Autodesk 3ds Max 2016 Essentials

Dariush Derakhshani, Randi L. Derakhshani

• Publisher: Sybex
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781119059899
• Topic: Computer Science
• Subtopic: Digital Media
• Edition: 1

Start animating right away with this tutorial-based guide to Autodesk 3ds Max 2016

Autodesk 3ds Max 2016 Essentials is your perfect hands-on guide to start animating quickly. Using approachable, real-world exercises, you'll master the fundamentals of this leading animation software by following full-color screen shots step by step. Each chapter opens with a quick discussion of concepts and learning objectives, and then launches into hands-on tutorials that give you firsthand experience and a good start on preparing for the 3ds Max certification exam. You'll learn the basics of modeling, texturing, animating, and visual effects as you create a retro-style alarm clock, animate a thrown knife, model a chair, and more. Whether you're a complete beginner or migrating from another 3D application, this task-based book provides the solid grounding you need in Autodesk 3ds Max 2016.

• Model your character with polygons, meshes, and more
• Add motion with simple and complex animations
• Add color and textures to visualize materials and surfaces
• Render interior scenes with great lighting and camera placement

If you want to learn 3ds Max quickly and painlessly, Autodesk 3ds Max 2016Essentials helps you start animating today.

Chapter 1
The 3ds Max Interface

The Autodesk^® 3ds Max^® 2016 software interface is where you view and work with your scene. This chapter explains its basic operations and tools. You can use this chapter as a reference as you work through the rest of this book, although the following chapters and their exercises will orient you to the 3ds Max user interface (UI) quickly. It's important to be in front of your computer when you read this chapter, so you can try out techniques as we discuss them in the book.

In this chapter, you will learn to

• Navigate the workspace
• Transform objects using gizmos
• Use the Graphite Modeling Tools set
• Use the command panel
• Use the time slider and track bar
• Manage files

Navigating the Workspace

The following sections present a brief rundown of what you need to know about the UI and how to navigate in the 3D workspace.

User-Interface Elements

Figure 1.1 shows the 3ds Max UI. (See Table 1.1 for explanations of the UI elements.) At the top left of the application window is an icon called the Application button (

); clicking it opens the Application menu, which provides access to many file operations. Running along the top is the Quick Access toolbar, which provides access to common commands and the InfoCenter, which in turn offers to access many product-related information sources. In this version of the program, they have rolled out a new Enhanced Menus workspace that defines the look of the interface. When you first open the program, you will see the Default workspace. To switch to a different workspace, go to the Quick Access toolbar located at the top of the interface. In the Workspaces drop-down list, choose the desired workspace. Some of the most important commands in the Quick Access toolbar are file-management commands such as Save File and Open File. If you do something and then wish you hadn't, you can click the Undo Scene Operation button (

) or press Ctrl+Z. To redo a command or action that you just undid, click the Redo Scene Operation button (

) or press Ctrl+Y.

Figure 1.1 The 3ds Max interface elements

Table 1.1 The 3ds Max interface elements*

Element	Function	Description
1	Application button	Opens the Application menu, which provides file management commands.
2	Quick Access toolbar	Provides some of the most commonly used file management commands as well as Undo Scene Operation and Redo Scene Operation.
3	InfoCenter	Provides access to 3ds Max product-related information.
4	The ribbon	Provides access to a wide range of tools to make building and editing models in 3ds Max fast and easy.
5	Command panel tabs	Where all the editing of parameters occurs; provides access to many functions and creation options; divided into tabs that access different panels, such as the Create panel, Modify panel, etc.
6	Rollout	A section of the command panel that can expand to show a listing of parameters or collapse to just its heading name.
7	Viewport navigation controls	Icons that control the display and navigation of the viewports; icons may change depending on the active viewport.
8	Animation Time/Keying controls	Controls for animation keyframing and animation playback controls.
9	Coordinate display area	Allows you to enter transformation values.
10	Track bar	Provides a timeline showing the frame numbers; select an object to view its animation keys on the track bar.
11	Time slider	Shows the current frame and allows for changing the current frame by moving (or scrubbing) the time bar.
12	Prompt line and status bar controls	Prompt and status information about your scene and the ...