Sams Teach Yourself 3D Studio Max 3 in 24 Hours

Name: Sams Teach Yourself 3D Studio Max 3 in 24 Hours
Availability: OutOfStock
ISBN: 9780672318641

ISBN-10: 0672318644

ISBN-13: 9780672318641

Edition: 2000

Authors: David Kalwick

List price: $29.99

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This text will teach the reader one particular feature of the 3D Studio Max 3 program in each of the 24 hours. At the end of the text the reader will have completed an animated short using upward of 30 features within the program.

Book details

List price: $29.99
Copyright year: 2000
Publisher: Sams
Publication date: 7/21/2000
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 672
Size: 7.25" wide x 8.75" long x 1.50" tall
Weight: 2.332
Language: English



Introduction



Entering The Third Dimension (Getting Started)



Exploring the MAX 3 Interface


Views and the View Tools


Perspective vs


Orthographic Views


Zooming In and Out


Panning a View


Rotating a View for Additional Points of View


Maximizing a Viewport


The Command Panel, Tab Panel, and Menu Bar


Select and Transform Tools


Selecting an Object


Transforms (Moving, Rotating, and Scaling


Using the Transform Gizmo


Locking the Axes


Locking the Selection


Selection Filter


Selection Sets


Undoing an Unwanted Action


Redos


Spinners, Swatches, Buttons, and Boxes


Basic Interface Customization


Floating a Toolbar


Docking a Tab


Replacing a Tab


Saving a Custom Interface


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Understanding Modeling Basics


MAX's Coordinate Systems


The Create Tab


Parametric Modeling


The Benefits of Parametric Modeling


Geometry Versus Shapes


Working with Primitives


Creating Primitives


Creating a Sphere


Using Keyboard Entry for Creation


Multidimensional Primitives (Creating a Box)


Changing Parameters through the Modify Panel


Segments and Sides


To Smooth or Not to Smooth


What Are Mapping Coords? Slice Parameters for Just a Piece of the Pie


Building an Eye


Cloning: Copy, Instance, or Reference?


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



2D and a Half-Working with Shapes


Shape Primitives


Creating Circles, Ellipses, and Donuts


Creation Method-Edge or Center? The Essential Rectangle


Creating Text


Creating Arcs


Creating an Ngon


Creating a Helix


Vertices and Segments and Splines, Oh My!


Vertices-The Structures Behind Shapes


Drawing Simple Lines


Drawing Curved Splines


Editing Shapes


Changing Point Types


The Incredible Editable Spline


Attaching Shapes


Creating a 3D Logo with Shapes


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Expanded Modeling-Working with Editable Meshes


Sub-Object Vertex


Basic Vertex Manipulation


Soft Selection


What Are Edges? Sub-Object Faces and Polygons


Elements


Modeling Tools


Using the Extrude Tool


Using the Chamfer Tool


Using the Bevel Tool


Using the Cut Tool


Create a Cartoon Hand from a Box


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Composing the Start of a Scene


Merging Existing Objects


Snapping to It 2D, 2.5D, 3D Snaps


Using Angle Snap and Object Snap Together


Percent Snap


Spinner Snap


Align Tool Basics


Align Position


Align Orientation (Local)


Match Scale


Creating a Simple Scene


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Building Sophisticated Models



Manipulating Geometry Using Modifiers


The Modifier Stack-The Backbone of MAX


Building a Stack-Adding Modifiers


Accessing the Stack Hierarchy


Pinning the Stack


Removing Modifiers from the Stack


Changing the Order of Modifiers within the Stack


Activating/Deactivating Modifiers


Edit Mesh/Splines Modifier Versus Editable Mesh/Spline


Working with the Bend Modifier


Accessing and Using Gizmos


Do the Twist


Using the XForm Modifier for Transforms


Making Mushrooms


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Adding Detail to a Scene


Creating a Plant


Making the Stem from a Cylinder


Creating Leaves


Creating the Flower Head


Making a Petal


Using Arrays


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Building with Compound Objects, Part 1-The Loft


Lofting-A Better Extrude


Creating Multiple-Shaped Lofts


Using the Percentage and Distance Settings


Adjusting Path Steps to Affect Object Smoothness


Adjusting Shape Steps to Affect Geometry Resolution


Editing a Loft Sub-Object


Deleting a Shape


Creating a Loft Deformation


Using the Scale Deformation


Using Multiple Deformation Points


Using the Twist Deformation


Using the Teeter Deformation


Using the Bevel Deformation Using the Fit Deformation


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Building with Compound Objects, Part 2-Booleans and Morphs


Booleans in Brief


A Basic Boolean Operation


Manipulating Operands


Modifying Operands


Transforming Operands


Extracting an Operand


Refining with the Boolean Cut


Morph Objects


Starting a Morph and Creating Targets


Loading Morph Targets


Creating a Morph Sequence


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Organic Modeling with Patches, NURMS, and Surface Tools


Non-Uniform Rational MeshSmooth (NURMS)


Using MeshSmooth for Organic Modeling


Using Display/Weighting for Added Mesh Control


Building a Ship with MeshSmooth


Patch Objects


QuadPatch and TriPatch


Manipulating a Patch with an EditPatch modifier


Surface Tools


Using the CrossSection Modifier


Adding the Surface Modifier


Creating the Spline Network


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Creating a Character Head


Building a Head


Creating the Basic Head Shape


Creating the Mouth and Cheeks


Creating Eye Sockets


Weighting a Nose


Refining the Eye Sockets


Adding Eyes


Creating Ears


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Adding Realism With Materials And Environments



Introduction to Basic Rendering


A Simple Render


The Rendering Tab


Common Parameters of the Render Scene Dialog


The MAX Default Scanline Rendering Parameters


Rendering Multiple Frames


Rendering Numbered Frames


Rendering Multiple Frames to a Single File (.avi, .mov)


Choosing a CODEC


Rendering a Sequence


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Creating Materials


The Material Editor


Applying a Material


Material Types


Common Material Properties


Material Name


Diffuse and Ambient Color


Highlighting Specular Color and Specular Levels


Self-Illumination


Material Opacity


Understanding Shaders


Choosing a Shader


Diversifying Materials with Maps


Adding Reflection Maps


Using Refractions


Material Editor Tools


Creating a Raytrace Reflection


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Setting Up Lighting and Cameras


Basic Lighting


Default Lighting


MAX Light Types


Adding Lights to the Scene


Adjusting Light Parameters


Spotlight Cone Parameters


Attenuation Parameters


Shadow Parameters


Choosing and Adding a Camera


Camera Parameters


Camera Tools


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Adding Life Through Animation



Applying Animation Principles in MAX


Key Frames-The Key to Animation


Keeping Time


The Animate Button and Key Frames


Controlling Animation with Key Info


Animating Object Parameters


Working with Track View


Track View Function Curves


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Adding Life and Dimension with Space Warp Effects


Space Warps-Global Modifiers


Creating a Space Warp


Changing Space Warp Settings


The Bomb Space Warp Parameters


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Advanced Rendering and Environmental Effects


Adjusting Scanline Rendering Options


Choosing the Options


Using the Production and Draft Toggle


Smoothing the Edges with Antialias Filters


Object and Image Motion Blur Settings


Environmental Effects


Changing Background Color


Adding an Environment Map


Global Lighting


Atmospheric Effects


Atmospheric Apparatus


Creating Combustion Effects


Creating Volume Fog


Creating Volumetric Light Effects


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Advanced Animation with Bones and Inverse Kinematics


The Hierarchy of Parts


The Hierarchical Chain


Viewing Hierarchies


Why a Hierarchy? Building a Simple Hierarchy


Basic Inheritance


Setting Up an Inverse Kinematics (IK) Chain


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Adding Fine Detail To A Scene



Using Image Effects for Greater Images


Rendering Effects


Applying and Previewing an Effect


The Infamous Lens Flare


Using a Blur Effect


Simulating Depth of Field


The File Output Effect


Adding Film Grain for Consistent Compositing


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Working with Particle Systems


General Particle Types


Common Particle Parameters


Advanced Particle Systems


Creating Snow


The Super Spray


The Particle Cloud


Using the PArray for Object Emitters


Particle-Specific Space Warps


Using Particles with Instanced Objects


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Using Video Post to Polish Images and Animations


The Video Post Process


Adding Video Post Events to the Queue


Adding a Scene Event


Rendering through Video Post


Adding a Filter Event


Saving Rendered Special Effects with Output Events


Disabling Events


Editing an Event's Active Time


Layering Multiple Images


Fading to Black


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Exploring the MAX 3 Utility Set


The Utilities Tab


Using the Configure Button Sets Icon


Accessing Different Utility Sets


Using the Color Clipboard to Store Color Swatches


Creating a Floating Clipboard


Using the Asset Manager to Locate Resources


The MAX File Finder Utility


Finding and Setting Resource Paths with the MapPath Editor


Tracking Model Size with the Polygon Counter


Creating Dynamic Simulations


Using Materials in Dynamic Simulations


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Generating MAXScripts to Increase Productivity


Running the MAXScript Utility


Running an Existing Script


Opening and Editing a Script


Quick Scripting with Macros


Using Macro Recorder


Using the Listener Window with Macro Recorder


Creating Custom Scripts


Using the New Script Button


Creating a Utility


Creating a Rollout


Grouping Parameters in a Utility


Using Spinners and Sliders for Setting Values


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Activities



Adopting a Studio Workflow for Efficiency


Advantages of a Studio Workflow using Xrefs


Using XRef Objects and Scenes


When to Use XRef Scenes


Modifying XRef Objects


Proxy Objects


Summary


Workshop


Q&A


Index