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Welcome to Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2015 Essentials. The world of computergenerated
(CG) imagery is fun and ever changing. Whether you are new to CG
in general or are a CG veteran new to 3ds Max designing, you’ll find this book
the perfect primer. It introduces you to the Autodesk 3ds Max software and
shows how you can work with the program to create your art, whether it is animated
or static in design.

This book exposes you to all facets of 3ds Max by introducing and plainly
explaining its tools and functions to help you understand how the program operates—
but it does not stop there. This book also explains the use of the tools and
the ever-critical concepts behind the tools. You’ll find hands-on examples and
tutorials that give you firsthand experience with the toolsets. Working through
them will develop your skills and the conceptual knowledge that will carry you
to further study with confidence. These tutorials expose you to various ways to
accomplish tasks with this intricate and comprehensive artistic tool. These chapters
should give you the confidence you need to venture deeper into the feature
set in 3ds Max, either on your own or by using any of the software’s other learning
tools and books as a guide.

Learning to use a powerful tool can be frustrating. You need to remember
to pace yourself. The major complaints CG book readers have are that the pace
is too fast and that the steps are too complicated or overwhelming. Addressing
those complaints is a tough nutto crack, to be sure. No two readers are the
same. However, this book offers the opportunity to run things at your own pace.
The exercises and steps may seem confusing at times, but keep in mind that
the more you try and the more you fail at some attempts, the more you will
learn how to operate the 3ds Max engine. Experience is king when learning the
workflow necessary for any software program, and with experience comes failure
and aggravation. But try and try again. You will find that further attempts will
always be easier and more fruitful.

Above all, however, this book aims to inspire you to use the 3ds Max program
as a creative tool to achieve and explore your own artistic vision.

What Is Covered in This Book

Autodesk 3ds Max 2015 Essentials is organized to provide you with a quick and
essential experience with 3ds Max to allow you to begin a fruitful education in
the world of computer graphics.

Chapter 1, “The 3ds Max Interface,” begins with an introduction to the
interface for 3ds Max 2015 to get you up and running quickly.

Chapter 2, “Your First 3ds Max Project,” is an introduction to modeling
concepts and workflows in general. It shows you how to model using 3ds Max
tools with polygonal meshes and modifiers to create a retro alarm clock.

Chapter 3, “Modeling in 3ds Max: Architectural Model Part I,” takes
your modeling lesson from Chapter 2 a step further by showing you how to use
some of the Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) tools to build an
interior space using a room from an image.

Chapter 4, “Modeling in 3ds Max: Architectural Model Part II,” continues
with the interior space from Chapter 3 by adding some furniture. Themain
focus of this chapter is the Graphite Modeling Tools tab and its many tools.

Chapter 5, “Introduction to Animation,” teaches you the basics of 3ds Max
animation techniques and workflow by animating a bouncing ball. You will also
learn how to use the Track View - Curve Editor to time, edit, and finesse your
animation.

Chapter 6, “Animation Principles,” rounds out your animation experience
by showing the animation concepts of weight, follow-through, and anticipation
when you animate a knife thrown at a target.

Chapter 7, “Character Poly Modeling Part I,” introduces you to the creation
of polygon mesh character model of an alien. In this chapter, you begin by
blocking out the primary parts of the body.

Chapter 8, “Character Poly Modeling: Part II,” continues the alien model,
focusing on using the Editable Poly toolset. You will finish the body details,
head, hands, and feet.

Chapter 9, “Introduction to Materials,” shows you how to assign textures
and materials to your models. You will learn to texture the couch, chair, and
window from Chapter 4 as you learn the basics of working with 3ds Max materials
and UVW mapping.

Chapter 10, “Textures and UV Workflow: The Alien,” furthers your understanding
of materials and textures, and introduces UV workflows in preparing
and texturing the alien.

Chapter 11, “Character Studio: Rigging,” covers the basics of Character Studio
in creating a biped system and associating the biped rig to the alien model.

Chapter 12, “Character Studio: Animation,” expands on Chapter 11 to show
you how to use Character Studio to create and edit a walk cycle using the alien
model.

Chapter 13, “Introduction to Lighting: Interior Lighting,” begins by showing
you how to light a 3D scene with the three-point lighting system. It then
shows you how to use the tools to create and edit 3ds Max lights for illumination,
shadows, and special lighting effects. You will light the furniture to which
you added materials in Chapter 9.

Chapter 14, “3ds Max Rendering,” explains how to create image files from
your 3ds Max scene and how to achieve the best look for your animation by using
proper cameras and rendering settings when you render the interior scene.

Chapter 15, “mental ray,” shows you how to render with mental ray. Using
Final Gather, you will learn how to use indirect lighting.