3ds Max Mastery in 7 Hrs: Project Based Intro for Beginners

A little more about the building blocks of 3d and an explanation of how we can take these basic standard primitives and turn them into complex scenes.

3d can be used for so many things, and it all starts with the basic elements we have discussed in this section.  In this lecture we will revue what we have learned, and also take a look at examples of what can be created using 3d graphics.  This will give you some good goals to aim for as far as what kind of things you might want to create in 3d, and what kind of career path you might want to pursue.

Modelling Introduction:

-spline modelling

-standard primitives

-modifier panel

-polygon modelling

This is an opportunity to look at some more of the standard primitives that are available in 3ds Max.  We will see various different types demonstrated.

Once we have created the basic elements of our models, we need to be able to adjust them and modify them.  Enter, the Modify Panel.  Here we can change the parameters of basic primitives, change properties of splines, and also add various different types of adjustment modifiers to our objects.  You will learn about sweep, FFD and more.

Here you will be introduced to polygon modelling, which gives you the maximum control over your objects.  It is the basis for most complex models in 3d.  You will learn how to enter sub-object mode and individually control the different elements of an object with poly tools such as extrude.

In this lecture we will dive deeper into polygon modelling, and see a demonstration of the basic tools that will be the foundation for some very complex, custom objects later on.  Poly modelling is very powerful, and the this lecture will give us a good look at some of its capabilities.

In this lecture, we will get even more comfortable with the modify panel (it is really essential) by seeing various modifiers applied to our objects.  We will see various different settings and what they do.  Modifiers demonstrated include: lathe, FFD and noise.

It is time to polish our models and get them ready for rendering. To do this, we will use more modifiers (I told you they are important), and more poly modeling.  Generally, we will be adding small details that make our models more physically accurate, because this will help them to render more realistically.

Previously we learned how to create objects from a simple rectangle using poly tools.  Here we will use the same techniques to model the table for our still life models to sit on.

Up to this point, we have been modelling independent of any specific units or scale.  In this lecture, we will remedy that as we prepare to start rendering.  We will also see how to fix scale problems if they arise in our projects.  

Here we will add a simple studio backdrop for our models.  This will be important when we get to lighting and rendering our scene.  It will add to the realism, and also to the look and feel that we are trying achieve with our final rendering.

For those of you who have later versions of 3ds Max where Arnold has been introduced instead of Mental Ray, this video will adapt our project to that render engine. We will put in some Arnold compatible lights and render with the default settings of that engine to preview our scene. We will also show how to render the scene with the ART render engine.

-Different kinds of lights in 3d

-Mental Ray / Standard / Photometric

-Which one to use when

-Benefits of different kinds

Here we start to get a little more in depth with lights and their associated settings.  This first lecture covers standard lights; spotlights, direct lights and omni lights.  These are the standard 3ds Max lights, and will render with basically any render engine.

Area lights are more accurate than standard lights.  We will cover them here as we attempt to create more realistic shadows and lighting effects, again with built-in lights that come with every copy of 3ds Max.

Photometric lights are probably the most physically accurate.  They can actually perfectly mimic specific lights in the real world, per manufacturer specs.  We'll learn how in this video.  When we are done here, we will have learned about all the different kinds of lights available to us in 3ds Max.

Check the resources of this video to grab the .ies files that we talk about in the lecture.

For those of you using a newer version of the software with Arnold, this lecture gets you up to speed with Arnold lights. Arnold lights can replace all the other lights that we have talked about in this section. They can act as area lights of all different shapes and sizes.

- Theory behind photography

- How it applies in 3d

- Setting up cameras in 3ds Max

- Camera Settings

- Composition

Before using a camera in 3ds Max, it is helpful to understand how actual cameras work.  The settings on a real-life camera will translate straight across to 3d, so understanding one helps us understand the other.  Here we will discuss the essential settings and the theory behind them so that we can improve our 3d scene.

Now we see how to apply photography principles to the 3ds Max physical camera.  We'll go over all the basic settings that are important to our scene.  Some things that are discussed include exposure, depth-of-field, motion blur and more.

Depth-of-field can be a great tool for adding an artistic flare to our scenes.  It also helps to guide the eye to the focal point of our image.   Here we will put it into use.

When we create new cameras in 3d, it often means that we see new parts of our models that we hadn't focused on before.  In this lecture, we adjust the scene and composition to fit with our new camera from this section.  We will also make sure that the lighting makes sense with the new camera.

We have learned a lot about cameras and photography in this section.  Here we will review what we have learned, and I will also give you additional material for you to reference if you wish to explore photography further.

Here we will take a look at some different types of materials, and try our hand at adjusting some of them.  We will start to learn the basic construction of materials so that we can begin to start creating our own, custom materials.

Use the provided .jpg files as bitmaps to create a complex rustic wood material.  This lecture is a great introduction about using bitmaps for diffuse, reflection, glossiness, bump etc.

Now use what you know about making materials and adapt to Arnold Materials. In this lecture, we change the table material into an Arnold material that will work with the Arnold renderer.

We have looked at bitmaps, but now we will use procedural maps to create some interesting effects.  These maps are generated using mathematical algorithms. We will use them to create a brushed metal material here, but they can be used for many different things in 3d materials.

In this lecture, we will create a basic glass material and explore some of its settings.  We will also experiment a little bit more with some procedural maps, and introduce refraction to our materials.

Here we will finish up the materials for our scene with final tweaks.  We will also look at a new type of material, the Fast SSS Mental Ray material. When we are done with the lecture, our scene will be fully materialized.

3ds Max includes a scene converter, so regardless of what render engine you are using, you can convert it to another. It can convert materials and lights so they will be compatible.

We have already used and applied UVW maps to our objects, but here we will review them and learn some of the theory behind them.  Watch this lecture to ensure that you always have your materials looking right on your objects.

This lecture demonstrates for us the simplicity of Mental Ray render settings so we can be on our way with rendering our own scenes.  Mental Ray makes it fairly simple to quickly adjust the essential settings.

All the essential render settings for Arnold