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-SECTION 2- [3DMAX]
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We will be learning the basics of 3d max, and how to create some basic objects
Introduction
I'll cover your basics, what you need, and how to use it. just bare in mind it took me 3years to get past the intimidation that is 3dmax. just remember practice, practice, practice. also make some sticky notes, it'll help speed up your learning, really!
Alright, so now you are asking, what the heck do i need to do this. well
A you need
3dmax (3dmax8, 3dmax9, or 3dmax2008)
So you can download 3dmax as a trial, or you can also purchase the product at their main site
www.autodesk.com/3dsmax. and please no >> show your support, common.
*Download and Install until you read on to the next step
Orientation of 3Dmax
Now assuming
you have 3dmax now installed on your computer. I will overview the UI (user interface) and how you will get around it.
I'll show this through various screenshots, to show the break down of the areas i will be explaining :D
A. - File Menu
this is real simple... you need only pay attention to your
save as/save option here. this will save your progress so it is not lost forever! - save often.
merge may also become helpful to you, as you can, you guessed it! ..combine 2 of your saved files into on, big file.
Import/Export are primarily used for trading models from other 3d programs, which comes in handy. it supports a large library of other formats
More commonly doa will comes as (*.3ds)
B. - MainToolBar
we have 5 tools, the ones i don't know, i labeled with ?? these will not be covered.
Pointer - well it is like a normal pointer finger.. it doesn't do anything but look like a spearhead.. haha you figure that one out.
List Manager - click this will open a new box, which will show you everything you have open in the scene. like the model you have in it, or a light you create, bones, what ever you make it will be listed here.
Mover - This will move your model, or other objects in the scene like cameras, lights, etc and reposition them based on X Y Z. you can see in this diagram how each of the veiwports control each of the XYZ'z
X - Left/Right
Y - Up/Down
Z - Back/Forth
Perspective is cool, it controls these all at once and shows the scene in full 3d!
And while we are on the topic of veiwports, i will show you this other diagram;
by right clicking on the upper left text in the corner of each wiewport, you will have options to change what view you want to have. incase you want to re arrange your setup or you can also toggle on and off wire or shade mode here
Rotator - Again this is simple, instead of moving side to side, up and down, this just rotates, turns whatever objects are in your scene to whatever angle you wish.
Resizer - This will make the things smaller or bigger, really comes in handy
C. - Snap Tool
This invention really helps. say you have 2 boxes and you want to bud them right to each other. well this will snap them together, perfectly without a gap. i won't be using this much at all in further tuts, but ever good app has snap, and here is this one.
also right clicking on the snap button will bring up the options for snap, which you can then toggle how snap will work, ok.
D. - Mirror Tool
yet again another tool i probably will not speak of again, but this tool will mirror your work and create a double. good for making models from scratch.
E. - Command Panel
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! this controls everything you want to do or create, everything is done from this side panel.
here we will really need to deal with these 2 Tabs in the panel
The pointer tab is the
Creation tab, and the blue bridge is the
Modifier tab
Here I'll show a frame frame of each sub tab under the
Create tab
I've also highlighted in purple what you would normally use under each subtab when creating that sort of thing.
Now the
Modifier Tab this really can't be explained until you have an object/model in you scene. but once you do you will have a drop down with many options.
F. - Navigation Controls
This is what you use to rotate the perspective viewerport around your model to get a better look at things. try it out
There are 3 ones you'll primarily use.
Zoom, Pan and
Rotate
Alternatively these navi controls can be done with the mouse's scroll button.
Scrolling = Zoom
Hold Scroll+Drag = Pan
hold both Ctrl key + Scroll Button = Rotate.
G. - World Space
It sounds cooler then it really is, this will just display the position in XYZ of an object or model you highlight. also Pressing
F12 will bring up a floating window, of the world space display, encase you want to move it around..
H. - Property Menu
Oops forgot to label it in the initial UI diagram.. ok heres another shot of it. you'll get this when you right click on an object or model in any of the viewports.
useful are the hide/unhide commands, these can help you hide cameras or or other models that are cluttering up you scene. freeze also works simular but leaves a grey outline of the object frozen. Also pay attention to the convert to menu you may need this later on, ok.