sign in front of the word Unwrap UVW. Click on the plus sign to expand it and see the sub selection options.

IF YOU DON'T HAVE A PLUS SIGN that means that when you applied the modifier, you were in one of the sub-selection types for edit poly (you were in vertex select mode, or one of the others). Just delete the unwrap modifier and do it over, making sure you aren't in any of the sub-selection modes.

Once you have the Unwrap modifier on, Scroll down enough until you see the big Edit button. Click this button and it will open a window that shows you what your unwrapped UVs look like. Right now it probably looks like a mess, but don't worry. If you have dual-monitors, it's best if you can put this window on the other screen. If you don't, size it to a shape that you can work with it, but still work in the main max window. If you have to, minimize the edit window and then open it back up when you are ready to use it.

If you scroll further down in the unwrap modifier you'll see a section of Map Parameters. We will be using Planer and Cylindrical fur this character.

Make sure you are in Face select mode under Unwrap UVW and select the polys of the bottom of the shoe. You can toggle between solid red and slightly opaque red by pressing the F2 button. This will allow you to more easily see what polys you have selected (solid red) or make it so you can see the checker texture that's applied to the polys (opaque red).

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Once you have the polys selected, click the planar button.

A yellow square will appear around the selected polys. It may be on the wrong axis though, so click the Align X, Y, or Z buttons until you get the planar on the correct axis.

While the Planar button is still active (yellow) you can manipulate the yellow projection square's size, angle, and location with the normal move, rotate and scale tools. Scale the box until it looks like it's a perfect square (don't worry about being a perfect square, but you do want it square). If you got to the opaque red (F2) so you can see the checker texture, you'll see why it's important to get the projection gizmo to be a square. If the gizmo isn't square, neither is the texture. When done adjusting the gizmo, just click the Planar button to deactivate it, and then you can select more faces.

Next I selected the polys that make up the heel and applied a cylindrical map (click the Cylindrical button). Change the Axis that it's aligned to until you find the right now. Now move and scale the gizmo (just use the regular move and scale tools) so it's on the heel correctly. Toggle F2 to see the checkerboard texture, and scale the cylindrical map gizmo until the checkers are squares. When done, click the cylindrical button again to deactivate it.

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Next I selected the rest of the shoe and did a planar map down the center of the foot. Again, toggle between F2 so you can see the texture and scale the gizmo so that the checker texture looks square, and the squares are approximately the same size as the squares on the rest of the shoe.

And finally, I selected the top of the shoe and did another planar map on it. Rotate the plane so that it's going at about the same general angle as the top of the foot.

Now that we've done all of the projections we can go into the Edit window and start moving the UVs around themselves.

Along the bottom of the Edit UVWs window should be a bar that looks like the one below. I've circled the things that you'll frequently use from this window.

When you first go to edit the UVs after having made several projections, most everything will

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probably be overlapping. If you check the "Select Element" option, and select just a single vert of an unwrapped part, it will select the entire part automatically. This makes it easy to then move that piece away from the mess in the middle, so you can separate everything and start working on it.

When you're ready to edit the individual UVs (vertices) make sure to uncheck this option.

The Rot. +90 and Rot. -90 options are often useful for rotating and entire object a set 90 degrees in one direction or another, so they're useful too.

There is also a set of buttons along the top of the edit window. Move, Rotate, Scale are pretty self-explanatory. The 3rd button (highlighted in the image below) is Freeform Mode and basically allows you to move, rotate, and scale, all in one, depending on where you click on the gizmo that appears. It is a very useful tool. It also gives you more control when scaling something.

Next to the Freeform tool is Mirror. The default will flip your selection horizontally. If you hold down on the button you can choose to flip vertically instead. And further to the right in the windows is a box icon with checkers on it. Right now your edit window probably has the checkerboard texture in the background and it's making it difficult to see the UVs. If you click this button, it will turn off the texture preview in this window.

If you're still in Face select mode under the Unwrap VW modifier, switch to Vertices now. I started out by selecting each part by element and separating them in the window space so I could sort them out. Then I turned off select by element.

I moved, rotated, and scaled (I used the freeform tool) the cylindrically unwrapped heel so that it lined up with the side unwrap of the main shoe. I used Target Weld (Ctrl + T or Tools > Target Weld) to connect the edges together.

I also freeform moved the top of the shoe so that it lined up with the side of the shoe.

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Since I have no need for the heel to be totally unwrapped like that, I'm going to select half it (the part circled in red) and detach it from the rest of the heel (Ctrl+D or Tools > Detach Edge Verts) and then Flip it horizontally and move it over top of the other half of the heel.

Using Target Weld (Ctrl+T) I attach all verts together that are close and should share UV space. This helps me line up seams in the texture later, as well as keeping my UVs clean.

Once I've got all the pieces cleaned up and welded together the way I want, I move, rotate and scale all of the pieces into the bold square. This is the space that will make up the actual unwrap, so everything needs to be inside this square.

Now all that's left is to render out the UV Template to an image so that you can open it in Photoshop. To do that, go to: Tools > Render UVW Template

A Render UV's window will pop up. Change the Width and Height to whatever size you want (The textures should be twice that of the res you intend to use in the end. Since I plan for my final texture for the shoes to be 128x128, I made it render the UVs at 256x256.

I also changed the color for the Seam Edges to white (it defaults to neon green).

Click the Render UV Template button and the Render Map window will pop up. Click the little Save icon (looks like a floppy disc) and choose where you want to save it, name it, and pick a file format. We always use TGA files since you can save an alpha channel in them, so that's what I'm using

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here (32 bit means it's saving an alpha channel).

Once you've done this, you are finished unwrapping the foot so you can close the edit window. Click on Unwrap UVW so you're on the top of the stack and from the Modifier List scroll towards the bottom and find Symmetry. Choose the correct axis to mirror from and once the shoes are mirrored properly right-click on the modifier Symmetry in the modifier stack and choose Collapse All from the drop-down.

Next let’s select the Leg. With Editable Poly selected (but none of it's sub-selection types, and not the symmetry modifier on top) add a Unwrap UVW Modifier to it, but UNDER the symmetry modifier.

Click the + button next to Unwrap UVW and select Face selection mode. Select the entire leg and click the cylindrical button.

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While the Cylindrical button is still active, move, rotate, and scale the projection gizmo so that it matches the leg better. Make sure it's tilted well from both front and side angles.

Also make sure to check whether or not the checker texture looks square. With a leg you will always get a little distortion variation but try to get it so at least most of it looks fairly square.

Now Click the Edit button to open the Edit UVs window and switch to Vertices select mode under the Unwrap UVW Modifier.

Chances are you've got some tags sticking out on one side or the other of the unwrap. The goal is to have the seam going down the inner side of the leg, and have no little bits sticking out. Select any tags and detach them (Ctrl+D) and move them to the other side and weld them in (Ctrl+W).

Also, if the place where the seam is from the start, is somewhere other then the inner leg edge, select the row of faces and move it to the other side so that the seam is moved. When you're done it should look something like the image below.

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Again, Render a UV Template and save the file. Close the edit window, and right-click on the Symmetry modifier and choose Collapse All.

Next is the torso:

For the torso, we'll do it a little different. Instead of unwrapping and then adding symmetry on top, we'll unwrap the whole torso already mirrored. So you can right-click on the symmetry modifier and collapse all right now. It's a lot easier to hide symmetrical textures on the legs or shoes then it is to hide them on the front of a shirt. Perfectly symmetrical cloth wrinkles on a shirt front often look bad, so we're only going to mirror portions of the texture.

Start out by putting an Unwrap UVW modifier on the torso, expand the + sign so you can select Face, select the entire model and click the Cylindrical button. Move and Scale the gizmo so that it fits the torso as best as possible.

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Next change to Vertices select mode, and click the Edit button.

My plan is to mirror the sides and the back, but leave the front as it is. First I selected half the back, detached it (Ctrl+D) and then Flipped it horizontally and moved it over top of the other half of the back.

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Next I selected the half of the side on the right that I wanted to share UVs with the other half. I Detached them (Ctrl+D) Flipped them horizontally, and moved them over to the portion of the other side that matched them.

There was one more thing I needed to tweak on it before I could consider it done. The faces that make up the shoulder are very small in the UV unwrap because they're at an angle from where the projection was coming from, so they're very stretched in comparison to the rest. So I selected the verts of the collar and pulled them upwards to increase the length of the UVs for the shoulders.

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Once I'm satisfied with the unwrap I fit it into the square, render a UV image, save it, close the edit window, and right-click on the Unwrap UVW modifier and choose Collapse All.

And now we move onto the Arm :

So select the arm. It should be by itself since we detached it from the torso. You can wait until you're done with the unwrapping to put a symmetry modifier on it. For now put the Unwrap UVW modifier on it from the Modifier List, expand the + and click Face selection mode and select the entire arm.

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Click the Cylindrical button. None of the automatic axis will actually line up with the arm's angle. Instead rotate and move the gizmo until it's about the correct angle and then click the Fit button and it'll hug the arm better. Check from multiple angles to see if you're getting the best angle on the arm.

Also remember to scale (make sure it's set to scale on Local Axis) so the checkers are closer to square.

When you've got the gizmo to the best size and shape you can, click the cylindrical button again to deactivate it and click the edit button to open the UV Edit window.

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Just like with the pants, the edge that's in the center of the inner side is the one that we want the seam to fall on. Go to vertices selection and select any faces that are on the wrong side of the seam that should be on the other side, Detach (Ctrl+D) and Move them to the other side.

Clean up any stretching or squished areas, and when you're done, freeform transform it into the square, render the UV texture out, save it, close the edit window, and collapse the stack.

Onto the hands!

The hand will be much harder to unwrap then the previous objects we've done up to this point. It has a lot more little tweaking. Just use all of the knowledge that you've gained up to this point on the previous parts and do your best. And remember, it never hurts to just start over on the unwrapping. You learn from every mistake you make.

Here's basically what I did...

First I selected the body of the hand (both top and palm) and did a cylindrical map. Rotated, moved, and scaled the gizmo till it fit around the hand like in the image below.

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Next I selected all the fingers and did a planar map on them all at once.

I Clicked the Edit button to open the edit window. In the main view port I selected the top of the hand and all the fingers like in the image below. The in the Edit UVs window, I Detached (Ctrl+d) the selected faces from the rest of the hand, flipped them horizontally, and moved them off to the side.

In vertices select mode, I moved and target welded the palm and top of hand so that they were connected along one side (the side opposite the thumb).

Then I did the same with the fingers, scaled the fingers down so they matched up with the palm of the hand and lined them up next to each other.

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I moved, and target welded the vertices until I had the whole body of the hand and the fingers combined together in one unit.

For the thumb, I did two planar unwraps. It seems like a cylindrical map would work, but the thumb is just such an odd shape and curves in an odd fashion that it makes the cylindrical map more of a headache to deal with then just combining two planars.

Don't worry if edges don't line up very well, and don't be afraid to move things around a lot. They'll still look okay in the final texture as long as you keep the general size and shape so the faces close to their original unwrap.

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Once I had both the hand and thumb unwrapped, I combined them together to reduce the number of seams. It's best if you can get the top of the thumb/hand combined together and leave the seam in the palm since it won't be as visible there.

Once I was finished, I used the freeform tool to scale the hand to fill the entire box. The hand is really stretched by doing this, but my intention is to have the hand be a rectangle rather then a square texture.

To do this, in the Render UVs window, I enter the dimensions 256x128, and when I click the Render UV Texture button, the map it generates is rectangular instead of the stretched square.

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Hands are done! All that's left is the head:

Once again - same-o-same-o. Select the head, put on an Unwrap UVW modifier, expand the + and choose Face selection mode, select the whole head and click the cylindrical button.

Move, rotate, and scale the cylindrical projection gizmo using the normal move rotate and scale tools, until the checkerboard texture looks best.

Click the Cylindrical button again to deactivate it, and click the edit button. By default it will look something like this:

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To conserve texture space, we'll want to mirror the whole head. If you really need to do some asymmetrical texture work for the head (like if the character had a big scar or something) then you may want to leave some areas un-mirrored. But for this, we're just going to mirror everything that can be.

So switch to vertex selection mode, select half the back of the head, Detach (Ctrl+D) Flip it horizontally, and move it over top of the other half of the head.

We also need to avoid any over-lapping areas. The ear has several parts that overlap others, so just grab the vertices and pull them outwards so that nothing is overlapping anything else.

Now do the same thing for the face. Select down the center, detach (Ctrl+d) flip it horizontally and move it over top.

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When I mirror UVs, I usually select everything and do a Ctrl+W to weld the two halves together. You need to be careful when doing this in areas with lots of detail to the mesh (like the face).

If I selected the face and did a Ctrl+W it actually welds together some UVs that it shouldn't! This causes nasty distortions in the unwrap. So be careful to watch for problems like this!

All that was left after this was to adjust the top of the head so that it would deform as best as I could get it to. My intention is to do some polygonal hair with opacities, but when I do it that way, I still find it a good idea to have a hair texture on the scalp under the hair.

I also flipped the whole head because I'm just used to working on them in this way. So just fit the head into the square, render out the texture (Tools > Render UVW Template) set the size, click the button, save the file, close the edit window, and collapse the stack! Done! Fww!

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So these are the unwrap textures I've saved at this point:

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Setting up the Photoshop file with UV ref:

I'm going to explain two ways you can do this... I can think of at least two more in addition to these I'll explain. (It's amazing how you can do most anything in Photoshop at least two or three different ways....) If you didn't save with an Alpha / didn’t use TGA format:

1. Open the file in Photoshop 2. Click on the Background layer and drag it to the new layer icon (this will duplicate the layer). 3. Go back to the background layer, set your background color to white, Select All (Ctrl+A) and Delete (Del). 4. Go to the Background layer copy. Choose Image > Adjust > Invert. 5. Choose the Magic Wand tool and in the menu bar along the top of the screen uncheck anti-alias, uncheck Contiguous, and set Tolerance to 0. 6. Click anywhere on the white part of the image and Delete. 7. Rename the layer to UVs or something similar If you saved your images as TGA files with Alphas (32-bit:

1. Open the file in Photoshop. 2. On the Background layer, select all (Ctrl+A) and Delete (Del) and it will replace the whole thing with whatever the background color you have selected (preferable white right now). 3. Go the Channels tab. You should see 5 channels, the RGB, Red, Green, Blue and an Alpha channel. Hold Down Control and click on the Alpha Channel.

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4. Go back to the Layers Tab, Create a new layer. 5. Select BLACK as your foreground color, right-click in your image anywhere and choose FILL from the drop-down. Go back to the Channels tab, click on the Alpha channel, and drag it into the trash-can at the bottom of the channels window. This is just a precaution, but it's a good idea to do it now rather then have something mess up later (if you load a texture with an alpha channel on it, in max, it may assume that you want to use that channel as the alpha and you could end up with some stupid headache when you render - just easier to fix it now to avoid a problem later).

So now it should look like the image above. Name the new layer whatever you want (I usually go with UVs or UV Ref, or something along those lines). Now save the image as a PSD file. Texturing the Head:

The technique I'm going to cover here works for making a low-res real-time head texture. If you're intent is some high-res, high-poly head with a 1024x1024 res texture map, there are different

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techniques that I'd use. But when you're end result is gonna be small, there are some tips in here that will get a better result. Start by getting some photo ref. It's really best if you can find front and side views of the same head with the same lighting so you don't have to try to match the skin tone too much.

First let’s set max up with our work-in-progress texture. In 3dsmax open the Material editor and choose a slot that doesn't have any texture in it right now (blank gray sphere). Click on the box next to Diffuse and choose Bitmap from the window the pops up.

From the select bitmap image file window, set the Files of Type: to All Files, or to Photoshop files. Either is fine, so long as you can find the PSD file with your UV template that you saved earlier.

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After you click Open, a PSD Input Options window will pop up. Just leave it on the defaults (collapsed Layers) and click OK.

Click the button in the material editor (in row of buttons along top, just under all the spheres) so that the texture will show in the view port. Then Select the head of the character and click the assign button to assign the material to that object. Making the Texture:

Go back to Photoshop now and click on the background layer so that you're under the UV ref layer. From your reference image of choice, make a selection around the eye, copy, and paste it into your texture work file. Right-Click anywhere in the image and choose "Free Transform" to be able to quickly scale and rotate etc. the pasted image. Move and scale the pasted eye so that it lines up with the UVs of the character's head. Next go back to your reference image and make a selection around the nose, copy, and paste it into your work image.

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I copy each piece of the face separating because it gives me more control over scaling and moving those parts to line up properly to the UVs. It's rare that you'll be able to copy an entire face onto your UVs and have everything line up and be the right size, right off the bat. While doing this, save your image and go back to 3dsmax to check on the placement of things. It should refresh the texture automatically every time you save your PSD file.

Do the same thing for the mouth and check your progress in Max. Make sure that the mouth actually falls in the correct parts of the geometry on the 3D model. If it goes too far past the lip or doesn't line up with the crease between lips, go back into Photoshop and scale/move things around some more.

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Once the majority of the face is down, I copied the side angle of the head and scaled it so it was approximately the correct size and shape. Now to open one of Photoshop’s most helpful tools when making textures from photo reference....

Liquify:

Go to Filter > Liquify... (Ctrl+Shift+X) and wait a moment for it to load (it always takes a bit). First thing you'll want to do is check the Show Backdrop option, Use: All Layers, and Mode: Behind.

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The image below has all of the important areas circled. You'll just use the default tool, but you can feel free to experiment with the others. The great thing about Liquify is that it lets you nudge around things without blurring the image. The brush size is really sensitive. Change the brush size as needed and move stuff around.

When you're done in Liquify, just click OK and it'll update your main work image in Photoshop. Save and check stuff in 3dsmax to see if anything needs nudging in different locations. I did this and I saw that the ears were still a little messed up, and the hair line needed some work.

So I went back to Photoshop, did Liquify again, and adjusted the shape and alignment of the hairline so that it'd display better on the actual model.

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Okay, now its time to clean up some of these overlaps. Often times, using the Eraser with a fuzzy brush, and going over the edges of each layer are enough to blend things together quite nicely. If you need to, you can use the Clone Stamp Tool as well.

And another save and check in 3dsmax. Everything seems lined up good. The forehead still needs some work, but I can clean that up later when I start doing manual touch-ups. I decided that the eye layer could probably be stretched a little bit in width (eyes looked a little small anyways) and it'd fill that annoying gap without having to mess with the clone stamp tool.

At this point I copied the neck from another reference image, and the back of the head from yet another. Use Liquify where needed to nudge things into place, and erase to smooth the transition

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between layers.

The picture that I had as reference for the back of the head was actually taken from a different person and the skin tone didn't match. It's common that you'll have to piece together the facial texture from several sources and getting the skin from each piece to match can be a real pain. But there's one quick trick I've found that works most of the time. Ok, so you've pasted the piece onto a new layer. Go to Image > Adjust > Match Color and a window will come up. In the bottom portion of the window is Source and Layer. From the Source drop-down choose the image you're working on now. Now from Layer pick a layer that you want to match. Since the layer I added had hair, and skin, I want to match it to another layer that has both hair and skin (the one I sampled from was the forehead/top hairline). This way it will match better. If you need to, adjust the Luminance, Fade, etc. Match color doesn't always work, but it usually gets pretty close.

So just continue grabbing pieces of photo ref, use match color and Liquify when needed, and check 3dsmax frequently to make sure things are matching up. This is the base texture I ended up with. At this point I *could* be done. But I'm not. Now I'm going

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to go in and manually paint in some details, sharpen some areas, and apply general touch-ups all over. Since this is a low-res texture, and the character will usually be seen from a distance sharpening some features usually gets a better result.

At this point, I selected all of my face layers and merged them together. I created a new layer on top of it (but still below the UV ref layer) and selected the Paintbrush tool. In the options set the Opacity to around 50% and choose one of the solid round brushes.

Holding down the Alt key will switch your tool to the eyedropper so you can pick colors quickly and easily. While painting you will frequently need to pick colors from the image so just keep your finger on the Alt key for easy switching. The texture as it currently is freaky on the forehead when I actually check it in 3dsmax, so the first thing that I touched up was the forehead.

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Hold down Alt and pick up some skin tone. Now, just paint over the problem areas with larger brushes. Since the brush is set to 50% opacity, you can get in-between colors by doing a singe brush pass over an area, and then using Alt to pick the new color. Do this over and over and make layers. For smaller details, switch to a smaller brush size. I defined the hair line by just picking a black-ish color from the hair and painting in better hair roots. After the forehead, I turned my attention to the eyes. Using the eyedropper I picked the 'white' of the eye. But then I went into the color picker and went brighter (still not actual 'white' but a lighter color then the one there) and painted in the whites of the eyes better. I picked lighter skin tones and increased the contrast around the eyes and the wrinkles, and I sharpened up the eye brows.

I checked the progress in 3dsmax and deiced I still needed more definition to the forehead. Went back in and did some more touch-ups to the hair line and checked it in max. My plan is to make some alpha poly hair once I'm down with all the textures, so this is just the under hair, but it still needs to look good on the edges and hairlines.

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As another example, just compare the eyes of this version with the texture before any manual touch-ups (just above). The eyes stand out much more now. So, even small touch-ups can make a big difference.

Touch-ups on the nose and lips can make a BIG difference in the final look so they're important. Usually the first thing I do is fix the nostrils (they usually aren't shaped correctly to appear in the right location on the actual model. Just make adjustments, save, check, and repeat until they look correct in max). I made the base/underside of the nose darker, increased the contrast between the bridge of the nose, and the shadow on the sides of it. I adjusted the highlights on the outer nostrils, and drew in the crease where the outer nostril meets the cheek. For the lips, I find it's best to make the top-lip almost solid dark. I drew in highlights along the top of the lip, and the highlights on the lower-lip. I also darkened up and created a more solid border below the bottom lip.

I find that I often get better results on skin if I use a small brush (usually the solid round 3) and 'scribble' in some areas. You don't want a really smooth look on the skin because it'll look fake.

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Again - save often and check your progress in 3dsmax. Already the face is looking much more defined then it was before the touch-ups with minimal work.

At this point I just finished up the rest of the head. I did a lot of touch-ups on the ears, since they weren't lining up perfectly with the model, and defined the hair better. I also went in with a lighter color of the hair and added highlights.

Since the plan is to make poly hair later, all that I really care about is if the hair edges look correct, but it’s still good to get it all looking as good as possible.

The last thing I do to any texture for low-res real-time is apply sharpen to it. Flatten the image

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and go Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen. Then go to File Save As...and save your texture as a .tga or whatever format you want to use for the final texture. When you go back into max, edit the material for the head (click on the box next to diffuse and change it from the PSD to the new flattened image you just saved).

Comparing the end result now with the way the head looked before I started any manual touch-ups really makes it obvious how big a difference it can make.

Onto the Clothing:

I do clothing differently then I do faces. I lay down a base texture and it's usually extremely plane and flat. I'm not looking to get any shades or wrinkles in the base texture. Just the actual 'texture' of the fabric, and maybe things like seams, pockets, zippers, etc. Once my base is down, I go in and paint in the wrinkles using multiply and screen layers, which I'll cover later. Okay, so I'm moving onto the pants next because I know exactly what I want for them (jeans). Good reference images are very important to make jeans actually look like jean. Getting that "jeans" look is not hand-painted easily. I had these images that I used to grab my textures from. Again - they came from http://www.3d.sk! Ha-ha - I'm a walking advertisement for this site, I swear... But this just goes to show that it's worth subscriptions. Every texture I've used on this guy was from that site, so I highly recommend it.

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The image may be of a jean skirt but it actually made it even more perfect since it has a lot more surface to grab texture from. Open the UV layout texture for the pants, set it up just like we did with the head so that your UVs are on a separate layer with a blank background and save it as a .psd file. In 3dsmax open the material editor (m) and setup one of the blank material slots so that it's pointing to the PSD file you just saved and apply that material to the legs. Back in Photoshop, copy portions of the jeans and edit it so it fills the whole background of the image. After I'd managed to get a solid backdrop of 'jeans' cloth, I started copying in seams and other details.

Remember, if you are having trouble lining anything up with the edges/seams of your UVs, that you can use Liquify (Filter > Liquify) to nudge/curve parts so that they fit better. I found myself frequently sharpening things as I copied them in and scaled them. Especially, the seams.

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Like I said earlier, we are not aiming for any cloth wrinkles here - Not yet! So try not to get too many of those. We just want a simple base to work from.

Remember to check your progress in 3dsmax to make sure you're lining things up correctly. Make sure you're getting the seams in locations that you actually like and make sure things aren't being stretched / squished.

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Once the base is done, I start painting in the wrinkles. I start by setting up my layers. I create (at least) two new layers above all my jeans and seam layers. I have a Highlights (HLs) layer and a Shades (Shds) layer. I set the HLs layer's Mode to Screen and the Shds Mode to Multiple.

When a layer's mode is set to screen, you can paint with solid colors, and it makes it look more like you're using the dodge tool directly on the layer. The bonus is that you can use smudge, etc. on what you paint, without messing up your base texture. Screen brightens, multiply darkens. That's the basics. You paint with shades of grays/tinted grays to vary how dark or light it makes it. Pretty simple, and very useful.

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I find it's best to have a reference when painting cloth wrinkles. You'll have a much better idea of what to aim for and where to put things if you have a real-life equivalent to look at as reference. I had this image (above) open on my secondary monitor while I painted the wrinkles in Photoshop.

I start out very messy. Scribbles to lay out my plans. You can also use this as a quick way to check to see if things are going to look correct in max. Get down the basic idea first, save, check 3dsmax and if something’s not right, you haven't done too much work yet, so its not such a big deal to go back and change/fix anything. Use darker tones (like a dark gray-blue) on your Shds (multiply) layer and be afraid to vary it some. Pick a lighter shade of dark blue-gray for some details, and add in darker shds in bigger wrinkles. Then I go in with the Smooth tool and blend things together better. I smooth out the scribbles so

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that they look like actual clothing wrinkles, save it and preview it in 3dsmax.

So once I checked out my work in max, I found a couple areas I didn't like. I didn't like the wrinkles in the knees or the way the cloth looked on the thighs so I went back and fixed those up. Then I moved onto the back of the legs. I use a different reference image (same model, just a rear view) so I'd get better cloth folds. Again - messy quick strokes to lay out my plans and get things to a point where I can check in max to make sure they're lining up properly.

Smooth it out, check max, make any adjustments you need to make. I actually felt that it had slightly too much contrast so I reduced the opacity of the HLs and Shds layers. When you're good and done flatten the image (Image > Flatten Image), apply add sharpen to it (Filter > Sharpen) and save it as a .tga or similar format.

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Moving onto the shoes:

Open the UV Rendered texture for the shoes and set it up just like the others (set the UVs up on their own separate layer, rename it, and save the file as a PSD). Set up a material in max for it and assign it to the shoes. Once again, the photo ref you can find will play a big role in getting a good result. With the shoes, I laid down a base from photo ref, but ended up painting over almost all of it, using the photo base as a reference and color palette.

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Pretty basic idea - just copy the reference images, move, rotate and scale them so that they're located as close as possible to where they need to be.

Shoes are a prime example of Liquify being super-useful. Go to Filter > Liquify and nudge, push, and pull the shoe so that it more accurately matches the UVs. You'll need "Show Backdrop"

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checked, in order to see the UVs to match.

Copy the other parts of the shoe into place, use the clone stamp tool where needed and use Liquify to get things into place better. Once you have the whole shoe covered in texture, check 3dsmax to see how things are lining up. Because of the way the UVs are setup you are going to have a very noticeable seam along one side of the top of the shoe. This is something you'll need to take into account as you continue to work, and when you're painting over the reference images. You'll have to make sure that the exposed edge of the top shoe UVs matches the side that's connected to the rest of the shoe.

For the bottom of the shoe I once again used the Liquify filter to get it to actually line-up with the bottom shoe UVs. Once I was done with laying out all of the shoe's base textures I filled the background layer with a dark grey from the shoe and created a new texture on top of everything (but below the UV reference).

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Okay, once again I used the paintbrush tool with a solid round brush, and opacity set to around 50%. I used a larger brush at first to get in some larger areas of color on the trouble areas like the tops of the foot, and the toe of the shoe. I used a smaller brush (usually size 2 or 3) from then on though. For the seams I highly recommend going on another new layer and after you've painted in some of the seam edges, do a Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen on them and you'll get good results. To get the noise I want in the final texture, I used a lot cross-hatching sort of coloring. I also painted in the laces manually myself. Remember to pay attention to the exposed seam and make sure it lines up correctly in 3dsmax.

When I was satisfied with the texture, I flattened it and scaled it down. The image that I created my texture at was 256x256 but my final image was half that. Image > Resize Image and change the values to 128x128. Now I applied a Sharpen (Filter > Sharpen > Sharpen) and saved it as a .tga

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file. The shoe geometry is much smaller then the rest of the model so it really doesn't need a texture the size of the rest of the parts, but I still prefer to make the texture at a higher res and then size it down to get in more detail.

Onto the Jacket:

I did the shirt a lot like I did the pants. First I laid down a base texture layer with no shades or wrinkles, etc. Put in details like pockets and a zipper, and once I had that done, THEN I went in and added wrinkles the same way I did the pants.

I did do one thing significantly differently with the torso then I did with the pants. I put seam detail myself to emphasize the seams. After making the base texture above, I switched to the Pen Tool and drew in lines for all the seams. They'll be on their own layer so create a new layer above your base texture and choose a darker color from the image and then in the color picker make it even darker. This will be the color of the seams.

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Pay attention because if you've never done this, it's easy to miss this and get confused. Right now the lines are just vector paths. They aren't actually apart of the image yet. We are going to "Stroke" the paths with the paintbrush tool. But first we need to set the paintbrush tool the way we want it. So go to the paintbrush tool, set the brush size to 1 or 2, and set the opacity to 100%. Now select the pen tool again and Right-Click anywhere in your image and choose Stroke Path from the drop-down. From the window that comes up, choose Brush from the drop-down, make sure that simulate pressure is NOT checked and click OK.

Now we're going to make the highlights around the seams. Right-click again and choose Delete Path from the drop-down. Now with the pen tool draw in a few areas where there would be highlights on the seams. Create another new layer and set your current color to a lighter version of your main color (near white-ish if necessary) and stroke the new paths. Once I was happy with the seams, I created two new layers, a Shds and HLs layer. (Shds Mode set to multiply, and HLs Mode set to Screen) and began painting in wrinkles just like I did earlier with the legs. Having a reference of what the wrinkles should look like well be very helpful here so if you can find one, that's best.

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Just like with the pants, I started out with rough scribble marks to get the shape started and laid out. Then I went back in and smoothed them out. The jacket has a seam that you need to watch for. Since the front isn't mirrored (to avoid overly obvious symmetry in the texture) one side is exposed here. You'll need to make sure that the seam on that side of the short isn't too obvious.

Once I had the shds in place, I put in the highlights. Same as before - scribble placing and then smoothing and putting in details.

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Once I was done with the shades and highlights I did an extra step. I created another layer above them all and picked a dark grey / grey-bluish color and painted in around some of the darker shaded areas, and then went in and smudged them to blend it with the colors behind. This was just to give it some better color depth.

Now to do the arms:

Since the arms are a part of the jacket, you should make sure to do them very similar so that they flow together. So you'll use a lot of the same base texture on the sleeve that you used on the torso, and do your shades and highlights in the same color/lighting.

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Same as all the other things. And when everything is done, save it as a flattened, sharpened, tga file and update max again.

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And finally the hands:

The hands will be like the shoes. I used photo reference on the bottom, but it was mostly just for color and basic reference. It’s very difficult to get photo referenced hands to line up properly with boxy, low-poly unwrapped hands, so most everything will end up being hand-painted. Here’s a picture of my process:

First I filled the outside of my UV ref with a skin tone so I could see better where the fingers were.

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I copied, moved, scaled, and used Liquify to get a palm and hand-top into basic locations.

Then I created layers overtop of all that and painted the hand texture. The images below made good reference for color, etc. but hardly any of it is showing through in the end.

And when I was finally finished, I sharpened the whole image.

The Hair:

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Okay, first off, at work we don't actually have hair like this. Our hair is very basic and usually just painted directly onto the head itself. Simple short hair cuts. With women, even then the hair is usually a part of the head mesh and painted directly onto the head texture itself. This is just one possible way to make hair. There are many different ways to approach making hair, and there is no One Right Way to do it. Just many options depending on what your end goal is. First I made a new document in Photoshop; 256x256. I got some photo ref of some hair I wanted to make it look like and pasted some bits into the new window. Use the Liquify filter (Filter > Liquify) to move anything around that needs moving. I painted below the hair bits first to match the general color and then created a layer above the hair and painted with a small brush and around 50% opacity.

Just keep painting in details and strokes. Use the images as reference.

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Basically I make several shapes of hair that I know I'll want to use in different locations on the head. It's good if you plan out the hair style and the sort of shapes you'll need before you start all this so that you can make the texture fit what you want. Once I had the base hair texture done, I used the pen tool to create the basic outline of the shape.

When you've got the shape done, right-click in your image and choose Make Selection. Go with the defaults on the window that pops up) Feather Radius should be 0) and click OK. Now go to the Channels tab and click the Save Selection as Channel button (circled below).

It should create a channel called Alpha 1. The background should be black, and the area you had selected should be white. Click on the Alpha channel to activate it. You can paint directly on the channel with the paintbrush tool just like a normal layer, except it will actually be affecting the opacity alpha instead. Use the paintbrush tool with opacity around 50% and with small brush size and modify the hair's

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alpha to be more 'hair like'.

To go back to viewing the regular image, just click on the RGB channel. If you make additional selection with the pen tool and then convert to a selection you can add it to your existing alpha by just selecting the alpha channel, setting your color to white, and choosing Image > Fill. Once your texture is done, Flatten it (Layer > Flatten Image) and save it as a .tga file. IT IS IMPORTANT that you save it as a .tga file. Tga files save alpha information, so it will keep the black and white alpha channel you created. Now go to 3dsmax and open the material editor (m) and pick an unused slot (one of the grey spheres). Click on the box next to Diffuse and choose Bitmap, just like before. Find your TGA texture and click ok. Now go back to the material main options (click the button circled in the image below).

Check the 2-Sided option, and then scroll down to the rollout for +Maps and expand it.

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In the Maps rollout you should see the Diffuse Color has a Check next to it, and lists a map. All of the rest should say none under Map. Click on the Map button for Diffuse Color and Drag it to the button next to Opacity that says none.

A window will pop up, make sure you set it to Copy, not Instance. Now click on the new map in Opacity and it will let you go in and edit it.

Set the Mono Channel Out put to Alpha, and set the Alpha Source to Image Alpha. If these options are grayed out that means that the alpha channel didn't save with the TGA file. Go back to Photoshop and make sure it saves correctly. No go back to the main material settings and click the Show Map in View port button.

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Now I changed my view to the Front view and went to the create tab and made 3 plans with 0 segments.

I assigned the hair texture I just made to all 3 planes. Switch to the Perspective view port. If you just see wire frames hit the F3 button so you see the textures. If you don't seeopacity Right-click on the word Perspective in the top-left corner of the view port and go to Transparency > Best.

All three planes should now show the entire hair texture on it with opacity. What we want to do is separate it so that each plane only has one section of hair, instead of all three. Select one of the planes, right-click on it and choose Convert to > Editable Poly from the drop-down. Now go to the Modify tab and apply an Unwrap UVW modifier to it. Click the edit button and move the UVs so that it's only over one of the hair pieces. If there is a little overlap and some of the neighboring pieces is visible, that's ok, we'll cut it out in a minute. Once it's all set, collapse the stack.

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Repeat this on all three segments. For any areas where there is overlap and you can see portions of one of the other pieces, go into vertex selection mode of the editable poly, and use Cut to cut the plane so that it's closer to the shape of the hair piece. Select and Delete any polys on the edge you don't need anymore.

Now, use Cut to cut horizontal lines through the hair. You'll need several close together at the top near the hair line since this portion of the hair will need to be able to curve more tightly then the rest. Next do a one or two vertical cuts as well.

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Now select all of your hair pieces, right-click on them and choose Object Properties from the drop-down. In the window that comes up find the Display Properties (left-hand side of window) and make sure that Backface Cull isunchecked.

Now is the hard part that will involve a lot of tweaking and adjusting on your end. There is no real step-by-step for this that I can give you, you'll just have to go with it and keep messing with it until it actually looks right. Select one of the pieces of hair and Hold down Shift and move it over by the head. This will duplicate the object, instead of actually moving the original. It's important that you leave your original un-altered base objects to the side so you can pick from them whenever you need to. On the new duplicated hair piece, move, rotate, and scale it into place near the head, and then start moving verts to get it into a shape and location you like. Now repeat this over and over with each of the pieces until it looks good. :P Cut in / connect to create new edges whenever you need to. Build up layers of hair to get more depth.

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Work your way around the whole head.

You'll probably be constantly going back to fix and adjust the placement of various hair pieces until it looks right.

And just keep working on it until it looks the way you want it to. It can take patience and lots of tweaking, or it may just work from the get-go. It will vary.

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It really helps to have a clear hair-style goal in mind, and a picture reference is always a big plus.