For our digital model, each person’s plot is 3200 feet square and contains some combination of terrain, water, vegetation, and architecture. For our physical model, each plot will be 8 inches square and contain only terrain. This necessitates simplifying your digital model and scaling it down to 8 inches square, in preparation for using the […]
Overview The curve editor is a feature in 3ds Max which allows the user to visualize and modify an object’s parameters over time. Anything which can be animated (changed over time) can be controlled in the curve editor. In the editor, objects’ parameters are mapped on a 2d graph. Time is represented on the x-axis […]
3ds Max 2011 introduces a new way of configuring materials, the slate material editor. Though the older material editor (now referred to as the ‘compact material editor’) is still available, the slate material editor offers a more efficient and intuitive interface. The relationships between a scene’s materials and the ‘maps’ which define their parameters are […]
3ds Max Loft Tutorial The “Loft” tool provides a simple and highly versatile method to create 3d objects from 2d splines. This tutorial shows you an implementation of “Loft” in Landscape Architecture, by showing you how to create a road. First you have to create a series of splines which will serve as the shape […]
(This page assumes that the user is familiar with the ArcGIS interface, layer attributes, tables, and toolboxes. It also assumes that the table associated with the contour layer contains an entry for each contour line.) In order to export contours from ArcGIS to AutoCAD with elevation data, you need to make sure there is a […]
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, […]
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 […]
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 […]
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, […]