3ds Max Basics

School of Architecture and Urban Design
University of Kansas
3dStudio Max/ Viz

Lesson One: Getting Started
Today, we will be learning how to navigate the 3dMax and 3dViz interface. The two programs
are very similar, as far as application to architectural projects are concerned.
First, double-click on the desktop shortcut for either program. This will initialize the 3d
interface. The interface may look a little intimidating, but it is actually fairly easy to navigate.
The interface looks like the image below:
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There are several different ways to perform the same command in 3dstudio. We will review
some of the most efficient ways to get around in the interface. To begin, go to the far right of the
interface, known as the command panels (see above diagram).
These six panels are responsible for the creation, modification, and system tools that make up the
majority of static 3dstudio work. Click once on the arrow pointing to a star; the far left tab on the
command panels. This is the Create menu.
There are several different ways to perform the same command in 3dstudio. We will review
some of the most efficient ways to get around in the interface. To begin, go to the far right of the
interface, known as the command panels (see above diagram). These six panels are responsible
for the creation, modification, and system tools that make up the majority of static 3dstudio
work. Click once on the arrow pointing to a star; the far left tab on the command panels. This is
the Create menu.
The Create menu is also available on the menu bar at the top of the interface; the command
panels are, however, much faster and easier to access. There are seven categories of objects and
systems that can be created using 3dstudio; today, though, we will only concern ourselves with
the first two:
Create Object and Create Shape
There are an almost infinite number of combinations of shapes that can be created with 3dstudio,
as can be seen by accessing the drop-down menu of the Create Object command panel. Standard
primitives, extended primitives, complex objects, etc. are all different categories of objects that
either create forms or modify existing forms. We will concern ourselves solely with the standard
primitives today.
Begin by clicking once on the Create Object command panel, you will see a number of buttons
with box, cylinder, tube, etc. inside of them. Click once on the box button, then right-click once
in the top viewport. The top viewport will be highlighted by a yellow outline. This is now your
active viewport.
To create your box, begin by left-clicking in the top viewport, holding the mouse button, and
dragging. A square will appear in the top viewport, and this indicates that you are setting the
square area that will be covered by the base of the box.
Once you have approximately the desired area that you wish to cover, release the left mouse
button. Now that the base area is set, you must adjust the height of the box. Notice on the
command panel that as you move the cursor up or down in the interface, there will be a value
next to the word height. This value will increase or decrease according to how much you move
your cursor. You will also see two other values, length and width, and their respective values.
These values are called parameters. After you have the approximate desired height, left-click
once more. This will finish creation of the box.
After you have created your box, the parameters may be adjusted to more exact specifications.
The box should be selected, meaning its boundary lines will be white. If it is not, select by
clicking once on any boundary line. Then left-click on the Modify command panel, which is a
rainbow enclosed in a dashed box. The Modify tab is the next tab to the right of the Create tab.
Once the Modify panel is active, you will see the height, width, and length parameters displayed
once again. These parameters can be modified either by highlighting the existing values and
entering new values or using the spinners, which are the up and down arrows located to the right
of the values.
Now we’ll learn how to clone an object. To clone something in the same position, simply hold
the shift key and left-click once on the object. Another way to clone an object is to right click on
the object. You will then get a dialogue box for cloning. There are three options of cloning:
Instance, Reference, and Copy. The difference between the three will be discussed later, for now,
pick instance. This will ensure that any commands applied to either box singly will apply to both
boxes. Hit the ok button. The clone is now highlighted in your active viewport.
Now we will learn how to move an object an exact amount in space. Directly under the
Animation menu in the top menu bar, there is a cross with arrows on the ends. This is the select
and move button.
Right-click this button, and you will see a dialogue box appear that says Move Transform Type
in. In the left set of values, under absolute: world, enter 0 for X, 0 for Y, and 0 for Z. Do this by
highlighting the current values and entering zero(0). Your cloned box will now be moved so that
its center is located at the origin. You may select your original box by clicking on any of its
boundary lines, and you can use the Move Transform Type In to move it to wherever you desire.
The Move Transform Type In dialogue box is one of the most useful tools for architectural
modeling because it allows strict and precise control for all placements of structural elements and
planar elements such as walls, floor slabs and other surfaces.
This concludes lesson one. Remember, all shapes can be manipulated in the same way that the
box above was, and you might want to begin experimenting with the extended primitives as well
to further familiarize yourself with parameters and spinners.
The extended primitives can be found under the dropdown that should currently say “Standard
Primatives” in the Create command panel.
Lesson Two: Modifying Objects and Editing Shapes
A. Modifiers
Last lesson, we used parameter values to construct three-dimensional objects in space, namely
the box. All of the other standard and extended primitives can be manipulated in manners similar
to that of the box. Today, we will be exploring how more easily edit these solids. There are
several different commands that can be used to modify an object. We will begin by using the
object modifiers.
To begin, select any object in your scene (a box will let you see the effects fairly clearly). The
first modifier we will work with will be the bend modifier.
Left-click on the Modify tab on the Command panel selector (the same tab used to access the
parameter rollouts when modifying the box parameters).
The tab contains a picture of a rainbow in blue.
There is a drop-down menu immediately below the Command Panel tabs that reads modifier list.
If you click on the down arrow next to this dropdown menu, the list of modifiers will be
displayed.
You can scroll down either by using the mouse wheel or by clicking on the scroll bar on the side
of the Modifier menu.
Select bend from the list, then left-click on the spinner next to the angle rollout.
You will see the box begin to bend, but its sides will remain straight while an orange outline
(called a transform gizmo) bends in a curve.
To match the edges of the box to the curve of the gizmo, it is necessary to increase the number of
height segments that your box is composed of. These segment parameters are located below the
window that has the object name (box) and the modifiers that are added to the object (currently
just bend). They are also below the length, width and height parameters, and are listed as segs.
Increase the height segs to 16, and you will see the sides of the box bend to match the gizmo.
Set the other segment parameters to 16 as well, then apply a twist modifier to the box.
Set the angle of twist, and you will see a Frank Gehry shape materialize before your eyes.
This situation is called a stacked modifier, and will have different effects depending on the order
that you apply the modifiers.
Continue to try modifiers on different primitives with different numbers of subdivisions to create
any unlimited number of spatial combinations.
Box (1 height seg, Box(16 height segs,

B. Editable Meshes, Polys, and Patches
The editing of shapes allows removal of faces, modification of one specific piece of the shape, or
editing of edges and vertices. Any shape can be converted into any one of these editable forms,
be careful, though; too many editable shapes in a scene takes up a lot of memory and could cause
Max to crash unexpectedly.
There are five types of mesh sub-object selection. They are Vertex, Edge, Face, Polygon, and
Element. Today, however, we will only concern ourselves with the first four and how they can
be used to manipulate your shapes.
First, create a shape. It doesn’t really matter what you choose, so long as it is either a standard or
extended primitive. Then, right-click in the active viewport to access your floater menu. At the
very bottom of the lower-right quadrant, there is an option that says CONVERT TO: When
highlighted, this menu option gives you the choice of converting your shape into a mesh, a poly,
a patch, or a NURBS surface. NURBS are highly advanced curved surfaces used usually for
modeling aerodynamic objects such as motorcycle fairings or aircraft flight surfaces. Their
complexity is usually not required to describe an architectural surface.
Convert your box into an Editable Mesh, then select the sub object level vertex and observe the
small blue dots that connect the polygon faces of the mesh object.
Select some of the vertices, then experiment with moving them, deleting them, scaling them, and
rotating them.
Then select a different sub-object parameter, such as polygon. Then try the transforms at this
level.
The effects may be slightly different, so notice what effect the editing has on the shape and then
try to incorporate these subtleties into your model building.
Modify menu showing different sub-object paths.
C. Introductory Rendering
Rendering is the process by which you can produce high quality images of your digital model.
Rendering takes into account all of the environmental attributes that your scene has and applies
them to the distinct visual feel of your renderings. Light sources, shadows, fog, backgrounds; all
serve to make your images more distinctly stylistic.
The rendering button is the teapot in the upper right hand corner of the interface.
Left-click on this button, and you will see the Render dialogue box. What we will concern
ourselves with today is the resolution of a final image and the environment that renders behind
your model.
Resolution is a term for the number of pixels per inch that are displayed in a raster or bitmap
image. The higher the resolution, the more defined the changes of tone in the image. To see an
example of this, set render resolution to 320x240. The image will render at a one to one ratio
(meaning that the image appears real size on the screen). If you zoom in, you will be able to see
the pixilation on the edges. On the other hand, if the image is rendered at 800x600, the final
render will be much larger, hence will be clearer if displayed at its size than if a 320x240
rendering is blown up to the size of an 800x600.
Also, by changing the resolution, you can develop almost any rectangular ratio of your viewing
frame that you want. If your building is much wider than it is tall, set your width pixels at a
multiple of your height pixels (height 1000, width 5000). On the other hand, if you are rendering
a skyscraper, you might want to reverse it (height 5000, width 1000).
To set an environment background, press 8. Your environment controls will be displayed.

Background is displayed first, you can either set a specific color by using the color swatch or you
can set a background map, such as a sky or a starry night.
To set a background map, left-click the button that says “None.” A dialogue box will come up
with many options, select bitmap. Then you will be able to browse your file for a specific bitmap
or JPEG file which will be your background.
This concludes lesson two. In the upcoming lessons, you will learn how to more accurately
model your designs using plans and sections, and you will be able to add more realistic effects
using lighting, camera angles, and materials.
Lesson Three: Transferring from Two Dimensions to Three Dimensions
In the previous two lessons, we have learned how to create and edit shapes, how to set up a
rendering and a background, and a few terms for various commands within the 3dMax interface.
Now we will begin taking the previous information and applying it to architectural design.
There are two ways to represent an architectural space: through drawing and through modeling.
Drawings are more useful for the construction applications of architectural concepts, whereas
models are useful for the presentation of an idea, so that a client may see the totality of the
building. However, throughout the design process, the two modes of representation are used in
coordination to arrive at a final built environment.Sketching is very helpful to map spatial ideas,
and Max can make use of these sketches to make models relatively easily.
• To begin, we will load a viewport background in our plan view viewport. To do this, left-
click the Views menu option on the top menu bar.
• Go down to Viewport Background, and then left-click again. This brings up the Viewport
Background dialogue box.
• There is a button that says FILES..., left-click it and you will get an OPEN dialogue box.
• From this point, you can load any file to be displayed in the Plan view viewport.
• Open a file to be displayed. There are then options to either Match Bitmap or Match the
viewport.
• If you need the precise size and proportions of your drawings to remain intact, then
Match Bitmap.
• If you are just making a study model, though, you should probably just match the
Viewport.
• Once you decide how you want your image displayed, hit the OK button and you will see
your image displayed in the plan view viewport. Now you can set up boxes as columns,
trace with a spline and extrude it, or construct various editable shapes for more complex
formal variations.
• By using Photoshop to import an image from a scan, you can get scale drawings to
appear full size in Photoshop, then, if you paint or draw grid lines on your scale
drawings, you will be able to use a scaled version of your drawing to provide for a correct
scale model.
• You will need to adjust your home grid lines by going to the menu option Customize,
then selecting Grid and Snap Settings. This will allow you to make your grid subdivisions
match the grid on your scale drawings, and will allow for a nearly-perfect transfer from
the drawn to the modeled product.
This concludes the Two to Three dimension lesson. Next lesson, we will work on placing
materials, lights, and effects so as to realistically convey the feel of your model.
Lesson Four: Material Editing
A very useful tool contained in 3dsMax is the Material Editor. This feature allows a model to be
rendered as it would actually appear in reality by using a combination of assigned materials and
rendering effects.
Materials
Fortunately for architects, 3dsMax comes with a prepackaged set of architectural materials.
These include wood finishes, masonry finishes, ornamental metals, and stone finishes, as well as
glazing. The material information can be personally edited as well, but we will work today only
with the prepackaged set that is included with the program.
Begin by opening a saved file that you have created. The saved file should still be modeled in the
original colors that were assigned when creating the objects. Select a single object, then press M.
The material editor dialogue box will then appear. It should display a series of grey spheres that
represent the default BLINN material.
• BLINN is an ideal diffuse material, meaning it has no reflectivity to begin with, and
hence will render the fastest.
• Below the material spheres, or swatches, there is a horizontal icon bar beginning on the
left with a blue sphere with an arrow pointing towards it. This is the GET MATERIAL
icon. Left-click on this icon, and the Material/Map browser dialogue box will appear.
• On the middle left of this dialogue box, there are radio buttons under text that says
BROWSE FROM…Choose the radio button next to MATERIAL LIBRARY, then go
down to the FILE subsection on the lower left and left-click on the Open button.
• This will give you the Open Material Library dialogue box. The files contained within are
the pre-made architectural materials divided into subcategories.
• By double-clicking one of the subcategories, you will return to the Material/Map

browser, only now, you will see a variety of choices.
• Click on one of the BLINN swatches on the Material editor,
• then double-click on the material that you wish to use from the Material/Map browser
list. The material will then appear in the map browser, and you can then left-click on the
icon next to the GET MATERIAL icon.
• The ASSIGN MATERIAL TO SELECTION icon is the icon with a blue sphere with an
arrow pointing from the sphere to a cube. Now you have a material assigned to your
selected object. But we’re not done yet.
UVW Mapping
Materials are applied to objects by a process called parameterization. This is the process by
which a flat image, called a map, is transferred onto a shape which may not be flat. Initially, the
Material maps are a certain number of square pixels, so when they are applied to an object, they
retain the same proportions as the original map. This may present scale problems that will make
your rendered images look fake, as if they (wink, wink) were produced digitally. This is where
UVW Mapping comes in.
Since glass and metals are fairly uniform surfaces with little deviation in pattern, they will
usually not require a UVW map or tiling. Masonry surfaces, stone surfaces, and concrete panels,
however, must be scaled so that the irregularities in the surface appear to be proportional to the
size of the spaces. This is most easily done through the Material Editor.
• Open the Material Editor dialogue box by pressing M and click the GET MATERIAL
icon.
• Then, as before, click the Material Library radio button under BROWSE… and then click
the
• Open button under FILE. This will display your material subcategories again.
• Double-click on the masonry subcategory, then scroll down until you see the
Brick.Modular.Common material.
• Double-click on this name, and the material will be displayed among your swatches.
• Select the material by clicking on the swatch,
• then double-click on the swatch. This will show you a larger swatch which will make the
effects of the UVW tiling more visible.
Further down from the icon bar in the Material Editor dialogue box, you will see dark
Lesson Five: Cameras and Lights
One of the most exciting features about 3dsMax is the ability for the user to define viewpoints
and to set up illumination. This allows for more true-to-life images and environments.
Cameras
Setting up a camera must be done with careful attention in all of your isometric viewports (top
and two sides).
• First, select the Create command panel tab.
• Under the command panel tabs, there is another row of icons.
• These are the objects that can be created, including geometry and shapes, which we have
worked with before.
• Click on the icon with a camera on it, the CREATE CAMERA icon.
There are two types of cameras: TARGET and FREE cameras. TARGET cameras allow the user
to set the point of focus of the camera, whereas FREE cameras can only be swiveled by using the
rotate transform. I have found that TARGET cameras are usually more useful for architectural
applications than FREE cameras, because you may want just the slightest bit of adjustment and
more control.
• To create your TARGET camera, click the TARGET button under the Object Type
subset, then right-click in your top viewport.
• Then left-click and hold on the side of your model that you want to be away from the
view of the camera.
• Then drag your cursor until the camera is on the side of the model that you want
displayed in the image and release the left mouse button. Depending upon which
viewport the camera is created in, it will be aligned with one of the major planes (xy, yz,
or xz) and so will have an x, y, or z coordinate of zero.
The camera behaves as with any other object, except for the target, which could be considered a
separate object when using transforms such as scale, rotate and move. When the camera is
selected and the target is not, the move transform will only move the camera.
• To observe the effects of moving the camera or target, right-click in your Perspective
viewport, then type C. This switches to the view your camera sees.
• To toggle back to perspective view, type P.
When you are in camera view, however, any movement or rotation causes the viewport to be
moved or rotated real-time.
Cameras on Max have many additional features as well. Once you create a camera, you can
modify the settings under the Modify command panel settings. For today, we will go over two of
the simpler modifications that can be used to adjust the frame of your final image.
The lens of the camera adjusts the viewing angle of your image. There are a series of Stock
Lenses that range from 15mm to 200mm. Just remember, the lower the number of mm’s, the
greater your angle of view will be. The angle of view and the lens mm’s can be adjusted by
spinners as well, seen above the stock lenses subset in the Modify command panel.
The other modifier that you can use that is very useful for architectural applications is the
Clipping Planes option, which is farther down in the Modify command panel.
• Left-click in the Clip Manually box,
• and then set near clip at 50’ and far clip at 100’ to begin with.
• You will see red lines in your isometric viewports. These are the clipping planes, and
they determine how much of the objects will be contained within your image. The objects
and shapes contained within the two red boundaries will be displayed in your camera
viewport. The clipping planes are useful for constructing sections and plans with
materials rendered to surfaces.
Lights
Light is perhaps the most complicated subject to deal with when it comes to Max. The effects of
lighting are only really visible in the final rendering, so to adjust lights to your specifications,
many renderings must be done to see the effects of changes made to lights.
There are quite a few different types of lights. The TARGET and FREE versions of spotlights
and direct lights are comparable to the cameras as far as transforms are concerned. However,
spotlights increase their cone as distance from source increases, and direct lights are simply
spotlights with no increase in cone size, i.e. the light is projected in a cylinder. Omni lighting
sends light rays in all directions, and skylight is comparable to the sun’s luminance. Different
combinations of lights within a scene can produce astounding effects and is the one factor that
contributes the most to the realism of the final images.
Lights can also be modified under the Modify command panel. You can choose to render with
shadows, which takes quite a bit longer but produces very realistic lighting situations, or you can
choose to adjust intensity, which will change the brightness of the final image.
Lighting is a very experimental situation in all respects, so the only advice that I can give on this
topic is to simply try different placements and intensities, changing only one thing at a time, until
you find a lighting that gives you the right rendered image.

3ds Max Basics

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School of Architecture and Urban Design

3dStudio Max/ Viz

Create Object and Create Shape

Lesson Two: Modifying Objects and Editing Shapes

The tab contains a picture of a rainbow in blue.

Box (1 height seg, Box(16 height segs,

B. Editable Meshes, Polys, and Patches

Modify menu showing different sub-object paths.

To set an environment background, press 8. Your environment controls will be displayed.

Lesson Three: Transferring from Two Dimensions to Three Dimensions

Lesson Four: Material Editing

• By double-clicking one of the subcategories, you will return to the Material/Map

• Click on one of the BLINN swatches on the Material editor,

• Select the material by clicking on the swatch,

Lesson Five: Cameras and Lights

• First, select the Create command panel tab.

• Under the command panel tabs, there is another row of icons.

• To toggle back to perspective view, type P.

• Left-click in the Clip Manually box,

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