Autodesk 3DS Max software delivers efficient new tools, accelerated performance, and streamlined workflows to help increase overall productivity for artists and designers working with the complex, high-resolution assets required by today’s demanding entertainment and design visualization projects.

With the ability to import, visualize, and render massive point cloud datasets; enhanced viewport performance; and new scene management workflows, 3ds Max helps artists and designers handle greater complexity without slowing down. In addition, a more responsive ActiveShade interactive rendering workflow that now supports the NVIDIA mental ray renderer, and a new artist-friendly node-based visual shader editor for creating and previewing complex real-time shaders help increase efficiency for lighting, shading, and rendering tasks.

Meanwhile, with new support for Python scripting, 3DS Max offers a robust core toolset that is more easily extended and customizable to meet each studio’s unique requirements. Note that the profile shape is used by the modifier as reference, allowing further adjustments, and should not be deleted from the scene.

Sweep is similar to bevel profile but slightly more powerful considering that it comes with parametric and custom sections to be swept along the selected shape. The sweep modifier is often used to generate moldings and structural elements such as steel beams and columns. Slice, simply slices the object to refine its geometry or to remove portions of it. It is important to note that when slicing objects, in order to render them as solid objects it is necessary to cap the open portions of the object either applying an edit poly modifier or the Cap Holes Modifier.

The slice modifier is often used to create exploded architectural models to be represented with perspective or axonometric User projections. Noise is used to randomly change the position of an object’s vertices along the three local axes. Parameters are available to control the strength and scale of the modifier’s effect.

Noise is mostly used in architectural visualization to slightly modify the geometry of collections of objects, e. Displacement is used to modify the geometry of objects using maps see 6. Edit Spline, this modifier turns any parametric shape into an editable spline leaving the base object parameters available. It is important to note that edits done using the edit spline, as well as the edit poly, modifiers refer to the vertex numbering criteria established in the base object, when the number of subdivisions of the base object is altered, the modifier will still refer to the old numbering and will therefore produce unwanted artifacts.

Edit Poly, similarly to the edit spline modifier, when applied turns the selected object into an editable poly. Using edit poly modifier is usually preferable than just converting as it leaves the option to revert, if necessary, to the source object turning off or deleting the edit poly modifier in the stack. Note that when an object using the edit poly modifier needs to be represented with NURMS, the MeshSmooth modifier can be used for this purpose.

This chapter will introduce to the reader importing procedures and tools used when populating scenes with objects. Creating a new file and using Merge to acquire models from an oddly behaving MAX file is also sometimes used to revert to the default scene settings and effectively represents a valid alternative to time consuming scene settings troubleshooting sessions.

Imported drawings are often used as background reference or directly as splines to create geometry objects in the scene. Files can be imported using Import or linked using the File Link Manager so that they can reflect any progress changes in the source file and be updated in the 3ds Max Scene.

Weld Nearby Vertices is used to close open splines on import. Note that, depending on the distance between vertices to be welded, there could be a noticeable change in the orientation of concurrent segments of the spline since the resulting vertex will be located at the center of the area or segment in the typical case of only two vertices defined by the location of all selected vertices within the specified weld threshold.

Spline rendering properties can be defined on mass for incoming splines. A list of layers is available to selectively import objects contained in specific AutoCAD layers.

It is also important to note that imported AutoCAD blocks are translated into instances, see paragraph 2. It is worth mentioning that when 3ds Max Design models are used for visualization of massing volumetric entities, e. This work flow references the splines used in 3ds Max for visualization purposes via the File Link Manager to AutoCAD files, where polylines can be associated to tables with fields and formulas for area calculation.

Incremental transforms can be applied to clones created with array. The tool’s interface allows to control weather the clones will be created as copies, instances or references. Object Paint, found in the Graphite Modeling Tab, allows distributing clones or MR proxies of an object in the scene with brush settings such as random scatter, rotate and scale. This tool is often used for landscape models, allowing organic distribution of natural features such as rocks, vegetation etc Mirror is a tool used to create symmetrical clones of objects.

The clones will be placed at the specified Offset Distance. Similar result can be obtained using the Mirror Modifier producing one single object where symmetry is applied on sub- object selections.

Clones can be arranged on paths using a total number of clones or a spacing value. The Snapshot Tool is used to create clones of animated objects at individual or multiple frames with an option to convert clones to mesh objects.

The Measure Distance Tool is used to measure the distance between scene features, it is usually used with Snaps on and it reports the resulting value inside the MAXscript Listener F The Rename Objects Tool provides a dialog for renaming of multiple objects using prefix, suffix and numbering.

Collapse is a utility that allows attaching a selection of multiple objects obtaining, as a result, one single mesh object.

Note that the boolean option is available, often used to remove self-intersecting surfaces that would result by the union of intersecting operands; the main difference with using boolean compound objects is that, with collapse the resulting object, being converted into a mesh, does not allow further editing of the boolean operands.

Measure is a utility that reports the surface area, volume and center of mass of one or a selection of geometry objects and cumulative length of selected shapes. Results can be pinned on a floater window. Reset X-Form is a utility used to remove all Rotation and Scale values from selected objects pushing those transforms in an XForm modifier and align object pivot points and bounding boxes with the World coordinate system.

The XForm modifier can then be deleted or turned off to reset the object’s rotate and scale transforms. Note that the hotkey is available only when a numeric field has been activated left click inside a field. Consult the 3ds Max Design Help File to learn about Expression Techniques that can be used with the expression evaluator. A library of material templates is also available to provide a solid starting point for subsequent materials creation.

The material assignment can then be revised during the subsequent stages and finalized for the production of final renderings. Materials are assigned to selected objects using the appropriate Assign Material button on the Material Editor M. The material editor can be used in two modes: Slate and Compact.

The slate material editor allows advanced visualization of the material’s levels and structure. The compact material editor is a simplified version of the slate material editor. Both modes allow editing the same material’s parameters. Selection of a material for editing is accomplished selecting the corresponding Sample Slot in the material editor.

Sample slots are rendered views showing the material applied to a sample object. When a material is selected it is possible to adjust its parameters in the dedicated portion of the material editor, the appearance of the material in the material slot is updated in real time. Double clicking on a sample slot will open a standalone re-sizable slot. Solid white triangles at the corners of a sample slot indicate that the material is applied to the selected object in the scene, gray triangles indicate that the material is used in the scene but it is not applied to the selected objects or no objects are selected, lastly, the absence of triangles in the slot indicates that the material is not used in the scene.

A number of ready-to-use material library files are included in the installation folder of 3ds Max. A material used by an object in the scene can be displayed in any slot of the material editor simply using the Pick Material from Object button4. Material Editor Settings are available such as the number and size of sample slots and using preview objects other than spheres.

The material editor uses a tree structure organization for navigating through specific material’s levels. An important interface item used when navigating and editing materials using the Compact Material Editor is the Go to Parent button, located on the right side of the material editor’s toolbar; when navigating through material’s levels, e. When assigning placeholder materials or when the material specification has not yet been finalized in the project, it is advisable to choose a basic finish template like Matte, Pearl and Glossy from the dedicated pull down menu.

Reflection can be controlled setting appropriate values of Reflectivity and Glossines. The Special Effects rollout provides control for Ambient Occlusion, a shading rendering method that allows to simulate real world light distribution in areas of the model prevented to receive light by surrounding geometry and Round Corners, a Material Effect that simulates rounded edges.

The Self-Illumination Glow rollout is used for materials of light-emitting objects, the feature needs to be enabled under Glow Options, Illuminates the Scene using Final Gathering see 8. The blend material is often used for tiled surfaces in order to render tiles and grout using two different materials with the Tiles procedural map used as a mask.

It is important to note here that, in order to be able to conduct a Lighting Analysis on the model see 8. Maps are controlled with the material editor using the General Maps rollout and can also be used to simulate complex geometry and surface geometric patterns on objects when using Bump maps and Displacement maps. The opacity level of a material can be determined according to the corresponding map’s pixels gray scale values using a general Cutout map.

Mapping Coordinates are used to control the placement, orientation and scale of maps onto the object’s geometry, these are specified using the U, V and W directions respectively used for horizontal, vertical and depth dimensions of the object.

Primitive objects have default mapping coordinates. After conversion, editable poly and mesh objects inherit these coordinates but often require further adjustment, this is usually accomplished using the UVW Map Modifier. With the UVW Map Modifier the user can control the size of maps and the mapping method plane, cylindrical spherical and box. It is important to note that the final scale of the map as represented in viewports and renderings is determined by the combination of parameters set in the material editor under map scale and offset and the UVW map modifier.

One noticeable advantage of using procedural maps is that they can usually produce less repetitive textures than using bitmaps.

Tiles is one of the most popular type of procedural maps; it provides Standard Control of the tiling pattern with preset types and Advanced Controls for the nominal size, number and fade variance of tiles and size of the grout.

Maps can be displayed in viewports using the Show Shaded Material in Viewport button found on the material editor’s toolbar, this is particularly useful when adjusting UVW coordinates using the UVW map modifier and when tracing on background bitmaps e. The Unwrap UVW Modifier is a relatively complex tool, mainly used to assign mapping coordinates to sub-object selections, it is mentioned in this handbook since it provides functionality for unfolding surfaces, a task used in the design of building envelopes.

Using the unwrap modifier the user will be able to quickly generate diagrams that can be scaled appropriately and used to make physical models, using 3ds Max geometry as reference. Values for these two properties of 3ds Max materials are displayed in the material editor and can be fine tuned using the Value parameter in the Diffuse Color Selector Reflectance and the Transparency Value in the Refraction section of the material editor Transmittance. The reflectance value has a strong impact on the overall decay of the light in an indoor environment and the transmittance is crucial for architectural glass affecting the actual amount of daylight entering through the openings 5.

This chapter will provide information on how to light a scene using both artificial and natural lighting, matching any lighting fixtures layouts and the building’s site location and orientation when preparing the scene for the production of photo realistic renderings and lighting analysis. Default lights are not physically accurate, do not cast shadows in rendered images and are automatically switched off when a light object is created in the scene.

For architectural visualization it is strongly advised to always use photometric lights that are physically accurate and required for Lighting Analysis see 8. When working with photometric lights it is crucial to maintain a congruent relationship with space dimensions. Two types of photometric lights can be used to simulate real world artificial lights: Target Light and Free Light. The only difference between the two being that the orientation of the light object is in the first case determined by the relative position of the light and its target, in the second case by the rotation transforms applied to the object.

Both target light and free light come with a list of templates with specific types of bulb and allow using industry-standard photometric files. LTLI file formats to match the light distribution of specific light fixtures. The light distribution of Target and Free lights can also be defined more generally using Spherical Diffuse casting light in all directions or Uniform Diffuse casting light in one hemisphere only.

The object used to simulate the real world lighting contribution due to the sun and the sky is the Daylight System which can be found in the create panel under systems. The daylight system is an assembly that includes two lights, the sky and the sun, and a compass that can be rotated to allow the user to exactly match the project’s site orientation.

A well known technique, commonly referred to as Box Modeling, uses the lowest possible number of surface polygons and while it has been traditionally used for the production of 1 See in regards to the definition of mesh the documentation of the Finite Elements Theory of Prof.

These XYZ axes represent the World System; in order to locate objects in the space it becomes necessary to define an object’s based Local Reference System, the origin of which is located in the movable 2 Pivot Point of an object which, through its World System coordinates, defines the location of objects in the scene. The object’s dimensional parameters are oriented in reference to the Creation Plane, e.

A clear understanding of the concept of Creation Plane is fundamental when manipulating objects in 3D. Units are typically defined at the beginning of a project according to the project’s scale and will be typically large feet, meters when working with landscape or urban design models, or small inches, centimeters with architectural models.

As a general rule, significant details of the model should not be considerably smaller than the scene unit. The distance of objects from the origin of the World System needs to be taken into consideration as both round-off errors affecting the navigation of the scene and rendering time increase with it.

Arc rotate, Pan, Zoom are the commands available for this purpose and they can be transparently invoked during the execution of a command using the mid mouse button MMB in combination with Shift, Ctrl and Alt keys. Development of an efficient work flow using navigation shortcuts is key for the production of architectural models. Using Zoom Selected is also a quick method to re-adjust the mouse wheel zoom increment as this occasionally uses different values during scene navigation.

Navigation commands can also be used in the work flow to establish camera locations, see 7. The viewport’s representation can use different techniques called Visual Styles, the most relevant ones being: wireframe, smooth and highlights, edged faces, hidden-line and realistic.

It is advisable to use edged faces F4 as this visual style allows full understanding of topology features and the geometric complexity of the model. Scene Lights Shadows and other advanced features and visual effects, e. Scenes populated with a large number of objects or containing objects with a high number of polygons tend to become more difficult to navigate.

When working with highly detailed models it is possible to improve the viewport’s performance using less resources demanding visual styles, enabling Adaptive Degradation and turning off the visibility of the Home Grid G. Some buttons, when pressed without releasing will expand into a number sub-buttons with additional related commands and features. In the opinion of the author, the use of hotkeys represents the most efficient work flow.

Custom hotkeys, menus and toolbars can be defined using the Customize User Interface dialog. Quad menus are also a valid alternative method for executing commands; right clicking on an object in the viewport will bring up an adaptive list of available commands on the specific selection.

Experienced users usually use a combination of all the above mentioned methods depending on personal preference and task related convenience. Expert Mode Ctrl-X hides temporarily all toolbars and the command panel maximizing the screen space for viewports, this mode is useful when the user is familiar with executing commands with hotkeys, menus and quad menus and can be used with Grab Active Viewport to maximize the size of viewport screenshots or animated sequences to be exported.

An important element of the user interface, often accessed when manipulating objects, is the Command Panel, by default located on the right side of the screen and divided into six sub-panels, it mainly provides tools for creating and modifying objects, see chapter 4. Explanation of the use of these panels is discussed in the next chapters. This chapter will present objects typically used to create models for architectural visualization and how scene objects can be organized according to typical AEC standard production requirements.

The typical procedure for archiving a project or sending files to consultants uses the Archive command, this will conveniently compress the scene file with all required assets into a single.

Individual objects or entire scenes can be referenced into one file. X-ref objects or scenes are neither selectable nor editable. Parameters can be subdivided in two classes: dimensional parameters radius, height, width and length and subdivision parameters number of segments and polygons in which objects are subdivided.

The results of the second category of parameters is not visible in the viewport unless the Viewport Visual Style is set to show object’s edges Wireframe, Edged Faces and Hidden Line. Parametric Objects are editable using the parameters value fields found in the modify panel. Another important aspect to take into consideration when using parametric objects is that values assigned to parameters can be used to provide data for future extraction, see an example of data extraction in chapter 9.

It is a common procedure to create a roughly sized placeholder object in the viewport, and then further adjust its parameters using the appropriate numerical fields in the modify panel, as an alternative, a keyboard entry group is available on the create panel to precisely set the object’s location and parameter values on creation.

Geometry and Shapes are the types of objects used for modeling. Geometry objects are volumetric three-dimensional objects while Shapes are lines, often used in combination with modifiers to create three-dimensional objects.

A special type of object, usually obtained by converting previously created parametric objects or imported geometry is the Editable Poly. The most relevant difference between Editable Poly and Parametric Objects is that Polys have no parameters or recorded object’s history therefore any modification to the geometry needs to be done either applying modifiers or editing at the appropriate sub-object level.

While this aspect might be considered as a limitation, we will see in the next chapters that this actually represents a key feature for free-form modeling. Boolean is a type of object that allows subtraction, intersection and union of volumes from the combination of several geometry operands. It is important to note that the individual operand’s parameters remain available after creation of a boolean object expanding the modifier stack in the modify panel see 4.

ProBoolean is an advanced version of Booleans and it is used for identical purposes. Shapemerge Objects are used to project 2D shapes onto 3D surfaces, usually to split surfaces or cut out shapes for example a road on a terrain or simply to refine the surface subdivision to allow specific sub-object selection.

The creation of a shapemerge object is a resource intensive calculation and therefore it is advisable, when possible, to simplify both the surface and the projected spline to avoid potential problems with the subsequent automatic sub-object selection. The behavior of compound objects is directly dependent on the quality of the operands, good quality of objects being considered the absence of geometry errors. These errors can be: double faces, open edges, multiple edges and isolated faces see 4.

When working with compound objects it is advisable to check each operand when the result is not as expected holes in the mesh. Exporting objects to an OBJ file will also report any incongruity found in the model. When working with AEC Design Elements it is important to keep in mind that this category of geometry objects is designed to work in combination with specific AEC material templates, see chapter 6. The Section Object can be found under the shape objects category and it allows cutting sections through objects generating the corresponding cut spline.

The actual section object simply represents the current location and orientation of the cutting plane, it is not a Shape object itself but it allows creating section splines when pressing the appropriate button in the modify panel. The section object can be used to generate plans and sections from 3ds Max models, the section splines obtained with this method can then be exported to CAD applications.

Helpers are non-renderable objects that can be considered as the digital modeler’s construction tools. Grids are helper objects that can be created permanently into the scene and activated to use as custom reference systems for object creation. Temporary grids, parallel to faces of objects in the scene, are used on object creation when enabling the Autogrid option.

This functionality has been maintained but fell into disuse after the introduction of Layers and the Manage Layers function available within the Layers Toolbar. With this interface the user can toggle the visibility on and off, freeze and unfreeze all objects of entire layers as well as individual objects. Given the assumed user’s familiarity with layer based vector programs, it is nowadays advisable to use, as office standard practice, management of scene objects with the Manage Layer interface rather than the Display Panel.

Clones can be created as three different types: Instance, Copy, and Reference. When using Instances children clones maintain a reference to the parent object so that modifiers, sub-object edits, modifiers and material assignment subsequently applied to either the parent or any of the children will propagate to all children and the parent. Copies are simple Clones that maintain no reference with any children or parent objects. References can be considered as one-way Instances in the sense that modifiers applied to the parent will propagate to all children but modifiers applied to any of the children will not propagate to the parent or any other children.

Note that in regards to objects parameters e. In some cases, e. Organizing scenes with groups is usually advisable as it facilitates scene navigation and object selection. Groups can be opened and closed to access each individual component objects. An alternative method to using groups is to attach objects using the edit poly modifier see chapter 4 , this procedure often requires the use of a multi sub-object material see chapter 6.

What level of detail is required to render properly and to adequately serve the purpose of visualization or data extraction? How important is the object in question in relation to the entire scene? Obviously, answers to some of these questions are not always available at the early stages of a project but the user will be able to make at least some educated prediction. A typical beginner’s mistake is to spend long hours modeling into great detail objects that might not be visible in final production renderings, it is therefore advisable to review the scope of work to make sure that the modeler has, as much as possible, a clear understanding of the visualization project’s intent and the predictable future use of the model.

Object selection can be achieved using the Select Object command via left click on objects in viewports or selecting by name using the Select by Name H dialog with a list of objects contained in the scene and the option to filter objects by category. Objects in 3ds Max Design can be identified using their names, e. These default names are generated on creation according to the object’s type, it is in some cases advisable to review these names and rename objects using more meaningful terms, e.

Objects can be renamed using the appropriate field in the Modify Panel or on multiple objects selections using the Rename Objects utility, see chapter 4 — Tools and Utilities. Executing specific selections manually using the common procedure with the mouse left click in combination with Ctrl and Alt keys to add and remove objects from the selection can be time consuming. It is important to note that, unlike other software, 3ds Max Design records selection actions in the undo list allowing corrections on the current selection.

Selections of multiple objects can also be saved for reuse in future sessions using the Named Selection Sets dialog. Selection Filters are another tool used to simplify the selection process restricting individual types of objects to be selected. This feature becomes particularly useful when specific tasks, e. Objects should be neatly assigned to specific Layers. The layers Toolbar can be enabled choosing from the list available when right clicking on the Main Toolbar, this interface allows editing layers properties such as visibility, wireframe color and render properties.

Selection by layer is another powerful method of selection that becomes available to the user when objects in the scene are organized with layers. Experienced users will further refine their work flow reducing the time required for complex selections to a minimum; on large projects time spent purely on objects selection can be consistent, therefore it is strongly advisable to organize scene objects using layers and in some cases assigning object names that are meaningful and in reference to the specific discipline they pertain to, e.

This practice has also a positive impact on any subsequent data extraction procedure when object’s parameters and attributes will be associated with object names therefore allowing additional sorting options when working with exported spreadsheets.

Transform values can be entered either dynamically, manipulating the Gizmo within the viewport, or using the Transform Type-in F12 , a dialog box reporting the world system coordinates and rotation angles of the pivot point of the selected object. Values can be entered using absolute or relative values, specified by increments.

The Gizmo X is the hotkey to toggle its visibility , a visual feature shown in the viewport whenever and object is selected, is used to mark the location of the object’s pivot point therefore the origin and orientation of the local coordinate system. The three axis and planes of the gizmo are also used to apply transforms using the Axis Constraints, limiting the movement of an object in specific directions parallel to the reference system axes and planes.

An axis constraint is selected either left clicking on the highlighted gizmo axis or plane or using the F5, F6, F7 and F8 hotkeys. The axis constraints feature needs to be enabled under the options tab of the grid and snaps settings dialog, when used in combination with Snaps it is a convenient and precise method for placing and aligning objects in reference to other features in the scene. Using the Reference Coordinate System Pull Down Menu located on the Main Toolbar Object transforms can be applied in reference to the world system as well as other reference systems, the most relevant being the local system, particularly useful when editing at the sub-object level of e-poly objects with polygons not parallel to the world system.

The most popular snaps are vertex and midpoint but others can be enabled via the Grid and Snaps Settings dialog right click on the snaps button on the main toolbar.

Snaps can be used in three different modes: 2D ignoring any features not contained in the active grid default XY plane of the world system for perspective views , 3D using features at any location and 2. The 2. An Angle Snap is available when using the gizmo for applying rotation transforms to objects using angle increments.

The value of the increment can be specified in the grid and snaps settings dialog. The rotate transform can be applied to objects using the pivot point as center of rotation or any other snaps features when using Selection Center or Transform Coordinate Center, the user can switch between these modes using the button located on the main toolbar, the default mode is pivot point center.

A report can now be sent to Autodesk when Meshmixer crashes, which will allow us to debug your issues in a more meaningful way. Please add your comments about how the crash happened. You can have multiple printers in the same file. Drag-drop onto background to set scene-level material.

 
 

 

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In some cases the 3ds Max Scene may require assets external files in order to function properly, e. Locations of assets are recorded in the scene file and required external files need to be available at the recorded addresses or in the same folder where the scene file is located. The 3ds Max Scene file contains models used for the production of graphics, lighting simulations and, with the use of MAXScript, data extraction extending the purpose of 3d models to act as a building information database BIM.

Meshes can be converted into Polygonal objects e-poly that provide a more comprehensive tool set for surface manipulation. We will see in the next chapters how, manipulating basic geometry objects Primitives , the designer will be able to achieve complex geometry, with the level of definition depending on project’s requirements and computing resources budget. A well known technique, commonly referred to as Box Modeling, uses the lowest possible number of surface polygons and while it has been traditionally used for the production of 1 See in regards to the definition of mesh the documentation of the Finite Elements Theory of Prof.

These XYZ axes represent the World System; in order to locate objects in the space it becomes necessary to define an object’s based Local Reference System, the origin of which is located in the movable 2 Pivot Point of an object which, through its World System coordinates, defines the location of objects in the scene.

The object’s dimensional parameters are oriented in reference to the Creation Plane, e. A clear understanding of the concept of Creation Plane is fundamental when manipulating objects in 3D. Units are typically defined at the beginning of a project according to the project’s scale and will be typically large feet, meters when working with landscape or urban design models, or small inches, centimeters with architectural models.

As a general rule, significant details of the model should not be considerably smaller than the scene unit. The distance of objects from the origin of the World System needs to be taken into consideration as both round-off errors affecting the navigation of the scene and rendering time increase with it.

Arc rotate, Pan, Zoom are the commands available for this purpose and they can be transparently invoked during the execution of a command using the mid mouse button MMB in combination with Shift, Ctrl and Alt keys.

Development of an efficient work flow using navigation shortcuts is key for the production of architectural models. Using Zoom Selected is also a quick method to re-adjust the mouse wheel zoom increment as this occasionally uses different values during scene navigation.

Navigation commands can also be used in the work flow to establish camera locations, see 7. The viewport’s representation can use different techniques called Visual Styles, the most relevant ones being: wireframe, smooth and highlights, edged faces, hidden-line and realistic. It is advisable to use edged faces F4 as this visual style allows full understanding of topology features and the geometric complexity of the model.

Scene Lights Shadows and other advanced features and visual effects, e. Scenes populated with a large number of objects or containing objects with a high number of polygons tend to become more difficult to navigate. When working with highly detailed models it is possible to improve the viewport’s performance using less resources demanding visual styles, enabling Adaptive Degradation and turning off the visibility of the Home Grid G.

Some buttons, when pressed without releasing will expand into a number sub-buttons with additional related commands and features. In the opinion of the author, the use of hotkeys represents the most efficient work flow. Custom hotkeys, menus and toolbars can be defined using the Customize User Interface dialog. Quad menus are also a valid alternative method for executing commands; right clicking on an object in the viewport will bring up an adaptive list of available commands on the specific selection.

Experienced users usually use a combination of all the above mentioned methods depending on personal preference and task related convenience. Expert Mode Ctrl-X hides temporarily all toolbars and the command panel maximizing the screen space for viewports, this mode is useful when the user is familiar with executing commands with hotkeys, menus and quad menus and can be used with Grab Active Viewport to maximize the size of viewport screenshots or animated sequences to be exported.

An important element of the user interface, often accessed when manipulating objects, is the Command Panel, by default located on the right side of the screen and divided into six sub-panels, it mainly provides tools for creating and modifying objects, see chapter 4. Explanation of the use of these panels is discussed in the next chapters. This chapter will present objects typically used to create models for architectural visualization and how scene objects can be organized according to typical AEC standard production requirements.

The typical procedure for archiving a project or sending files to consultants uses the Archive command, this will conveniently compress the scene file with all required assets into a single.

Individual objects or entire scenes can be referenced into one file. X-ref objects or scenes are neither selectable nor editable. Parameters can be subdivided in two classes: dimensional parameters radius, height, width and length and subdivision parameters number of segments and polygons in which objects are subdivided.

The results of the second category of parameters is not visible in the viewport unless the Viewport Visual Style is set to show object’s edges Wireframe, Edged Faces and Hidden Line. Parametric Objects are editable using the parameters value fields found in the modify panel. Another important aspect to take into consideration when using parametric objects is that values assigned to parameters can be used to provide data for future extraction, see an example of data extraction in chapter 9.

It is a common procedure to create a roughly sized placeholder object in the viewport, and then further adjust its parameters using the appropriate numerical fields in the modify panel, as an alternative, a keyboard entry group is available on the create panel to precisely set the object’s location and parameter values on creation. Geometry and Shapes are the types of objects used for modeling. Geometry objects are volumetric three-dimensional objects while Shapes are lines, often used in combination with modifiers to create three-dimensional objects.

A special type of object, usually obtained by converting previously created parametric objects or imported geometry is the Editable Poly. The most relevant difference between Editable Poly and Parametric Objects is that Polys have no parameters or recorded object’s history therefore any modification to the geometry needs to be done either applying modifiers or editing at the appropriate sub-object level. While this aspect might be considered as a limitation, we will see in the next chapters that this actually represents a key feature for free-form modeling.

Boolean is a type of object that allows subtraction, intersection and union of volumes from the combination of several geometry operands. It is important to note that the individual operand’s parameters remain available after creation of a boolean object expanding the modifier stack in the modify panel see 4.

ProBoolean is an advanced version of Booleans and it is used for identical purposes. Shapemerge Objects are used to project 2D shapes onto 3D surfaces, usually to split surfaces or cut out shapes for example a road on a terrain or simply to refine the surface subdivision to allow specific sub-object selection.

The creation of a shapemerge object is a resource intensive calculation and therefore it is advisable, when possible, to simplify both the surface and the projected spline to avoid potential problems with the subsequent automatic sub-object selection.

The behavior of compound objects is directly dependent on the quality of the operands, good quality of objects being considered the absence of geometry errors. These errors can be: double faces, open edges, multiple edges and isolated faces see 4.

When working with compound objects it is advisable to check each operand when the result is not as expected holes in the mesh.

Exporting objects to an OBJ file will also report any incongruity found in the model. When working with AEC Design Elements it is important to keep in mind that this category of geometry objects is designed to work in combination with specific AEC material templates, see chapter 6. The Section Object can be found under the shape objects category and it allows cutting sections through objects generating the corresponding cut spline.

The actual section object simply represents the current location and orientation of the cutting plane, it is not a Shape object itself but it allows creating section splines when pressing the appropriate button in the modify panel. The section object can be used to generate plans and sections from 3ds Max models, the section splines obtained with this method can then be exported to CAD applications.

Helpers are non-renderable objects that can be considered as the digital modeler’s construction tools. Grids are helper objects that can be created permanently into the scene and activated to use as custom reference systems for object creation. Temporary grids, parallel to faces of objects in the scene, are used on object creation when enabling the Autogrid option.

This functionality has been maintained but fell into disuse after the introduction of Layers and the Manage Layers function available within the Layers Toolbar. With this interface the user can toggle the visibility on and off, freeze and unfreeze all objects of entire layers as well as individual objects. Given the assumed user’s familiarity with layer based vector programs, it is nowadays advisable to use, as office standard practice, management of scene objects with the Manage Layer interface rather than the Display Panel.

Clones can be created as three different types: Instance, Copy, and Reference. When using Instances children clones maintain a reference to the parent object so that modifiers, sub-object edits, modifiers and material assignment subsequently applied to either the parent or any of the children will propagate to all children and the parent.

Copies are simple Clones that maintain no reference with any children or parent objects. References can be considered as one-way Instances in the sense that modifiers applied to the parent will propagate to all children but modifiers applied to any of the children will not propagate to the parent or any other children. Note that in regards to objects parameters e.

In some cases, e. Organizing scenes with groups is usually advisable as it facilitates scene navigation and object selection. Groups can be opened and closed to access each individual component objects. An alternative method to using groups is to attach objects using the edit poly modifier see chapter 4 , this procedure often requires the use of a multi sub-object material see chapter 6.

What level of detail is required to render properly and to adequately serve the purpose of visualization or data extraction? How important is the object in question in relation to the entire scene? Obviously, answers to some of these questions are not always available at the early stages of a project but the user will be able to make at least some educated prediction.

A typical beginner’s mistake is to spend long hours modeling into great detail objects that might not be visible in final production renderings, it is therefore advisable to review the scope of work to make sure that the modeler has, as much as possible, a clear understanding of the visualization project’s intent and the predictable future use of the model.

Object selection can be achieved using the Select Object command via left click on objects in viewports or selecting by name using the Select by Name H dialog with a list of objects contained in the scene and the option to filter objects by category. Objects in 3ds Max Design can be identified using their names, e. These default names are generated on creation according to the object’s type, it is in some cases advisable to review these names and rename objects using more meaningful terms, e.

Objects can be renamed using the appropriate field in the Modify Panel or on multiple objects selections using the Rename Objects utility, see chapter 4 — Tools and Utilities. Executing specific selections manually using the common procedure with the mouse left click in combination with Ctrl and Alt keys to add and remove objects from the selection can be time consuming. It is important to note that, unlike other software, 3ds Max Design records selection actions in the undo list allowing corrections on the current selection.

Selections of multiple objects can also be saved for reuse in future sessions using the Named Selection Sets dialog. Selection Filters are another tool used to simplify the selection process restricting individual types of objects to be selected. This feature becomes particularly useful when specific tasks, e. Objects should be neatly assigned to specific Layers. The layers Toolbar can be enabled choosing from the list available when right clicking on the Main Toolbar, this interface allows editing layers properties such as visibility, wireframe color and render properties.

Selection by layer is another powerful method of selection that becomes available to the user when objects in the scene are organized with layers. Experienced users will further refine their work flow reducing the time required for complex selections to a minimum; on large projects time spent purely on objects selection can be consistent, therefore it is strongly advisable to organize scene objects using layers and in some cases assigning object names that are meaningful and in reference to the specific discipline they pertain to, e.

This practice has also a positive impact on any subsequent data extraction procedure when object’s parameters and attributes will be associated with object names therefore allowing additional sorting options when working with exported spreadsheets. Transform values can be entered either dynamically, manipulating the Gizmo within the viewport, or using the Transform Type-in F12 , a dialog box reporting the world system coordinates and rotation angles of the pivot point of the selected object.

Values can be entered using absolute or relative values, specified by increments. The Gizmo X is the hotkey to toggle its visibility , a visual feature shown in the viewport whenever and object is selected, is used to mark the location of the object’s pivot point therefore the origin and orientation of the local coordinate system. The three axis and planes of the gizmo are also used to apply transforms using the Axis Constraints, limiting the movement of an object in specific directions parallel to the reference system axes and planes.

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But people have changed too. Toggle navigation. Language English. You can now easily add custom printers and use your printer software to do the actual print, or you can export your model as STL and send it to the 3rd party printing services. A report can now be sent to Autodesk when Meshmixer crashes, which will allow us to debug your issues in a more meaningful way.

Please add your comments about how the crash happened. You can have multiple printers in the same file.