Thursday, 29 October 2015

3DS Max Tips #3, peer review and own research

Lynda (Ross, 2015) 
Polygon modeling
  • Graphite ribbon requires editable poly and modify mode
  • Toggle command panel keeps them hidden and always in modify mode
  • 1 vertex, 2 edges, 3 border (edges of gaps), 4 polygon, 5 element and 6 back to object mode
  • Sub-objects and ignore backfacing can be used to select whole shapes within shapes
  • Tools are destructive, there is no modifier stack - can only ctrl-z to undo
  • Use pivot point centre - fly out brings up other options such as selection centre
  • Ctrl backspace removes selected edge and associated vertex
  • quick slice can create edge loops over non quadrilateral shapes  
  • S for 3d snapping - use to create neat edge loop which can then be moved
  • with top view, selection rectangle can select a vertex and any directly under it
  • Soft selection requires no current selection, then make selection - creates heat map of how much you're affecting something with scale for example
  • Fall off affects area of influence 
  • Add tiny details at tend of work flow
  • Use chamfer to make edges less sharp
  • To modify the shape of cylinder to make it like a tear, use paint mode which is a fly out of the box select options - right click button and turn down paint brush size - select 3 vertical strips of polygons at front, with fall out the shape is distorted correctly
  • Bridge - bridging borders is best for gaps between - cleaner if lined up with same number of vertices along borders
  •  
    Spline modeling

  • Bezier curve creates smooth line
  • Change vertex type to bezier, corner etc
  • Disable transform gizmo by going to user preferences, gizmo, transform gizmos on or control shift f5-8
  • View drop drop down shows current constraints in effect
  • Delete to remove vertex, refine to add
  • Create line to add one, can hover of the vertex on the spline object and automatically welds to others
  • A drawn arc can snap mid drawing using s hotkey
  • automatic welding setting in vertex mode
  • Outline tool on spline to drag out thickness
  • To remove detail where it is not needed, interpolation setting to decrease number of segments between lines and converting to corner or other modes where relevant e.g. two corners for square base of bell
Review of fellow students work

Joe Hall

Look, feel and storyboard post: 
  • The analysis of the Star Wars 'look' is sophisticated, with a comparison to Star Trek to clearly demonstrate what he is and isn't going for
  • The 'Feel' description looks at the story and context of the star Wars universe - this is good reference material 
  • The chosen 'Trench Run' sequence is achievable; the chosen ships and landscape are not too complex and the scene and ships are well documented for reference
Wheel, house and castle post: 
  • Ship wheel: Joe mentions the design process and what tools he found useful rather than a step by step process of what happens
  • House: A good description of the house is given as he talks about using new tools and fixing issue created by the method (e.g. filling in gaps of deleted polygons)
  • Castle: He talks about the best way he could do the arch at this stage, and how he could improve it in the future with tools he has touched on                                                                                            
Low poly house: The low poly house shows and improvement in detail still using mostly the same techniques

Own research

Chamfer: This tool has allowed me to create rounded corners on shapes. This has proved quicker and more flexible than drawing a spline outline with a curve. Both methods would inevitably create more polygons for a relatively small detail however so must be used sparingly
   
Cap holes: Where holes have been created from deleting vertices, a tool for filling the gaps rather than adding geometry is very useful. While I have only used it to fill holes when deleting windows in one method of the house exercise, with more complex shapes I believe tool will become useful. One potential issue is the need for the object to be a editable mesh, as most editing needs to be done editable poly and this also recommended for exporting


Extended primitives: While most shapes under the standard list cover most requirements and can be edited otherwise, some more complex and less used shapes are available under the 'extended' list. Objects such as 'hose' will be useful for the AT-AT neck, however after using it I found this to be very polygon intensive

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