Table Of Content3ds Max 2018 - Getting Started with Standard
Materials and Lights
Ravi Conor
and
Elizabeth VT
3ds Max 2018 - Getting Started with Standard Materials and
Lights
Copyright © Rising Polygon
Book Code: RP14C
ISBN: 978-1975929374
Web: www.risingpolgon.co
Author Email:
Acknowledgements
Thanks to:
Everyone at Autodesk [www.autodesk.com].
Everyone at Adobe [www.adobe.com].
Everyone at Microsoft [www.microsoft.com].
Thanks to all great digital artists who inspire us with their innovative VFX,
gaming, animation, and motion graphics content.
And, a very special thanks to wonderful CG artists of London, UK.
Finally, thank you for picking up the book.
About the Author
Rising Polygon, founded by Ravi Conor aka ROC, Elizabeth VT, and
Gordon Fisher is a group of like-minded professionals and freelancers who are
specialized in advertising, graphic design, web design and development, digital
marketing, multimedia, exhibition, print design, branding, and CG content
creation.
ROC has over a decade of experience in the computer graphics field and
although he is primarily a shading and texturing artist, he is also experienced in
the fields of Dynamics, UVMapping, Lighting, and Rendering. Along side
CINEMA 4D, ROC has experience with VRay, Maya, FumeFX, Mudbox, 3ds
Max, Mari, Photoshop, xNormal, UVLayout, Premiere, and After Effects.
Elizabeth is primarily an Android App developer. She is passionate about
computer graphics and has an experience of over 6 years with 3ds Max, Maya,
Photoshop, and Blender.
Gordon Fisher is the back bone of Rising Polygon and handles operations,
finance, and accounts.
You can contact authors by sending an e-mail to the following Email ID:
Preface
Why this Book?
The 3ds Max 2018 - Getting Started with Standard Materials and Lights
textbook offers a hands-on exercises based strategy for all those digital artists
who have just started working on the 3ds Max [no experience needed] and
interested in learning texturing and lighting in 3ds Max. This brilliant guide
takes you step-by-step through the whole process of texturing, UV Mapping, and
Lighting. From the very first pages, the users of the book will learn how to
effectively use 3ds Max for shading and lighting surfaces.
The strength of this book is that it teaches all of the important concepts in an
easy to understand language. As the readers move from hands-on exercise to
hands-on exercise, they will be building their own portfolio of high quality
artwork. One unit of the book presents a foundation of techniques to help you
build custom textures, maps, and designs using Photoshop. Videos are provided
for the hands-on exercises of this unit.
What you need?
To complete the examples and hands-on exercises in this book, you need
2018 version of Autodesk 3ds Max. Photoshop CC 2017 is used to create hands-
on exercises of Unit MT1.
What are the main features of the book?
The book is written using 3ds Max 2018 and Photoshop CC 2017 in an
easy to understand language.
Shading, texturing, lighting, and UV mapping techniques covered.
49 Hands-on exercises to hone your skills.
Detailed coverage of tools and features.
Additional tips, guidance, and advice is provided.
Important terms are in bold face so that you never miss them.
Support for technical aspect of the book.
3ds Max files and PSDs/textures used are available for download from
the accompanying website.
How This Book Is Structured?
This book is divided into following units:
Unit MT1 - Creating Textures in Photoshop
Understanding non-destructive editing
Creating custom textures and designs
Creating maps
Unit MT2 - Material Editors
Compact Material Editor
Slate Material Editor
Unit MT3 - Standard Materials and Maps
General/Scanline materials
General maps
Unit MT4 - Physical and Autodesk Materials
Autodesk Materials
Physical Material
Unit ML1 - Standard Lights
Basic Lighting Concepts
Creating and placing lights
3ds Max Lights
Light Linking
Shadows
Lighting Effects
Unit ML2 - Photometric Lights
Photometric light types: Target Light, and Free Light
Color temperatures
Shadow generating shapes
Exposure controls
Unit ML3 - Sunlight and Daylight Systems
Sunlight and Daylight Systems
Positioning the Compass
Choosing a location
Sun Positioner and Physical Sky
Unit MBT - Bonus hands-on Exercises
Examination Copies
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Electronic Files
Any electronic file associated with this book are licensed to the original user
only. These files can not be transferred to a third party. However, the original
user can use these files in personal projects without taking any permission from
Rising Polygon.
Trademarks
CINEMA 4D is the registered trademarks of Maxon Computers. Windows
is the registered trademarks of Microsoft Inc. 3ds Max is the registered
trademarks of Autodesk Inc.
Disclaimer
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior
written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations
embedded in critical articles or reviews. No patent liability is assumed with
respect to the use of information contained herein. Although every precaution
has been taken in the preparation of this book, neither the author, nor Rising
Polygon, and its dealers and distributors will be held liable for any damages
caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by this book.
All terms mentioned in this book that are known to be trademarks or service
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accuracy of this information. Use of a term in this book should not be regarded
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Access to Electronic Files
This book is sold via multiple sales channels. If you don’t have access to the
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Customer Support
At Rising Polygon, our technical team is always ready to take care of your
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Errata
We take every precaution while preparing the content of the book but
mistakes do happen. If you find any mistake in this book general or technical, we
would be happy that you report it to us so that we can mention it in the errata
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Unit MT1 - Creating Textures in Photoshop
Photoshop provides intuitive and cutting-edge image editing features. These
features improve your efficiency and artwork as you incorporate them into your
workflow. In this section, I am discussing some techniques, tips, and concepts
that will help you in creating some cool textures and background designs. These
techniques will help you in creating cool looking backgrounds and textures for
your 3ds Max scenes.
In this unit, I will describe the following:
Understanding non-destructive editing
Creating custom textures and designs
Creating custom diffuse, specular, bump, reflection, and normal maps
Non-destructive Editing
Photoshop offers non-destructive editing features. This is the one of the
reasons that it remains an essential part of a texturing artist’s and designer’s
toolset. Non-destructive editing allows you to make changes to an image without
changing pixel data in the original image. There are many ways in Photoshop
that enable you to perform non-destructive editing. Here, I will discuss only
those techniques/concepts that are useful for texturing artists/designers.
Adjustment Layers
The Adjustment layers non-destructively alter underlying tones and colors
[see Figure F1]. These layers apply color and tonal adjustments to the image
without changing the pixel data. The adjustments are stored in the adjustment
layer and applied to the all layers below it. On the other hand, the fill layers fill a
layer with color, gradient, or pattern and do not affect the layers underneath.
Tip: Clipping Adjustment Layers
You can clip an adjustment layer to affect only one layer in the Layers panel.
To clip a layer, hold Alt and move the mouse pointer on the boundary of the two
layers. When the shape of the pointer changes, click to enable layer clipping.
The other advantages of using the adjustment layers are as follows:
You can re-edit the adjustment layer any time.
You can tone down the adjustment layer’s effect by lowering the
opacity of the layer.
You can reset the effect of the layer.
You can perform selective editing by using the adjustment layer’s
mask.
You can apply adjustments to the multiple documents by copying and
pasting adjustment layers between documents.
You can adjust the blending mode to merge their effect with other
layers.
You can toggle their visibility on and off to preview the before and
after comparisons.
You can rearrange, delete, hide, and duplicate the adjustment layers.
Filtering with Smart Filter
Any filter that you apply to a smart object is a smart filter. These filters
appear below the smart objects in the Layers panel. If you select a layer and
then choose Convert for Smart Filters from the Filter menu, the selected layer
is converted to a smart object and then you can apply smart filters onto the smart
object [see Figure F2].
Note: Smart Filters
You can use any Photoshop filter as smart filter except Extract, Liquify,
Pattern Maker, and Vanishing Point.
Like the Adjustment layers, you can re-edit smart filters, change their order,
blending mode, and so forth. To expand or collapse the view of the Smart
Filters, click the triangle next to the Smart Filter icon. If you want to expand
the new effects by default, choose Panel Options from the Layers panel. On the
Layers Panel Options dialog that appears [see Figure F3], check the Expand
New Effects check box.
Tip: Smart Filters
You can apply the Shadow/Highlight and Variations commands as Smart
Filters.
