Mastering Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

McFarland, Jon. Mastering 3ds max design 2010 / Jon McFarland. -- 1st ed. p. cm. Summary: The only comprehensive tutorial/reference exclusively devoted to Autodesk’s robust architectural visualization software 3ds Max Design is a powerful real-time 3D design, modeling, and animation tool for architectural visualizations. This book covers all the software’s crucial features, including how to simulate and analyze sun, sky, and artificial light-crucial factors for sustainable design-and how to define and assign realistic materials and work with AutoCAD and Revit files. You’ll quickly learn how to get the most from this powerful software’s 3D modeling, animation, and rendering capabilities. McFarland is an Autodesk Authorized Author with professional experience in creating complex visualizations for a large property development company. His real-world focus means workflows and instructions are professional and proven, and projects will include those that pros work on every day. Uses actual examples from the author’s experience, including retail spaces, small offices, residential developments, and more Concise explanations, focused examples, step-by-step instructions, and hands-on tutorials teach the basics and fine points of the software Covers all the essential features, such as how to simulate and analyze sun, sky, and artificial light Demonstrates efficient use of the interface; how to work with Revit and AutoCAD files; using data, scene management, and solid modeling tools; rendering real-world surfaces; and setting up animated walkthroughs Mastering 3ds Max Design 2010 provides a practical education in using this powerful architectural visualization tool--Provided by publisher. ISBN 978-0-470-40234-4 1. Architectural design--Data processing. 2. Computer-aided design. 3. 3ds max (Computer file) I. Title. NA2728.M426 2009 720.2840285’536--dc22 2009025051

TRADEMARKS: Wiley, the Wiley logo, and the Sybex logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates, in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Autodesk and 3ds Max are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc. is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Dear Reader,

Thank you for choosing Mastering Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010. This book is part of a family of premium-quality Sybex books, all of which are written by outstanding authors who combine practical experience with a gift for teaching.

Sybex was founded in 1976. More than 30 years later, we’re still committed to producing consistently exceptional books. With each of our titles, we’re working hard to set a new standard for the industry. From the paper we print on, to the authors we work with, our goal is to bring you the best books available.

I hope you see all that reflected in these pages. I’d be very interested to hear your comments and get your feedback on how we’re doing. Feel free to let me know what you think about this or any other Sybex book by sending me an email at nedde@wiley.com. If you think you’ve found a technical error in this book, please visit http://sybex.custhelp.com. Customer feedback is critical to our efforts at Sybex.

Best regards,

Neil Edde Vice President and Publisher Sybex, an Imprint of Wiley

This book is dedicated to my wife Rhonda, who puts up with me; to my four children, Kai, Sakina, David, and Sam, who bring me so much joy; and to my grandson Mateo, may he enjoy the future. And to my mother and father who gave me the encouragement to do whatever I wanted, no matter how wacky it seemed at the time.—M.G.

This book is dedicated to my family and friends, for always encouraging me in my endeavors, providing their emotional support, and for their understanding when I had to miss events or disappear from the face of the Earth to finish projects such as completing this book on schedule.

I would also like to dedicate this to Mr. Gil Moscatello, for introducing me to AutoCAD back in 1989 in his Architectural Drafting classes, for tolerating my enthusiastic investigation and critiquing of the software, and for his guidance and encouragement which has and will continue to help me throughout my career.—J.H.

To my wife Lucy and our two sons, Zach and Jacob—J.M.

Acknowledgments

Thanks to everyone at Wiley/Sybex for their continued support over the years. Big thanks to Tom Hudson for pursuing his dream that turned into this software, and Gary Yost, Dan Silva, Rolf Bertteig, and Jack Powell for creating a program that has turned into my life’s work. I’d like to acknowledge Frank Moore, for getting me into this mess by hiring me at Autodesk in 1990. And my gratitude goes to Gary Rackliff for hiring me exactly at the right moment in my life. Thanks to Jeff Harper for incredibly hard work under the gun. And double thanks to my wife Rhonda, for keeping me sane when my computer was driving me otherwise.

—Mark Gerhard

I would like to acknowledge the support of Mark Gerhard in recommending me for editing and updating the Mastering Autodesk VIZ 2008 book to make it appropriate for the new 3ds Max Design 2010 software, and for his help in updating the content. I would also like to acknowledge Willem Knibbe, Denise Lincoln, Pete Gaughan, Liz Britten, and everyone else on the Wiley/Sybex Team who helped keep me on schedule, assisted with graphics and figures, and made the edits and corrections.

Thanks go out to Jon McFarland, Scott Onstott, and George Omura, who worked on the previous editions of Mastering Autodesk VIZ. They provided a very thorough framework on which to build. I would also like to thank Scott Onstott for allowing us to use his models as examples for a number of chapters of this book. Thanks also go out to Michael Clamp for the use of his wonderful photograph of Notre Dame de Haut in Chapter 4 and to Brian P. Skripac, former Architectural Consulting Expert at IMAGINiT Technologies, for the Revit model used in Chapter 15.

I have to thank my family and friends again for all their love, support, encouragement, faith, and patience.

—Jeff Harper

About the Authors

Mark Gerhard is a 3ds Max Guru. He has devoted the past two decades to this software in all its forms. Mark was one of the first artists hired by Autodesk in 1990 to test the first version of 3D Studio on MS-DOS. In his 14-plus years at Autodesk he worked as an instructor, product manager, demo artist, application engineer, and technical writer. He wrote many of the tutorials that shipped with 3ds Max from versions 3 to present. He has been an ATC instructor, teaching 3ds Max to countless individuals at high schools, community colleges, and universities around the world. He has been the technical editor on numerous books on 3ds Max for New Riders, Wiley/Sybex, Friends of ED, Apress, 3DATS, and Focal Press. He has been co-author of several books as well.

Currently Mark teaches 3ds Max to architects and engineers across the United States and Canada. He is also a Forum Assistant on The Area, Autodesk’s forum for all things 3D.

Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in Practice of Art from University of California, Berkeley, with a focus on painting and sculpture. He is the author of the children’s book The Elf of the Shelf Sees Himself (Push Press, 1983). He is also a trained musician, proficient in the tradition of North Indian Classical Music, having studied tabla with Ustad Shankar Ghosh and Pandit Jnan Prakash Ghosh of Calcutta. He has also studied vocal music with Ustad Ali Akbar Khansahib. He is also a student of Indian folk music, having studied and performed with the Bauls of Bengal (Babukishan Das Goswami Baul).

Jeff Harper started using Autodesk products (initially AutoCAD 9) in his architectural drafting classes when he was high school. Jeff was very excited to see AutoCAD add 3D modeling to its toolset and starting thinking cinematographically, creating renderings of his CAD files with AutoShade. Soon he began using 3D Studio R3 (for DOS) to help visualize his projects while he studied Architecture at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He upgraded to 3D Studio Max 1.0 for Windows when it was released, and he has used every version since, he also used LightScape 3.2 and a few versions of Autodesk VIZ.

He has used 3ds Max to create architectural and civil engineering visualizations from a combination of aerial and terrestrial LiDAR, USGS NED data, high-resolution digital orthophotography, stereo-compiled mapping data, and CAD files from different packages and disciplines. Jeff has also used 3ds Max to create models, stills, and animations used in Computer-Based Training programs for aircraft maintenance. Jeff has even used 3ds Max to create an STL file used to create a rapid-prototyped form from which he hand-pressed ceramic tiles used in the backsplash for a kitchen remodeling project.

As a CADD Manager and Data Manager for a large multistate, multidiscipline engineering firm, Jeff wrote a number of workflow/training documents to assist users with certain CAD and GIS functions and assisted users with AutoCAD, Revit Structure, Civil 3D, MicroStation, InRoads, Adobe Photoshop, and ArcGIS.

Jon McFarland lives in Cleveland, Ohio. He manages a design department at a property development company, where he uses AutoCAD and 3ds Max to create visualizations of proposed facility construction and expansions. He has authored five books and teaches AutoCAD and 3ds Max courses at the university level.

Introduction

A significant portion of your work as a designer will involve sketching and drawing throughout the design process. These visual explorations will not only help convey your ideas to others, but they will also help you see problems with a design and help you refine your ideas. 3D computer modeling and animation take design visualization beyond hand-drawn sketches and foam-core models, by allowing you to create a complete replica of your design and study it from any point of view in any lighting condition.

With 3ds Max Design 2010, you can apply color, texture, lighting, and other effects to see how variations of these elements affect your design. You can get a realistic look at your design to help you make better decisions as you progress through the design process.

Mastering 3ds Max Design 2010 is intended to help architects, designers, and visualization artists present their designs through 3D models, rendered stills, and animations. This book focuses on the use of 3ds Max Design 2010 as a modeling and presentation tool. Because Mastering 3ds Max Design 2010 is focused on design issues, you will not find information about character animation or advanced special effects. You also not find descriptions of every single tool or function available in 3ds Max Design 2010.

In this book you will find step-by-step tutorials covering the primary functions of the software that you will use in the process of visualizing designs. These tutorials are based on years of experience using 3ds Max on real projects with real requirements and deadlines. By completing the tutorials, you will learn how to construct complex geometric forms and how to apply realistic textures and lighting to study a design. You will also learn how to create effects to help emphasize parts of your design for presentations.

How to Use This Book

The goal of this book is to give you the appropriate skills to produce professional-level presentations of your ideas, from conceptual designs to finished renderings and animated walkthroughs. Once you have mastered those fundamental skills, you will be equipped to confidently explore 3ds Max Design 2010 and its robust set of tools and options on your own.

To get the most value from this book, you should read the chapters sequentially from front to back, doing all the exercises as you go. Each chapter builds on the skills you learned in previous chapters, so you can think of this book as your personal, self-paced course on 3ds Max Design 2010. As you are doing the exercises, don’t be afraid to try things not in the tutorials. 3ds Max Design is too robust and complicated a piece of software to completely teach in one volume.

The first three chapters of this book will help you become familiar with how 3ds Max Design 2010 works and how it is organized. If you are already familiar with 3ds Max, 3ds Max Design, or Autodesk VIZ, you may want to skim these chapters to become accustomed to the new user interface and to be introduced to the some of the new features of 3ds Max Design 2010. Chapters 4, 5, and 6 will show you how to build fairly complex geometry using a variety of tools. These chapters introduce you to the more common methods of constructing and modifying objects in 3ds Max Design 2010. Chapters 7 through 10 show you how to use lights, materials, and cameras. Chapter 11 covers the mental ray rendering system. Chapters 12 and 13 introduce and then expand on animation topics. Chapter 14 covers using the built-in particle effect and dynamics systems in 3ds Max for enhancing your visualizations. Chapter 15 covers bringing data from other Autodesk programs into 3ds Max.

At the back of the book there are a set of appendices that offer general reference information on some of the more common tools used in 3ds Max Design 2010. Once you have completed the first few chapters of the book, you can use the appendices as an aid in your own exploration of 3ds Max. You can then refer to the appendices as you continue to work through the rest of the book.

Before you start going through the tutorials in this book, you need to go to the Sybex website (www.sybex.com/go/mastering3dsmaxdesign2010) and download the compressed files with the content. You must extract the chapter archive files to a folder on your computer that you will use to complete the tutorials in the book. You will need those files to complete the exercises in the book.

Connecting 3ds Max to the Chapter Files

It is important that you configure 3ds Max Design 2010 to recognize the location of the tutorial files from the Sybex website (www.sybex.com/go/mastering3dsmaxdesign2010). Make sure that you perform the instructions given in the section titled Adding a Map Path to Help 3ds Max Find Bitmaps in Chapter 8. If you like, you can set up 3ds Max as described in that section right after you have extracted the files.

What You’ll Find

To give you a better idea of what you’ll find in this book, here is a summary of the chapters and their contents.

Chapter 1: Getting to Know 3ds Max Design 2010 In Chapter 1, you will get an introduction to 3ds Max Design 2010 and the new User Interface, and you’ll get a first look at 3ds Max objects and how they are created. Toward the end of Chapter 1 you will be introduced to the different ways you can view your designs in 3ds Max Design 2010.

Chapter 2: Introducing 3ds Max Objects Chapter 2 delves deeper into the workings of 3ds Max objects. You’ll learn about the different types of objects available in 3ds Max Design 2010 and how you can use them to create the shapes you want. You will learn how to manipulate 3ds Max’s core set of shapes, called primitives, and turn them into more complex shapes. You will also learn about the different methods you can use to duplicate shapes, and how these methods can help you quickly complete your design.

Chapter 3: Creating Shapes with Splines In Chapter 3 you will look at how you can create complex forms from simple lines. Here you will learn how to manipulate a basic type of object called a spline shape and turn it into a wineglass. You will look at creating walls and 3D text objects as well.

Chapter 4: Editing Meshes and Creating Complex Objects Chapter 4 introduces you to object and editing methods that are common to architectural projects. You will start modeling a well-known building, using a hand-drawn sketch as a template. You will also focus on drawing objects that have unusual shapes.

Chapter 5: Creating AEC Objects Chapter 5 will introduce you to the parametric AEC (Architectural, Engineering, Construction) objects included with 3ds Max Design 2010, such as walls, windows, doors, stairs and railings, and foliage objects.

Chapter 6: Organizing and Editing Objects In Chapter 6 you will continue working on the main scene from Chapter 5 by exploring ways to organize the components of the design. You will learn how to use object names and layers to help identify parts in the design. You will also continue your exploration of modeling complex forms by creating additional objects and modifying existing objects to add detail and depth to the scene.

Chapter 7: Light and Shadow Chapter 7 uses another well-known building to introduce you to the concepts of lighting and rendering your digital models. You will also learn about the different types of lighting and shadows and how to use them together. In addition, you will learn how you can create more realistic renderings by the careful placement of additional lights in strategic locations.

Chapter 8: Enhancing Models with Materials In Chapter 8, you will continue to build on what you learned in Chapter 7 by exploring materials. You will experiment with the many properties of materials and maps in 3ds Max Design, such as diffuse color, bump map textures, and reflections. You will learn how to align a texture to a surface, and you will be introduced to methods for adding entourage, such as trees and people, to scenes.

Chapter 9: Using the 3ds Max Camera Chapter 9 discusses placing cameras in your model and creating environments to surround your models. You will learn how to control the background to affect the mood of your renderings. You will also experiment with rendering only selected portions of your scene to save time.

Chapter 10: Working with External Files Chapter 10 shows you different ways to use 3ds Max files. You will learn how to combine different files efficiently to allow you to work collaboratively with other members of a design team. You will discover ways to share data between project files. You will also see how you can share your models on the Internet.

Chapter 11: Using mental ray In Chapter 11 you will use the mental ray rendering system. The mental ray system offers you the capability to create incredibly realistic renderings. You will learn how to set up and use global illumination, create and use mr Proxy objects, the Multi-Sub-map material, create contour renderings with the Material Override feature, and perform Lighting Analysis on your projects.

Chapter 12: Understanding Animation Chapter 12 offers you an introduction to animation in an architectural context. You will learn to create and control the animation of a camera to create a flyby of one of the buildings you worked on in earlier chapters. You will also learn how to edit an animated object’s motion, create previews of your animation, and control lights over time.

Chapter 13: Creating Animations Chapter 13 continues your look at animation by exploring the options for outputting your animations to files, creating shadow studies, adding other animated elements to add to the realism of your visualizations, and creating effective walkthroughs of your designs.

Chapter 14: Atmospheres, Effects, reactor, and Particles In Chapter 14 you will learn how to use the built-in particle systems, effects, and dynamics system to add atmosphere to your visualizations.

Chapter 15: Using Other Autodesk Applications with 3ds Max Design 2010 Chapter 15 shows you how to take advantage of files created in other Autodesk products, capitalizing on their unique strengths to reduce the time and effort you need to expend to create high-quality finished models in 3ds Max Design 2010.

In addition to the main chapters in this book, there are two appendices.

Appendix A: The Bottom Line Appendix A has the solutions for the Master It exercises found at the end of each chapter.

Appendix B: Modifiers and Materials Appendix B is a reference for the Modifiers and Materials found in 3ds Max Design 2010.

System Requirements

This book assumes that you already have Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010 and a PC that can properly run the software. Additionally, you should perform a complete installation of 3ds Max Design 2010, including the optional tutorials and plug-ins. Many of the extra and demonstration plug-ins are not covered in this book; however, you should experiment with them on your own. The following list shows you the minimum system requirements necessary to run 3ds Max Design 2010; you should exceed these values whenever possible for better system performance and stability.

Intel Pentium®4 or AMD-based equivalent processor

1GB of RAM (4GB recommended)

1GB of swap space (more recommended)

3GB of free disk space after 3ds Max Design 2010 software installation

Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or higher

Graphics card supporting 1024 × 768, 32-bit color display, 128MB

DirectX 9.0c (included on the 3ds Max Design 2010 DVD)

DVD-ROM drive

A three-button mouse with the appropriate driver software

Microsoft Windows XP Professional (Service Pack 2 and higher) 32-bit or 64-bit, or Microsoft Windows Vista

Autodesk does not support running 3ds Max Design 2010 on Windows Me, NT 4.0, 98, or prior versions.

You can find the complete system requirements for 3ds Max Design 2010 on the Autodesk website, www.autodesk.com/3dsmaxdesign.

The 3GB of free disk space includes space for the sample files and general workspace for your projects. For later chapters, you may want to have AutoCAD 2007 or later installed and Adobe Photoshop CS or later. You can obtain a trial version of Photoshop from the Adobe website. You can also download a 30-day trial version of AutoCAD 2010 from the Autodesk website. These additional software applications are not crucial to have, but you may find them to be useful companions to 3ds Max Design 2010.

What’s on the Book’s Website

You will want to make sure that you have downloaded and extracted the sample files from the Sybex website (www.sybex.com/go/mastering3dsmaxdesign2010) that are mentioned throughout the book. The website includes the *.max and support files necessary to complete the exercises in this book in archive files.

Chapter 1

Getting to Know 3ds Max Design 2010

Welcome to Mastering Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010. Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010 replaces Autodesk VIZ 2008 and benefits from the development of its sister product, 3ds Max, to give architects and other design professionals an indispensable design and visualization tool. Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010 gives designers cutting-edge rendering technology, easy-to-use architectural materials, improved communication with other related software, enhancements to modeling and animation tools, and better viewport interactivity than ever before.

This chapter introduces some of 3ds Max Design 2010’s special features and then gets you started working with the 3ds Max interface. In this chapter, you will learn to:

Navigate and configure the viewports

Dock and float toolbars

Copy objects and use the Transform tools

Create a named selection set

Introducing the New 3ds Max Design 2010 Features

3ds Max Design replaces Autodesk VIZ 2008 as Autodesk’s 3D modeling and visualization tool for the architectural industry. It is comparable to 3ds Max and is essentially the same product without the Software Developers Kit (SDK), which is used to develop plug-ins that give the programs additional functionality. In addition to having all the features that 3ds Max has, 3ds Max Design offers a new Exposure lighting analysis tool, which is used to help meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) 8.1 certification standards. The program is referred to as either 3ds Max or 3ds Max Design throughout the text.

Each new version of 3ds Max incorporates fresh and exciting tools to enhance your capabilities and workflow while also increasing the performance of the program on your computer system. Utilizing these new features is key to improving your skills and decreasing the time it takes to complete your projects. To help you find information, the 3ds Max Design 2010 Learning Movies dialog box (see Figure 1-1) includes links to essential skills movies, which teach many of the basic skills for using 3ds Max, as well as links to movies that explain the new features and additional 3ds Max–related tutorials.

Figure 1-1:The new Learning Movies dialog box

New Features and Essential Skills Movies/What’s New and Learning Path The new features and additional skills movies are located on the Autodesk website, and an active Internet connection is required to view them. When you no longer want the dialog box to appear as 3ds Max opens, simply uncheck the Show This Dialog at Startup option in the lower-left corner. The dialog box can then be opened by choosing Help ⇒ Learning Movies from the menu bar.

Graphite Modeling Tools The new Graphite Modeling tools provide over 100 new modeling features for organic sculpting, texture painting in the viewports, and advanced polygon modeling. They are available on the new Graphite Modeling Ribbon. These tools bring a new level of interactivity to modeling in 3ds Max.

Containers Containers are a new toolset within 3ds Max designed to improve project collaboration and workflows by aggregating multiple objects into containers. Similar objects in a scene can be added to a container so you can interact with them as one unit. Containers can be loaded and unloaded from the viewports as necessary to improve the performance of 3ds Max Design 2010.

Material Explorer The new Material Explorer is a hierarchical display that allows you to review and manage all materials in a scene. Unlike the Material Editor, the Material Explorer does not suffer from a limitation of how many materials it can display at one time.

Exposure lighting validation When architectural or engineering visualizations are being created, accurate simulation of lighting conditions can be vitally important to a project’s success. The Exposure feature, only available in 3ds Max Design, allows you to create more sustainable design projects by analyzing the interaction of artificial lighting, sun, and skylight directly in your models. This information can be studied right in the viewports. Although the Exposure name is trademarked by Autodesk, you won’t actually find Exposure anywhere in the Help file or 3ds Max Interface.

xView Mesh Analyzer The xView Mesh Analyzer feature allows you to check your models in the viewport for common mesh errors such as overlapping UV coordinates, isolated vertices, duplicate and flipped faces, and other geometry errors. This new feature can help you avoid potentially costly modeling mistakes before projects proceed too far down the production pipeline.

ProSound Included in this release of 3ds Max Design is the new ProSound system, which allows you to work interactively with up to 100 unique audio tracks directly in your scene using the Track View dialog box. ProSound can be used to help when working with lip-syncing or creating preliminary audio tracks for your animated projects.

Review3 Autodesk has spent a significant effort improving the interactivity of the 3ds Max 2010 viewports. The third generation of this technology helps artists get a closer idea of how their final renderings will turn out by previewing the scenes directly in the viewports with interative shadows (hard and soft), ambient occlusion, real time HDR generated lighting, and interactive exposure control, and takes advantage of the mental mill shader technology.

mental mill/MetaSL Support Integral to the improvements in the interactive viewports is the inclusion of support for mental mill (the new shader technology from mental images), which allows users to create, test, and distribute hardware-independent shaders that provide real-time feedback and look the same in the viewport as they do in renderings.

Multi-map Shader The new Multi-Map shader for use with metal ray allows you to create materials with built-in variations that can be applied randomly to scene objects or applied based on specific object properties. This is a great way to create more natural-looking variations among similar scene objects such as trees, vehicles, furniture, or any anything else you want.

Render Surface Map The Render Surface Map in 3ds Max 2010 can create grayscale bitmaps of selected UVW-mapped poly objects based on the unique properties of the objects. The four types of maps that can be rendered are Cavity Map, Density Map, Dust Map, and SubSurface Map.

Viewport Canvas The Viewport Canvas tools allow you to paint your maps directly on your poly objects right in the 3ds Max viewports using familiar paint software concepts.

ViewCube and SteeringWheel Objects If you are familiar with the earlier versions of 3ds Max or Autodesk VIZ, you might immediately notice two other new features. These are the ViewCube and SteeringWheel objects in the viewports. The SteeringWheel and ViewCube are used to navigate through a 3D scene and to quickly orient or provide feedback regarding your current viewpoint. The SteeringWheel and ViewCube are common across several Autodesk products.

ProMaterials A library of physically accurate materials, called ProMaterials, is now available from the Material Editor. ProMaterials are for use exclusively with the mental ray rendering system and can add a significant degree of realism to a scene. The mental ray rendering system is covered in Chapter 11.

mental ray The mental ray renderer that now ships with 3ds Max Design 2010 has been upgraded to version 3.7 of the high-level, production-quality rendering system. An entirely new subdivision surface implementation makes this version faster and more efficient. The mental ray renderer is now the default renderer for 3ds Max Design.

Updated Biped System 3ds Max has had the Biped system, used to create the bone system for animating two-footed characters, for several releases. In this version, a new ability has been introduced that allows a biped’s hands to act as feet in regard to the plane on which the character is walking. This feature makes it easier to use Biped to animate characters with four feet rather than two.

FBX File Format The FBX file format has been improved and can be used to exchange files between 3D programs, including 3ds Max, Autodesk Maya, Autodesk Mudbox, and Softimage. You will want to make sure you download and install the newest update for the FBX software from the Autodesk website.

Updated Recognize Scene-Loading Technology Data from Revit Architecture 2010 files, such as geometry, lighting parameters, camera information, and materials, can now accurately be imported into 3ds Max using the new Recognize Scene-Loading Technology. Recognize is also based on the FBX format mentioned earlier.

For more information about new features and improvements in 3ds Max, go to the What’s New in Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010 section of the Help System. You can also find information on the Autodesk website or the Autodesk Media and Entertainment forums called The Area.

Getting Started

Although many of 3ds Max’s components are typical for a Windows program, quite a few are unique to 3ds Max; therefore, a solid understanding of them is essential to effectively using the program. To begin exploring the 3ds Max Design 2010 interface, start the program by doing one of the following:

Double-click the 3ds Max Design 2010 icon on the Desktop.

Choose Start ⇒ Programs ⇒ Autodesk ⇒ Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2010 ⇒ 3ds Max Design 2010.

You’ll see a variety of components in the 3ds Max window (see Figure 1-2)—some that may be familiar and others that may not.

Figure 1-2:The standard 3ds Max Design 2010 window

The Large Icons Option

The images in this book use the Large Icons option to better display the toolbar buttons. To activate this option, choose Customize ⇒ Preferences to open the Preference Settings dialog box. In the UI Display section of the General tab, check the Use Large Toolbar Buttons option, and then shut down and reopen 3ds Max for the option to take effect.

At the top, you see a typical Windows menu bar and the 3ds Max main toolbar. You may also see up to nine more floating or docked toolbars containing additional 3ds Max tools. In the center, you see the viewport area, which currently shows the Perspective, Top, Left, and Front viewports. At the lower-right corner of the screen, you see the Viewport Navigation tools for adjusting your views in the current viewport. You also see the time controls for creating and playing animations, the prompt line and status bar, and the MAXScript Mini-Listener (for creating macros). On the right side of the user interface, you see the Command panel, which contains nearly all the tools you’ll use to create and edit objects in 3ds Max. Let’s take a closer look at each of these components. 3ds Max often provides several methods, including toolbars, Command panels, menus, and shortcuts, for accomplishing the same task.

Touring the Interface

3ds Max offers a wealth of tools, and their sheer number can be overwhelming. To get a basic understanding of the 3ds Max window, let’s look at each of the window components individually, starting with the menu bar.

The Menu Bar

At the top of the screen is the menu bar. Here you find the typical Windows commands for file maintenance, as well as commands specifically for 3ds Max.

New to 3ds Max 2010 is the Application button (Figure 1-3) which replaces the traditional File menu. The Application button is a graphical representation of the tools from the traditional File menu, including opening and saving files, importing, exporting and referencing files. The Application button is also where you can set a project folder, access the Asset Tracking tool, and check statistics about the current file. If you are more comfortable using the traditional File menu, it can be restored to the 3ds Max interface using the Customize ⇒ Customize User Interface dialog.

The options in the menu bar are organized the same way they are in most Windows applications. Clicking an option issues a command, and you’re expected to take some action. An option that’s followed by three periods, called an ellipsis, opens a dialog box, usually to allow you to make changes to settings related to the option. An option with a right-pointing arrow displays more options in what is called a cascading menu, as shown in Figure 1-4.

Try out the menu bar by taking a look at the Units Setup dialog box:

1. Choose Customize ⇒ Units Setup. The Units Setup dialog box displays.

2. Select the US Standard radio button, and make sure that Feet w/Decimal Inches is selected below it, and that the Inches radio button is selected for Default Units, as shown in Figure 1-5.

3. Click the System Unit Setup button, and you will see the System Unit Setup dialog box shown in Figure 1-6. Make sure 1 Unit is set equal to 1.0 Inches. Do not change anything else in the System Unit Setup dialog box, and click OK twice to close both dialog boxes.

Figure 1-3:The new Application button

Figure 1-4:A typical cascading menu

Figure 1-5:Defining the units in the Units Setup dialog box

Figure 1-6:The System Unit Setup dialog box

By setting the Units Setup dialog box, you ensure that you’ll be working with the same units that are discussed in this book.

Reverting to the Startup Layout

3ds Max Design 2010 is something of a chameleon. It can change its appearance, depending on the focus of your modeling needs. Users of 3ds Max 2010 will see a somewhat different interface, with the tools designed more for the game and entertainment industries featured. If your 3ds Max Design 2010 window doesn’t look the way it does in the figures in this book, choose Customize ⇒ Revert to Startup Layout. You’ll see a warning message telling you that any user interface (UI) changes you have made will be lost. Click Yes to set up your 3ds Max windows to match the interface you see in this book. You can also reload Custom UI schemes to reset the interface, or use the Custom UI and Defaults Switcher to accomplish the same thing, plus more. See the Working with the Custom UI and Defaults Switcher section later in this chapter for more information on this topic.

The Quick Access Toolbar

Just to the right of the new Application menu is the Quick Access toolbar, another new addition to 3ds Max 2010. As its name implies, it provides quick access to a number of useful commands, including New Scene, Open File, Save File, and the Select Project Folder Browser.

The Quick Access toolbar is also the new home for the enhanced Undo Scene Operation and Redo Scene Operation tools. Click these buttons to undo your last actions, up to 25 by default, or redo any undone actions. Clicking the drop-down button next to either the Undo or Redo buttons brings up a list of actions from which you can select.

You can customize the Quick Access toolbar by clicking on the down-arrow icon at the far right of the toolbar.

The Information Center Toolbar

All the way across the screen at the upper-right corner of the interface, near the traditional Windows Minimize, Maximize, and Close buttons, is the Information Center toolbar. The Information Center toolbar provides a search function for 3ds Max topics in the local Help files and on the Autodesk website; the Subscription Center (if you have Subscription Center access); the Communication Center, where you’ll receive notices of program updates and other relevant announcements; a Favorites panel, where you can store links to commonly accessed websites; and pages and elements from the 3ds Max Help menu.

The Main Toolbar

Just below the menu bar is the main toolbar. The tools on this toolbar offer tooltips, which are exposed when the cursor pauses over them, to help you remember their purpose.

The first set of tools is for linking and selecting objects. The two Linking tools, one for linking and the other for unlinking, cause one object to move, rotate, or scale based on commands applied to another object. The third Linking tool, the Bind to Space Warp tool, can be used to attach objects and space warps together. The Selection tools let you select objects by clicking them or by selecting them by name. The Selection filter allows you to limit what can be selected with the cursor. You can also specify the method for selecting objects by using a selection window, which lets you indicate a selection by placing a rectangle, circle, or other border around the objects.

To the right of the Selection tools are the Transform tools. This set of tools lets you move, rotate, and scale objects. You can also choose the reference coordinate system, set the center of the transform using the pivot options, toggle the keyboard shortcut overrides, use different snap options, work with named selection sets, and use tools to mirror and align objects.

The next group of tools to the right includes access to the Layer Manager, Graphite Modeling tools display toggle, the Track View Curve Editor, the Schematic View tools, and the Materials and Rendering tools. The Layer Manager gives you control over all the settings for layers in your scene and the objects contained in those layers. The Graphite Modeling tools are a completely new set of over 100 tools to improve creating and editing poly objects within 3ds Max. The Curve Editor tools display your scene information as graphs or wiring diagrams to indicate the functionality or relationships of scene objects. The Schematic View tools provide a visual graph and control how all the elements of your scene are linked. The Materials tools give you control over the appearance of objects by defining and applying their surface properties. With these tools, you can create color, texture, opacity, and other material characteristics, and then apply these characteristics to objects in your model. You can also open the Render Setup dialog box, select the render type, and perform a quick render with the buttons on the far right.

The Rendering tools give you control over the image output of your 3ds Max scene. Unlike output from most applications, output from 3ds Max Design 2010 is most likely to be image or animation files, or real-time virtual models. The Rendering tools let you set the type and size of output, from single, large-format stills to video-ready animations.

Working on a Lower-Resolution System

If you’re working with a screen resolution less than 1280 × 1024, you will not be able to see all the tools on the main toolbar. Some of the tools are off the screen to the far right. To access these tools, place the cursor on the toolbar so that a Hand icon appears, and then click and drag the toolbar to the left. If you have trouble with this, move your cursor under one of the drop-down lists on the main toolbar, to access the Pan Hand. The hidden tools will emerge. You can also click the Rendering menu item to access all the rendering tools. The smallest supported screen resolution for the UI in 3ds Max Design 2010 is 1024 × 768, but the recommended resolution is 1280 × 1024 or higher.

Docked and Floating Toolbars

In addition to the main toolbar, you will see several floating toolbars that may be sitting on top of the viewport (see Figure 1-3). However, some of the toolbars may be hidden. You can open hidden toolbars by right-clicking on a blank part of any open toolbar. A context menu will appear listing the available toolbars. Let’s take a quick look at the floating toolbars.

1. Right-click on a blank area of the main toolbar and click on any of the toolbar items that do not have a checkmark next to them.

2. Repeat the process until all the floating toolbars are exposed.

All the toolbars float over the viewports and have titles such as Layers, Render Shortcuts, Snaps, Axis Constraints, and Extras. As with most toolbars, you can dock these floating toolbars to the side or hide them altogether to gain better access to objects in the viewports. The toolbars can be resized by clicking on and dragging any of their edges.

Consider a Dual-Screen System

In 3ds Max and many other graphics programs, screen space is always at a premium. You can use a two-monitor system to help unclutter your screen. Simply move items such as floating toolbars, the Material Editor, Curve Editor, Rendered Frame Window, and so forth to the second monitor, freeing up as much screen real estate as possible.

Layers are like overlays that help you organize the objects in your model. If you are an AutoCAD or Adobe Photoshop user, you should have an idea of how layers work. You’ll learn more about layers in Chapter 6, Organizing and Editing Objects.

Render shortcuts contain predefined render settings, such as resolution and output file type, that are used to create content from your 3ds Max scenes. The Render Shortcuts toolbar is where you will find the tools for saving and storing your preset values. You’ll learn about rendering in Chapters 9 through 13.

Snaps are features that control where the cursor jumps to, adding a degree of precision to your scene, when the cursor is near a characteristic in the scene. Using snaps, you can easily move the corner of one object to the midpoint of another or nearly any other characteristic combination.

Objects are frequently transformed (moved, rotated, or scaled) along a particular axis, or direction, relative to the object or the scene. This functionality is usually utilized through the Transform gizmo, an onscreen tool used to facilitate the transforms. The Axis Constraints toolbar also contains these tools.

The Extras toolbar contains tools that don’t fit cleanly into other categories. With the AutoGrid button, you can turn on a creation grid relative to the surface of any object in the scene. You can also create an array (numerous, precisely placed clones) of objects in matrices, along a path or at equal intervals.

Several tools found within 3ds Max utilize a paint brush analogy in their implementation. The location and intensity of the effects are determined by how the brush cursor is dragged over an object’s surface. The Brush Presets toolbar gives you access to the standard brushes and the Brush Preset Manager so you can modify and save a brush’s parameters. This toolbar is grayed out unless a tool that utilizes it is active.

The Animation Layers toolbar lets you access tools that control the layering of objects’ animated parameters. Layering allows you to designate which animated features are enabled and which are not, allowing for many possible combinations.

Large scenes and projects can become very complicated quickly. Containers help you organize assets by combining them into groups. They can be loaded and unloaded at will to reduce the size of files and how much information is active at one time. By refreshing the link to a container, you can help coordinate data and project changes among project teams. By limiting write access to data files, you can protect project scene files.

Interactions between objects (for example, collisions, fluid surfaces, and jointed constraints) can be difficult to animate manually. Using reactor, a physics simulation toolset, you can quickly and accurately create simulations that account for properties such as gravity, friction, and wind.

You can dock the floating toolbars or float the docked toolbars. Try the following exercise to see how to change the location of toolbars:

1. Click and drag the title bar of the Layers toolbar so that the toolbar is below the main toolbar (see Figure 1-7). The Layers toolbar appears ghosted as a horizontal outline just before you release the mouse button.

2. When the outline is in the position shown in Figure 1-7, release the mouse button. The Layers toolbar is now in a docked position.

Figure 1-7:Docking the Layers toolbar under the main toolbar

3. Click and drag the Extras toolbar and dock it just to the right of the Layers toolbar (also just under the main toolbar), as shown in Figure 1-8.

Figure 1-8:Docking the Extras toolbar

4. Right-click the two vertical lines (called the toolbar handle) on the left side of the Extras toolbar to open the context menu, as shown in Figure 1-9.

Figure 1-9:Floating the toolbar

5. Select Float from the context menu. The Extras toolbar returns to its floating position. Another way to do this is to drag the toolbar by its handle down into the viewport.

6. Toolbars can be docked on any side of the viewports. However, you should avoid docking toolbars to the left and right sides of the interface if the toolbars have drop-down lists; otherwise, the lists will not appear. Select the Axis Constraints toolbar and dock it to the left side of the user interface (Figure 1-10).

7. Select the remaining floating toolbars and dock them on the top, right, or left edge of the viewport.

In this brief exercise, you learned how to dock and float toolbars, and how to access the context menu where you can toggle the toolbars on and off. Most of the toolbars aren’t required in the early chapters of this book, and they occupy a portion of available screen space. You can hide or float the toolbars however you like.

Figure 1-10:Some of the toolbars docked left

Toolbar Flyouts

You may have noticed that some of the tools in the main toolbar show a small arrow in the lower-right corner of the tool’s icon (Figure 1-11).

Figure 1-11:Flyout arrow

That arrow indicates that the tool is one of several offered in a flyout. A flyout is like a graphical version of options in a menu bar. If you click and hold a tool that’s part of a flyout, you see a set of additional, similar tools appear. For example, if you click and hold the Select and Uniform Scale tool, two additional tools appear, as shown in Figure 1-12.

Figure 1-12:The Scale flyout menu

Once you select an option from a flyout, it becomes the default button that you see in the toolbar.

The Viewports

At the center of the window are the viewports (see Figure 1-13). You’ll be doing most of your modeling work in a viewport. In a blank file, the viewports show a grid that you can use as a reference for orientation and size.

If you look in the lower-left corner of the viewport, you will see the World Axis Tripod that indicates the orientation of the X-, Y-, and Z-axes. The World Axis Tripod helps you get your bearings when you are looking at camera and perspective views.

Figure 1-13:A typical viewport configuration

Currently, there are four viewports named Top, Left, Front, and Perspective, as indicated by the labels in the upper-left corners of each viewport. You can also tell that the Perspective viewport is different from the others by the way the grid squares get smaller and converge in the distance. As you’ll see toward the end of this chapter, you can configure and view your model in a variety of ways, depending on your needs.

Tools for Working with the Viewports

At the bottom of the window are several other options that are grouped into four sections: the status bar, the prompt line, the time controls, and the Viewport Navigation tools (see Figure 1-14). Most of these tools affect the viewport, either by modifying the display of the viewport directly or by affecting the way you interact with objects within the viewport.

Figure 1-14:The bottom sections of the 3ds Max Design 2010 window

The Viewport Navigation tools give you control over the main graphic display in the center of the window. With these tools, you can zoom and pan over the display as well as alter the viewpoint of your model. You can also switch between multiple views and a single view. Try the following:

1. Note which viewport is surrounded with a yellow border, and then click the Maximize Viewport Toggle in the far lower-right corner of the window. This is a tool you’ll be using often. You can also press Alt+W on the keyboard.

The graphic display changes to display a single viewport showing only the viewport that had the yellow border, as shown in Figure 1-15.

Figure 1-15:The viewport area showing only the Top viewport

2. Click the Maximize Viewport Toggle to divide the viewport area into four individual viewports again.

3. Click the upper-right viewport, labeled Front. Notice that the border of the Front viewport becomes highlighted in yellow.

4. Click the Maximize Viewport Toggle again. Now the Front viewport fills the graphic area. Notice how you can quickly expand the view of a viewport to see more detail.

5. Click the Maximize Viewport Toggle again to return to a four-viewport layout.

6. Place your cursor at the intersection of the four viewports until it changes to a crossing arrow cursor. Click and drag to resize all viewports simultaneously, as shown in Figure 1-16. You can also place the cursor between just two viewports to resize the viewports in only one direction.

Figure 1-16:Resize the viewports by dragging their intersection.

7. Right-click on the border between two viewports and choose Reset Layout from the context menu to return to the default layout, as shown in Figure 1-17.

Figure 1-17:Reset Layout

You’ve just seen how you can display a single viewport or expand the graphic area into multiple viewports showing the Top, Front, Left, and Perspective viewports. Several other views and viewport arrangements are available, as you’ll see later in this chapter.

Using Shortcut Keys to Switch Viewports

You can set the current, active viewport to display a top, front, or left side view by pressing the T, F, or L key. You can also press B for the bottom view. Pressing P will display the perspective view, and pressing U will display an isometric user-defined view. If you have added a camera, you can press C to select from a list of camera views. The hotkeys of R for right view and K for back have been removed from the defaults in 3ds Max. You can easily assign your own hotkeys to commands.

To the left of the Viewport Navigation tools are Time Control tools. These tools give you control over the animation functions of 3ds Max. Here, you can set your creations in motion by selecting the length of time for your animation as well as setting the precise location of objects within that time frame.

Near the bottom center of the interface is a large button with the symbol of a key on it and two smaller buttons to the right that are used to create animation keyframes, called keys.

The long horizontal elements across the bottom of the viewport are the Time slider and track bar, which are used for animation. You can hide the track bar to save space on the screen. Choose Customize ⇒ Show UI ⇒ Show Track Bar to toggle this part of the interface off until you’re ready to make animations.

Just to the left of the animation controls are the Transform type-ins. This area displays the location of your cursor in X-, Y-, and Z-coordinates. It also displays other types of data, depending on your current activity. For example, if you’re rotating an object, the coordinate readout displays the rotation angle of the object being rotated. If you’re scaling the data, these text boxes will show percentages.

In addition to the Transform type-ins, there is a Grid panel, which may be hidden to the right if your display is set to low resolution. To find it, if necessary, place the cursor on the vertical bar just to the left of the prompt line until you see a double-pointed arrow.

When you see the arrow, click and drag to the left. The Grid panel will be revealed to the right of the Transform type-ins.

The Grid panel displays the default setting for the grid size in the current scene. You can hide or display a grid in the current, active viewport by clicking the G shortcut key. Right-click the Snaps Toggle, Angle Snap Toggle, or Percent Snap Toggle button in the main toolbar, and then click the Home Grid tab of the Grid and Snap Settings dialog box to set the grid spacing and other grid parameters.

Finally, to the far left at the bottom of the 3ds Max window is the MAXScript Mini-Listener. MAXScript is a programming language that allows you to create custom applications or macros in 3ds Max. A macro is like a prerecorded series of instructions. The MAXScript Mini-Listener serves two functions: the pink area displays your activity when the MAXScript MacroRecord function is turned on, and the white area provides a space where you can enter commands using the keyboard.

Getting to Know the Command Panel

You’ll be using the Command panel for most of your work in 3ds Max. If you’re an experienced AutoCAD user, you might think of the Command panel as the equivalent of the AutoCAD command line; it’s a single entry point for most of the program’s functions. The Command panel offers nearly all the tools for creating and editing in 3ds Max.

Across the top of the Command panel, you’ll see a set of six tabs, each displaying an icon.

From left to right, the tabs are Create, Modify, Hierarchy, Motion, Display, and Utilities. If you place the cursor on a tab, you’ll see a tooltip displaying the name of the tab. When you click a tab, the functions relating to the tab appear in the rest of the Command panel. Here’s a brief rundown of what each tab offers:

Create This tab allows you to create two- and three-dimensional objects. You can also create light sources, cameras, and helper objects that are used to determine distance and relationships between objects. Light sources, cameras, and helpers are objects that don’t appear when your view is rendered.

Modify This tab gives you control over