• Modeling quickly and intelligently requires good reference images and a little ingenuity.

Models are the main building blocks of scenes. When creating a model, it s important to model just enough detail to make a good rendering. It s easy to get bogged down in small details that take a long time to model and won t even be noticeable in the final rendering.

Mapping, the process of putting textures on a model, is a kin to modeling. In this chapter you ll learn simple mapping techniques that can reduce modeling time to minutes instead of hours.

Modeling Tools

Knowing the main modeling tools in 3ds Max will make your work go much faster. Make sure you can find all these tools in the user interface, and take it from there.

Figure 1: Primitive objects are the starting point for most of your objects. Between Standard and Extended Primitives, there are more than 20 primitives to choose from.

Figure 2: A primitive can be turned into an Editable Mesh or Editable Poly for direct access to vertices and polygons.

Figure 3: In some cases, a spline (curved or straight line) is the most straightforward way to create an object. The Sweep and Lathe modifiers, among others, will turn a spline into a 3D object.

Figure 4: To clone an object, hold down Shift as you move the object. A Copy is independent of the original. An Instance maintains a connection between the two so any changes to one clone changes the other.