3D MAX AUTODESK

Autodesk 3ds Max, formerly 3D Studio, then 3D Studio Max is a professional 3D computer graphics program for making 3D animations, models, games and images. It is developed and produced by Autodesk Media and Entertainment.

Viewing and Navigating 3D Space

Everything in 3ds Max is located in a three-dimensional world that you view through one or more viewports . You have a variety of options for visualizing this enormous stage-like space, from the tiniest details to the full extent of your scene.

Using multiple viewports can help you visualize the scene. Here, the largest viewport shows the view from the camera depicted in the other viewports.

Basics of Creating and Modifying Objects

The Create panel contains controls for creating new objects, the first step in building a scene. Despite the variety of object types, the creation process is consistent for most objects. Typically you create objects interactively with the mouse; alternative methods are available. For details, seeCreating an Object.

The Modify panel provides controls to complete the modeling process. You can rework any object, from its creation parameters to its internal geometry. Both object-space and world-space modifiers let you apply a wide range of effects to objects in your scene. The modifier stack allows editing of the modifier sequence.

Keyframes/Keys

Keyframes record the transition points in the animation of any element in the scene, such as the motion of an object or the bend amount applied by a modifier. The values at these keyframes are called keys.

The red boxes indicate keyframes, the dotted line shows the interpolated trajectory.

Controllers

Controllers, like constraints, handle the animation tasks in a scene. They store animation key values and procedural animation settings, and they interpolate between animation key values.

The animation controllers are organized in the following categories:

• Float controllers: for animating floating-point values
• Point3 controllers: for animating three-component values such as colors or 3D points
• Position controllers: for animating positions of objects and selection sets
• Rotation controllers: for animating rotation of objects and selection sets
• Scale controllers: for animating the scale of objects and selection sets
• Transform controllers: for animating general transforms (position, rotation, and scale) of objects and selection sets

Parameter/Parametric

A parameter is a setting or value that you can change. Many objects in 3ds Max have parameters that you can change to alter the size or shape of the object. This type of object can be described as parametric.

A tube is one example of a parametric object. Varying its parameters creates varying geometry.

Animating Transforms

You can animate changes in position, rotation, and scale (transforms) by turning on the Auto Key button and then performing the transform at any frame other than frame 0. This creates a key for that transform at the current frame.

Example: To animate an object moving among three points:

1. Turn on . (See Using Auto Key Mode.)

   The Auto Key button, the highlight border around the active viewport, and the time slider background all turn red.

   
2. Drag the time slider to frame 25.
3. Move the object from its current position (point A) to another location (point B).

   3ds Max creates Move keys at frames 0 and 25. These appear on the track bar. The establishing key at frame 0 describes the object’s original position, at point A. The key at frame 25 describes the object’s position at point B.

4. Drag the time slider to frame 50.
5. Move the object from point B to a third location (point C).

   3ds Max creates a Move key at frame 50 that describes the object’s position at point C.

6. Click to stop recording animation.
7. Click (Play).

   The object moves from point A to point B over frames 0 to 25, and then proceeds to point C over frames 26 to 50.

8. The Play button has turned into a Stop button; click (Stop) to stop playback.

 ACCELERATION

To have delegate acceleration considered for motion synthesis, turn on Use Acceleration, choose Range or Unique, and then make the appropriate settings.

Time Configuration

The Time Configuration dialog provides settings for frame rate, time display, playback, and animation. You use this dialog to change the length of your animation, or stretch or rescale it. You also use it to set the start and end frames of the active time segment and your animation.

• Status bar > Time controls > Time Configuration > Time Configuration dialog
• 

Play/Stop

The Play button plays the animation in the active viewport. If you click another viewport to make it active, the animation continues playing in that viewport. When the animation is playing, the Play button becomes a Stop button. The Play button is a flyout for playing only the animation of selected objects.

• Status bar > Time controls > (Play Animation)
• Status bar > Time controls > (Stop Animation)
• Keyboard > / (to play) (3ds Max mode)
• Keyboard > .)+V (Maya mode: See Interaction Mode Preferences
• Keyboard > (to stop)

• Time Configuration

• The Time Configuration dialog provides settings for frame rate, time display, playback, and animation. You use this dialog to change the length of your animation, or stretch or rescale it. You also use it to set the start and end frames of the active time segment and your animation.
  • Status bar > Time controls > Time Configuration > Time Configuration dialog
  • 

Understanding Walk Cycle Constraints

Walking motions in both freeform and footstep animations should follow the rules of certain IK constraints. In both freeform and footstep animation, a footstep interval is the start and end of a sequence of IK constraints in world space, with IK Blend set to be greater than 0.0. A biped foot in the Move state should have body space turned on with an IK Blend of 0.0. By using these IK constraints, you can convert between the two animation methods seamlessly.

In a freeform walking animation, typically you need two key types for the legs:

• If the foot is planted on the ground, the key must have IK Blend=1.0 with Object Space and Join To Prev Key turned on.
• If the foot is in the air between footsteps, then IK Blend=0.0 with Body Space turned on, and Join To Prev Key turned off.

• Animating Links

• To animate the links for the ball:

  1. On the Motion panel, assign a Link constraint as the ball’s Transform controller. You can also put a Link constraint on the ball from the Animation menu by choosing Constraints Link Constraint.
  2. Go to frame 0, then on the Motion panel, click Add Link, and click the hand holding the ball. The ball will now move along with the hand, as if it were linked to it.
  3. Drag the time slider to frame 50, where you want the second hand to pick up the ball, click Add Link, then click the second hand. From this frame on, it’s as if the ball were linked to the second hand.

  When you play back the animation, the ball travels with the first hand until frame 50, where you added the second link, then the ball is passed to the second hand for the rest of the animation.

  

  Robot arms pass a ball from one hand to the other.

  Modifiers

  Modifiers, as the name implies, modify an object’s geometrical structure, deforming it in some way. When you apply a taper modifier to the end of a cylinder, for example, the vertices near the end move closer together. Modifiers make changes in the geometry that stay in effect until you adjust or delete the modifier.

  

  Example: effects of the twist modifier on an object

  Edit Modifiers and Editable Objects

  To achieve highly detailed modeling effects, you can directly transform, modify, and align the geometry of objects at a sub-object level, using the Modify panel. The following table shows the different object types and their respective sub-objects.

  Object Type	Sub-Object Geometry
  Mesh	Vertex, Edge, Face, Polygon, Element
  Poly	Vertex, Edge, Border, Polygon, Element
  Spline	Vertex, Segment, Spline
  Patch Surface	Vertex, Edge, Patch, Element, Handle
  NURBS Curve	Curve CV or Point, Curve
  NURBS Surface	Surface CV or Point, Surface

  With the exception of NURBS objects, to gain access to an object’s sub-objects, in most cases you must first either convert the object into an editable object, or apply any of various modifiers to the object, such as Edit Mesh/Poly/Spline/Patch or Mesh/Poly/Spline Select. The Select modifiers simply let you specify sub-objects for modification by subsequently applied modifiers. The distinctions between transforming an object into an editable object and applying an Edit modifier to it are as follows:

  Method	Advantage	Disadvantage
  Editable object	More efficient Can animate sub-objects	Lose creation parameters
  Edit/Select modifier	Keep creation parameters	Less efficient Cannot animate sub-objects (except for limited animation with Edit Poly)