3DS Max 6 Bible P1

TWO BONUS CD-ROMS• Demo version of 3ds max 6 • 3D models from Zygote Media and Viewpoint Datalabs • Over 500 MB of tutorial files and a searchable color PDF of the book • Examine BlobMes

TWO BONUS CD-ROMS

• Demo version of 3ds max 6

• 3D models from Zygote Media and Viewpoint Datalabs

• Over 500 MB of tutorial files and a searchable color PDF of the book

• Examine BlobMesh and other new modeling features, and work with compound objects like Lofts and Morphs

• Learn to use the Particle Flow interface to control complex interactions between particles

• Delve into character creation, including bone systems, skin, rigging, and character modeling

• Discover how the new reactor 2 works to create realistic physics-based

animation sequences

• Assign the new mental ray rendering engine to render scenes using custom

shaders, caustic photons, and other new features

• Explore focused chapters on using 3ds max 6 in game development,

architectural visualization, and special effects

• Study the work of top 3ds max professionals in the 16-page color sample

section

• Set up network rendering to help you render scenes in a fraction of the time

• Learn to access Mapping Channels in the Channel Info editor

MURDOCK

Whether this is your first introduction to “Max” or you’ve been eagerly awaiting the newest version, you’ll

find everything you need in these pages If your fingers are tingling to actually create something now, the Quick

Start project in Part 1 is made for you If you can’t wait to check out the new features, start exploring detailed

coverage of the Particle Flow interface, architectural objects and materials, Shockwave 3D Export, improved

VertexPaint features, and more All the details are here.

Please see the “About the CD-ROMs” appendix for

details and complete system requirements.

3ds max with the exciting Quick Start project in Part 1

mental ray, Particle Flow, BlobMesh, and other revolutionary new features

inverse kinematics, space warps,

raytracing, and other techniques

CD-ROMS

Including a demo version of 3ds max 6, tutorial files, 3D models, and a searchable PDF version of the book showing all examples in color

effects

Kick up a little sand with a

monster truck animation

3ds max ™

6 Bible

Kelly L Murdock

THE PUBLISHER AND THE AUTHOR MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS WORK AND SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE NO WARRANTY MAY BE CREATED OR EXTENDED BY SALES OR PROMOTIONAL MATERIALS THE ADVICE AND STRATEGIES CONTAINED HEREIN MAY NOT BE SUITABLE FOR EVERY SITUATION THIS WORK IS SOLD WITH THE UNDERSTANDING THAT THE PUBLISHER IS NOT ENGAGED IN RENDERING LEGAL, ACCOUNTING, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL SERVICES IF PROFESSIONAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED, THE SERVICES OF A COMPETENT PROFESSIONAL PERSON SHOULD BE SOUGHT NEITHER THE PUBLISHER NOR THE AUTHOR SHALL BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES ARISING HEREFROM THE FACT THAT AN ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE IS REFERRED TO IN THIS WORK AS A CITATION AND/OR A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF FURTHER INFORMATION DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE AUTHOR OR THE PUBLISHER ENDORSES THE INFORMATION THE ORGANIZATION OR WEBSITE MAY PROVIDE OR RECOMMENDATIONS IT MAY MAKE FURTHER, READERS SHOULD BE AWARE THAT INTERNET WEBSITES LISTED IN THIS WORK MAY HAVE CHANGED OR DISAPPEARED BETWEEN WHEN THIS WORK WAS WRITTEN AND WHEN IT IS READ

Copyright 2004 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

For general information on our other products and services or to obtain technical support, please contact our CustomerCare Department within the U.S at (800) 762-2974, outside the U.S at (317) 572-3993 or fax (317) 572-4002

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats Some content that appears in print may not be available inelectronic books

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data: 2004103174

Trademarks: Wiley and the Wiley Publishing logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

and/or its affiliates 3ds max is a trademark or registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc All other trademarks are the property

of their respective owners Wiley Publishing, Inc is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book

is a trademark of Wiley Publishing, Inc.

About the Author

Kelly Murdock has been authoring computer books for many years now and still gets immense

enjoyment from the completed work His book credits include various Web, graphics, and

multime-dia titles, including three previous editions of this book, 3ds max 6 Bible Other major ments include Master VISUALLY HTML and XHTML, JavaScript Visual Blueprint, gmax Bible, Adobe

accomplish-Atmosphere Bible, and co-authoring duties on two editions of the Illustrator Bible (for versions 9

and 10).

With a background in engineering and computer graphics, Kelly has been all over the 3D industryand still finds it fascinating He’s used high-level CAD workstations for product design and analysis,completed several large-scale visualization projects, created 3D models for feature films, worked as

a freelance 3D artist, and even done some 3D programming Kelly’s been using 3D Studio sinceversion 3 for DOS

In his spare time, Kelly enjoys the outdoors while rock climbing, mountain biking, or skiing He hasrecently formed a design company with his brother, Chris, called Logical Paradox Design

Quality Control Technicians

John Greenough Susan Moritz Angel Perez

Senior Permissions Editor

Carmen Krikorian

Media Development Specialist

Greg Stafford

Proofreading and Indexing

TECHBOOKS Production Services

Cover Image

Anthony Stuart

Special Help

Adrienne Porter

I tweak the light settings for weeks, but it still doesn’t match the light in your eyes.

I scan and layer a hundred photos, but it still doesn’t capture the

details of your soft skin.

I apply every controller and animation technique, but it still can’t portray the

intricacies of your tiny smile.

I load hundreds of sound files, but it still isn’t equal to the synchronization

of your little laugh.

I render thousands of times, and still I’m amazed at the work of the Master Animator.

To Max, 2003

Whenever I withdrew to the computer room, my wife would say that I was off to my “fun andgames.” 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 lat-est rendering, I knew that she 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 boil them down intosomething that’s worthwhile for you — the reader This goal was compounded by the fact that allyou Max-heads out there are at different levels Luckily, this book is thick enough to include a littlesomething for everyone

The audience level for the book ranges from beginning to intermediate, with a smattering ofadvanced topics for the seasoned user If you’re new to Max, then you’ll want to start at the begin-ning and move methodically through the book If you’re relatively comfortable making your wayaround Max, then review the table of contents for sections that can enhance your fundamentalbase If you’re a seasoned pro, then you’ll want to watch for coverage of the features new toRelease 6

If you’re so excited to be working with Max that you can’t decide where to start, then head straightfor the Quick Start The Quick Start is a single chapter-long tutorial that takes you through the cre-ation of an entire scene and animation This Quick Start was included in response to some feedbackfrom readers of the first edition who complained that they didn’t know where to start For those ofyou who were too anxious to wade through a mountain of material before you could create some-thing, this Quick Start is for you

Another goal of this book is to make it a complete reference for Max To achieve this goal, I’ve goneinto painstaking detail to cover almost every feature in Max, 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 to read I’ve tried toinclude a variety of scenes that are infused with creativity It is my hope that these examples willnot only teach you how to use the software, but also provide a creative springboard for you in yourown projects After all, that’s what turns 3D graphics from work into “fun and games.”

Who Is Max?

Max is coming of age Now with the number 6 attached to its name, it is starting to show somematurity I’d say that version numbers are akin to dog years, which would place Max in its early 40s.Before we go any further, I should explain my naming convention The official name of the product in

this release is 3ds max 6 with a lowercase m, but I simply refer to it as Max with a capital M This

ref-erence is a nickname given to a piece of software that has become more familiar to me than the familypets (whose names are Fuzzy, Curious, and Parakeetsta, by the way) Note: I have not been successful

in training Max to come when I call or to sit on command, but it will on occasion play dead

One way we humans develop our personalities is to incorporate desirable personality traits fromthose around us Max’s personality is developing as well — every new release has incorporated aplethora of desirable new features Many of these features come from the many additional plug-insbeing developed to enhance Max With Release 6, many features that were available as plug-ins forprevious releases have been adopted by Max Several new features have been magically assimilatedinto the core product, such as mental ray These additions make Max’s personality much more lik-able, like a human developing a sense of humor

viii 3ds max 6 Bible

Other personality traits are gained by stretching in new directions Max and its developers haveaccomplished this feat as well Many of the new features are completely new, not only to Max, but

to the industry, such as the Particle Flow interface As Max grows up, it will continue to mature byadopting new features and inventing others I just hope Max doesn’t experience a mid-life crisis inthe next version

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 crashes and personal catastrophes and thealways-present, ever-looming deadlines I wrote into the early hours of the morning and during thelate hours of the night — burning the candle at both ends and in the middle all at the same time Itwas grueling and difficult, 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 mators do on a daily basis, and, like you, I find satisfaction in the finished product

ani-Tutorials aplenty

I’ve always been a very visual learner — the easiest way for me to gain knowledge is by doingthings for myself while exploring at the same time Other people learn by reading and comprehend-ing ideas In this book, I’ve tried to present information in a number of ways to make the informa-tion usable for all types of learners That is why you see detailed discussions of the variousfeatures along with tutorials that show these concepts in action

The tutorials appear throughout the book and are clearly marked with the “Tutorial” label in front

of the title They always include a series of logical steps, typically ending with a figure for you tostudy and compare These tutorial examples are provided on the book’s CD-ROM to give you a first-hand look and a chance to get some hands-on experience

I’ve attempted to “laser focus” all the tutorials down to one or two key concepts This means thatyou probably will not want to place the results in your portfolio For example, many of the earlytutorials don’t have any materials applied because I felt that using materials before they’ve beenexplained would only confuse you

I’ve attempted to think of and use examples that are diverse, unique, and interesting, while striving

to make them simple, light, and easy to follow I’m happy to report that every example in the book

is included on the CD-ROM along with the models and textures required to complete the tutorial.The tutorials often don’t start from scratch, but instead give you a starting point This approachlets me “laser focus” the tutorials even more; and with fewer, more relevant steps, you can learnand experience the concepts without the complexity On the book’s CD-ROM, you will find the Maxfiles that are referenced in Step 1 of most tutorials

I’ve put lots of effort into this book, and I hope it helps you in your efforts I present this book as astarting point In each tutorial, I’ve purposely left most of the creative spice out, leaving room foryou to put it in — you’re the one with the vision

Fourth time around

This book is now in its fourth edition and, like aged cheddar cheese, is getting better with time.This edition posed an interesting dilemma The edition for Max 4 clocked in at 1,246 pages, whichwas the largest number of pages that can be bound into a paperback book So, for Max 5, I needed

to rework and tighten the content to make room for pages where the new features could be ered, which was an tough task, but I was happy to say I succeeded by cramming in an additional

cov-400 pages worth of content into the 3ds max 5 Bible However, when the book came back from the

printer, it weighed in at only 1,106 pages, making the reader think that the book was put on a diet Itturned out that the editors who laid out the book decided to use a tighter layout, thereby saving

140 pages while providing the additional content

Preface

Now that I’m working on a version covering Max 6, I’m delighted to have that extra 140 pages tocram full of information, and the editors are already looking at an even tighter format At this rate,the next couple of editions will be shipping with a magnifying glass

There have been several other changes to this edition In an effort to add some new life to many ofthe older tutorials (several of which desired a chance to retire), I have secured a new set ofViewpoint models that I’ve used to replace many of the old tutorials I’ve also included a new QuickStart that lets you play with a monster truck

How this book is organized

Many different aspects of 3D graphics exist, and in some larger production houses, you might befocused on only one specific area However, for smaller organizations or the general hobbyist, youend up wearing all the hats — from modeler and lighting director to animator and post-productioncompositor This book is organized to cover all the various aspects of 3D graphics, regardless ofthe hat on your head

The book is divided into the following parts:

✦ Quick Start — This single chapter (which is actually a chapter in Part I) is an entire

anima-tion project presented in several focused tutorials It is designed to whet your appetite andget you up to speed and producing animations immediately

✦ Part I: Learning the Max Interface — Whether it’s understanding the interface, working with

the viewports, dealing with files, or customizing the interface, the chapters in this part getyou comfortable with the interface so you won’t get lost moving about this mammoth pack-age

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

Warps, and anything that can be viewed in a viewport This part includes chapters on how toreference, select, clone, group, link, transform, and modify these various objects

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

includes chapters on working with spline shapes, meshes, polys, patches, NURBS, pound objects like Lofts and Morphs, and particle systems

com-✦ Part IV: Materials and Maps — With all the various materials, maps, and parameters,

under-standing how to create just what you want can be difficult These chapters explain all thevarious types and how to use them

✦ Part V: Cameras — This part describes how to control cameras and use the Camera

Matching and Tracking utilities and the Multi-Pass Camera effects

✦ Part VI: Lighting — This part describes how to create and control the standard lights, as

well as coverage on advanced lighting, radiosity, and global illumination

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

Track Views, constraints, and controllers This part includes a chapter specifically onexpressions

✦ Part VIII: Character Animation — I cover creating and working with characters, bone

sys-tems, skinning, rigging, and character modeling in this part I also provide complete age of the various inverse kinematics methods

cover-✦ Part IX: Dynamics — This part includes coverage of Space Warps, the Dynamics utility, and

all the cool features found in Reactor

✦ Part X: Rendering — To produce the final output, you can render the scene as described in

this part In addition, this part discusses environments, Render Elements, Render Effects,network rendering, raytracing, and mental ray

✦ Part XI: Compositing and Post-Production — This part describes the compositing process

using external tools, as well as post-processing using the Video Post interface

✦ Part XII: MAXScript and Plug-Ins — This part provides details on using Max’s scripting

lan-guage, MAXScript, and on using plug-ins

x 3ds max 6 Bible

✦ Part XIII: Max in Action — Max is used in many different industries and this part addresses

specific features used to enable Max for games, visualization, and special effects

✦ Appendixes — At the very end of this book, you’ll find four appendixes that cover the new

features of Max 6, installation and system configuration, Max keyboard shortcuts, and thecontents of the book’s CD-ROMs

Using the book’s icons

The following margin icons are used to 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

The New Feature icon highlights features that are new to Release 6

Watch for the Cross-Reference icon to learn where in another chapter you can go to findmore information on a particular feature

This icon points you toward related materials that are included on the book’s CD-ROMs

The book’s CD-ROMs

Computer book CD-ROMs are sometimes just an afterthought that includes a handful of examplesand product demos This book’s CD-ROMs, however, include a full, working trial version of 3ds max

6 Max is an expensive piece of software to just play around with, but the trial version gives you 30days to try out the software and gain some valuable experience Appendix D, “What’s on theCD-ROMs,” supplies the details of the content on the CD-ROMs

The CD-ROMs include a selection of 3D models that you can use in your projects if you choose Many

of these models are used in the tutorials The CD-ROMs also include the Max files for every tutorial

If you haven’t noticed yet, most of this book is printed in black and white This can make seeing thedetails (and colors) of the figures difficult The CD-ROM includes a complete searchable version ofthe book along with all the figures in color

Color insert pages

The possibilities of Max are endless, but many individuals and groups have pushed the software along way As a sampling of the finished work that can be created, I’ve included a set of color insertpages that showcase some amazing work done with Max The 3D artists represented in these pagesgive you some idea of what is possible

On the CD-ROM

In the first edition, the task at hand was too big for just me, so I shared the pain with two co-authors — Dave Brueck and Sanford Kennedy (both of whom have gone on to write books oftheir own) I still would like to thank them for their work, which, although overhauled, still retainstheir spirits In subsequent editions, I’ve decided to do all the updates solo, until now Facing thisedition, I once again put out a cry for help and was answered by Sue Blackman, a contributing artistwhose work appears in the color insert Sue provided several excellent examples that show off thepower of the Track View interface Thanks for your help, Sue.

Major thanks to the editors and personnel at Wiley I’d like to specifically thank Tom Heine, whoturns out to be just as friendly in real life as he is on the phone Tom, it was great to finally meetyou at Siggraph this year Huge thanks to Marty Minner, who kept the project on task despite atough tragedy and to Gwenette Gaddis Goshert for her excellent copyediting input I’d also like tothank Chris Murdock for taking on the technical editing even though he felt like playing withanother version of Max What a great virtual team we have here Additional thanks go out toCarmen Krikorian and her co-workers in the Media Development department for chasing down therequired permissions and for compiling the resources for the CD-ROMs, and finally, to the entirestaff at Wiley who helped me on this journey

The various people who work in the graphics industry are amazing in their willingness to help andsupport I’d like to thank first of all David Marks and the entire Discreet beta team for getting methe product when I needed it I’d also like to thank the talented people at Zygote Media, CuriousLabs, and Viewpoint Digital Media for many of their models, which make the examples much moreinteresting (you can only do so much with the teapot after all) Thanks to Tom Avikigos atDigimation for help in securing a new set of Viewpoint models and Daniel Brown at Adobe for get-ting me the Adobe products that I needed Additional thanks goes out to David Mathis, JoePoppa, and Chris Murdock for completing models used in some of the tutorials

Finally, I’d like to thank the many artists who contributed images for the color insert pages for ing their talent, knowledge, and vision with us They are an inspiration to me

shar-Contents at a Glance

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xv

Part I: Learning the Max Interface 1

Quick Start: Animating a Monster Truck at the Beach 3

Chapter 1: Finding Your Way — Exploring the Max Interface 23

Chapter 2: Seeing It All — Working with the Viewports 61

Chapter 3: Working with Files and XRefs 89

Chapter 4: Customizing the Max Interface and Setting Preferences 129

Part II: Working with Objects 159

Chapter 5: Creating and Editing Primitive Objects 161

Chapter 6: Selecting Objects and Setting Object Properties 189

Chapter 7: Cloning Objects and Creating Object Arrays 213

Chapter 8: Grouping and Linking Objects 235

Chapter 9: Working with the Schematic View 249

Chapter 10: Transforming Objects — Translate, Rotate, and Scale 269

Chapter 11: Introducing Modifiers for Basic Object Deformation 297

Part III: Modeling 333

Chapter 12: Modeling Basics 335

Chapter 13: Drawing and Editing 2D Splines and Shapes 349

Chapter 14: Working with Meshes and Polys 389

Chapter 15: Creating and Editing Patches 431

Chapter 16: Working with NURBS 453

Chapter 17: Building Compound Objects 473

Chapter 18: Creating Particles and Particle Flow 513

Part IV: Materials and Maps 545

Chapter 19: Exploring the Material Editor 547

Chapter 20: Creating Simple Materials 567

Chapter 21: Creating Advanced Multi-Layer Materials 585

Chapter 22: Adding Material Details with Maps 603

Chapter 23: Controlling Mapping Coordinates 637

Part V: Cameras 651

Chapter 24: Working with Cameras 653

Chapter 25: Matching and Tracking Cameras 665

Chapter 26: Multi-Pass Camera Effects 677

Part VI: Lighting 683

Chapter 27: Basic Lighting Techniques 685

Chapter 28: Advanced Lighting and Light Tracing 713

Chapter 29: Advanced Lighting and Radiosity 721

Part VII: Animation 731

Chapter 30: Animation Basics 733

Chapter 31: Animating with Constraints and Controllers 767

Chapter 32: Using the Expression Controller 803

Chapter 33: Working with the Track View 819

Part VIII: Character Animation 855

Chapter 34: Character Modeling 857

Chapter 35: Rigging Characters 871

Chapter 36: Animating Characters 887

Chapter 37: Using Inverse Kinematics 895

Part IX: Dynamics 913

Chapter 38: Using Space Warps 915

Chapter 39: Creating a Dynamic Simulation 939

Chapter 40: Animating with reactor 955

Part X: Rendering 977

Chapter 41: Rendering Basics 979

Chapter 42: Using Atmospheric Effects 1005

Chapter 43: Using Render Elements and Effects 1017

Chapter 44: Raytracing and mental ray 1039

Chapter 45: Network Rendering 1057

Part XI: Compositing and Post-Production 1081

Chapter 46: Using External Compositing Tools 1083

Chapter 47: Using the Video Post Interface 1093

Part XII: MAXScript and Plug-Ins 1115

Chapter 48: Automating with MAXScript 1117

Chapter 49: Expanding Max with Third-Party Plug-Ins 1153

Part XIII: Max in Action 1159

Chapter 50: Max and Games 1161

Chapter 51: Max and Visualization 1175

Chapter 52: Max and Special Effects 1183

Appendix A: What’s New with Max 6 1189

Appendix B: Installing and Configuring 3ds max 6 1193

Appendix C: Max Keyboard Shortcuts 1201

Appendix D: What’s on the CD-ROMs 1217

Index 1221

End-User License Agreement 1255

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xv

Part I: Learning the Max Interface 1 Quick Start: Animating a Monster Truck at the Beach 3

Relaxing at the Beach 3

Tutorial: Creating the background terrain and scene 4

Tutorial: Importing the monster truck model 6

Tutorial: Adding scene props 7

Dressing the Scene 9

Tutorial: Applying materials 9

Tutorial: Loading a background image 11

Animating Motion 13

Tutorial: Animating the monster truck motion 13

Tutorial: Animating the rotating wheels 14

Tutorial: Positioning and animating a camera 15

Tutorial: Adding special effects 17

Rendering the Final Animation 18

Tutorial: Creating a preview animation 18

Tutorial: Rendering the final animation 19

Summary 21

Chapter 1: Finding Your Way — Exploring the Max Interface 23

The Interface Elements 24

Using the Menus 26

The File menu 27

The Edit menu 27

The Tools menu 27

The Group menu 29

The Views menu 29

The Create menu 30

The Modifiers menu 31

The Character menu 33

The reactor menu 33

The Animation menu 33

The Graph Editors menu 34

The Rendering menu 35

The Customize menu 36

The MAXScript menu 36

The Help menu 37

Using the Toolbars 37

Starting with the main toolbar 38

Viewing the default floating toolbars 41

Using the Viewports 42

xvi 3ds max 6 Bible

Using the Command Panel 42

Tutorial: Rearranging the interface for lefties 44

Create panel 45

Modify panel 49

Hierarchy panel 50

Motion panel 50

Display panel 51

Utilities panel 52

Using the Lower Interface Bar Controls 53

Accessing frames and keys with the Time Slider and the Track Bar 53

Learning from the Status Bar and the Prompt Line 54

Controlling the MAXScript Mini-Listener 54

Using the Key Controls 54

Using the Time Controls 54

Using the Viewport Navigation Controls 55

Interacting with the Interface 55

Gaining quick access with the right-click quadmenus 55

Understanding the button color cues 56

Using drag-and-drop features 57

Controlling spinners 57

Finding keyboard shortcuts 57

Using strokes 57

Understanding modeless and persistent dialog boxes 58

Getting Help 58

Browser-based reference guides 58

Online help 58

Summary 59

Chapter 2: Seeing It All — Working with the Viewports 61

Understanding 3D Space 61

Axonometric versus Perspective 62

Orthographic and Isometric views 62

Learning Viewports in Max 63

Using the Viewport Navigation Controls 64

Zooming a view 65

Panning a view 65

Rotating a view 65

Controlling viewports with a scroll wheel 66

Controlling camera and spotlight views 67

Viewing grids 67

Disabling and refreshing viewports 67

Undoing and saving changes made with the Viewport Navigation Controls 68

Maximizing the active viewport 68

Tutorial: Navigating the active viewport 69

Configuring the Viewports 71

Setting the viewport rendering method 72

Altering the Viewport layout 78

Using Safe Frames 79

Understanding Adaptive Degradation 80

Defining regions 82

Contents

Working with Viewport Backgrounds 84

Loading viewport background images 84

Loading viewport background animations 85

Tutorial: Loading reference images for modeling 86

Summary 87

Chapter 3: Working with Files and XRefs 89

Working with Max Scene Files 89

Saving files 90

Opening files 91

Merging and replacing objects 92

Archiving files 93

Getting out 93

Setting File Preferences 93

Handling files 93

Backing up files 95

Tutorial: Setting Auto Backup 96

Maintaining log files 96

Importing and Exporting 97

Importing supported formats 97

Import preference 98

Exporting utilities 108

Importing from external applications 109

Referencing External Objects 113

Using XRef Scenes 113

Using XRef Objects 117

Tutorial: Using an XRef proxy 119

XRef Objects in the Modifier Stack 120

Configuring XRef paths 120

Using the File Utilities 122

Using the Asset Browser utility 122

Finding files with the Max File Finder utility 124

Collecting files with the Resource Collector utility 124

Using i-drop 125

Accessing File Information 125

Displaying scene Information 125

Viewing file properties 126

Viewing files 126

Summary 128

Chapter 4: Customizing the Max Interface and Setting Preferences 129

Using the Customize User Interface Window 129

Customizing keyboard shortcuts 129

Tutorial: Assigning keyboard shortcuts 130

Customizing toolbars 131

Tutorial: Creating a custom toolbar 132

Customizing quadmenus 134

Customizing menus 136

Tutorial: Adding a new menu 137

Customizing colors 138

Customizing Modify and Utility Panel Buttons 138

xviii 3ds max 6 Bible

Working with Custom Interfaces 139

Saving and loading a custom interface 140

Tutorial: Saving a custom interface 141

Locking the interface 142

Reverting to the startup interface 142

Switching between default and custom interfaces 142

Configuring Paths 143

Selecting System Units 144

Using Custom and Generic units 145

Rescaling world units 146

Setting Preferences 146

General preferences 146

Files panel preferences 148

Viewport preferences 149

Gamma preferences 154

Rendering preferences 156

Animation preferences 156

Inverse Kinematics preferences 157

Gizmos preferences 157

MAXScript preferences 157

Radiosity preferences 158

mental ray preferences 158

Summary 158

Part II: Working with Objects 159 Chapter 5: Creating and Editing Primitive Objects 161

Creating Primitive Objects 161

Using the Create panel 161

Using the Create menu 163

Naming and renaming objects 163

Assigning colors 164

Using the Color Clipboard 166

Using different creation methods 167

Using the Keyboard Entry rollout for precise dimensions 169

Altering object parameters 169

Recovering from mistakes and deleting objects 169

Tutorial: Exploring the Platonic solids 170

Exploring the Primitive Object Types 171

Standard Primitives 171

Extended Primitives 176

Modifying object parameters 185

Tutorial: Filling a treasure chest with gems 185

Summary 187

Chapter 6: Selecting Objects and Setting Object Properties 189

Selecting Objects 189

Selection filters 190

Select buttons 191

Selecting with the Edit menu 192

Contents

Selecting multiple objects 195

Tutorial: Selecting objects 195

Locking selection sets 196

Using named selection sets 197

Editing named selections 197

Isolating the current selection 198

Selecting objects in other interfaces 198

Setting Object Properties 199

Viewing object information 200

Setting display properties 200

Setting rendering controls 202

Enabling Motion Blur 203

Using the Advanced Lighting and mental ray panels 203

Using the User-Defined panel 204

Hiding and Freezing Objects 204

Using the Display Floater dialog box 204

Using the Display panel 205

Tutorial: Hidden toothbrushes 207

Using Layers 208

Using the Layer Manager 208

Using the Layer List 210

Tutorial: Dividing a scene into layers 211

Summary 212

Chapter 7: Cloning Objects and Creating Object Arrays 213

Cloning Objects 213

Using the Clone command 213

Using the Shift-clone method 214

Tutorial: Cloning dinosaurs 214

Understanding Cloning Options 216

Working with copies, instances, and references 216

Tutorial: Creating instanced doughnuts 216

Tutorial: Working with referenced apples 218

Mirroring Objects 219

Using the Mirror command 219

Tutorial: Mirroring a robot’s leg 220

Cloning over Time 221

Using the Snapshot command 221

Tutorial: Creating a tower of cubes 222

Spacing Cloned Objects 223

Using the Spacing tool 223

Tutorial: Stacking a row of dominoes 225

Creating Arrays of Objects 226

Linear arrays 226

Tutorial: Building a white picket fence 227

Circular arrays 227

Tutorial: Building a Ferris wheel 228

Spiral arrays 229

Tutorial: Building a spiral staircase 230

Working with a ring array 230

Tutorial: Using Ring Array to create a carousel 232

Summary 234