Book Image

3ds Max Speed Modeling for 3D Artists

By : Thomas Mooney
Book Image

3ds Max Speed Modeling for 3D Artists

By: Thomas Mooney

Overview of this book

Production of 3D art is an exciting medium, but the task of modeling requires intense attention to detail, so speed and efficiency are vital. This book breaks down speed modeling workflow in 3ds Max into stages you can easily achieve, with a focus on hard surface modeling and methods you can apply to your own designs."3ds Max Speed Modeling for 3D Artists" will help level up your 3D modeling skills. It focuses on hard surface modeling, and shows the range of tools and techniques in 3ds Max 2013.This book shows content creation methods aimed at 3ds Max modelers preparing to show their skill to the industry. The key feature of modeling that artists must exhibit is speediness while preserving technical accuracy. The author helps you follow set project guidelines while pushing creativity and outlines the entire workflow from concept development to exporting a game-ready model.The book begins with introductions for new users to the interface and modeling tools, and progresses to topics aimed at users already familiar with 3ds Max, who want to improve their content creation process. You'll also see ways 3ds Max content is used with other applications, like sculpting software and game editors, and learn features of speed modeling, efficient workflow, re-use of content, and tips on getting more done, more quickly.By the end of this book you will have learned key topics in modeling, ready to face professional level work with elan.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
3ds Max Speed Modeling for 3D Artists
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
www.PacktPub.com
Preface
Index

Chapter 1. First Launch: Getting to Know 3ds Max

This book is aimed at artists who already know the essentials of modeling and are considering modeling specialization. A big part of specialization involves seeking ways to streamline your workflow. Possibly you're a diploma student and want to level up your 3ds Max skills after a short course, or possibly you're self taught and want to measure the skills you've obtained. If you are starting from scratch, however, this chapter should help you get up to speed. It covers the essential starting points for those making their first launch into 3ds Max.

These are the areas covered in the chapter's topics:

  • Quick start: Jump into making models

  • Getting to know the User Interface

  • Default and custom UI schemes

    • Switching UI presets

    • Making changes to hotkeys

    • Customizing the Quad menu

    • Making changes to the view layout

  • Deciding on the best view navigation

    • Navigation with the ViewCube

    • Navigation with the Steering Wheel

  • Displaying your model for modeling

  • Setting scene units

  • Searching for content in the scene

  • Creating your own selection sets with Named Selections

  • Common changes to 3ds Max default preferences

  • Determining the hardware shading settings to use

Tip

Keywords and 3ds Max Help—A self-learning approach

Tip

In this book, we indicate menu, property, and tool keywords in bold. Keywords in the book can be explored via the Index of the 3ds Max menu Help | Autodesk 3ds Max Help online. Offline documentation can be downloaded via an installer from the usa.autodesk.com under Home | Support | Support and Documentation | Autodesk 3ds Max | Documentation and Help | 3ds Max 2013 Documentation section under 3ds Max / 3ds Max Design 2013 Help Installer, which you should then set active in 3ds Max via the menu Customize | Preferences | Help | Local Computer/Network, or you can simply Download it via a button there.