My Stuff Animation and Art

Poster Layouts

2012-01-31T05:17:00.000-08:00

Unnamed Character

2011-11-27T05:03:00.000-08:00

Post Card Design

2011-10-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

CCS Shirt Design

2011-10-04T07:44:00.001-07:00

Backdrop

2011-09-27T04:00:00.000-07:00

Phoenix Red Team T-Shirt Design

2011-09-22T03:42:00.000-07:00

CWorks Logo Animation

2011-09-13T05:24:00.001-07:00

Buddy

2011-09-07T04:02:00.001-07:00

Folding Chair

2011-08-29T19:53:00.000-07:00

Jet Fighter Crash

2011-08-23T05:59:00.001-07:00

Paramount Pictures

2011-08-16T17:25:00.001-07:00

Strawberry Shortcake

2011-08-09T04:56:00.000-07:00

The Monkey And The Turtle

2011-08-02T01:25:00.001-07:00

Only Hope

2011-07-26T03:23:00.001-07:00

RENDERERS (ENGINES)

2011-07-25T05:41:00.000-07:00

There are a couple of rendering engines that I know of and which you can use in Max. However, I’m not going to discuss how to use them in this section. The first engine is the default rendering engine in Max. You can also use Brazilian Rendering System or Brazil RS. Brazil RS is a third party software which you need to install separately and you need license to make it work with Max. But for discussion purposes I will just introduce to you these rendering engines.

If you don’t have any third party rendering engine, then you use 3D Max’s Default Scanline Renderer. As its name says, it scans the active scene and converts data into the specified render output format. Notice every time you render your scenes you can see a line that moves from top to bottom just like how the light of a scanner moves.

“Brazil r/s is the industry standard for high-end quality, flexibility, reliability, and artist-friendly workflow in 3ds Max”. You can check more on Brazil RS in this website.

http://splutterfish.com/sf/WebContent/B4MaxFeatures

Figure 6-3. Default Scanline Renderer.

Figure 6-7. Brazil Rendering System for Rhino

References and Recommended Links

Principles of Three-Dimensional Computer Animation, Michael O’Rourke, W. W. Norton & Company, New York, 1998

Character Rigging in Discreet 3ds Max 6 - Online Training Library
http://www.lynda.com/home/DisplayCourse.aspx?lpk2=94

DNA Molecule Making - FSBANANA Tutorials
http://www.fpsbanana.com/tuts/7444

CG Tutorials - Autodesk 3ds max
http://www.cgtutorials.com/c1/Autodesk_3ds_max

3D Total
http://www.3dtotal.com/

3DS Max Modeling Box Model a Car Tutorial
http://www.tutorialized.com/view/tutorial/Box-Model-a-Car/4691

SOFTutorials.com
http://www.softutorials.com/c66/3D_Studio_Max

CG Textures
http://www.cgtextures.com/

VIDEO RENDERING

2011-07-23T03:58:00.000-07:00

Just like rendering images, video rendering in Max allows you to choose the dimension. However, the main difference between rendering images and videos is the number of frames. For Max to render your scene as video, it renders the sequence of images (frames) and compiles it as a video file.

Figure 6-2. Rendering a video file.

Try This!

1. Open the lighting.max from http://www.mediafire.com/?2pathhocnwd4wy8.

2. Make sure that the Camera01 is active for rendering. Go to Rendering menu and choose Render.

3. In the ‘Common Parameters’ roll-out, click on the ‘Range:’. Don’t forget to click the 800x600 button for a larger output.

4. Scroll-down and check the Save File and click on the Files button.

5. In the Render Output File, choose the location where you want to save the video file. Rename the file appropriately and choose AVI as its Save as type file.

6. Click on the Save button. A window will appear for the first time you render a video file. Just leave the default settings and click on the OK button. Just wait for Max to finish rendering all of the frames and you can now view your video file.

PART VI. RENDERING

2011-07-22T01:20:00.000-07:00

When you finished doing your models, adding textures, placing lights and cameras and creating the animation sequence, then you are now going to render your scene. Rendering make take some time to finish depending on the number of polygons in the scene and the objects inside it. More polygons mean slower rendering time and less polygons will make the rendering faster. This is true especially in 3D games. Notice how game developers use small amount of polygons as possible. Lesser polygons make it possible for game consoles to run the game programs seamlessly. If there were more polygons, then you will experience lagging in playing your favorite 3D games.

In 3D Max, the most common rendering outputs are image and video files. The image file format is JPEG while the video file format is AVI. These are two popular file formats used in animation.

A. IMAGE RENDERING

You can indicate the dimension of the image file you want to render. In addition, you can also set which frame you want to render. When rendering an image file in Max, make sure that the viewport you want to render is active. Or else, you might be surprised that the rendered image is not in the right perspective you expected.

Figure 6-1. Rendered image in the Perspective viewport.

Try This!

1. Open the food stand.max which you can download from this link http://www.mediafire.com/?zbrpnr47o6pzdsz.

2. Go to ‘Rendering’ menu and choose ‘Render’.

3. In the ‘Render Scene:’ window, click on the ‘800x600’ button under the ‘Output Size’ group.

4. Scroll-down and check the ‘Save File’ box under the ‘Render Output’ group. Then, click on the ‘Files…’ button.

5. In the ‘Render Output File’ window, select the location where you want to save your image file. Then, rename the file appropriately and choose JPEG as the ‘Save as type’. Click on the ‘Save’ button after that.

6. Click on the ‘Render’ button.

7. When Max is done rendering, open the jpeg file on the Desktop and see how your rendered image file looks like.

ANIMATING LIGHTS AND CAMERAS

2011-07-21T05:16:00.000-07:00

You can virtually animate any object in Max. This would include lights and cameras. The same principle is applied when animating these objects. All you need to do is set up the scene and plan-out the animation sequence for the lights and cameras. For example, let’s say you are trying to light up a scene using various light colors. First, set the Autokey for the initial light. After that you can continue by changing the color of the light and setting your Autokey as well.

Figure 5-9. Animating light color.

For cameras, it’s very easy. You can either pan or zoom around the scene. Most animations include panning while zooming is used when you want to focus on a subject in the scene.

Figure 5-10. Zooming in the camera.

There’s much to explore if you want to animate lights and cameras. You can move them, rotate them and pretty much anything that is doable in Max can be animated. As the saying goes, the sky is the limit.

Try This!

1. Load the lighting.max from http://www.mediafire.com/?2pathhocnwd4wy8.

2. Move the Track Slider to Frame 100 and press the ‘Autokey’ button.

3. Select the ‘Sunlight’ object. Go to the ‘Intensity/Color/Attenuation’ and change its light color to black.

4. Now, select the ‘Camera01’ object and zoom in on the lamp.

5. Press the Autokey button again and click on the Play button to see how the sunlight and camera is animated.

You have seen the different techniques in animating objects in your scene. Just a review, bones are used to move most objects such as characters and mechanical devices. In addition, when doing facial animations morphing is best used. Lastly, bring life to your scenes by animating lights and cameras for more theatrical effects.

MORPHING Exercise

2011-07-20T01:49:00.000-07:00

For the activity, you are going to morph a head of a monkey which I have created for you.

http://www.mediafire.com/?6768rl3jau6r527

Try This!

1. Load the ‘monkey – MORPHING.max’ which I provided in the link above.

2. There are three objects on the scene: monkeysmile, monkeysad and monkeyhead. The morph targets are the monkeysmile and monkeysad, while the monkeyhead is the original mesh.

Click on the monkeyhead mesh and go to modifier list and select ‘Morpher’.

3. On the ‘Channel List’ roll-out, right-click on the first empty slot and pick on the monkeysmile mesh.

4. Do the same thing for the monkeysad morph target.

5. Hide the two morph targets and move the original mesh at the center of the scene. Maximize the Perspective viewport.

6. Move the Track Slider to Frame 50 and increase the value of monkeysmile to 100. Don’t forget to press the Autokey button.

7. Again, move the Track Slider to Frame 100. This time decrease the value of monkeysmile to 0 while increasing the value of monkeysad to 100.

8. Deactivate the Autokey button and press on the Play button to see how the morphing works on the monkey’s head.

This is how morphing is used in facial animations. However, there are other techniques you can use when doing facial animations. For example, you can use bones to animate the cheeks and show how detailed your facial animation can be. Remember the movie The Hulk. They used bones to animate the cheeks of the Hulk.

MORPHING

2011-07-19T01:40:00.000-07:00

When creating facial animations morphing is usually used. This technique uses morph targets to create various expressions or versions of the original mesh. After creating the morph targets the original mesh picks these targets and acquires their new attributes. All the animator is left to do is to indicate how much of the morph target will be done by the mesh. Let me show you how morphing is generally accomplished.

Generally, you begin by preparing the number of targets and applying deformation techniques on these morph targets.

Figure 5-6. Morph targets with bend, taper and twist modifiers.

After that you apply the ‘Morpher’ modifier from the modifier list. In the ‘Channel List’ roll-out, assign each empty slot to the morph targets by picking the deformed mesh.

Figure 5-7. The Morpher modifier is applied to the cylinder.

Now, you can deform the cylinder by just increasing or decreasing the values of the channel list items.

Figure 5-8. The cylinder is deformed by using Morpher.

Bones Exercise

2011-07-17T18:37:00.000-07:00

For the activity, you’ll rig the turtle model you created and animate the turtle in any way you want the turtle to move. But if don't have the model, you can download it by clicking on the link below.

http://www.mediafire.com/?d41gf85kyvydxrx

Try This!

1. Load the turtle.max and view the turtle from the Top viewport.

2. Add bones as shown in the figure below.

3. Go to the Front and Left viewports and make sure the bones fit in the fins, head and tail of the turtle.

4. Hide the mesh so that we can link all the bones together. But before that you must have renamed all the bones according to the body part they are in. This is for easy identification later on when we apply the Skin modifier. Link the main parts of the bone to the root bone which is the base of the neck.

5. Unhide the mesh and add a Skin modifier. Click on the ‘Add’ button just beside the ‘Bones:’ on the Parameters roll-out. On the ‘Select Bones’ dialog box, select all the bones and click on the ‘Select’ button. Just close the pop-up window.

6. Select the left-front fin tip bone and move the Time Slider on Track 25.

7. Hit on the ‘Auto Key’ button and move the left-front tip bone a little backwards. We’ll let our turtle swim for a short distance.

8. Do the same for the right-front tip bone.

9. This time do just the opposite to the left-back tip bone. Instead of moving backwards move the bone forward. Turtles swim this way.

10. Now move the right-back tip bone forward.

11. Move the time slider to Frame 50 and select the head tip bone.

12. Move the head tip bone upwards.

13. Move the front fins forward and the back fins backwards.

14. Then, move the Time Slider to Frame 75 and move the front fins backwards and the back fins forward.

15. Move the Time Slider to Frame 100 and make the final animation of the fins.

16. Maximize the Perspective viewport and hit on the play button. See how your turtle swims.

PART V. RIGGING AND ANIMATION

2011-07-16T05:37:00.000-07:00

We’ve come to this part where you will learn how to rig your objects and actually move them for animation. The techniques that I will be introducing to you are generally the same with those we see in commercial advertisements and movies. I will begin by demonstrating to you how to animate your scene basically using the tools that you already know such as moving, rotating, animating the object parameters and using modifiers. Then, I’ll introduce you to setting up bones for your objects and morphing. As a bonus, I’ll also show you how to animate lights and cameras in your scenes for a more dramatic or theatrical effect.

Let me show you the basic principle of animating objects in 3D Max. The very first thing to do is to plan out the animation. For example, you may want to move a sphere from left to right.

Figure 5-1. Moving a sphere from left to right.

You can start by moving the Track Bar to the time frame where you want the movement to end. Then, activate the ‘Auto Key’ and move the object from one location to another. You’ll notice that markers appeared from the first frame to the frame where the animation will stop.

Figure 5-2. Using Auto Key to animate the movement.

When you press the ‘Play Animation’ button, you’ll see how the object moved. This is the basic principle of animating objects in 3D Max. You can animate movements, colors, lights, cameras, the parameters of the primitive, and modifiers. Also, the track bar and the active viewport is highlighter with color red. This indicates that the Auto Key is activated and the any changes in the scene will be animated.

A. BONES

Rigging your objects involves the use of bones. Bones are essential in animation because you use them to create actions or gestures. Imagine the famous 3D character Shrek. If you saw how Shrek was animated, the animators actually placed bones inside Shrek’s body just like how a skeletal system looks like. His movement is due to the correct positions and rotations of the bones. In this section you will learn how to place bones to your characters and move these bones to create an action or gesture.

You can find bones in the ‘Systems’ under the Create tab. When we place bones in the scene we usually from a hierarchical model. This means that the first bone you placed is the root bone or the mother bone and all the succeeding bones are the children. Of course, the children bones follow the same principle of parent and child hierarchy.

Figure 5-3. Hierarchical placement of three bones.

Another concept you need to master is the Inverse Kinematics (IK). This technique allows you to correctly move the bones. As a result you form an IK chain to your bones. You use this chain to animate limbs and organic models such as the turtle you created in the earlier chapters.

Figure 5-4. Forming an IK chain for three bones.

Once you’ve set up your bones with IK then you’re ready to use the Skin modifier so that you can place these bones inside a mesh. However, the Skin modifier is applied to the mesh not on the bones. Inside the modifier that’s the time where you can add the bones and actually use the IK chain in moving the mesh. This process is called bone rigging.

Figure 5-5. Skin modifier applied to the mesh.

Lights! Camera! Render!

2011-07-15T01:10:00.000-07:00

All right! Now you have the idea on how to place lights and cameras in your scenes. You can practice more by doing the exercise I have prepared for you.

Try This!

1. Download the lighting.max from the link below. You’ll light up this scene using 2 Omni lights and 1 target direct.

http://www.mediafire.com/?2pathhocnwd4wy8

2. Notice that we have 3 light sources. The light bulb is the primary light while the lamp and the window will provide for the ambience effect of the room. Place an Omni light just below the light bulb object.

3. Set the following Intensity and Color parameters of the light bulb.

Color: R 255, G 240, B 180
Multiplier: 1.25

4. In the ‘Far Attenuation’ group, check on the ‘Use’ box and change the following parameters.

Start: 1000
End: 2000
Use: On

5. Now, let’s add shadow effects to the main source of light. Go to the General Parameters and Shadow Parameters to change the following values.

Object Shadows: On
Type: Shadow Map
Color: R 125, G 135, B 60
Density: 0.7

6. Copy the light bulb and place it inside the lamp shade.

7. Set the color of this light to R 180, G 250, B 245 and change the value for the Multiplier back to 1.0.

8. Let’s add an atmospheric effect to the light emitted by the lamp. Open the ‘Atmosphere Effects’ roll-out and click on the ‘Add’ button. Choose ‘Volume Light’ and click the ‘OK’ button. Now, select the Volume Light and click on the ‘Setup’ button.

9. Look for the ‘Volume Light Parameters’ roll-out and make the necessary changes.

Attenuation Color: R 0, G 125, B 75
Use Attenuation Color: On
Density: 1
Max Light %: 20

10. It’s time to add the sunlight. Place a Target Direct outside the room and make sure the target passes through the window.

11. Set the following values accordingly. These will create a warm light.

General Parameters
Cast Shadows: On
Color: R 250, G 245, B 215
Multiplier: 2.0

Directional Parameters
Hotspot: 300
Falloff: 400
Light Cone Type: Rectangle

Shadow Parameters
Object Shadows Type: Shadow Map
Color: R 100, G 90, B 0

Far Attenuation
Start: 6000
End: 7000
Use: On

12. Go to the Atmosphere & Effects roll-out and add a Volume Light. Once you’re done, select Volume Light and click on the Setup button.

13. Scroll down and look for the Volume Light Parameters and set the following values.

Attenuation Color: R 190, G 200, B 0
Use Attenuation Color: On
Density: 2

14. Set the values for the ‘Global Tint’ as follows. R 210, G 215, B 130 this will give tint effect to all the lights in the scene.

15. Your scene should look similar to that of the rendered image below.

Next stop, you’ll learn how to animate your objects in the scene!

PROJECTOR LIGHT

2011-07-14T03:12:00.000-07:00

If you are an avid fan of going to movie houses to watch your favorite movies, then you should be familiar with the projector used in theaters. These projectors have bright lights that can project the images on the films clearly on white screens. This type of light is called the projector light.

Projector lights can be used by configuring spotlights and add projector map to the spotlight. The principle is quite simple. To project images in Max, you just have to add projector maps. Let me demonstrate just how to do that.

In this case I’ll use a Free Spot and position it in front of the camera. I also changed the cone shape to rectangle to give it a more realistic look for a projector light.

Figure 4-13. Spotlight Parameters.

Figure 4-14. Rendered image of the projector light.

The projector map can be found in the ‘Advanced Effects’ roll-out. Check on the ‘Map:’ under the ‘Projector Map’ group. For example, I just used the default images in Windows XP such as the Sunset.jpg to demonstrate how this works.

Figure 4-15. Projector Map under the Advanced Effects roll-out.

Finally, here’s how the projector map will look like on the wall.

AREA AND AMBIENT LIGHTING

2011-07-13T01:52:00.000-07:00

Omnis are best used for lighting up dark corners especially you’re your scene is about ambience and somewhat cozy. Unlike spotlights, Omni lights light up your scene in all corners. They don’t have cones or light angles. This is why Omnis are heavily used in lighting all kinds of scenes.

The figure below shows how an Omni light gives color to the dark room that I have created. For the next figure, I added two more Omni lights to light up those dark corners of the scene.

Figure 4-10. Using only one Omni light.

Figure 4-11. Three Omni light is used, one with Shadow On.

This is how the lay-out of the Omni lights in the scene looks like. The two Omnis near the Teapot have their Intensity halved. While the Omni which is farthest has its Shadow effect turned on.

Figure 4-12. The Max scene with 3 Omni lights.

SPOTLIGHT

2011-07-12T04:54:00.000-07:00

The first type of light I want you to learn is spotlight. This type of light is commonly used in night scenes. In the famous cartoon series The Batman, spotlights are found almost everywhere. There are so many ways on how to use spotlights. Let me show you how to use them.

In this sample scene, I have a closed room and a Teapot object positioned in front of a Free camera. When I render this scene, the default lights are used to provide the necessary lighting.

Figure 4-7. Default lights are used in this scene.

There are two types of spotlights in Max. These are the Target Spot and Free Spot, just like the camera. You can check out these lights in the ‘Lights’ button under the Create tab in the Command Panel.

In the figure below, I placed a Spot light in front of the Teapot object. Notice how the scene is lighted and the absence of the shadow of the Teapot. We can always configure the Parameters of the spot light.

Figure 4-8. Spotlight is used in this scene.

In the General Parameters of the spotlight, you can change the Light Type and add Shadow effects to your spotlight. Also, you can configure the Intensity, Color, and Attenuation of the spotlight. For example, I can add shadow and even change the color of the shadow in the ‘Shadow Parameters’ roll-out.

Figure 4-9. Shadow map is on with Shadow color yellow.

That’s how you can use the Free Spot in lighting your scene. There’s no much difference between the Target Spot and the Free Spot. Only in the Target Spot, you can configure the Target separately from the spotlight itself. Now, let me introduce to you another type of light, the Omni Light.

PART IV - CAMERA AND LIGHTING

2011-07-11T03:32:00.000-07:00

PART IV - CAMERA AND LIGHTING

Your 3D animations won’t be complete until you use camera and lighting. Just like live action movies, it is a very good idea to use cameras to focus on your shots. On some sequences you might need to pan or zoom on the subjects to give it a more theatrical presentation. Lights are also essential in making 3D animations. They illuminate dark corners in the scene so that the audience can fully appreciate the stage design you have prepared. In addition, lights can be used to set the mood of the current scene such as ambient lights for a romantic setup. In this chapter, I will show you the different cameras and lights you can use in your 3D animations. At the end of the chapter, I have prepared an exercise for you where you can light up the scene using the different lights.

A. TARGET AND FREE CAMERA

Cameras serve as our eyes on the scene. They capture the motions and colors in 3D animations. In 3D Max, there are only 2 types of cameras. One is the target camera and the other type is the free camera. First, let me show you how the free camera works. It’s the easiest to use between the two types of cameras.

You can find these cameras in the ‘Create’ tab and look for the ‘Cameras’ button. The free camera is labeled as ‘FREE’ so will place this camera on the Front viewport. Assuming we already placed two primitives, you can just move the camera around these objects.

Figure 4-1. A Free Camera on the Front viewport.

To activate the camera, we’ll change the view in the Perspective viewport to Camera01. This is what the camera sees.

Figure 4-2. Changing to Camera view.

Just move the camera until you are satisfied with what you are seeing in the Camera viewport.

Figure 4-3. Moving the camera in the viewports.

That’s just it about free cameras. Now, let us turn our attention to using the target camera. Target cameras are quite complex to use because there are two parts of it. One is the target and the other is the camera itself. Let me show you how to operate this camera.

I’ll start by clicking on the ‘Target’ button under Cameras and use the Top viewport. Using the Top viewport to initially position the target camera is good because Max automatically places the target camera on the Z axis on the Top viewport. This means that the camera is directly pointing towards your subject.

Figure 4-4. Placing a target camera in the Top viewport.

When you change the view to Camera01 in the Perspective viewport, try moving the camera alone. Notice how the camera’s focus is fixed on to the subject. This is because moving the camera changes the angle of the camera but not the focus. You can use this technique when trying to animate first persons and that the character’s focus is fixed on the target object.

Figure 4-5. Moving the target camera.

For the target, look for the small box upfront the view angles of the camera. Try moving the target and observe how the Camera01 viewport changes the focus of the subject.

Figure 4-6. Moving the target of the target camera.

That’s how easy using the two cameras in Max. I hope you can explore your director’s instinct and create very nice shots of your subjects. In the next section, I will discuss the different lights which you can use to lighten up your scenes.

3D PAINT PROGRAM

2011-07-10T03:40:00.000-07:00

Literally, you can add texture to your 3D models by painting using programs such as Photoshop, Flash and CorelDraw. The principle behind this technique is fairly simple. When you have the image reference of your model, all you need to do is to paint it directly and export the file as JPEG or BMP.

The first thing I usually do is to render my 3D model on its left side. For example, I will use the turtle model I created in the previous chapter.

Figure 3-19. Rendered image of the turtle 3D model.

Using Macromedia Flash, I imported the image file and inserted a layer on top of it. Then, I just start to paint the model using the brush tool. If you’re an image editor, this step will be very easy for you.

Figure 3-20. 3D Paint Program – Macromedia Flash

Make sure to paint all the areas of the model including the areas which are not covered by the model. In that case, use the same color as those on the exterior of the model. Which in this case, it’s the color green. Export the image file and use it as a Diffuse Color in 3D Max.

We need to add a UVW Map to the model so that we can adjust he texture and fit the image file to the model.

Figure 3-21. The UVW Map modifier.

Figure 3-22. The UVW Map Parameters.

When you finally done experimenting the parameters, try to render the model and see how the texture fits the model.

Figure 3-23. The rendered image file of the model.

Try This!

1. We’ll model a helmet and then we’re going to paint the object using a 3D paint program. Place a sphere on the Front viewport.

2. Convert the sphere to Editable Poly.

3. Select the Vertex and highlight the right side vertices. Use the Uniform Scale button to decrease the size of this side of the sphere.

4. Move these vertices inside the larger side of the sphere.

5. Select the second line of vertices and move them further inside the sphere.

6. Perform this step until all of the vertices are inside the sphere forming a concave object.

7. Now that we have the main shape of the helmet, let’s just adjust the lower portion so that it really looks like a helmet. I want you to select the lower-left half vertices and pull them downwards.

8. To smoothen up the helmet, scroll down the parameters and look for ‘Subdivision Surface’. Check on the ‘Use NURMS Subdivision’ and under the ‘Display’ group changes the value of ‘Iterations’ to 2.

9. Our helmet is ready to be painted. Activate the left side of the helmet and switch the viewport to Smooth + Highlights. Then, press the ‘Print Screen’ button on your keyboard.

10. You can use any paint tool or image editing tool such as Adobe Photoshop, CorelDraw, and Macromedia Flash. In this case, I used Flash to paint the helmet.

11. Start with the inner design of the helmet and work out your way to the main color of the helmet.

12. Make sure to cover all the areas and don’t leave any portion without getting it painted.

13. Export the paint job as JPEG or any image file. Open the helmet object in Max and apply the texture as Diffuse Color.

14. Don’t just drag the texture to the helmet. First, we have to apply ‘UVW Map’ modifier so that we can easily adjust the texture to the helmet.

15. Now, drag the texture to the helmet. Notice how disoriented the helmet map. We can fix this using the ‘Parameters’ of the UVW Map modifier.

16. Configure the values of ‘Length’ and ‘Width’ until the map is fitted to the helmet. Or you can use the ‘Gizmo’ to manually move the texture around the helmet.

17. If you’re done, try rendering and see how your helmet design looks like.

BUMP MAPPING

2011-07-09T05:02:00.000-07:00

One of the most unusual forms of texturing is bump mapping. Ever notice those bumps on the road? This is exactly how bump mapping tries to achieve. But in this case it tricks the eyes showing false bumps on surfaces. Actually, those bumps are created using the colors of an image file.

As an example, the model below is a cylinder. It tells you that it’s a wall with bricks bumping out, forming a rough surface.

Figure 3-17. Brick wall bump mapping.

Actually, it’s a JPEG file applied with Bump and Diffuse Color maps. The color of the image is retained because I gave it a 100 percent diffuse color. In addition, the bump is very evident in this rendered image because I gave it a 100 percent. You can just adjust the percentage ration on the 2 maps combination.

Figure 3-18. Diffuse Color and Bump Maps.

Try This!

1. Place a circle on the Front viewport and apply ‘Extrude’ modifier. Change the Amount to 10 and the Segments to 32. Just copy the figure below.

2. Download any coin texture from the Internet.

3. Open Material Editor and assign the JPEG file you just downloaded to the Diffuse Color and Bump Maps. Make sure that you give both the maps 100 percent.

4. Drag the slot to the coin model.

5. Render your coin and see how the bumps look like.

TRANSPARENCY MAPPING

2011-07-08T04:57:00.000-07:00

Transparent maps are used in ghost objects and glass objects as well. Two of the most common texturing techniques are the use of self-illumination and falloff. Self-illumination makes the outer rim of the object brighter and applying falloff will make the inner portion of the object transparent. This makes a good combination for modeling transparent objects.

In the following example, I’ll be applying transparency map to a flower vase model. Later in the activity you will do the same but for a different object. Let me just explain the basic steps for transparency mapping.

Figure 3-12. Flower Vase model.

The first thing we do is to apply self-illumination to the object. You can specify any color for the object. This color will be visible when the texture of the object is transparent.

Figure 3-13. Self-Illumination is activated.

Then, on the ‘Extended Parameters’ turn on the ‘Falloff: In’. Change the ‘Amt:’ value to 100 for maximum transparency effect. On the ‘Filter’ color, you can specify the color in which the transparency will adapt to. In our flower vase model, we’ll use the color black.

Figure 3-14. The Extended Parameters.

On the Maps roll-out, check on the ‘Self-Illumination’ and choose the ‘Falloff’. This will just increase the transparency map that we want to apply.

Figure 3-15. Self-Illumination Map.

In the ‘Falloff Parameters’, Match the second color to the self-illumination color we applied earlier. Apply the texture to the flower vase and you see how transparency mapping is applied.

Figure 3-16. The Falloff Parameters.

Figure 3-17. Final Rendered Image of the model.

Try This!

1. Model a pawn (chess piece) using Line. Initial type is corner while the drag type is smooth.

2. Open Material Editor and check the Self-Illumination box under the Blinn Basic Parameters. Turn the color to pale white.

3. On the Extended Parameters rollout, change the value for Falloff amount to 10. Also, change the Filter color (under Type) to pale white.

4. In the Maps rollout, click on the None button of the Diffuse Color.

5. Double click on the ‘Falloff’.

6. Just drag the first slot to the pawn model.

7. Click on the Quick Render button and your model should look just like the figure below.

SPHERICAL PROJECTION MAPPING

2011-07-07T00:46:00.000-07:00

Spherical objects project textures better then planar objects. This is due to the shape of spheres. When you rotate spherical objects, the angle of the rotation allows light to reflect and shows the colors and specular highlights in all areas of the object.

Let’s say we are going to model a 3D globe. I think you know how easy it is. All we need is a standard sphere primitive and just place a world map. Then, we’ll just have to adjust the specular highlights to sooth an actual globe object.

You can just place a sphere on the top viewport. Change the number of segments to 64 for a smoother look.

Figure 3-10. A sphere object with 64 segments.

Download a world map from the Internet. I would suggest for a JPEG file with a 800 x 600 or greater resolution. After downloading the world map, apply it on the sphere as a Diffuse Color: Bitmap.

You may adjust the specular level to 40 to give it a shine. Then, you can model the rest of the globe by adding the inclined holder and the stand. Use lofting for both the inclined holder and the stand.

Figure 3-11. Rendered image of the globe object.

Now try the activity I’ve prepared for you. Have fun!

Try This!

1. We’ll add texture to a teapot model. The result of this activity will be similar to the image shown below.

2. Place a teapot on the top viewport and click on the ‘Zoom Extents All’ button located at the lower-right portion of Max. This will zoom the teapot in all viewports.

3. On the ‘Parameters’ roll-out, change the value of ‘Segments’ from 4 to 32 for a smoother looking teapot.

4. Then, open the Material Editor. Scroll down and click on the ‘Maps’ roll-out. On the Maps list, click on the ‘None’ button beside ‘Diffuse Color’. Double click on ‘Bitmap’ and locate the image file ‘Blue Hills’ in ‘My Pictures’ inside the ‘My Documents’ folder. Window XP has these default image files. Click on the ‘Open’ button.

5. The image file should appear on the first slot. This time click on the ‘Go to Parent’ button so that we can add specular highlights.

6. Scroll up and locate the ‘Blinn Basic Parameters’ roll-out. Look for the ‘Specular Highlights’ group and change the following values. Specular Level = 75, Glossiness = 25.

7. We should expect that our teapot will be shinny. Now, drag the slot to the teapot and look how shinny the teapot is. Don’t forget to click on the Show Map in Viewport button or else all you see is the gray color applied on the teapot.

8. Click on the ‘Quick Render’ button on the Main Toolbar for a more dramatic result.

PART III – TEXTURING

2011-07-06T00:04:00.000-07:00

The 3D models that we have been creating so far in this blog have no “real” textures. Texture refers to the color or “skin” of the model. For example, the texture of the turtle model is composed of several colors. It includes the color green, dark brown and perhaps an actual image file of a turtle’s shell. You can also add a wood texture to the table model you created in the previous chapter.

Texturing takes many forms such as planar projection mapping, spherical projection mapping, transparency mapping, bump mapping, and a help from a 3D paint program. I’ll discuss them one by one starting with the easiest which is the planar projection mapping.

A. PLANAR PROJECTION MAPPING

This mapping technique is usually seen in plane or smooth objects such as wall, floor, paper, book, or any object that’s plane. Let’s see how the table will look like if we are going to apply a wood texture on it.

Figure 3-1. A table model without wooden texture.

You can find all texturing commands on the ‘Material Editor’ button on the Main Toolbar. Or you can press ‘M’ on the keyboard.

Figure 3-2. Material Editor on the Main Toolbar.

Figure 3-3. The Material Editor dialog box.

We’ll use the first slot and place the wood texture here. 3D Max has already some pre-set textures such as wood. You can get the wood texture on the ‘Maps’ roll-out just located at the lower portion of the dialog box.

Figure 3-4. Map roll-out.

Usually, you can just use the ‘Diffuse Color’ to add texture to any plane object. To get the wood texture, click on the ‘None’ button beside the Diffuse Color. The ‘Material/Map Browser’ will appear and on the left side there’s a list of materials you can choose from. Scroll down and look for the ‘Wood’ material and double click on it.

Figure 3-5. Material/Map Browser.

Figure 3-6. The Wood material appears on the first slot.

Notice that the sphere in the first slot has the wooden material applied on it. Now, you can apply this material to the table by simply dragging the first slot to the top of the table and its four legs.

If no wood material appeared once you dragged the slot from the Material Editor, then you have to click the ‘Show Map in Viewport” button indicated by the red circle below.

Figure 3-7. The Show Map in Viewport button.

This is how the table will look like when you’re done.

Figure 3-8. The table model with wood texture applied.

Try This!

1. In this exercise, we’ll model a picture frame and add texture on it. At the end you should be able to come up with a similar model like the one below.

2. First, we’ll model the picture frame using lines then Loft them. Create a rectangular shape in the front viewport using the ‘Rectangle’ under the ‘Shapes’ button.]

3. Add another rectangle, this time make it smaller. It will be the shape of the picture frame.

4. Now, select the larger rectangle and loft it with the smaller rectangle. Your model should look like the image below.

5. Highlight the 2 rectangles and delete them. We don’t need them anymore.

6. On the Material Editor, apply a specular level of 90.

7. Change the diffuse color by clicking on the color gray box beside ‘Diffuse:’

8. You may use any color you want. Just move the mouse pointer inside the color spectrum and click on the ‘Close’ button when you’re done.

9. Drag the active slot from the Material Editor to the picture frame.

10. Place a plane in the picture frame.

11. Open the Material Editor and select the second empty slot.

12. Click on the ‘Maps’ roll-out.

13. Then, click on the ‘None’ button beside the ‘Diffuse Color’.

14. Double click on the ‘Bitmap’.

15. In the ‘Select Bitmap Image File’ open the ‘Sunset.jpg’ which is found in My Documents. Or you can use any picture you have on your computer right now.

16. Click on the ‘Go to Parent’ button.

17. Apply a specular level of 90 so that the picture will be shinny when you change the view angle.

18. This time drag the second slot to the plane.

That’s it! Click on the Quick Render button and see how our picture looks like.

ORGANIC MODELING

2011-07-05T00:35:00.000-07:00

I choose box modeling to create living things such as a turtle. It’s fairly easy. We convert the box primitive to editable mesh and work our way to model a turtle. I’ll demonstrate how it’s done and you can just follow on your computer as you read along.

Try This!

When doing an organic model, we usually need a visual aid or a reference image. So, I already set up the reference images below. It’s best to have the top, front, and side views of the object we want to model. In this case, I used planes to serve as my canvass. You can skim to the next section (Texturing) and figure out how to place an image on a primitive shape.

Download the reference images below by "right-clicking" and "saving-as."

Front View

Side View

Top View

1. Create a box with length segment of 3, width segment of 8, and height segment of 3. Place it like the figure below.

2. To see the edge faces, right-click on the viewport labels (Top, Front, Left, Perspective) and choose ‘Edge Faces’.

3. Right-click on the box and choose ‘Properties’. In the ‘Display Properties’ group, check the ‘See-Through’ box. Then, place the box at the middle of the turtle like the figure below.

4. Convert the box to editable poly by right-clicking on it and choose ‘Convert To:’ Then, click on the ‘Convert to Editable Mesh’.

5. Now, click on the ‘Vertex’ button (three dots) located just below the ‘Selection’ group. Or, go to the modifier stack and click on the plus sign and select the ‘Vertex’. Move the vertices on the left view as shown in the figure below.

6. Continue moving the vertices. This time move the vertices in the Front viewport. Like this.

7. Okay, just move the vertices like the figure below.

8. Here comes the exciting part. Move the vertices in the Top view just like you see below.

9. Your turtle should look like the one below.

10. We’re now going to create the fins of our turtle. First, convert the mesh to editable poly by right-clicking on the object. Choose ‘Convert To:’ and select ‘Convert To Editable Poly’. In this way we can use some of the features found in editable poly.

11. Select the polygon that corresponds with the front fin of the turtle. Follow the figure below.

12. Scroll down the parameters area and look for the button ‘Hinge From Edge’. Leave the default value for ‘Angle’ as it is. Instead, click on the button ‘Pick Hinge’ and click on the top edge of the selected polygon.

13. Select the edge at the center and click on the window button beside the ‘Extrude’ button. Make the necessary configurations just like the figure below.

14. Make another extrusion. This time the ‘Extrusion Height’ is half the first one.

15. Let’s adjust the direction of the fin so that our turtle will look like flying on empty space. Select vertex and move the points just like the image below.

16. Perform steps 11 to 14 to create the back fin. Don’t worry about the two fins on the other side. We’ll eventually cut the turtle into two so that each side will be symmetrical.

17. Now, we are going to create the tail of the turtle. Select 2 polygons at the back of the turtle and move them back to form the tail.

18. Then, extrude the polygon just like the figure below.

19. Select vertex and move the points to make the tail pointed like the figure below.

20. It’s time to create the head of our turtle. We’ll use the same technique as what we did to the tail. Select the polygon that will serve as the neck of our turtle.

21. Pull that polygon slightly outwards to form the base of the neck.

22. Then, extrude the polygon just like the figure below.

23. Go to vertex and adjust the size of the front polygon.

24. Click on the small window button beside the ‘Bevel’ button and enter the following values in the pop-up window.

25. Do step 24 twice to form the neck of our turtle.

26. Select vertex and adjust the positions of points. Just follow the figure below.

27. Then, select polygon and perform 3 bevels on the front polygon like the figure below.

28. Perform step 27 twice but the ‘Outline Amount:’ is -2.

29. Go to vertex and make the head of the turtle round shape. Just follow the figure below.

30. This time we’ll place an eye in the head of the turtle. Let’s cut two edges on the face of the turtle where the eye will be placed. Use the ‘Cut’ button in the ‘Edit Geometry’.

31. After that, place a sphere inside the area where you just cut two edges. Make the segments 12 instead of 32.

32. Select the polygon where the sphere is located. Click on the settings button beside ‘Inset’ and give it the inset value that will create the inner polygon.

33. To create the eye socket, click on the settings button beside ‘Extrude’. Give it a negative value so that the extrusion will be inwards.

34. Scroll down from the command panel and look for ‘Subdivision Surface’ and check on the ‘Use NURMS Subdivision’. Click on vertex and adjust the vertices so that the eye will snuggly fit into the socket.

35. Make the value of ‘Iterations’ to 2. This will make the turtle look smoother.

36. Let’s slice the turtle into two and copy the other side so that we’ll have a symmetrical object. Click on polygon and select all polygons. Then, click on the ‘Slice Plane’ button. Make sure that you slice the turtle at the center. When you’re done moving the plane, click on ‘Slice’.

37. Select the other side of the turtle which doesn’t have the eye and the fins and press delete.

38. We’ll attach the eye to the body of the turtle. Select the turtle and click on edge. Click on the button settings beside ‘Attach’ and choose the sphere object. After that, click on the ‘Attach’ button below.

39. Let’s mirror the object. Click on the ‘Mirror’ button which is located at the Main Toolbar. Make the necessary changes to the configuration so as the turtle will have its other side beside it.

40. Move the two sides together just like the figure below.

41. Attach the two sides and we’re done! Our turtle should look like the one below. Next topic, Texturing our 3D models.

DEFORMATION TECHNIQUES

2011-07-04T00:20:00.000-07:00

There are other modeling techniques which simply deform primitive shapes. They maybe common but you can model almost anything using Bend, Twist, and Taper modifiers. Let me show you how to use them. I’ll begin with Bend.

A common primitive shape to explain Bend is cylinder. As you can see in the figure below, this is how the Bend modifier can deform the cylinder.

Figure 2-13. Bend modifier used on a cylinder.

Focus your attention on the Parameters. In the Bend group you can see there two parameters the ‘Angle’ and ‘Direction’. The Angle refers to the amount of bend you will apply to the object while the Direction points to the direction you want the object to bend.

If I will change the value of both of these parameters, notice how the object changed its bend angle and direction.

Figure 2-14. Configuring the Bend Angle and Direction.

In addition, the Bend Axis refers to which axis you want to bend the object. For example, in Figure 2-14, the object bends on the Z axis. When I change the Bend Axis to Y, this is how the cylinder looks like.

Figure 2-15. Bend modifier applied on the Y axis.

It’s not a pretty picture but it clearly shows you how you may use these parameters to deform your primitives. Next, we’ll use the Twist modifier.

This time I’ll use a box to demonstrate how Twist works.

Figure 2-16. Twist modifier applied to a box.

Apparently, the Twist modifier has almost the same Parameters with that of Bend, with the exception of ‘Bias’. When you change the Twist Angle, you notice the box ‘twists’ on the amount of angle you specified. Also, the Twist Axis lets you choose which axis the object will be twisted, in this case it’s a box.

I always use the Tube object to show my students how the Taper modifier works. In the figure below, Taper has entirely different set of parameters compared to Bend and Twist modifiers.

Figure 2-17. Taper modifier parameters.

If the value of the Taper Amount is positive, the object tends to taper outwards.

Figure 2-18. Taper Amount is positive.

Of course, if the value is negative then the object tends to taper inwards.

Figure 2-19. Taper Amount is negative.

Then, you have the ‘Curve’. The principle behind the curve is just the same with the amount. If the Curve Amount is positive, the curve is outwards, vice versa.

Figure 2-20. Curve Amount is positive.

Figure 2-21. Curve Amount is negative.

You can play around with the Taper Axis. There’s the Primary and Effect Axes. See what happens if I change the Primary Axis to ‘Y’.

Figure 2-22. Primary Axis is on Y.

You can model almost any object using these techniques. The moment you master these techniques try experimenting on other modifiers. Furthermore, you can use more than one modifier to an object at the same time. As an example, you can create a bended (Bend) arc (Loft).

In the next entry of this blog, I will teach you how to model organic objects. Organic objects refer to life forms such as animals and human characters. Anything that has life or is ‘organic’ can also be modeled using primitive shapes such as the box.

LOFT

2011-07-02T22:24:00.000-07:00

There’s one thing I would like you learn how to model and that is lofting. It’s more complex than the previous modeling techniques you learned so far. In lofting 3D objects you need 2 things. One is the shape of the object and second is the path which the shape of the object will follow. Let me show you how it works.

I will place an Arc in the Front viewport. This will be the path of the object. Then, a circle will do for the shape of my 3D model.

Figure 2-9. Arc path, and Circle shape.

This time, the Loft command is found in the Create tab instead in the Modify tab. In the Geometry panel choose ‘Compound Objects’ in the drop-down menu. You can find the Loft button at the bottom. Make sure you select either the Arc or the Circle to enable Loft.

Figure 2-10. The Loft command button.

In my case, the Arc is selected. I will click on the ‘Get Shape’ button located at the ‘Creation Method’ group. Then, click on the Circle which is the shape of the loft object.

Figure 2-11. The Lofted object.

Notice how simple it is to do lofting. You can loft simple to complex objects. Why don’t you try the activity I prepared for you below? Good luck!

Figure 2-12. Perspective view of the lofted object.

Try This!

1. We’ll use the click and drag technique in drawing the path of the object. We’ll create a G clef object.

Click on the Line button and make sure the Initial Type is Corner and the Drag Type is Smooth. In this way we can apply the click and drag technique easily.

2. Maximize the Front viewport so that we can focus our attention to drawing the object. Place the mouse pointer at the center of the viewport then click (single press) on it and move the pointer to the upper right portion. Like this.

3. This time click the left mouse button and drag the pointer to the lower right side. Just follow the image below.

4. Then, as just what you did click and drag the mouse pointer according the to the path of the object we want to loft. Follow the points below where you need to click and drag.

5. When you reach the last point, don’t click anymore instead you press the right mouse button to end the drawing.

6. For the shape of the object, we’ll choose the ellipse.

7. We are now ready to loft our object. Go to the Geometry panel, select the Compound Objects in the drop-down list. Click on the Loft button. Make sure that the path (which is the drawing) is selected.

8. Click on the Get Shape button and place the mouse pointer on the ellipse and click on it.

9. There it is! Our 3D version of the G clef.

EXTRUDE

2011-07-02T04:35:00.000-07:00

EXTRUDE

Another technique that requires drawing is extrude. Unlike lathe surface, extrude requires you to draw the entire shape of the object. However, the result will not be a rounded shape object rather a flat surface of your drawing. Let me show you by example.

Still, we use line to draw the object. If you’re fond of logo design, perhaps you would want to master this technique. Our object is a fireball.

Figure 2-7. Line drawing of a fireball object.

Notice how I used the Corner as the Initial Type and Smooth as the Drag Type. If you have been using other graphics tool then you should be familiar with the process on how to draw curves and pointed curves.

Applying Extrude will result to the figure below. In the Parameters, change the value of the ‘Amount’ to 10.

Figure 2-8. Extruded version of the fireball.
Try This!

Now, it’s your turn to extrude some line objects.

1. Go to Shapes and click on the ‘Text’ button. Then, place it on the Front viewport by clicking on it.

2. Under the ‘Parameters’, change the text in the ‘Text:’ box to ‘3D Max’. Choose ‘Comic Sans MS Bold’ as the font type. If you don’t have Comic Sans, any cartoon-like font will do.

3. Apply the Extrude modifier. Then, make the value of ‘Amount’ to 10.

You can also try several shapes such as the Star. Try it!

COMMON MODELING TECHNIQUES

2011-06-30T00:54:00.000-07:00

We have come to the part which you have to model your objects starting from lines and curves. The following techniques require you to draw the shapes of the object you want to model and apply the specific modifier.

LATHE SURFACE

In using the Lathe modifier, you must remember that you only have to draw the one side of a rounded object. Then, apply Lathe.

Usually, when I explain Lathe surfacing to my students I use the chalice as an example. It’s easy to draw and has very nice curves for a 3D model. So let me show you how to model a chalice using Lathe.

We’ll get the line from the Shapes button on the Create tab. It’s just beside the Geometry.

Figure 2-2. Shapes command panel.

In the Creation Method, the Initial Type is Corner and the Drag Type is Smooth. We want to be able to create the curves of the chalice by dragging and the pointed areas just by clicking.

Figure 2-3. The Creation Method.

With the combination of clicking and dragging, I start to draw the one side only of a chalice. You’ll need regular practice for you to understand how the curves and the pointed parts of the chalice are drawn. I only manage to understand this concept after I started teaching 3D Max to my first class in animation.

Figure 2-4. The Chalice as drawn on its one side only.

Then, I’m going to apply the Lathe modifier found in the Modify tab, Modifier List. Check it out.

Figure 2-5. Lathe modifier.

If you look at the object now it doesn’t quite look like a chalice. That’s because we still need to configure something in the Parameters section. With the object still highlighted, on the Parameters section on the right, click on the ‘Min’ button under the ‘Align’ group. There it is! Our chalice made by just a drawing of its one side.

Figure 2-6. Compete model of a chalice using Lathe.

Try This!

1. Now why don’t you start practicing by drawing some of the chess pieces such as the pawn, bishop, rook, and the queen! Just draw the one side and apply Lathe.

Note: Don’t forget to click the Min button on the Parameters or your object will not appear as what you want it to be.

Part 2 - Modeling

2011-06-28T20:54:00.000-07:00

This part of the blog deals with modeling your 3D objects, from using standard geometric primitives to the more complex organic modeling. Modeling your 3D objects is usually the first step in creating 3D animations. In addition, this stage in animation is the hardest and longest compared to the rest of the steps in the animation process. Let’s start with the basics of modeling which are the geometric primitives.

A. Geometric Primitives

Primitives are the basic shapes in 3D animation. They are very familiar to us because most of these primitives we have learned from kindergarten to geometry in high school. It includes the simple circle and the more complex Torus. You can actually model a complex object from any of the primitives especially the box. I’ll introduce to you how to model simple objects using the standard geometric primitives found in 3DS Max.

BOX

The first primitive you can see on the command panel. In the figure below you can see a box on the Perspective. Focus your attention on the lower right portion of the command panel that says ‘Parameters’. Observe the different parameters you can use to modify your box object.

Figure 2-1. The Box primitive.

Try This!

1. Place a box on the front viewport by simply clicking on the ‘Box’ button on the command panel and drag it on the viewport.

2. At the lower portion of the command panel, go to ‘Parameters’ and place the mouse pointer on the ‘up-down’ buttons just beside the text box labeled ‘Length’.

3. Just drag it upwards or downwards until you reach the desired length of the box. Do the same for the width and height of the object. You can also type-in the values for the length, width, and height of the box if you want a more accurate measurement.

Try doing the same box as you can see below.

4. That’s how you model your box just by changing the values in the parameters section.

SPHERE

Just try and explore the rest of the primitives. For example here’s what you can change from the parameters section of a sphere.

Try This!

1. Change the number of segments from 32 to 5 and check out how your sphere will look like.

CYLINDER

Try This!

1. Check on box labeled ‘Slice On’ and move the arrow down beside ‘Slice From’ and you’ll see your new cylinder.

TORUS

CONE

PLANE

There are many primitives in Max that I will not cover in this book. I suggest you take a look at them and try them to see how you can use them in your models. In the activity below, we’ll make a simple 3D model of a table.

Try This!

1. Place a box in the Perspective viewport and follow the Parameters as shown in the figure below.

2. Now, place another box on the Top viewport somewhere at the lower left side of the first box. Use the following parameters. This will be the leg of the table.

3. With the box (leg) still selected, press the ‘Shift’ key and drag the box to the right, then release the Shift key. The ‘Clone Options’ dialog box will appear. Just leave the default settings as it is. Notice that we are going to copy only 1 box.

4. Do the same for the last 2 remaining legs of the table.

5. Our table is complete. All we have to do is to rotate all the objects together so that the model will look upright on its 4 legs. Select all the objects in the Front viewport and rotate the table upwards using the Rotate button.

6. There it is! Your 3D model of a table using boxes. Go and experiment on the different Geometric Primitives and try to model real world objects such as furniture and appliances.

LOWER INTERFACE BAR CONTROLS

2011-06-28T00:14:00.000-07:00

In this part of Max’s user interface we focus our attention to the lower portion of the application. Most of the buttons found in this area are used in the animation of your models. The Viewport Navigation buttons which are located at the lower right of the Max interface will be used more often. These buttons will help you move around the viewports as you work with your models. In addition, let me show you the different parts of the lower portion of Max.

TIME SLIDER AND TRACK BAR

You use the Time Slider to move around the Track Bar. The Track Bar shows you the number of frames currently used in your animation. By default, the frame count is 100 and it approximately results to a 3 second animation. Eventually, you can configure the number of frames and I’ll show you where to do that after I’ll discuss the Status Bar and Key

Figure 1-17. The Lower Interface Bar with the Time Slider and Track Bar.

STATUS BAR

The Status bar indicates the position of your 3D objects on the active viewport. It also contains a description of what will be your next step.

Figure 1-18. The Status Bar.

KEY CONTROLS

These controls allow you to set the key frames when you start animating your objects. You will start using these buttons at the last part of this book.

Figure 1-19. Key Controls with the Auto and Set Keys.

TIME CONTROLS

The Time Controls have similar buttons to that of a media player. It has play, pause, move forward, and next buttons. But as I have mentioned, you can change the duration of your animation using the Time Configuration button.

Try This!

1. Click on the Time Configuration button at the lower right end part of the Time Controls.

2. In the Time Configuration dialog box, under the Animation section, change the Length of the animation from 100 to 200 frames. Then, click the OK button.

3. Now, your new Track Bar shows a total of 200 frames.

VIEWPORT NAVIGATION CONTROLS

There are buttons which can help you move around the viewports and these are the Viewport Navigation Controls. I’ll demonstrate some of the most useful of these buttons below.

Figure 1-20. The Viewport Navigation Controls.

Try This!

1. Place a Teapot in the Front viewport. Click on the Zoom button and drag it on any viewport. That’s how it works!

2. This time click on the Pan View button. Place the hand pointer on any viewport and drag it. It allows you to pan around the viewport.

3. Click on the Arc Rotate button and click the Perspective viewport. Notice that a yellow circle appears. You can click on any of the four small boxes and drag on it so that you can view the object in perspective view without actually rotating the object. Or you can simply drag the Perspective viewport to freely rotate the object.

4. Click on the Front viewport then click the Maximize Viewport Toggle button. Notice that the Front viewport in maximized. If you want to return to the original four viewports, just click on the Maximize Viewport Toggle button again.

Moreover, the Zoom Extents All button allows you to zoom all objects in all the viewports at the same time. Try it!

So that’s it! The Max user interface. As a review, I have prepared labels for the different parts of the interface below. So don’t forget!

Figure 1-21. 3DS Max User Interface.

In the next part of this blog, I will teach how to make your first 3D models!

The Command Panel

2011-06-27T03:46:00.000-07:00

Let me show you the Command Panel. It has several tabs. But we’ll just use the Create, Modify, Hierarchy, and Display tabs in the entirety of this book. You can also access the different commands in the Command panel on the Main Menu bar.

CREATE TAB

In this tab you can find most of the options you need in creating your 3D models. It contains the Geometry, Shapes, Lights, Cameras, Helpers, Systems, and Space Warps. This is where you got the Teapot in the earlier section.

Figure 1-13. The Create tab.
MODIFY TAB

As what the name says, it lists all of the modifiers available for you to model your primitive shapes.

Figure 1-14. Modify list.

HIERARCHY TAB

Here, you will be able to change the pivot position of your rigged objects for moving, rotating, and scaling.

Figure 1-15. The Hierarchy Tab.

DISPLAY TAB

Under the Display Tab you can Hide objects when you don’t want to see them on your active viewport.

Figure 1-16. The Display tab.

VIEWPORTS AND VIEWPORT OPTIONS (INCLUDING GIZMOS)

2011-06-25T21:04:00.000-07:00

Viewports allow you to see your 3D objects in different view angles. There are four viewports in Max. By default, the Front, Top, Left, and the Perspective viewports are activated when you start the application. However, you can always change the views as I explain them to you in this section.

Figure 1-9. Default viewports when you start Max.

You can change the views by right-clicking on the viewport label. Then, choose ‘Views’. On the submenu, select the views you want.

Figure 1-10. Changing the views on the active viewport.

Also, you can change the way you view your objects in the pop-up menu. Choose ‘Smooth + Highlights’ if you want to see the actual 3D model. By default, Wireframe is selected.

Figure 1-11. Smooth + Highlights is selected.

Of course, there are the gizmos. These arrows are quite handy when you work with your 3D models.

Figure 1-12. The Gizmos.

The Main Toolbar

2011-06-24T22:04:00.000-07:00

Figure 1-2 The Main Toolbar

The Main Toolbar is located just below the Main Menu. It has several buttons which I will introduce to you in this section.

UNDO AND REDO BUTTONS

Figure 1-3. The Undo and Redo buttons (encircled).

These buttons are used every time you want to make changes to your work. But there’s a catch! You can only make until 20 undos. I have checked it out and it really does count only up to 20. Unlike MS Word, which you can list down all the changes you made to your document, you have to be sure of the changes you make to your MAX files.

SELECT AND LINK AND BIND TO SPACE WARP

Figure 1-4. The Select and Link and Bind To Space Warp buttons.

If you want to link two or more objects, then you can use the SELECT AND LINK button. It works pretty much like on how you group objects in a document file. You can also link a 3D object to a space warp such as Bones. I’ll teach you how to use these buttons when we reach Part V which is Rigging and Animation.

By the way, you can place the mouse pointer on top of every button to see the label of the button you’re trying to use.

SELECT AND MOVE, ROTATE AND UNIFORM SCALE

Figure 1-5. Select and Move, Rotate and Uniform Scale buttons.

We’ll be using these buttons more often than the other buttons found on the Main toolbar. Let me just go over and discuss briefly what these buttons do.

SELECT AND MOVE – When you want to select or move your objects in the space, you use the Select and Move button. Just a note, use this button if you want to change the position of the object/s you are working with in the virtual space. You will encounter another button which functions similarly with Select and Move but does not affect the position of the object you’re working.

SELECT AND ROTATE – Use this button when you want to rotate the object relatively in its position. Again, there’s another that works just the same as Select and Rotate. I’ll introduce these buttons later.

SELECT AND UNIFORM SCALE – Curiously, you can also change the length, width or both at the same time using the Select and Uniform Scale button. Don’t worry, you’ll be working with these three buttons shortly.

MIRROR AND ALIGN

Figure 1-6. The Mirror and Align buttons.

Copying 3D objects in Max is also possible. There are two ways. One is to use the Mirror button and the other one is by pressing the SHIFT key and simply move the object. You can also align objects with the Align button.

MATERIAL EDITOR

Figure 1-7. Material Editor button.

Placing colors or textures to your 3D objects will be done using the Material Editor. At first, your 3D objects will look barely in one color, just like the famous ghost cartoon Slimer. But when you start working with the Material Editor things can be really fun!

QUICK RENDER

Figure 1-8. The Quick Render button.

I guess you have heard the term render before. As what the word says, the Quick Render button allows you to render your work without having to configure anything. You will learn more about rendering at the last part of this book. For now, why don’t you try out the activity I prepared for you?

Try This!

In this activity, I will orient you with the common buttons that you will be using more frequently than the other buttons found in Max.

1. You may save your work as ‘Teapot-test.max’.
2. Locate the button ‘Teapot’ at the right side of Max. Then click on it.

3. Place the Teapot on the ‘Front’ viewport. Just drag the object at the center of the viewport.

4. This time click on the Select and Move button on the Main toolbar. Notice that you will see two arrows in the Front viewport. The green arrow represents the Y axis while the red arrow represents the X axis. These arrows are called gizmos.

Now, I want you to move the teapot to the center of the Front viewport by placing your mouse pointer on the head of the green arrow. Just drag it upwards and downwards. Do the same for the red arrow, but this time drag it sideways.

5. There’s another way of doing that. Notice the two lines forming at the corner of the two arrows? Yes, place the mouse pointer on either of the lines, the green, the red, you choose. When the corner is highlighted, you can drag it anytime.

6. That’s about moving the object. Let’s turn the Teapot upwards so that it does not look like someone has just spilled tea on the floor. Click on the Select and Rotate on the Main toolbar this time.

7. Place the mouse pointer on the red line. Then, slowly drag it upwards.

8. Adjust its position move the Teapot exactly at the center of the Front viewport.

9. We’ll stretch our Teapot to make it look cartoony. Click on the Select and Uniform Scale button on the Main toolbar.

10. Place the mouse pointer on the green line (vertical). Then, drag it upwards. Stretch it!

11. Let’s make a copy of our tall Teapot. Make sure the Teapot is still activated. You can say this if the object is highlighted in the viewports (line color is white). Click on the Mirror button on the Main Toolbar.

12. The ‘Mirror: Screen Coordinates’ dialog box will appear. Under the ‘Clone Section’, tick on copy. You may now click on the ‘OK’ button.

13. Using the Select and Move button, place the new Teapot beside the first one. Just like the figure below.

14. After this, you can take a quick look of your work by clicking on the ‘Quick Render’ button found still on the Main toolbar. Max will render the viewport that is active (highlighted in yellow line).

Well, I hope you liked what you’ve learned so far. I’ll continue introducing you to the other parts of Max interface.

Part 1 - Familiarizing the User Interface

2011-06-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

3DS Max has a complex user interface. It has five major groups of commands which you need to get used to in order to fully appreciate 3DS Max’ complexity. In this part of the blog, I will introduce you to the file management and file extensions, the main toolbar, viewports and viewports options (including the gizmos), the command panel, and the lower interface bar controls. I’ll start with the first group.

A. FILE MANAGEMENT AND FILE EXTENSIONS

Figure 1-1. The ‘Save File As’ dialog box.

You can see a very familiar user interface at the top of Max. This is the Menu bar. Just like in any other applications, this bar always has the File menu, Edit and Views menus. However, in 3DS Max, there are more menus which are specifically for 3D animation. I won’t be discussing all of them here. You just have to get familiarized with the common menus that I’ll be using in this blog.

When you save your files, Max by default saves them in the ‘scenes’ folder. But you can always place your files anywhere in your computer. The ‘History’ box shows you where to find your files.

By the way, the file extension is MAX. That’s why often times we call our files as “Max files”. This is to indicate that this file is accessible using 3DS Max.

Try This!

1. Load 3DS Max on your computer.
2. Go to FILE, select SAVE AS.
3. On the SAVE FILE AS dialog box, type ‘test’ in the FILE NAME box.
4. Click on the SAVE button.
5. This time, open MY COMPUTER from your desktop.
6. Go to C:\Program Files. Look for the folder ‘Autodesk’, and double-click on it.
7. Open the folder ‘3dsMax8’, which is the version I’m using. Then, open the ‘scenes’ folder.
8. There it is! Your first Max file!

Learn 3D Animation Using 3DS Max

2011-06-23T03:30:00.001-07:00

Animation is one of the most popular forms of entertainment. It gives us the idea that the images we see are alive and moving. In real sense, animation is just a series of images brought together to show actions or illusions. In addition, animation has many forms. There is the traditional cel animation. This type of animation uses cel technology where artists draw images on cels. Puts these cels together and takes picture on these cels. Later the images are sequenced to form an animation film. One of the most popular forms of animations today is computer animation. Specifically, 3D animation is the most sought after production in the entertainment industry today. As we can remember in 1995 the first ever full length 3D animated film Toy Story came to life. After that year we have witnessed series of 3D animated films from various studios such as Pixar, Dreamworks and Blue Sky Studio.

Many aspiring animators would like to enter the 3D animation world and join companies like the ones I mentioned above. Here, in the Philippines, there are many schools which offer courses in 3D animation. Currently, I am teaching 3D animation at Universal College of Southeast Asia and the Pacific. But what are the prospects for aspiring 3D animators and how will they join the animation industry? Animation has a wide area of application. It is centered in the entertainment industry from films, television to computer games. There are a lot of jobs for a single animator to apply for. This is because in animation more people are needed to create quality productions. Most of the animation companies would prefer applicants with 2 years or more experience in animation. However, it is not a requirement. You also have to be creative and imaginative. In producing animation, it is a must that animators are able to put into drawings their ideas and concepts for the project that they are working on.

I decided to write this blog because I want you to appreciate the wonderful things 3D animation can bring. Specifically, I aim to invite both the artistically inclined individuals and the not so artistically motivated people to learn the basics of computer animation. Through this blog people will learn how those great 3D animations are created such as Toy Story, The Incredibles and many other animated movies. The objective of this book is for you to learn the fundamentals of computer animation in a small amount of time possible. This is because I considered how busy we are in our daily lives. We might not have the luxury of attending trainings and even going to school to learn about the subject. I made sure you will easily understand the concepts by modularizing the subject and I have prepared activities for you to practice once you grasp the whole picture.

Part 1 is familiarizing the 3DS Max user interface. Part 2 is all about modeling your 3D objects and environment. Then, you'll learn the different texturing techniques in Part 3. After that, I'll teach how to use Max's built-in lights and cameras for you to set-up in your animation. Part 5 is rigging and animation. This is where you will move your 3D objects and actually do some animations! Of course, the last part is rendering your animations to image and video files.

I'll start posting tomorrow. So check my blog regularly.

AD Poster Lay Out

2011-03-22T17:59:00.000-07:00

Thor Sagrado

2010-09-05T03:42:00.001-07:00

Guava Logo

2010-09-02T22:55:00.000-07:00

How I Met You

2010-08-26T15:54:00.000-07:00

Patriotic Logo

2010-07-09T03:15:00.000-07:00

The Genie and the Driver

2010-02-28T03:21:00.000-08:00

Cartooney Eyes

2010-02-11T18:35:00.001-08:00

A Hello World In Flash Animation

2009-12-26T18:28:00.000-08:00

This is my version of a "Hello world" in Flash Animation.

Universal College AVP

2009-12-06T16:48:00.000-08:00

UCSAP Seal

2009-11-26T04:50:00.001-08:00

The new seal of Universal College of Southeast Asia and the Pacific (UCSAP) has four distinct symbols. These are the letter U, the globe, sun rays, and the abbreviation of the full name of the school.

At the center of the seal is the globe. It symbolizes the universality of the values of its students and employees. Also, it refers to the vision of the school of producing skilled workers in the Philippines and the Southeast Asia.

There are seven rays of the sun rising at the top of the globe. This refers to the seven technical and vocational courses the school is offering. Courses in the information and communications technology (ICT) include computer programming, animation, computer hardware servicing, and PC operations. In the healthcare sector, the courses are massage therapy, biomedical equipment technician, and pharmacy assistant.

Encompassing these symbols is the letter U. It is taken from the first letter of the name of the school. This is also the most recognizable symbol in the seal.
Above the big letter U is the abbreviation UCSAP which stands for Universal College of Southeast Asia and the Pacific. This is the full name of the school.

5th National Biotechnology Week Logo Design Contest Entry

2009-11-20T22:12:00.000-08:00

This is my entry to the logo contest hosted by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). The department is celebrating its fifth year of advocating the use of biotechnology in the country.

I used Macromedia Flash version 8. Hoped to receive a confirmation letter that I have won. No letter came.

Ateneo HS '99 Batch Shirt Design

2009-11-17T02:54:00.000-08:00

After a series of consultations with my batch mates, we finally decided our shirt design for this year's Ateneo Alumni Homecoming. This year we celebrate 10 years from finishing high school. I am happy that we will all meet together again.

By the way, I used Macromedia Flash 8 in designing the shirt. I hope you like it too.

3D Koi Fish Animation

2009-10-30T05:45:00.000-07:00

Cartoon Version Of Me

2009-10-20T19:03:00.001-07:00

Landas ng Wika

2009-09-25T12:17:00.000-07:00

My Stuff Demo Reel

2009-09-14T03:42:00.000-07:00

My First Official Business

2009-06-10T18:37:00.000-07:00

Ateneo High School Logo

2009-05-30T05:28:00.000-07:00

Files From Training

2009-01-25T20:42:00.000-08:00

Image 3. My last 3D model after my training in Quezon city. I created this model from a tutorial (reference book which was given to me by my instructor). Thank you sir Nonoy!

Image 2. This second image was modeled from the actual chair that I sat during my training in Quezon city. It was my first time to leave Zamboanga after 18 years. Also, it was my first time to fly.

Image 1 - Electric Fan. This is my first model using 3D Max. My instructor asked me to model the fan using all the modeling techniques that I have learned so far. It was the fan that was used in the place where I stayed.

My Recent Logo Creations

2008-12-07T04:25:00.000-08:00

Logo 1. Used during the short-lived health program in my previous company.

Logo 2. Well, uh...this is another logo I created when I was still working in my previous company. This was the official logo of a student organization composed of artists. It survived for at least one term. Then the club was abolished because both of the moderators left the company...of which I was one of the two.

Logo 3. Ah. This one has another story. I created this logo to give the babies of my high school classmates a sense of belongingness to our friendship.

Logo 4. And of course the official logo of our high school class. Gonzaga Pirates!

My Videos

2008-05-02T01:39:00.000-07:00

Jopakazol! Check out my videos!

1. STI Musical - "We presented this video during our company's general meeting."
2. Gonzaga Tribute - "Dedicated to our high school class. It was after Vanjie's wedding."

I'll add my latest videos from time to time.

My Animations!

2008-04-29T23:42:00.000-07:00

Check out my sample animations! I used 3D Studio Max 9, Flash 8, and Premier. Someday, I'll be a professional 3D animator!

1. Only Hope
2. The Monkey And The Turtle
3. Strawberry Shortcake
4. Paramount Pictures
5. Jet Fighter Crash
6. Folding Chair
7. Buddy
8. CWorks Logo Animation
9. Backdrop

Chuvanes!

Hehey!

2008-04-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's very exciting to have my own place in the Internet. This blog is where I will place all my works and whatever it is that I want to share.

I'm still organizing the stuff that I will be placing so just come back whenever you feel like it.

Thank you!

I'm here!

2008-04-28T20:04:00.000-07:00

Hi! I'm just starting to blog. See you soon!