Autodesk Official Training Guide

Essentials

Learning Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2010

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Autodesk® 3ds Max Design lets you maximize your productivity and tackle challenging projects—and this book, developed by Autodesk experts, lets you master the essential tools and techniques to do it all.

Learn how to use 3ds Max Design confidently in a production environment. Each chapter in this book contains a series of lessons and a hands-on lab. The lessons introduce you to the functional areas of 3ds Max Design and features are explained using short and simple examples. Labs demonstrate a practical application of the theory.

Combined, each chapter delivers a sound understanding of the functions, features and principles behind 3ds Max 2010, and shows you how to apply this knowledge to real world situations.

With this book you will:

• Explore the user interface and 3D workspace

• Learn how to organize your scenes and objects

• Learn about lighting a 3D scene in 3ds Max Design

• Explore the application of various lighting effects

• Discover techniques for professional design workflow

• Explore the Material Editor learning to simulate real life materials

• Learn how to create cameras and compose your scenes for rendering

$49.95 USD$ 36.95 EUR£ 24.99 GBP

Bonus features included on the DVD· Free 3D models from TurboSquid

· Four bonus chapters

· Four labs

· Support files

What you need to use this book

· Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2010, Autodesk® 3ds Max Design® 2010, or 30-day trial version of Autodesk® 3ds Max®

· DVD-ROM

Autodesk and 3ds Max are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc. in the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. © 2009 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

Learning Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2010A hands-on introduction to the key tools and techniques that supports the way designers and visualization experts work. Learn to use the latest technology to fully explore, validate and communicate your creative ideas.

Autodesk®

3ds Max®

Design 2010

Autodesk Official Training Guide

Essentials

Autodesk Certification Preparation

Learning Autodesk

® 3ds Max

® Design 2010

Free ModelsFrom TurboSquidValue $ 188.00

© 2009 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by Autodesk, Inc., this publication, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form, by any method, for any purpose.

Certain materials included in this publication are reprinted with the permission of the copyright holder.

The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and other countries: 3DEC (design/logo), 3December, 3December.com, 3ds Max, ADI, Alias, Alias (swirl design/logo), AliasStudio, Alias|Wavefront (design/logo), ATC, AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Learning Assistance, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Simulator, AutoCAD SQL Extension, AutoCAD SQL Interface, Autodesk, Autodesk Envision, Autodesk Insight, Autodesk Intent, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Map, Autodesk MapGuide, Autodesk Streamline, AutoLISP, AutoSnap, AutoSketch, AutoTrack, Backdraft, Built with ObjectARX (logo), Burn, Buzzsaw, CAiCE, Can You Imagine, Character Studio, Cinestream, Civil 3D, Cleaner, Cleaner Central, ClearScale, Colour Warper, Combustion, Communication Specification, Constructware, Content Explorer, Create>what’s>Next> (design/logo), Dancing Baby (image), DesignCenter, Design Doctor, Designer’s Toolkit, DesignKids, DesignProf, DesignServer, DesignStudio, Design|Studio (design/logo), Design Web Format, Discreet, DWF, DWG, DWG (logo), DWG Extreme, DWG TrueConvert, DWG TrueView, DXF, Ecotect, Exposure, Extending the Design Team, Face Robot, FBX, Filmbox, Fire, Flame, Flint, FMDesktop, Freewheel, Frost, GDX Driver, Gmax, Green Building Studio, Heads-up Design, Heidi, HumanIK, IDEA Server, i-drop, ImageModeler, iMOUT, Incinerator, Inferno, Inventor, Inventor LT, Kaydara, Kaydara (design/logo), Kynapse, Kynogon, LandXplorer, LocationLogic, Lustre, Matchmover, Maya, Mechanical Desktop, Moonbox, MotionBuilder, Movimento, Mudbox, NavisWorks, ObjectARX, ObjectDBX, Open Reality, Opticore, Opticore Opus, PolarSnap, PortfolioWall, Powered with Autodesk Technology, Productstream, ProjectPoint, ProMaterials, RasterDWG, Reactor, RealDWG, Real-time Roto, REALVIZ, Recognize, Render Queue, Retimer,Reveal, Revit, Showcase, ShowMotion, SketchBook, Smoke, Softimage, Softimage|XSI (design/logo), SteeringWheels, Stitcher, Stone, StudioTools, Topobase, Toxik, TrustedDWG, ViewCube, Visual, Visual Construction, Visual Drainage, Visual Landscape, Visual Survey, Visual Toolbox, Visual LISP, Voice Reality, Volo, Vtour, Wire, Wiretap, WiretapCentral, XSI, and XSI (design/logo).

The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk Canada Co. in the USA and/or Canada and other countries: Backburner, Multi-Master Editing, River, and Sparks.

The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Moldflow Corp. in the USA and/or other countries: Moldflow MPA, MPA (design/logo), Moldflow Plastics Advisers, MPI, MPI (design/logo), Moldflow Plastics Insight, MPX, MPX (design/logo), Moldflow Plastics Xpert. Python is a registered trademark of of Python Software Foundation. SIGGRAPH is a registered trademark of the Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.

Disclaimer THIS PUBLICATION AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS MADE AVAILABLE BY AUTODESK, INC. “AS IS.” AUTODESK, INC. DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE REGARDING THESE MATERIALS.

Published By: Autodesk, Inc. 111 Mclnnis Parkway San Rafael, CA 94903, USA

Focal Press is an imprint of Elsevier30 Corporate Drive, Suite 400, Burlington, MA 01803, USALinacre House, Jordan Hill, Oxford OX2 8DP, UK

© 2009 Autodesk, Inc. Published by Elsevier, Inc. All rights reserved.

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ISBN: 978-0-240-81193-2

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Acknowledgments

Michiel Schriever Art Direction

Luke Pauw Sr. Graphic Designer

Elise O’Keefe & John Hammer Copy Editor

Andrew Tanousis Technical Editor

Peter Verboom Video Producer

Lenni Rodrigues & Linda Sellheim Project Leads

Lenni Rodrigues Program Development Manager

Richard Lane Senior Manager, Customer Learning

Paul Mailhot Sr. Director, Autodesk Learning

Special thanks go out to:

Laura Lewin, Kathryn Spencer, Rebecca Pease, Carmela Bourassa, Tonya Holder, Mary Ruijs, Amer Yassine, Marc Dahan, Sebastien Primeau, Steven Schain, Luc St-Onge, Paul Verrall, Sarah Blay, Roberto Ziche, Virginia Houts.

Roger Cusson | Training Consultant

Roger Cusson began his career working in Architecture when he caught the AutoCAD bug in 1985. He became a consultant to Architectural firms implementing AutoCAD into their work process and at the same time he began to teach CAD to students and professionals. Roger continued to innovate and began creating 3D renderings of buildings. In 1991 these efforts let to his firm being recognized with an award from Cadalyst Magazine.

Roger has worked as a full time professor at Vanier College, and a training manager at Autodesk. His work at Autodesk led to the establishment of the Autodesk Media and Entertainment Press. He managed the production of over 30 Book, DVD and e-learning titles. He was lead author for several Autodesk books on 3ds Max and Viz. His most recent work is Realistic Architectural Visualization with 3ds Max and mental ray.

He has been an Autodesk Training Specialists teaching instructors and professionals on 3ds Max, 3ds Max Design, Revit Architecture and AutoCAD. Roger has also been an instructor at Autodesk University and has taught online courses for CG Society. He has managed the establishment of the Discreet Certified Trainer program and organized the 2004 Siggraph 3ds Max Master Classes.

Roger lives and works in Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Primary Author

Table of Contents

Chapter 01 | Getting Started

Lesson 01 | User Interface 10

Lesson 02 | Creating and Modifying Basic Objects 46

Lesson 03 | Scene File Manipulation 58

Lesson 04 | Selecting Objects 78

Lesson 05 | Transforms 92

Lesson 06 | Object and Scene Organization 126

Lesson 07 | Project Folders 154

Chapter 02 | Modeling

Lesson 08 | Geometrical Object Types 158

Lesson 09 | 3D Parametric Objects 178

Lesson 10 | Using the Modifier Stack 198

Lesson 11 | Essential Modifiers 222

Lesson 12 | Object Cloning 246

Lesson 13 | Low Poly Modeling 260

Lesson 14 | Creating Shapes 296

Lesson 15 | Spline Editing 316

Lesson 16 | Creating Objects from Splines 346

Lesson 17 | Using Compound Objects 370

Chapter 03 | Lighting

Lesson 18 | Light Types 414

Lesson 19 | Simple Lighting Setup 444

Lesson 20 | Lighting Tools 460

Lesson 21 | Indirect Illumination and Exposure Control 468

Lesson 22 | Simulating Sunlight 482

Lesson 23 | Lighting Effects 508

Chapter 04| Materials

Lesson 24 | Working with the Material Editor 536

Lesson 25 | Material Types 556

Lesson 26 | Using Predefined ProMaterials 566

Lesson 27 | Using Predefined ProMaterials 592

Index 622