Autodesk authorized publisher Digital-Tutors have announced the first three releases in a series of 3ds Max training titles including, INTRODUCTION TO MODELING IN 3DS MAX, INTRODUCTION TO ANIMATION IN 3DS MAX, and INTRODUCTION TO MENTAL RAY IN 3DS MAX.
Developed for emerging digital artists new to 3ds Max, the highly customizable and scalable 3D modeling, animation, and rendering solution, the titles collectively contain more than nine hours of self-paced creative projects and provide essential modeling workflows, time-saving animation techniques, and the fundamentals of rendering with mental ray within 3ds Max. The new releases provide a tool-based approach to fully understanding popular production topics and a foundation for artists integrating 3ds Max into existing workflows.
INTRODUCTION TO MODELING IN 3DS MAX
Highlights from INTRODUCTION TO MODELING IN 3DS MAX include: NURBS workflow; polygon workflow; splines and patches workflow; scene organization with layers; smoothing methods; working with sub-objects; sub-object selection methods; adding viewport background images; scale deformation; cloning geometry and shapes; mirroring geometry; sweep modifier; shell modifier; symmetry modifier; surface modifier; FFD modifiers; lathe modifier; modifier stack; moving pivot points; transforming geometry and shapes; modifying creation parameters; creating booleans; attaching and detaching objects; welding vertices; rendering and viewing curves; and HSDS modifier for subdivision surfaces.
INTRODUCTION TO ANIMATION IN 3DS MAX
Highlights from INTRODUCTION TO ANIMATION IN 3DS MAX include: Overview of animation tools in Max; manipulating animation with Curve Editor; methods for fine-tuning animation; ghosting animation; animating with expressions; wiring parameters; real-time previewing; cloning key-frames; exploring dope sheet; path animation; layering animation; seamlessly cycling animation; saving and loading animation; Trackbar menu; understanding trajectories; Motion Mixer Overview; creating track sets; filtering F-curves; scaling keys in time and value; breaking continuity of tangents for weight; animating with link constraint; setting default In and out tangents; and understanding the time configuration dialog.
INTRODUCTION TO MENTAL RAY IN 3DS MAX
Highlights from INTRODUCTION TO MENTAL RAY IN 3DS MAX include: mental ray overview; global illumination workflow; final gather workflow; caustics workflow; emitting GI photons from light sources; photon energy and decay parameters; controlling final gather accuracy; adding secondary final gather bounces; mixing final gather and global illumination; saving and reusing lighting data; image-based lighting; HDR exposure controls; emitting caustic photons from lights; optimizing caustic photon use; subsurface scattering shader; ambient occlusion shader; mental ray architectural material; utilizing the Material Editor; contour line rendering; using render elements; scene states; and compositing rendered passes.
