Introduction to 3ds Max 2015
This in-depth tutorial is designed to help you get a solid understanding of the core features found in 3ds Max, and help you to ease your transition into this very powerful program. So during the course of these lessons, you'll have a chance to learn about different aspects of 3ds Max from several of our instructors here at DT. Software required: 3ds Max 2015.
What you'll learn
In the first portion of this tutorial, we'll be getting you familiar with some of the vocabulary and foundational skills that you'll need in order to begin moving around and working in 3ds Max. From there, we'll move into exploring some of the modeling features found in 3ds Max, and we'll begin building the mech that will be our central project for the remainder of this course. From there, we'll take you through the entire process of adding textures and materials to the mech, adding animated movement, animation controls, dynamics, and finally we'll learn how to add lights, shadows, and output our final animated sequence. Software required: 3ds Max 2015.
Table of contents
- Modeling Overview 1m
- Setting up Reference Images 8m
- Modeling the Hull 9m
- Beginning the Helmet 7m
- Smoothing the Splines 8m
- Finishing the Helmet 6m
- Modeling the Pelvis 8m
- Modeling the Shoulder Mount 7m
- Modeling the Shoulder Socket 7m
- Modeling the Upper Arm 8m
- Modeling the Elbow Joint 8m
- Modeling the Arm Cannon Housing 8m
- Modeling the Arm Cannon Interior 7m
- Modeling the Gun Barrel 7m
- Mirroring the Arm 9m
- Modeling the Upper Leg 10m
- Finishing the Upper Leg 8m
- Modeling the Middle Leg Link 10m
- Modeling the Lower Leg 8m
- Modeling the Front Foot Piece 7m
- Modeling the Back Foot Piece 8m
- Modeling the Mid Sections 7m
- Modeling the Jet Pack Tank 9m
- Modeling the Jet Pack Exhaust 8m
- Modifying the Hip to Function 8m
- Modeling a Hose 8m
- Adding the Final Elements 6m
- Using Smoothing Methods 8m
- Smoothing the Shoulder Pieces 8m
- Smoothing the Arm Pieces 9m
- Smoothing the Accessory Pieces 8m
- Smoothing the Lower Body of the Mech 9m
- Adding the Final Details of the Helmet 9m
- Materials and Texturing Overview 1m
- Material Editor Overview 8m
- Modifying the Basic Parameters of a Material 9m
- Adding Multiple Materials to a Single Object 8m
- Using Procedural Maps 6m
- Unwrapping UV Basics 7m
- Exploring the Unwrapping Tools 10m
- Using Substance Materials 11m
- Outputting a UVW Template 4m
- Adding File Textures 8m
- Adding a Bump Map 7m
- Rigging Overview 0m
- Preparing Our Model to Be Rigged 14m
- Creating Groups in 3ds Max 7m
- Finishing the Grouping Process of Our Model 7m
- Creating a Global Control 5m
- Building a Control Object for the Mech's Upper Torso 6m
- Creating a Control for the Mech's Lower Torso 6m
- Controlling the Lower Back 4m
- Adding a Control for the Mech's Center-of-mass 5m
- Building Your First Bone Chain 6m
- Finishing Our Initial Bone Chain 5m
- Setting up Bone Chains for the Mech's Toes 7m
- Mirroring Bones in 3ds Max 5m
- Connecting the Mech's Legs to Follow the Rig 7m
- Skinning Objects in 3ds Max 6m
- Deforming the Fueling Line's Envelope Object 5m
- Controlling the Fueling Line 4m
- Deforming the Mech's Mid Section 4m
- Attaching the Mid Section to Follow Our Rig 4m
- Creating the Mech's Arm Bones 7m
- Connecting the Arms to Our Rig and Adding Inverse Kinematics to the Limbs 6m
- Controlling the Mech's Legs 5m
- Finishing the Leg Controls 5m
- Creating Custom Attributes and Wiring Parameters 9m
- Arm Controls 4m
- Rigging with the Reaction Manager 9m
- Making Our Scene Animator-friendly 5m
- Animation Overview 1m
- How to Create and Edit Keyframes in 3ds Max 8m
- Managing Keyframes in the Curve Editor and Cycling Animation Infinitely 9m
- Working with Auto Key and Creating Simple Expressions in the Curve Editor 6m
- Creating Expressions 5m
- Path Animation 5m
- Creating Crowds with Populate 5m
- Starting on Our Final Project 3m
- Animating the Mech's Platform 9m
- Blocking in the Mech's Performance 7m
- Finalizing Our Blocking Pass and Starting on Our Polishing Stage 8m
- Finishing the Mech's Polishing Pass 5m
- Adding a Shot Camera 6m
- Wrapping up the Animation and Previewing Animations in Real-time 4m
- Lighting and Rendering Overview 1m
- Understanding Light Types in 3ds Max 8m
- Basic Light Parameters in 3ds Max 7m
- Understanding Diffuse and Specular Components 7m
- Utilizing the Object Properties Window in 3ds Max 7m
- Changing the Rendering Engine Used by 3ds Max 3m
- Setting up Image-based Lighting in 3ds Max 9m
- Working with Additional Light Sources in 3ds Max 8m
- Optimizing Render Speed in 3ds Max 8m
- Fine-tuning Particles and Other Materials 8m
- Adding Motion Blur and Improving Rendered Image Quality 7m
- Outputting Our Final Animation from 3ds Max 8m
- Converting an Image Sequence to a Movie File in 3ds Max 5m
About the authors
Kyle was one of the first authors for Digital-Tutors, now a Pluralsight company. and has been a part of the team for over 10 years. Kyle began his career in computer graphics education as a college instructor and worked as a Digital-Tutors rendering tutor and curriculum manager since 2002. Kyle has contributed to many of the most popular projects and helped the Digital-Tutors team win awards throughout the company's history. Kyle has had the honor of having his art exhibited at the New York ... more
Joshua is a devoted games author at Pluralsight. For years Joshua has been a key author behind Digital-Tutors' (now a Pluralsight company) popular game engine training. As a kid, he had a passion for playing video games, which eventually developed into a fascination with the process of game creation. The question of "How'd they do that?" led Joshua on a quest to learn to make these games himself. Ever since then, Joshua has devoted his life to creating games, as well as teaching others to build ... more
Delano works avidly as an animation author at Pluralsight. Starting his career at animation studios like Shilo, Delano has developed a strong passion for his talents. His animation and rigging background help him teach and create some of the most-watched training on Pluralsight. A few of his favorite projects that he has contributed to include: Character Interaction in Maya and in Softimage, Rigging the Human Face in Maya, Rigging Sea Creatures in Maya, and Rigging and Animating Transforming... more