The third week of using 3DS Max has been a mixed bag. It was only until Sunday that my Desktop completely downloaded the program after being burned to a disc (which i asked my Lecturer to do last week). During the time i have found myself becoming more and more comfortable with using the Program.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg2Q3kdAXM8Vo0gZ3BRTUmLLpDQoQzzJHnAJx4HFn7-Jo49bEun30AXrCk8g-8Fhgs6JCPKJDhyphenhyphenm-ykj_ZtOjCeYw2uzGxnEjomQQ7sxgUfPQ6iGDEI0KkeAeVcilbymx-xfid8tKMnvI/s200/WheelFinalImage.jpg) |
Anchors Away! |
Last week showed the introduction of Splines, a feature that further aided the building of a model. The actions of a spline appear to be easy, if you remember the ways to select the area between 2 splines for extruding. This week focused on the Lathe Modifier, a tool that - alongside the use of planes for direct references - will become useful when modelling for my Assignment.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCyfJ28gMl36dNJpQfTWbONA-p8D1xe5eGcrSGvNEIWW7HlOL68Pr0Ymn-Qp4ahFKjZPN5NqNvi2zOeAWhyphenhyphenbpY8884kcvZn-t16uMAALHZWb8NnrxlKMPTsBOwg6H3M9Ywh74cCy-GX_g/s200/CastleWalls.PNG) |
Splines, Lofting and Boolean methods
were used to create the walls |
With 3DS Max running, i took it upon myself to work on the previous exercises. Modelling a Wheel at novice level was very simplistic with the general knowledge of the primitives and the action of cloning an object by moving it's original while holding the 'Shift' Key - a feat i discovered early in the test process as it mirrored the creating methods in the Virtual World
Second Life, which i had to work with last year. The overall outcome of the wheel was good, however if i were to do it now, i probably would have used both a Boolean method to reduce the polygons and the Lathe Modifier so their was a distinct difference on the Helm's handles. (At the time 3DS Max has struck an error in activation, so i will post a picture of the wheel tomorrow).
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUzSrhh2dfjFE-gg5H51zfzTcv4oXH43cb0LTZd_-lq5HXp3IujkoQfxyRBNCWPtAddH2UiseHkiFv7facwGneUzCgflup3byFKZi3IyxgduN4Bz9yM-1M1JC4v9-HZRLCn0itctef1Pw/s200/FinalCastle.bmp) |
Pretty Nice Castle says the creator |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ3Bq7uzxP-P_mfCls5qKGbQ_zfDqZF6JXh_8BzAshuOssIVziTo4AJqE_9PKtDdpkxzsW24W0RgA1LQ_j2bt3vfdqOA1cQ4WaUCCN5wu68hD-_YXj863NDgv_QrWCzL2nrUivi_DLtL4/s320/CastleDoor.bmp) |
A Boolean with a small cylinder was used to do
the subtract method and create a doorway |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1_b1kBRtbSu96jOMbbKBfcQeLOr_cJ-g3WNFPXJpNT-lPnhS4B2XMdYHZ5AK-YTIWIAxCT8roC607kvqcmnC0OlDm1DMfecMyq3HNxfKMthHH4LIvWGxQ1TIAF_d6ZiDgrqhiBgyG1yQ/s200/Aligning.bmp) |
Aligning X and Y together as they are both center |
Last week's task was to create a Castle with 4 watchtowers and a door. I found the modelling tasking yet enjoyable as i relished in using the new methods of design i had been taught in the previous weeks. Using Splines, when i knew how to extrude it, was simple to use and sped up the design of the castle walls. Using Boolean functions also became helpful, although i did notice that to use the Union method of Boolean the shapes cannot be exactly the same on the y axis. The creation of the door and merging the castle walls with watchtowers were all down to Boolean methods, another tool called Align was also used a lot to stack primitives atop of another. The align tool was something we also learned about last week, proving useful when i was making towers and 'crows nests' on the castle. Although the lecturer stated to go one at a time with aligning the axis i found it much quicker when stacking primitives to align the x and y axis simultaneously - as the z axis would have modifications of where the primitive would be aligned (Maximum/Minimum). My opinion on the align tool is similar to that of the splines, it is easy to use but if you forget a small detail it can become difficult.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmm9W1muSMcy3WAqbYUMf5NMvEFJlpFrWckq6oxwIy7Xetd23mYIHB-BxUQuFvuWf_hUIG0c2zs3wV0jwSp6n4wslPPegxDdk1Yws-QwYJVYYDQ6yQBBGCkYc6k6J4t3PGJ599tyDEC3g/s200/Crowsnest.bmp) |
Aligning was used here too, plus i limited polygons
for rigidness |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEJKqjg9bjdmjufKu_OILB62atzCqi-ihC1XwSL0SXJcQapAPQgD7welJJ8D2xGB0yuUstI4WwEXX1EMh_Sm-BcpIZthwFLp0_RsQwN2cy5kPJuI6y3awMSZauUI669BciZQJG1GenvTU/s320/AlternativeAligning.bmp) |
This was a different use of
Aligning by changing the
points of alignment |
Additional schemes i had discovered while using 3DS max is reducing the polygon count by using 'remove' while selecting single or multiple edges/vertices. By the use of removing lines, i could make ridges around the castle and keep a minimal polygon count. However, the use of cylinders does hinder the amount of polygons you can use, causing a conflict of smoothness and poor rendering or rigidness and slightly novice models. Another tip that was presented to me was using the
Autogrid tool, however i was only introduced to it after i had done the castle - meaning i will do it next time.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMFD-N7hmf-hAg8IGJJMDLAslAzOJwdV13QvLquCFOxbaYf7e76Y94yWcER-3BGZob_-BsMhjPcq46lxfOyu2BWWwcEoV_V1ymlfJQU39Fzloj0WB6UNPMQTuuOLz8aayyuQNvJeU3n5c/s1600/ExtrudeRidges.bmp) |
Less polygons, Less Problems |
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjO6xv7iu-5iq3KdAHmBrmiXxX0gkNFrYC7QPkoM4bucBNQi9NmIkF7Uujh6Zvo0v34HovUyC99VT4kPmsCqION-lIjax0OrhyphenhyphenS6qWQ7uEtpTYL8FZYq1Jam8Oswo_bnq1vFHCs20o5EUA/s1600/Grouping.bmp) |
Grouping was also a method we used
I haven't seen much gain or loss by it yet however |
This week's exercise was to design a decayed village, due to the current predicaments i have unfortunately found myself in there is little progress. On the other hand, i have further advanced in creating a mood board and almost completing the idea for the storyboard - the only trouble now being confining it to thirty seconds. In the week i also intend on researching references to draw my Assignment models which include the Tie Fighter and Star Destroyer; in future i am also intending on looking at the Help provided on 3DS Max before i go to my lecturer for answers of tools or animation methods.
I like your castle, I really like how you have shown a lot of the techniques and explained them in a way that anyone should be able to understand. I didn't realise we have to put up the exercises,I best get to it and stick them up lol.
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