3ds max – Introduction for designers

Workspace: change to “DE_Workspace”

Get started: “Customize” (display and system units, preferences)

Preferences: scene Selection “auto window crossing” and autobackup

File: save files and save “archive files” as ZIP for exchange and how to use “help”

Main menuebar, toolbars, scene explorer, command panel

How to use the viewports

Create your first parametric object

Mouse button: left=select, right=Quad-menue, Middle=move and rotate canvas

Navigation: Maximize viewport (Alt-W), Zoom extend, …, work close to the origin!

Change to different viewport layouts, change proportion and use “view wheel”

Viewport menue settings: en/disable viewport, show grid, change view, “show safe frame”

Viewport: change appearance: realistic, shaded, wireframe (F3), edged faces (F4)…

Select objects (Q), selection Filter, select name (H)

Window crossing, auto window crossing, select + (STRG), deselect – (ALT), isolate selection

Isolate selection, hide/unhide selection/objects

Use “selection set” instead of groups!

How to use the gizmo (XYZ shows as RGB) with “select and move” (W)

“Select and move” (W) with precise transformation in absolute mode and offset mode

“rotate” (E) precisely, angle snap

“Scale” (R), percent snap toogle, set snap settings, absolute+offset mode, only scale objects in modifier stack!

“Select and place”, Copy objects with “shift” and mousemove

Reference coordinate system: view + local

Overview of other menuebuttons in top menue: matertial, render, undo/redo

Overview: create objects, shapes, lights….

Start with a box: create in viewport or with keyboard entry

How to use the modifier panel with example box: OpenSubdiv, Bend, EditPoly

Example: Organic shape based on a box: intro into “EditPoly” (hierarchy: vertice, edge, polygon..)

Example: Organic shape based on a box: intro into “EditPoly” (hierarchy: vertice, edge, polygon..)

Conceptual design: rename EditPoly and use several modifier on top of each other: inset, extrude, deleteMesh, shell modifier

Shell function , shortcut “X” for “Search all Actions”, change order of modifier tab, change, rename and hide object

2d Primitives: Line, Ngon (!), Text, Star, Helix…, Convert 2d shapes to 3d shapes with enable viewport/render

Create and modify “Lines”: orthogonal (hold shift-key), dragtype “bezier” (klick and hold mousebutton), close spline

Interpolation steps (use “adaptive”), hierarchy (vertice, segment, spline), Vertice-type: Bezier, Corner, Smooth

Example: how to create 3d objects out of 2d shapes: extrude + FFD-box modifier

Example: Extrude 2d shape as none open spline: use shell-modifier for third dimension, use sweep-modifier for profiles

Convert spline to editable poly (add shell-modifier!), difference between “edit spline” (poly) and “editable spline” (poly)

“Polyline Pro” plugin to be able to draw lines like in autocad

Object placement: use “Autogrid” while creating objects

Copy objects: copy, instance (bold typeface), reference (reference starts above the grey line)

Object placement “array”: 1D, 2D, 3D dimension wirth preview function

Object placement “mirror” and “spacing tool” and how to zoom in and out in viewport

Object placement “allign” and “paint with selected objects” (Example with parametric plants)

Pivot point: how to change and adjust pivot point (center to object)

Snap functions: 2d/2.5d/3d snap toggle, snap to “vertex”, “enable axis constraints”

Example: Use “snap to grid” for drawing spline-line and adjust vertice-points with snap

Object inspection: measure distance/angle/length/surface area/volume

Scene explorer: organize by “layer explorer”, create layers, reorganize

Scale objects in modifier hierarchy “elements” or with “Utilities/reset x-form”

First visualisation: export to “Studioscene object”: adjust objects, cameras, layer/object color, add materials, adjust exposure control, render

Look at other videos f.e. on youtube or designstrategies.org, use boolean operations, loft function, cloth modifier and plugin “para3d”