Hungry minds 3ds max 4 bible aug 2001 ISBN 0764535846 pdf

• Master the new features in 3ds max, from the enhanced modeling features to improved Inverse Kinematics • Create sophisticated 3D models using NURBS, splines, patches, meshes, and comp

by-step tutorials, this all-in-one guide gets you up to speed quickly on the basics — and provides expanded

coverage of advanced techniques With incisive insights into the next-generation enhancements to 3ds max,

16 pages of full-color examples, and a CD-ROM featuring exclusive plug-ins, it’s just what you need to take

your animations to the next level.

PC running Windows 98 or later, Windows NT 4

or later See the CD-ROM appendix for details

and complete system requirements

animation techniques

Harness the latest 3ds max enhancements, from ActiveShade to Render Elements

Extend the program’s functionality using cool plug-ins

JAM-PACKED CD-ROM!

• Exclusive Furious Research plug-ins, including a Rainbow atmospheric effect and a Sketch render effect

• Sample 3D models from Viewpoint Database, Zygote Media, and more!

• Cool products including Rhino 3D demo and Poser 4 trial

Begin animating today with a Quick Start tutorial!

• Master the new features in 3ds max, from the enhanced modeling

features to improved Inverse Kinematics

• Create sophisticated 3D models using NURBS, splines, patches,

meshes, and compound objects

• Build intricate special effects using particle systems and Space Warps

• Master the Expression Controller and other advanced animation tools

• Simulate realistic materials and textures using the Material Editor

• Decrease total rendering time using a network

• Learn to program your own 3ds max plug-ins

™

Create and control particle systems

Blend models and backgrounds

to create vibrant animations

3ds max ™ 4 Bible

Kelly L Murdock

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New York, NY ◆ Cleveland, OH ◆ Indianapolis, IN

3ds max ™ 4 Bible

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Hungry Minds, Inc.

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www.hungryminds.com

Copyright © 2001 Hungry Minds, Inc All rights reserved No part of this book, including interior design, cover design, and icons, may be reproduced

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LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: THE PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR HAVE USED THEIR BEST EFFORTS IN PREPARING THIS BOOK THE PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS BOOK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE THERE ARE NO WARRANTIES WHICH EXTEND BEYOND THE DESCRIPTIONS CONTAINED IN THIS PARAGRAPH NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES REPRESENTATIVES OR WRITTEN SALES MATERIALS THE ACCURACY AND COMPLETENESS OF THE INFORMATION PROVIDED HEREIN AND THE OPINIONS STATED HEREIN ARE NOT GUARANTEED OR WARRANTED TO PRODUCE ANY PARTICULAR RESULTS, AND THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY INDIVIDUAL NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR OTHER DAMAGES FULFILLMENT OF EACH COUPON OFFER IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE OFFEROR.

Trademarks: 3ds max is a trademark or registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc All other trademarks are the

property of their respective owners Hungry Minds, Inc is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

is a trademark of Hungry Minds, Inc.

About the Author

Kelly Murdock has been involved with more computer books than he cares to

count — to the point that he avoids the computer book section of the bookstore,except for the graphics section, which still remains an obsession His book creditsinclude various Web, graphics, and multimedia titles, including the first edition of

this book, the 3ds max 4 Bible Other major accomplishments include Master HTML and XHTML Visually, JavaScript Blueprints, and co-authoring the Illustrator 9 Bible

JavaScript Kelly also co-authored Laura Lemay’s Web Workshop: 3D Graphics and VRML 2 at a time when we all thought VRML was going somewhere.

With a background in engineering and computer graphics, Kelly has been all overthe 3D industry He’s used high-level CAD workstations for product design and anal-ysis, completed several large-scale visualization projects, created 3D models for fea-ture films, worked as a freelance 3D artist, and even done some 3D programming.Kelly’s been using 3D Studio on and off since version 3 for DOS He is also the cre-ative force behind the children’s Web site, Animabets.com at www.animabets.com

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Creating beauty enlightens the soul.

Creating humor increases joy.

Creating horror conjures sleeping demons.

Creating pathos builds compassion.

Creating innovation hastens the future.

Pure creation expands the emotions and makes us more than we are It is the process

of mimicking God.

To Angie, 2001

Whenever I withdrew to the computer room, my wife would say that I was

off to my “fun and games.” I would flatly deny this accusation, saying that

it was serious work that I was involved in But later, when I emerged with a twinkle

in my eye and excitedly asked her to take a look at my latest rendering, I knew thatshe was right Working with 3D graphics is pure “fun and games.”

My goal in writing this book was to take all my fun years of playing in 3D and boilthem down into something that’s worthwhile for you — the reader This goal wascompounded by the fact that all you Max-heads out there are at different levels.Luckily, I was given enough leeway that I could include a little something for everyone

The audience level for the book ranges from beginning to intermediate, with a tering of advanced topics for the seasoned user If you’re new to Max, then you’llwant to start at the beginning and move methodically through the book If you’rerelatively comfortable making your way around Max, then review the table of con-tents for sections that can enhance your fundamental base If you’re a seasonedpro, then you’ll want to watch for coverage of the features new to Release 4

smat-If you’re so excited to be working with Max that you can’t decide where to start,then head straight for the Quick Start The Quick Start is a single chapter-long tuto-rial that takes you through the creation of an entire scene and animation ThisQuick Start was included in response to some feedback from readers of the first edi-tion who complained that they didn’t know where to start For those of you whowere too anxious to wade through a mountain of material before you could createsomething, this Quick Start is for you

Another goal of this book is to make it a complete reference for Max To achievethis goal, I’ve gone into painstaking detail on almost every feature in the basic corepackage, including coverage of every primitive, material and map type, modifier,and controller

As this book has come together, I’ve tried to write the type of book that I’d like toread I’ve tried to include a variety of different scenes that are infused with creativ-ity It is my hope that these examples will not only teach you how to use the soft-ware, but provide a creative springboard for you in your own projects After all,that’s what turns 3D graphics from work into “fun and games.”

What Is Max?

Max is coming of age Now with the number 4 attached to its name, it is starting toshow some maturity Before we go any further, I should explain my naming conven-tion The official name of the product in this release is 3ds max 4 with a lowercase

“m,” but I will simply refer to it as Max with a capital “M.” This reference is a name given to a piece of software that has become more familiar to me than thefamily pet (whose name is Pepper by the way) I have not been successful in train-ing Max to come when I call or sit, but it will on occasion play dead

nick-One way we humans develop our personalities is to incorporate desirable ity traits from those around us Max’s personality is developing as well — every newrelease has incorporated a plethora of desirable new features Many of these fea-tures come from the many additional plug-ins being developed to enhance Max.With Release 4, Max has adopted many features that were available as plug-ins forprevious releases Several new features have been magically assimilated into thecore product, including the ActiveShade window and the Render elements Theseadditions make Max’s personality much more likable

personal-Other personality traits are gained by stretching our beings in new directions Maxand its developers have accomplished this feat as well, with such things as theoverhauled Inverse Kinematics features and Parameter Wiring capabilities

As Max grows up, it will continue to mature by adopting new features and inventingothers

About This Book

Let me paint a picture of the writing process It starts with years of experience,which is followed by months of painstaking research There were system crashesand personal catastrophes and the always present, ever-looming deadlines I wroteinto the early hours of the morning and during the late hours of the night — burningthe candle at both ends and in the middle all at the same time It was grueling anddifficult, and spending all this time staring at the Max interface made me feel like

well like an animator.

Sound familiar? This process actually isn’t much different from what 3D artists,modelers and animators do on a daily basis, and, like you, I find satisfaction in thefinished product

Tutorials aplenty

I’ve always been a very visual learner — the easiest way for me to gain knowledge is

by doing things for myself while exploring at the same time Other people learn byreading and comprehending ideas In this book, I’ve tried to present information in

a number of ways to make the information useable for all types of learners That iswhy you’ll see detailed discussions of the various features along with tutorials thatshow these concepts in action.

The tutorials appear throughout the book and are clearly marked with the

“Tutorial” label in front of the section title They always include a series of logicalsteps, typically ending with a figure for you to study and compare These tutorialexamples are provided on the book’s CD-ROM to give you a first-hand look and achance to get some hands-on experience

I’ve attempted to “laser focus” all the tutorials down to one or two key concepts

This means that you probably will not want to place the results in your portfolio

For example, many of the early tutorials don’t have any materials applied because Ifelt that using materials before they’ve been explained would only confuse you

I’ve attempted to think of and use examples that are diverse, unique, and ing, while striving to make them simple, light, and easy to follow I’m happy toreport that every example in the book is included on the CD-ROM along with themodels and textures required to complete the tutorial from scratch

interest-For the second edition, I’ve taken a different approach to the tutorials Rather thanmaking each tutorial start from scratch, I’ve decided to instead give you a startingpoint This approach lets me “laser focus” the tutorials even more and with fewer,more relevant steps, you can learn and experience the concepts without the com-plexity On the book’s CD-ROM, you will find the Max files that are referenced inStep 1 of most tutorials The completed tutorial’s Max file is saved with the word

final tacked on the end If you get lost midway through the tutorial, you can open

the final resulting file and see for yourself how it is supposed to work

I’ve put a lot of effort into this book, and I hope it helps you in your efforts I sent this book as a starting point In each tutorial, I’ve purposely left all the creativespice out, leaving room for you to put it in — you’re the one with the vision

pre-How this book is organized

Many different aspects of 3D graphics exist, and in some larger production houses,you might be focused on only one specific area However, for smaller organizations

or the general hobbyist, you end up wearing all the hats — from modeler and ing director to animator and post-production compositor This book is organized tocover all the various aspects of 3D graphics, regardless of the hat on your head

light-The book is divided into the following parts:

✦ Quick Start — This single chapter is an entire animation project presented in

several focused tutorials It is designed to whet your appetite and get you up

to speed and producing animations immediately

✦ Part I: Getting Started with 3ds max 4 — Whether it’s understanding the

interface, working with the viewports or dealing with files, the chapters in thispart will get you comfortable with the interface so you won’t get lost movingabout this mammoth package

✦ Part II: Working with Objects — Max objects can include meshes, cameras,

lights, Space Warps, and anything that can be viewed in a viewport This partincludes chapters on how to reference, select, clone, group, link, transform,and modify these various objects It also includes a chapter on all the variousmodifiers

✦ Part III: Modeling — Max includes several different ways to model objects.

This part includes chapters on working with spline shapes, meshes, patches,NURBS, and a variety of specialized compound objects like Lofts and Morphs

✦ Part IV: Materials and Maps — With all the various material and map types

and parameters, understanding how to create just what you want can be cult These chapters explain all the various types and how to use them

diffi-✦ Part V: Lights and Cameras — This part describes how to control lights and

cameras as well as several lighting special effects and the camera utilities.There is also a chapter on using the Camera Matching and Camera Trackingutilities

✦ Part VI: Particle Systems and Space Warps — Particle systems can be used to

create groups of thousands of particles, and Space Warps can add forces to aMax scene Chapters in this part explain and provide examples of workingwith these two unique object types

✦ Part VII: Animation — To animate your scenes, you’ll want to learn about

keyframing, the Track View, and controllers I cover all of these topics here Ialso cover expressions and dynamic simulations in this part

✦ Part VIII: Inverse Kinematics — I cover creating and working with bone

sys-tems and give complete coverage of the various Inverse Kinematics methods

in this part

✦ Part IX: Rendering and Post-Production — To produce the final output, you

can render the scene or composite it in the Video Post dialog box, asdescribed in this part In addition, this part discusses environments, RenderElements, Render Effects, and network rendering

✦ Part X: Customizing Max — This part provides details on customizing the

Max interface and environment This part also includes a chapter on usingMax’s scripting language — MAXScript

✦ Part XI: Extending Max with Plug-Ins — Plug-ins provide a way to add to

and extend the features of Max The chapters in this part explain how to useplug-ins, and one chapter explains how to create your own plug-ins

At the very end of this book, you’ll also find four appendixes that cover system figuration, Max keyboard shortcuts, plug-ins exclusive to this book, and the con-tents of the book’s CD-ROM.

con-Using the book’s icons

The following margin icons will help you get the most out of this book:

Note boxes highlight useful information that you should take into consideration

Tips provide an additional bit of advice that will make a particular feature quicker

or easier to use

Cautions warn you of a potential problem before you make a mistake

This icon highlights features that are new to Release 4

Watch for this icon to learn where in another chapter you can go to find moreinformation on a particular feature

This icon points you toward related materials that are included on the book’sCD-ROM

The book’s CD-ROM and exclusive plug-ins

Computer book CD-ROMs are sometimes just an afterthought that includes a ful of examples and product demos This book’s CD-ROM, however, is much morethan that — its content was carefully selected to provide you with an additionalresource that can supplement the book Appendix D, “What’s on the CD-ROM?” sup-plies the details of the content on the CD-ROM

hand-The CD-ROM includes a large selection of 3D models that you can use in your jects if you choose Many of these models are used in the tutorials The CD-ROMalso includes the Max files for every tutorial

pro-On the CD-ROM

If you haven’t noticed yet, most of this book is printed in black and white This canmake seeing the details (and colors) of the figures difficult The CD-ROM includes acomplete searchable version of the book along with all the figures in color.

As a special bonus, the CD-ROM also includes several custom-built, exclusive plug-insdeveloped by Furious Research and Dave Brueck, one of this book’s contributingauthors To find out more about these plug-ins, see Appendix C, “Exclusive Bible Plug-Ins.”

Color insert pages

The possibilities of Max are endless, but many individuals and groups have pushedthe software a long way As a sampling of the finished work that can be created,I’ve included a set of color insert pages that showcase some amazing work donewith Max The 3D artists represented in these pages give you some idea of what ispossible

Ihave a host of people to thank for their involvement in this major work The

order in which they are mentioned doesn’t necessarily represent the amount ofwork they did

Thanks to my family, Angela, Eric, and Thomas without whose support I wouldn’tget very far I was recently playing a game with Eric and Thomas where we needed

to guess the word on a card given some synonyms Eric gave the hint that this iswhat Dad likes to do and Thomas immediately blurted out, “Work on the com-puter!,” so I guess I haven’t hidden my work from my boys The funny part of thestory was that the word on the card was “groove.” The moral of this story is thatworking long hours on the computer is okay as long as you know how to groove

In the previous edition, the task at hand was too big for just me, so I shared the painwith two co-authors But for this edition, I’ve decided to do all the updates solo(actually Dave was busy with a book of his own, so he also had better learn how togroove) I would still like to thank my former two co-authors, Dave Brueck andSanford Kennedy, whose work, although overhauled, still maintains their spirits.Dave deserves a second huge thanks for taking time from his busy schedule torecompile the Furious Research plug-ins for Release 4 These exclusive plug-ins bythemselves make this book worth having

Major thanks and choruses of gratitude go out to the editors at Hungry Minds: toTom Heine for steering the ship during a few corporate tidal waves; to ColleenDowling, Marti Paul, and Marty Minner, who project-managed this fast ball, curveball, and screw ball all at once; to Paula Lowell for her excellent copy editing inputand to Chris Murdock for taking on the technical editing of this monster while slay-ing some computer demons of his own Additional thanks go out to Laura Moss andher co-workers in the media department for chasing down the required permissionsfor the CD-ROM content, and finally, to the entire staff at Hungry Minds who helped

me on this journey

The various people who work in the graphics industry are amazing in their ness to help and support I’d like to thank first of all David Marks and Jo-Ann Palmerand the entire Discreet beta team for getting me the product when I needed it and

willing-to Phillip Miller for taking time from his busy schedule willing-to review sections of thetext I’d also like to thank the following individuals and companies for supplyingsoftware and models:

✦ Steve Yatson at Creative Labs

✦ Mark Madsen at Zygote Media

✦ Robert Landsdale at Okino Computer Graphics

✦ Robert McNeel at Robert McNeel and Associates

✦ Lavina Larkey and Beau Perschall at Digimation

✦ Hou Soon Ming at 3D Toon Shop

✦ William Capozzi at Dedicated Digital

✦ Marvin A Lee II at 3D ParalexFinally, I’d like to thank the many artists who contributed images for the colorinsert pages for sharing their talent, knowledge and vision with us They are aninspiration to me: Molly Barr, Ian Dale, Beth Anderson, Joe Poppa, Peter Syomka,Eni Oken, Justin Durban, Virgin Lands, Tazhi Kezhet, Dawid Michalczyk andSzymon Masiak

Contents at a Glance

Preface vii

Acknowledgments xiii

Part I: Getting Started with 3ds max 4 1

Quick Start: Animating a Fighter Jet Fly-By 3

Chapter 1: Exploring the Max Interface 35

Chapter 2: Working with Viewports 75

Chapter 3: Working with Files 99

Part II: Working with Objects 131

Chapter 4: Using Primitive Objects 133

Chapter 5: Selecting Objects and Setting Object Properties 163

Chapter 6: Cloning Objects and Creating Object Arrays 187

Chapter 7: Grouping and Linking Objects 209

Chapter 8: Transforming Objects 231

Chapter 9: Using Modifiers 265

Part III: Modeling 317

Chapter 10: Modeling Basics and Miscellaneous Tools 319

Chapter 11: Drawing and Using 2D Splines and Shapes 333

Chapter 12: Working with Meshes 373

Chapter 13: Creating Patches 397

Chapter 14: Building Compound Objects 415

Chapter 15: Working with NURBS 463

Part IV: Materials and Maps 487

Chapter 16: Exploring the Material Editor 489

Chapter 17: Applying Materials 511

Chapter 18: Using Maps 545

Chapter 19: Working with Materials and Maps 589

Part V: Lights and Cameras 615

Chapter 20: Working with Lights 617

Chapter 21: Controlling Cameras 651

Chapter 22: Camera Matching and Tracking 667

Part VI: Particle Systems and Space Warps 685

Chapter 23: Creating and Controlling Particle Systems 687

Chapter 24: Using Space Warps 715

Part VII: Animation 747

Chapter 25: Animation Basics 749

Chapter 26: Working with the Track View 769

Chapter 27: Restricting Movement with Constraints 797

Chapter 28: Animating with Controllers 811

Chapter 29: Using Expressions 843

Chapter 30: Creating a Dynamic Simulation 861

Part VIII: Inverse Kinematics 883

Chapter 31: Working with Bones 885

Chapter 32: Creating and Using Inverse Kinematics 899

Part IX: Rendering and Post-Production 921

Chapter 33: Rendering Basics 923

Chapter 34: Working with Environments and Atmospheric Effects 947

Chapter 35: Using Render Elements and Effects 967

Chapter 36: Network Rendering 999

Chapter 37: Post-Processing with the Video Post Interface 1029

Part X: Customizing Max 1055

Chapter 38: Customizing the Max Interface 1057

Chapter 39: Using MAXScript 1087

Part XI: Extending Max with Plug-Ins 1127

Chapter 40: Using Third-Party Plug-Ins 1129

Chapter 41: Creating Your Own Plug-Ins 1139

Appendix A: Installing and Configuring 3ds max 4 1171

Appendix B: Max Keyboard Shortcuts 1181

Appendix C: Exclusive Bible Plug-Ins 1195

Appendix D: What’s on the CD-ROM? 1207

Glossary CD1-CD12 Index 1211

Hungry Minds, Inc End-User License Agreement 1254

CD-ROM Installation Instructions 1256

Preface vii

Acknowledgments xiii

Part I: Getting Started with 3ds max 4 1 Quick Start: Animating a Fighter Jet Fly-By 3

The Speed of Jets 4

Tutorial: Importing the Jet Model 4

Tutorial: Applying Materials to the Jet Model 6

Tutorial: Positioning the Background Environment 11

Tutorial: Adding a Building Model 15

Tutorial: Working with Cameras and Lights 17

Animating the Jet 21

Tutorial: Creating an animation path 21

Tutorial: Assigning a controller 22

Tutorial: Adding a Smoke Trail 26

Rendering the Final Animation 29

Tutorial: Creating a preview animation 29

Tutorial: Rendering the final animation 30

Chapter 1: Exploring the Max Interface 35

The Interface Elements 36

Using the Main Toolbar 37

Using the Tab Panel 40

Using the Command Panel 41

Create panel 42

Modify panel 43

Hierarchy panel 44

Motion panel 45

Display panel 46

Utilities panel 46

Using the Menus 48

The File menu 48

The Edit menu 52

The Tools menu 54

The Group menu 56

The Views menu 56

The Create menu 59

The Modifiers menu 59

The Animation menu 60

The Graph Editors menu 61

The Rendering menu 61

The Customize menu 62

The MAXScript menu 63

The Help menu 64

Using the Additional Interface Controls 65

Using the Time Controls 65

Time Slider 67

Track Bar 67

Learning from the Status Bar and the Prompt Line 67

MAXScript Listener 69

Interacting with the Interface 69

Right-click quadmenus 69

Floating and docking panels 70

Understanding the color cues 71

Drag-and-drop features 71

Controlling spinners 72

Keyboard shortcuts 72

Modeless and persistent dialog boxes 72

Chapter 2: Working with Viewports 75

Understanding 3D Space 75

Orthographic views 76

Perspective view 77

Using the Viewport Navigation Controls 77

Tutorial: Navigating the Active Viewport 79

Configuring the Viewports 81

Setting the viewport rendering method 82

Altering the Viewport layout 88

Using Safe Frames 89

Understanding Adaptive Degradation 91

Defining regions 92

Selecting System Units 94

Loading a Viewport Background 94

Obtaining Background Images 97

Chapter 3: Working with Files 99

Working with Max Scene Files 99

Saving files 100

Opening files 101

Merging files 101

Archiving files 102

File utilities 102

Importing and Exporting 105

Importing geometric objects 105

Importing additional formats 111

Exporting geometric objects 114

The VRML Export bonus tools 118

Referencing External Objects 119Using XRef Scenes 120Using XRef Objects 124Tutorial: Using an XRef proxy 126XRef Objects in the Modifier Stack 127Configuring XRef paths 128

Chapter 4: Using Primitive Objects 133

Creating Primitive Objects 133Using the Create panel 134Using the Create menu 135Naming objects and assigning colors 136Using different creation methods 137Using the Keyboard Entry rollout for precise dimensions 139Altering object parameters 139Tutorial: Exploring the Platonic solids 140Primitive Object Types 141Standard Primitives 141Extended Primitives 150

Chapter 5: Selecting Objects and Setting Object Properties 163

Selecting Objects 164Selection filters 164Select buttons 165Selecting with the Edit menu 166Selecting multiple objects 168Tutorial: Selecting objects 168Locking selection sets 171Using named selection sets 171Editing named selections 172Selecting by material 173Selecting objects in the Track View 173Selecting objects in the Schematic Views 174Setting Object Properties 175Viewing object information 175Setting rendering controls 177Enabling Motion Blur 177Setting Display properties 178Setting Bone properties 179Using the User-Defined panel 180Hiding and freezing objects 180Using the Display Floater dialog box 181Using the Display panel 182Tutorial: Playing hide and seek 183

Chapter 6: Cloning Objects and Creating Object Arrays 187

Cloning Objects 187Using the Clone command 187Using the Shift-clone method 188Tutorial: Cloning cows 189Understanding Cloning Options 189Working with copies, instances, and references 189Tutorial: Copied, instanced, and referenced teddy bears 191Creating Arrays of Objects 192Linear arrays 193Tutorial: Building a white picket fence 194Tutorial: Filling the survivalist’s pantry 194Circular arrays 196Tutorial: Building a Ferris wheel 197Spiral arrays 198Tutorial: Building a spiral staircase 198Cloning over Time 200Using the Snapshot command 200Tutorial: Following a mouse through a maze 200Mirroring Objects 202Using the Mirror command 202Tutorial: Mirroring an ant character 202Spacing Cloned Objects 204Using the Spacing tool 204Tutorial: Building a roller coaster 204Working with a Ring array 206

Chapter 7: Grouping and Linking Objects 209

Working with Groups 209Creating groups 210Ungrouping objects 210Opening and closing groups 210Attaching and detaching objects 210Tutorial: Grouping the fish parts together 210Understanding Parent, Child, and Root Relationships 212Building Links Between Objects 212Linking objects 213Unlinking objects 213Tutorial: Creating a solar system 213Displaying Links and Hierarchies 214Displaying links in the viewport 215Viewing hierarchies 216Working with Linked Objects 217Selecting hierarchies 217Linking to dummies 217Tutorial: Creating the two-cars-in-a-sphere stunt 218Using the Schematic View Window 219The Schematic View menu 220The Schematic View interface 221

Working with Schematic View Nodes 223Rearranging nodes 225Node colors 225Renaming objects 225Changing the object color 226Deleting nodes 226Creating a hierarchy 226Copying materials between objects 226Copying and reordering modifiers 226Tutorial: Building an inverted solar system 228

Chapter 8: Transforming Objects 231

Moving, Rotating, and Scaling Objects 231Moving objects 232Rotating objects 232Scaling objects 232Transformation Tools 233Using the transform buttons 233Working with the Transform Gizmo 234Using the Transform Type-In dialog box 235Using status bar coordinate fields 236Understanding Transform Managers 237Understanding coordinate systems 238Tutorial: Exploring the coordinate systems 239Using a transform center 241Using Pivot Points 242Positioning pivot points 242Aligning pivot points 243Transform adjustments 243Tutorial: Exploring the Transform Centers 244Selecting Axis Constraints 244Locking axes 246Inheriting transformations 247Using the Link Inheritance utility 247Practicing Transformations 247Tutorial: Re-creating a chess game 247Tutorial: Setting the dining room table 249Tutorial: Building a snowman 251Using the Align Commands 252Aligning objects 252Aligning normals 253Tutorial: Creating a string of pearls 254Aligning to a view 255Tutorial: Building with pipes 256Using Grids 257The Home Grid 257Creating and activating new grids 258Using AutoGrid 258Tutorial: Building a multicolored caterpillar 259

Using Snap Options 260Setting snap points 261Setting snap options 262Tutorial: Creating a lattice for a methane molecule 263

Chapter 9: Using Modifiers 265

Working with the Modifier Stack 265Applying modifiers 265Deleting modifiers 267Renaming modifiers 267Copying and pasting modifiers 267Reordering the Stack 268Tutorial: Learning the effect of Stack order 268Disabling modifiers 269Collapsing the Stack 269Using the Collapse utility 270Using Gizmo subobjects 271Tutorial: Transforming a gizmo 271Modifying subobjects 271Configuring modifier sets 272Exploring Modifier Types 273Selection modifiers 274Patch/Spline Editing modifiers 275Mesh Editing modifiers 280Animation modifiers 285

UV coordinate modifiers 291Cache Tool modifiers 293Subdivision Surface modifiers 293Free Form Deformer modifiers 295Parametric Deformer modifiers 298Surface modifiers 308NURBS Editing modifiers 309Other modifiers 309World-Space modifiers 311Loft Objects versus Surface Tools 313Understanding the differences 313Tutorial: Modeling a vacuum hose 313Using Instanced Modifiers 315

Chapter 10: Modeling Basics and Miscellaneous Tools 319

Parametric versus Non-Parametric 319Modeling Types 320Modifying Object Parameters 321Tutorial: Filling a treasure chest with gems 321Adding custom parameters 322

Working with Subobjects 323Soft Selection 324Applying modifiers to subobject selections 325Tutorial: Melting half an ice cream cone 325Low-Res Modeling 326The Polygon Counter utility 326The Level of Detail utility 327Tutorial: Creating an LOD Turtle 327Modeling Helpers 329Using Dummy and Point objects 329Measuring coordinate distances 329Tutorial: Testing the Pythagorean theorem 330

Chapter 11: Drawing and Using 2D Splines and Shapes 333

Drawing in 2D 333Working with shape primitives 334Tutorial: Viewing the interior of a heart 342Tutorial: Drawing a company logo 343Importing and Exporting Splines 345Tutorial: Importing vector drawings from Illustrator 346Tutorial: Exporting a Max-generated logo 347Editing Splines 349Making splines renderable 349Selecting spline subobjects 349Controlling spline geometry 352Editing vertices 354Editing segments 359Editing Spline subobjects 361Tutorial: Spinning a spider’s web 366Moving Splines to 3D 367Using the Shape Check utility 367Extruding splines 368Lathing splines 369Tutorial: Lathing a crucible 369Using Spline Boolean Operations 370Spline Boolean operators 370Tutorial: Routing a custom shelf 371

Chapter 12: Working with Meshes 373

Creating Editable Mesh and Poly Objects 373Converting objects 374Collapsing to a mesh object 374Applying the Edit Mesh modifier 374Editable Mesh verses Editable Poly Objects 374Editing Mesh and Poly Objects 375Editable Mesh and Poly subobjects modes 375Selection rollout 376Edit Geometry rollout 377Editing vertices 377

Editing edges 383Editing Face, Border, Polygon, and Element subobjects 386Tutorial: Modeling a clown head 391Tutorial: Cleaning up imported meshes 392Tutorial: Building a Beveled Pyramid 394

Chapter 13: Creating Patches 397

Introducing Patch Grids 397Creating a patch grid 397Tutorial: Creating a checkerboard 399Editing Patches 400Editable patches versus the Edit Patch modifier 400Selecting Patch subobjects 401Editing vertices 402Editing edges 407Editing Patch and Element subobjects 408Relaxing a patch 411Tutorial: Modeling a shell 411

Chapter 14: Building Compound Objects 415

Understanding Compound Object Types 415Morphing Objects 416Creating Morph keys 417Morph objects versus the Morph modifier 417Tutorial: Morphing a sword into a hammer 417Creating Conform Objects 419Setting a vertex projection direction 419Tutorial: Placing a facial scar 420Creating a ShapeMerge Object 422Cookie Cutter and Merge options 422Tutorial: Using the ShapeMerge compound object 423Creating a Terrain Object 425Coloring elevations 426Tutorial: Creating an island terrain 426Using the Mesher Object 427Creating a Scatter Object 428Working with Source objects 429Working with Distribution objects 430Setting Transforms 431Speeding updates with a proxy 432Loading and saving presets 432Tutorial: Filling a box with spiders 432Tutorial: Creating jungle vines 433Tutorial: Covering the island with trees 435Creating Connect Objects 436Tutorial: Creating a Park Bench 438

Modeling with Boolean Objects 439Union 439Intersection 439Subtraction 441Cut 441Tips for working with Booleans 443Tutorial: Creating a Lincoln Log set 444Creating a Loft Object 446Using the Get Shape and Get Path buttons 446Controlling surface parameters 447Changing path parameters 447Setting skin parameters 448Tutorial: Designing a slip-proof hanger 449Deforming Loft objects 450The Deformation window interface 450Scale Deformation 453Twist Deformation 453Teeter Deformation 454Bevel Deformation 454Fit Deformation 456Modifying Loft subobjects 457Comparing shapes 459Editing Loft paths 460Tutorial: Creating drapes 461

Chapter 15: Working with NURBS 463

Creating NURBS Curves and Surfaces 463NURBS curves 464NURBS surfaces 465Converting objects to NURBS 467Editing NURBS 468NURBS rollouts 468The NURBS Creation Toolbox 471Using NURBS subobject editing tools 475Working with NURBS 476Lofting a NURBS surface 476Tutorial: Creating a U-Loft NURBS spoon 476Creating a UV Loft surface 477Lathing a NURBS surface 478Tutorial: Lathing a NURBS CV curve to create a vase 479Creating a 1- and 2-rail sweep surface 480Tutorial: Creating a flower stem 480Sculpting a rectangular NURBS surface 480Tutorial: Creating a NURBS leaf 480Tutorial: Sculpting a flower petal 483

Part IV: Materials and Maps 487

Chapter 16: Exploring the Material Editor 489

Understanding Material Properties 489Working with the Material Editor 492Using the Material Editor controls 492Using the sample slots 496Renaming materials 500Applying materials 501Setting Material Editor options 502Tutorial: Coloring Easter eggs 503Using the Material/Map Browser 504Working with additional material libraries 505Tutorial: Loading a material library 506Using the Material/Map Navigator 507

Chapter 17: Applying Materials 511

Using Standard Materials 511Using shading types 511Extended Parameters rollout 517SuperSampling 519Maps 520Dynamic Properties rollout 521Tutorial: Coloring a dolphin 522Using Compound Materials 523Blend 524Composite 525Double Sided 526Shellac 526Multi/Sub-Object 526Tutorial: Creating a patchwork quilt 528Morpher 529Top/Bottom 530Tutorial: Surfing the waves 531Using Raytrace Materials 532Raytrace Basic Parameters 533Extended Parameters rollout 534Raytracer Control rollout 536Additional rollouts 539Tutorial: Coming up roses 540Using Matte/Shadow Materials 541Matte/Shadow Basic Parameters rollout 541Tutorial: Ballooning in New York 542

Chapter 18: Using Maps 545

Understanding Maps 545Material Map Types 5462D maps 5473D maps 559

Compositor maps 572Color modifier maps 575Reflection and refraction maps 578The Maps Rollout 583Ambient mapping 584Diffuse mapping 584Diffuse Level mapping 585Roughness mapping 585Specular mapping 585Specular Level mapping 585Glossiness mapping 585Self-Illumination mapping 585Opacity mapping 585Filter color mapping 586Anisotropy mapping 586Orientation mapping 586Metalness mapping 586Bump mapping 586Reflection mapping 586Refraction mapping 587Displacement mapping 587Using the Map Path Utility 587

Chapter 19: Working with Materials and Maps 589

Building a New Material Library 589Combining Materials and Maps 590Tutorial: Creating space textures 590Tutorial: Aging objects for realism 593Animating Materials 594Tutorial: Dimming lights 595Using IFL files 596Generating IFL files with the IFL Manager Utility 597Tutorial: What’s on TV? 597Applying Multiple Materials 599Using material IDs 599Tutorial: Mapping die faces 600Material Modifiers 601Tutorial: Using the UVW Map modifier to apply decals 601Tutorial: Creating random marquee lights with the MaterialByElementmodifier 603Using the Unwrap UVW modifier 604Tutorial: Controlling the mapping of teddy bear’s head 607Painting vertices 609Tutorial: Marking heart tension 610Using Maps to Change Geometry 611Modeling with displacement maps 611Tutorial: Creating an alien landscape 611Removing Materials and Maps 612

Part V: Lights and Cameras 615

Chapter 20: Working with Lights 617

The Basics of Lighting 617Natural and artificial light 617

A standard lighting method 618Shadows 619Understanding Light Types 621Default lighting 621Ambient light 622Omni light 623Spot light 623Direct light 623Creating and Positioning Light Objects 623Transforming lights 624Placing highlights 625Tutorial: Lighting the snowman’s face 625Viewing a Scene from a Light 626Light viewport controls 626Tutorial: Lighting a lamp 628Altering Light Parameters 629General parameters 629Attenuation parameters 631Spot and directional light parameters 632Projection maps 633Shadow parameters 633Manipulating Hotspot and Falloff cones 635Using the Light Lister 635Tutorial: Creating twinkling stars 636Using the Sunlight System 637Using the Compass helper 637Understanding azimuth and altitude 638Specifying date and time 638Specifying location 639Tutorial: Animating a day in 20 seconds 639Using Volume Lights 640Volume light parameters 641Tutorial: Showing car headlights 642Tutorial: Creating laser beams 644Using projector maps and raytraced shadows 646Tutorial: Projecting a trumpet image on a scene 646Tutorial: Creating a stained-glass window 647

Chapter 21: Controlling Cameras 651

Understanding Cameras 651Creating a Camera Object 652Free camera 652Target camera 653Creating a Camera View 653

Tutorial: Setting up an Opponent’s View 654Controlling a Camera 655Aiming a Camera 657Tutorial: Watching a rocket 657Aligning cameras 658Tutorial: Seeing the snowman’s good side 659Setting Camera Parameters 660Lens settings and field of view 660Camera type and display options 661Environment ranges and clipping planes 662Multi-Pass effect 663Tutorial: Using a Multi-Pass effect camera 663

Chapter 22: Camera Matching and Tracking 667

Using the Camera Match Utility 667Setting Camera Match points 668Tutorial: Driving in Rome 669Using the Camera Tracker Utility 672Loading a movie file 672Working with trackers 673Using the tracker gizmo 674Stepping through frames 675Automating the tracking process 676Matching the camera 677Smoothing the camera motion 678Tutorial: Tracking a flyby camera’s motion 678Pinning objects 681Tutorial: Pinning a jet in front of the camera 683

Chapter 23: Creating and Controlling Particle Systems 687

Understanding the Various Particle Systems 687Creating a Particle System 688Using the Spray and Snow Particle System 689Tutorial: Creating Rain and Snow 691Using the Super Spray Particle System 693Super Spray basic parameters 693Particle Generation rollout 694Particle Type rollout 695Tutorial: Creating a fireworks fountain 696Tutorial: Adding spray to a spray can 697Rotation and Collision rollout 701Tutorial: Basketball shooting practice 702Object Motion Inheritance rollout 704Bubble Motion rollout 704Particle Spawn rollout 705Load/Save Presets rollout 706

Using the Blizzard Particle System 707Using the PArray Particle System 708Tutorial: Magic Butterfly Wings 709Using the PCloud Particle System 711Using Particle System Maps 712Using the Particle Age map 712Using the Particle MBlur map 712Tutorial: Creating a fire-breathing dragon 712

Chapter 24: Using Space Warps 715

Creating and Binding Space Warps 715Creating a Space Warp 715Binding a Space Warp to an object 716Space Warp Types 716Forces 716Deflectors 724Geometric/Deformable 729Modifier-Based 738Working with Space Warps 743Tutorial: Shattering glass 743Tutorial: Exploding a Planet 744

Chapter 25: Animation Basics 749

Using the Animate Button 749Working with Keys 749Tutorial: Rotating a Changing Hedra 750Using the Track Bar 752Viewing and Editing Key Values 753Controlling Time 755Setting frame rate 755Setting speed and direction 756Using the Motion Command Panel 756Setting parameters 757Using trajectories 758Using ghosting 760Animating Objects 761Animating cameras 761Animating lights 761Animating materials 761Tutorial: Animating darts hitting a dartboard 762Wiring Parameters 763Using the Parameter Wire dialog box 764Manipulator helpers 766Tutorial: Controlling a crocodile’s bite 766

Chapter 26: Working with the Track View 769

The Track View Interface 769Track View toolbar 769Tracks 771Status bar 773Track View Modes 774Edit keys mode 774Edit time mode 776Edit ranges mode 777Position ranges mode 778Function curves mode 778Working with Keys 780Adding and deleting keys 780Moving, sliding, and scaling keys 780Aligning keys 781Editing keys 781Using visibility tracks 781Using the Randomize Keys utility 781Editing Time 782Selecting time and the Select Keys by Time utility 782Deleting, cutting, copying, and pasting time 782Reversing, inserting, and scaling time 783Reducing keys 783Setting ranges 783Adjusting Function Curves 783Inserting new keys 784Moving keys 784Scaling keys and values 784Working with tangents 784Applying ease and multiplier curves 785Tutorial: Animating a hyper pogo stick 786Filtering Tracks 789Working with Controllers 790Using Out-of-Range Types 790Adding Note Tracks 791Synchronizing to a Sound Track 792Using the Sound Options dialog box 793Tutorial: Adding sound to an animation 793

Chapter 27: Restricting Movement with Constraints 797

Using Constraints 797Constraint Types 798Attachment constraint 798Tutorial: Attaching a sphere to a terrain 798Surface constraint 799Tutorial: Rolling a tire over a hill with the Surface Constraint 800Path constraint 801

Tutorial: Creating a dragonfly flight path 802Position constraint 803Link constraint 804Tutorial: Skating a figure eight 805LookAt constraint 806Tutorial: Watching a dragonfly fly 807Orientation constraint 809

Chapter 28: Animating with Controllers 811

Understanding Controller Types 811Assigning Controllers 812Automatically assigned controllers 812Assigning controllers in the Motion panel 813Assigning controllers in Track View 813Setting Default Controllers 814Examining the Various Controllers 814Single transformation track controllers 815Multi-track transform controllers 822Special-purpose controllers 826

Chapter 29: Using Expressions 843

Variables, Operators, and Functions 843Variables 843Operators 844Functions 846Building Expressions 847Scalar return type 847Vector return type 848RGB return type 848Understanding the Expression Controller Interface 849Defining variables 849Building expressions 850Controlling Object Transformations 852Animating transforms with the Expression controller 852Controlling Parameters 854Animating parameters with the Expression controller 854Tutorial: Inflating a balloon 855Animating materials with the Expression controller 857Tutorial: Controlling a stoplight 857

Chapter 30: Creating a Dynamic Simulation 861

Understanding Dynamics 861Using dynamic objects 862Defining Dynamic Material Properties 867Using Dynamic Space Warps 868Using the Dynamics Utility 869Using the Dynamics rollout 869Using the Timing & Simulation rollout 872Editing simulation objects 873

Optimizing a simulation 874Tutorial: Bowling a strike 875Using the Flex Modifier 876Flex subobjects 877Setting flex strength 877Creating simple soft bodies 878Painting weights 878Adding Forces and Deflectors 879Manually creating springs 880Tutorial: Making a waving flag 880

Chapter 31: Working with Bones 885

Building a Bones System 885Assigning an IK Solver 886Setting bone parameters 887Refining bones 888Tutorial: Making a simple puppet using bones 888Making Objects into Bones 890Tutorial: Making a Linked Teddy Bear into a Bones System 891Using the Skin Modifier 892Skin subobjects 892Editing envelopes 893Painting weights 895Displaying features 895Tutorial: Applying the Skin modifier to a flamingo 895Using deformers 896

Chapter 32: Creating and Using Inverse Kinematics 899

Forward Versus Inverse Kinematics 899Creating an Inverse Kinematics System 900Building and linking a system 900Selecting a terminator 901Defining joint constraints 902Copying, pasting, and mirroring joints 903Binding objects 903Understanding precedence 903Tutorial: Building an extensible arm linkage 904Using the Various Inverse Kinematics Methods 905Interactive IK 906Applied IK 908Tutorial: Animating the arm linkage using Applied IK 909History-Independent (HI) IK solver 911History-Dependent (HD) IK solver 915Tutorial: Animating a spyglass with the HD IK solver 917

IK Limb solver 918Tutorial: Animating a flamingo’s leg with the IK Limb solver 919

Part IX: Rendering and Post-Production 921

Chapter 33: Rendering Basics 923

Understanding the Max Renderers 923Previewing with ActiveShade 924Using the ActiveShade Floater 925Enabling ActiveShade in a viewport 925Working with Previews 926Creating previews 926Viewing previews 929Renaming previews 929Render Parameters 929Initiating a render job 929Common parameters 931Render elements 934Current renderers 934Scanline A-Buffer renderer 934Rendering Preferences 937Creating VUE Files 938Using the Virtual Frame Buffer 939Using the RAM Player 941Render Types 943Rendering Problems 944

Chapter 34: Working with Environments and Atmospheric Effects 947

Creating an Environment 947Defining the rendered environment 948Adding atmospheric effects 950Setting exposure 950Tutorial: Creating a mystery with an environment map 950Using Atmospheric Apparatus Gizmos 952Creating Atmospheric Effects 953Using the Fire effect 954Tutorial: Creating the sun 958Tutorial: Creating clouds 959Using the Fog effect 960Using the Volume Fog effect 963Tutorial: Creating a swamp scene 964Using the Volume Light effect 964

Chapter 35: Using Render Elements and Effects 967

Using Render Elements 967Adding render elements 968Rendering files for Combustion 969Adding Render Effects 970

Render Effect Types 971Lens Effects 971Glow 975Ring 982Blur 990Brightness and Contrast 992Color Balance 993File Output 994Film Grain 995Motion Blur 995Depth of Field 996

Chapter 36: Network Rendering 999

Network Requirements 1000Setting up a Network Rendering System 1002Setting up the network 1002Tutorial: Locating TCP/IP and gathering IP addresses 1003Tutorial: Installing and configuring TCP/IP 1005Tutorial: Setting up Max on the networked computers 1007Configuring shared directories 1008Tutorial: Sharing directories 1008Tutorial: Choosing shared directories 1012Starting the Network Rendering System 1012Tutorial: Initializing the network rendering system 1012Tutorial: Completing your first network rendering job 1014Job assignment options 1018Configuring the Network Manager and Servers 1019The network manager settings 1019The network servers settings 1021Logging Errors 1022Using the Queue Manager 1023Jobs 1024Servers 1025Event Notification 1026Tutorial: Setting up Batch Rendering 1027

Chapter 37: Post-Processing with the Video Post Interface 1029

Understanding Post-Production 1029Using the Video Post Dialog Box 1030The Video Post toolbar 1030The Video Post queue 1032The Video Post status bar 1032Working with Sequences 1032Adding and Editing Events 1033Adding an image input event 1034Adding scene events 1035Adding image filter events 1037Adding image layer events 1042

Adobe Premiere Transition filter 1042Alpha compositor 1043Cross Fade Transition compositor 1043Pseudo Alpha compositor 1043Simple Additive compositor 1043Simple Wipe compositor 1043Adding external events 1043Using loop events 1044Adding an image output event 1045Working with Ranges 1045Working with Lens Effects Filters 1046Adding flares 1047Adding focus 1047Adding glow 1048Adding highlights 1049Tutorial: Adding backgrounds and filters using Video Post 1050Tutorial: Creating space backdrops 1052

Chapter 38: Customizing the Max Interface 1057

Working with Custom Interfaces 1057Loading a custom interface 1057Tutorial: Saving a custom interface 1058Locking the interface 1058Reverting to the startup interface 1058Using the Customize User Interface Window 1059Customizing keyboard shortcuts 1059Tutorial: Assigning keyboard shortcuts 1060Customizing toolbars 1061Tutorial: Creating a custom toolbar 1062Customizing quadmenus 1064Customizing menus 1067Tutorial: Adding a new menu 1067Customizing colors 1069Configuring Paths 1070Setting Preferences 1071General preferences 1071Rendering preferences 1074Inverse Kinematics preferences 1074Animation preferences 1076File panel preferences 1077Gamma preferences 1080Viewport preferences 1081MAXScript preferences 1084Customizing the Tab Panel 1085Customizing Command Panel Buttons 1085

Chapter 39: Using MAXScript 1087

What Is MAXScript? 1087MAXScript Tools 1088The MAXScript menu 1088The MAXScript Utility rollout 1089Tutorial: Using the SphereArray script 1090The MAXScript Listener window 1092Tutorial: Talking to the MAXScript interpreter 1093MAXScript editor windows 1095The Macro Recorder 1096Tutorial: Recording a simple script 1097Visual MAXScript 1099Tutorial: Building a custom rollout with the Visual MAXScript

window 1102Types of Scripts 1106Macro scripts 1106Scripted utilities 1106Scripted right-click menus 1106Scripted mouse tools 1106Scripted plug-ins 1107Writing Your Own MAXScripts 1107Variables and data types 1107Tutorial: Using variables 1109Program flow and comments 1111Expressions 1111Conditions 1113Collections and arrays 1114Loops 1115Functions 1117Tutorial: Creating a school of fish 1118

Chapter 40: Using Third-Party Plug-Ins 1129

Locating Plug-Ins 1129Working with Plug-Ins 1131Installing plug-ins 1131Viewing installed plug-ins 1132Managing plug-ins 1132Plug-In Examples 1134Tutorial: Creating a fuzzy spider with Shag:Fur 1134Tutorial: Producing a cartoon rendering with Illustrate! 1136

Chapter 41: Creating Your Own Plug-Ins 1139

Max and Plug-Ins 1139Plug-In Requirements 1140Types of Plug-Ins 1140