- One of the great strengths of 3DS Max is polygon modeling, and we can do that from the modify panel, but there are a bunch of advanced tools that are available only in the modeling ribbon and that's what this chapter is going to be all about, the modeling ribbon. Before we begin I just wanna do a little bit of housekeeping. Namely, I wanna bring this image plane down a bit so that we can see the entire model. Right now it's frozen, I can't actually select that image plane. To unfreeze it I'll go into the scene explorer.
On the main toolbar, click Toggle Scene Explorer. And here's Plane001. Simply turn off the frozen parameter and now I can select that object and use the move tool to position it down. Just orbit around a little bit here and bring that down a little bit so that it's below the sword. It'lll still be aligned in the top view. I can close the scene explorer. Go over to the top view and switch its display mode over to Shaded. And then we can just position this a little bit.
You can see that it still lines up just perfectly. Before I start working with the ribbon I want to set a base level of detail on the sword's blade. I'll select that blade and maximize the perspective view with alt W and just, in the modify panel, set up some base segment values here. The length segments I'll set to a value of four because I wanna have a scalloped area here in the center of the sword, that's kind of depressed inward and I need enough detail to do that.
Likewise I wanna increase the width segments here. Let's set that to a value of three. I need to have a point at the end of the sword and I also need to have a transition zone between the scalloped area in the center and the point, so I need at least two more edge loops, or three segments of polygons here to accomplish that. Okay, so we've got our base level of detail. In order to use the ribbon and the graphite tools inside it we have to convert the object to editable poly. Right click and choose Convert To, Convert to Editable Poly.
And now, in the modify panel, you'll see that it's a new object type, and there are quite a lot of tools in here. In fact I can expand that modify panel out and you can see more of those tools. But all of these tools are also available from the ribbon and more, so we won't actually be using the modify panel. So I can collapse that a little bit. We wanna instead open up the ribbon, and it's currently hidden. You can open it from the main toolbar button here, Toggle Ribbon. Don't be alarmed if it takes a moment for the ribbon to load.
There are a lot of icons, and it can actually take a few seconds for that ribbon to load the first time. Right now I'm able to start working, all of these icons are lighting up, meaning that they are available. That's only because the modify panel is currently active. So this is a bit of a paradox. We don't actually need the modify panel, but modeling in 3DS Max requires that the modify panel be active. Even if it's not even visible, it has to be active. So it's a bit strange.
I can go to the create panel to illustrate that. As soon as I click on create or any of these other panels, my tools are all grayed out here on the ribbon. So we have to be in the modify mode, and there's two ways of doing that. One is to select the modify panel here, but the better way is probably to do it from the ribbon itself because we can actually hide the modify panel completely. Because as I said, we won't really be needing these tools. To illustrate that I'll go back to the create panel and up here on the ribbon you will see a couple of buttons.
First there's Modify Mode. That simply activates the modify panel. But even better there's one up here that says Toggle Command Panel. What that will do is hide the entire command panel and all of these tabs, and also enter modify mode at the same time. Click on that. And now the modify panel and all the other command panels are hidden, and we have all these icons available to us now. The two important things you need to remember if you want to use the ribbon for polygon modeling is that the object must be an editable poly and that the modify panel must be active, even if it's hidden.
I know that it's active now because these icons are lighting up and also because this big button here says Editable Poly now it doesn't say Modify Mode anymore. So this is a bit strange. It will read out the word Modify Mode when you're not in modify mode. That's a button that you click in order to enter modify mode. And once you're in that mode it will read out Editable Poly. All right, so we've got all those tools available and in the next movie we'll start looking at manipulating sub-objects.
Author
Released
5/22/2015Note: This course updates our 3ds Max 2015 Essential Training to work with the 2016 interface and file formats.
- Navigating the interface and viewports
- Understanding the Modifier Stack
- Modeling with polygons and subdivision surfaces
- Freeform sculpting
- Modeling with splines and NURBS
- Linking objects in hierarchies
- Modeling for motion graphics
- Framing shots with cameras
- Creating and editing keyframes
- Controlling lights and shadows
- Building materials
- Texturing with bitmaps and procedurals
- Painting objects with Viewport Canvas
- Rendering a sequence
- Adding special effects with mental ray
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
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Introduction
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Welcome1m 2s
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Using the exercise files1m 4s
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1. Getting Started
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Setting preferences4m 58s
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2. 3ds Max Interface
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Controlling the grid display5m 16s
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Navigating in viewports6m 2s
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Using hotkeys5m 55s
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Transforming objects7m 26s
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Choosing shading modes6m 30s
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Configuring viewports7m 23s
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3. Modeling Basics
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Creating an image plane6m 1s
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Creating primitives7m 4s
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Working with Scene Explorer3m 48s
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Understanding dependencies5m 23s
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4. Polygon Modeling
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Working with subobjects5m 59s
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Welding vertices6m 47s
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Choosing a transform center4m 22s
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Detailing with QuickSlice4m 56s
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Using soft selection4m 9s
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Using Paint Selection5m 21s
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Joining elements with Bridge4m 39s
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5. Subdivision Surface Modeling
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Adding the Symmetry modifier2m 59s
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Roughing out the proportions5m 12s
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Adding features with Extrude2m 53s
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Welding the seam2m 4s
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Baking subdivisions4m 35s
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6. Free-Form Modeling
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Sculpting with Paint Deform6m 33s
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Setting Paint options3m 46s
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Controlling Brush options5m 11s
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7. Spline Modeling
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Creating a line2m 21s
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Moving a pivot point1m 37s
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Using axis constraints6m 14s
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Extending a spline4m 8s
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Snapping an Arc primitive2m 23s
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Rounding corners with Fillet1m 28s
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8. NURBS Modeling
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Understanding NURBS2m 48s
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Converting objects to NURBS3m 32s
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Creating NURBS curves4m 24s
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Cloning subobjects3m 13s
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Creating a U loft surface3m 29s
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Rebuilding curves3m 18s
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Grouping objects4m 2s
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9. Hierarchies
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Linking objects4m 12s
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Using the Schematic view3m 8s
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Locking transforms2m 57s
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Avoiding problems with scale7m 55s
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10. 3D Motion Graphic Design
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Creating a Text primitive4m 25s
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Applying a Bevel modifier3m 48s
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Instancing a modifier2m 13s
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Editing text splines6m 12s
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Viewport clipping1m 16s
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Controlling level of detail3m 44s
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Editing polygons6m 57s
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11. Layout and Camera Basics
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Merging scenes1m 43s
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Managing display layers5m 13s
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Creating a target camera5m 42s
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Enabling Safe Frames3m 23s
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Adjusting Field of View3m 48s
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Using a free camera6m 48s
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12. Keyframe Animation
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Choosing Set Key Filters2m 11s
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13. Controllers and Constraints
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Understanding controllers2m 53s
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Assigning a Link constraint2m 27s
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14. Lighting Basics
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Understanding CG lighting5m 56s
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Correcting gamma5m 11s
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Choosing a shadow type2m 56s
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Optimizing shadow maps7m 4s
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Optimizing area shadows6m 9s
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Creating Omni fill lights6m 16s
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Using the Light Explorer3m 20s
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15. Materials Basics
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Working with scene materials4m 49s
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16. Mapping Textures
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Applying 3D procedural maps9m 29s
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Tracking scene assets7m 32s
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Projecting UVW mapping3m 3s
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Using Real-World Map Size3m 50s
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Mapping a bump channel2m 24s
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17. Rendering Basics
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Choosing a renderer5m 29s
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Choosing Quicksilver options2m 29s
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Rendering image sequences6m 10s
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18. Rendering with mental ray
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Tuning Final Gather6m 24s
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Conclusion
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Goodbye22s
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Video: Using the Ribbon with editable polys