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

Object Properties – Animation trajectories


A further display property that we can achieve per object is the trajectory or motion an object has over time. A trajectory is a 3D curve that visualizes the motion of the object in parallel with the keyframes in the timeline.

Toggle trajectory

When an object moves, its path can be traced as a line called a trajectory. The following steps show how to expose this in the viewports:

  1. In the scene, there is a HUD panel in the bike's canopy that follows the animation of the canopy itself—they are linked. The canopy simply rotates, so it has no trajectory, but the panel, while not animated directly, gets its motion from its parent, like chewing gum stuck on the spinning wheel of a bike. The trajectory display is already on in the scene.

  2. Press F3 to view this more clearly in the wireframe:

  3. The trajectory displays even when the object is not selected. To turn it off, use the Named Selections list to select Panel 1. Right-click on it and select Object Properties...