-
3ds max Polygon Modeling Basics
Editable Mesh/Editable Poly This tutorial describes the process of editing objects as an editable mesh or poly. When creating complex objects the standard primitives are often too simple to create a unique and abstract form. Editable mesh/poly gives you the opportunity to manipulate each component the object is composed of. These are vertices, edges, faces, […]
-
3ds Max NURBS Modeling
NURBS (Non-Uniform Rational Basis Splines) are a type of spline which is particularly useful for modeling smooth 3d surfaces. The lines themselves, called NURBS curves, are used to create NURBS surfaces or objects. An overview of NURBS, with links and examples, is available here. In this tutorial, we will use NURBS to create highly curved […]
-
3ds Max Splines / Lofting
A spline is a curved line, defined by three or more vertices. It can be 2-dimensional, with all its vertices on a single plane, or 3-d. Splines allow the user to create smoothly-curved lines with high precision. A spline’s shape can be controlled by changing the position, and other properties, of its vertices. In this […]
-
3ds Max Diorama
This tutorial details the process of creating a digital ‘diorama’ using 3ds Max 2011. The basic idea is to map images onto 2-dimensional planes, and arrange the planes in 3-dimensional space to form the illusion of 3d objects in space. It is sometimes also necessary to make certain parts of the mapped images transparent, […]
-
Creating an Underwater Scene in Vue
Open the underwater atmosphere preset to load an optimized light setup. Create a terrain. In this case we use a standard heightfield procedural terrain. Apply a suitable material for the underwater terrain. Create a water plane and adjust the height relative to the terrain. Place the camera below the water plane and above the terrain. […]
-
Particle Playground
Particle Playground [after effects] Our project utilized the particle playground effect to simulate sedimentation of the Mississippi River Basin. We started by importing existing topographical line-work for the Mississippi River and its tributaries into the projects folder. Multiple particle generators (set on cannon control) were added to the composition. We used the river line-work to […]
-
Algal Fuel Animation [technique] Documentation
final animation_process {algae——->biofuel} Technique Documentation technique_01 {3-D modeling} To create the animation, first I had to created a model as a 3-D diagram of the process. This was done using SketchUp and SUPodium Renderer Plug-In for rendering. One important aspect in creating this file was making separate layers for all of the components I would […]
-
Creating a Terrain with the Displace Modifier
First you will need to get a Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of a specific location. In this case we are using a DEM of the NW Laurel Hill (Louisiana) USGS quadrant. You will need to convert the DEM file into an image file (such as jpg) using GIS. Black represents low areas, white represent high areas. Check […]
-
Creating a Terrain with Contour Splines
First you will need the contour data for a given site; this can usually be obtained from GIS and converted to AutoCAD. In this example we are using contours from Laurel Hill Louisiana. 1. Open up 3ds Max and select file, import and navigate to your AutoCAD contour file and select open. 2. The following […]
-
Submerged . After Effects Tutorial
Fantastic tutorial on Video Copilot that shows some of the possibilities available using After Effects. The illusion of moving through strata could be an excellent illustrative technique to show vertical relationships.