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An Introduction to 3ds Max: Polygonal Modeling, Day 1

on Aug 24th 2009 with 39 comments
Tutorial Details
This entry is part 12 of 12 in the Best of 3D Studio Max – Part 1 Session
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This entry is part 1 of 2 in the series An Intro to 3ds Max Poly Modeling

Of all of the high-end 3d apps on the market, 3ds Max is by far one of the most powerful. It is, however, also one of the most complex and daunting 3d apps to learn. In this two part tutorial series, professional video game artist, Kaleb Aylsworth, will give you a detailed introduction to 3ds Max, as it pertains to polygonal modeling and the video game industry.

In this, the first part of the series, Kaleb will spend an hour and a half walking you through many key skills such as: navigation, changing views and shading modes, menus and tabs, and most importantly, the polygonal modeling tools. Then, in the second part, he will demonstrate how to apply the things that you have learned by using them to make a low-poly version of Guy van der Walt’s “Retro TV Set”. You can see some more examples of Guy’s work at his portfolio website, Plasticboy.

This is the first part: the Tools and Their Functions.

Final Effect Preview

Video 1

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Note: click the ‘Monitor’ icon to view tutorial in full-screen HD.

Video 2

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Note: click the ‘Monitor’ icon to view tutorial in full-screen HD.

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Special thanks to Guy van der Walt for allowing us to use his image! Check out some more samples of his amazing CG art here: www.plasticboy.co.uk.

 
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Kaleb Aylsworth is the old Cgtuts+ editor. He is also a video game Environment Artist with over 3 years of professional experience. He is currently employed at Digital Extremes in Canada, and working on an un-announced AAA title.  

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  • Alan Monroig

    Nice tutorial !!!

    • http://kaleb-3d.com Kaleb Aylsworth
      Author

      Thanks Alan:)

  • Brick Top

    I have quite some experience with Max but I will download this tutorial, maybe I can learn something new!

    Thx for this video tutorial Kaleb!

    • http://kaleb-3d.com Kaleb Aylsworth
      Author

      If you have any experience at all, then I doubt you’ll learn anything new. This is meant for all the “I have never even opened the app before”‘s out there:) Thanks for the nice words tho!

  • Laurence

    I cannot wait to see the next tutorial, thank you very much!

  • http://www.ricardofilipe.com Ricardo

    Will definitely take a closer look at this later today, thank you for taking the time! :)

  • Paul

    Awesome Tutorial, thanks Kaleb!

  • http://atroxide.com Atroxide

    Great tutorial!

    I have been trying to get into modeling for years now, and maybe this can help me out :)

    • http://www.finalclap.com/ Tuto

      Me too, modeling is very hard to learn because there is a lot of techniques !

  • John Doe

    Would be nice to see something like this for Cinema 4D

    • http://kaleb-3d.com Kaleb Aylsworth
      Author

      I’ll ask one of our resident C4D authors if they’d be interested.

      • John Doe

        Thanks!
        I’ve been going over the Introduction to 3ds Max: Polygonal Modeling. It has a good pace and it’s easy to follow. Good Stuff!

  • Thiago Consolaro

    Once again, very good tutorial Kaleb. Congrats.
    So, you’re working on Bioshock 2 Multiplayer huh ? Can’t wait to play it.

  • zarathustra

    Is there some reason why people capable of operating some of the most advanced software available can’t use a mic properly? This isn’t the first time. I think the site needs some quality control. Thanks for the content, really, but the presentation undermines the experience.

    • http://kaleb-3d.com Kaleb Aylsworth
      Author

      It’s true that the sound quality leaves something to be desired, but I assure you that there is a very logical reason for this, and it is something other than my lack of Mic knowledge. You see…I own a Mac, and since 3ds Max is not available for Mac OS, I must run Windows on my Mac in order to be able to use 3ds Max. The problem with this is that Bootcamp does not always get the drivers right when setting them up so that Windows can recognize the Mac hardware, and one of the drivers that Bootcamp seems to have forgotten is the one for the Mic jack. So basically, the only Mic that Windows will accept is the built in Macbook one….which is sorta garbage. So you see, I certainly understand where you are coming from with your complaint, but I have done the very best that I can with the resources that I have available to me, and the only other alternative to this would be to not do the tutorial at all….and I don’t think the readers would prefer that alternative.

      • Chris

        OK, just try an USB Soundcard should cost 10€ to 20€ solved my Problems.

      • Dave Collins

        Thanks for the tutorial.
        You should look into VMFusion it is way better then bootcamp. The best thing is you can move between your MacOX and Windows without rebooting.
        http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/
        $80

  • zarathustra

    I take you comment on board, and I too would rather have this tutorial as it stands than not at all. I wonder if there’s a workaround for the future? Do you own another machine? Maybe you could record the sound separately and overlay it during editing/compression? Sure it might not sync “perfectly” but there’s no lip-sync to worry about, and a few milliseconds here or there might not make a difference.

    Admin – Please tell me if you’d like me to make a comment along the lines of “why don’t you buy a pc?” – That can be good for link bait haha :)

    Thanks again Kaleb, hope I didn’t sound too critical, but I was disappointed that it marred an otherwise perfect resource.

  • jUAN

    more more more more mre thanks for this material. Excellent. I said, very thanks.

  • http://www.sporkycomplex.com Arian

    Thank you for these video tutorials :D They’re very helpful and nicely explained.

    • http://kaleb-3d.com Kaleb Aylsworth
      Author

      My pleasure:)

  • Justin Christensen

    Hey Kaleb :) Thanks for the help. I have a class project due in a few days and this helped me brush up nicely on the things I didn’t understand in class.

    • http://kaleb-3d.com Kaleb Aylsworth
      Author

      Glad I could help! I wish a well organized free tutorial network like this existed when I was learning 3d in school…things would have been a LOT easier:)

  • Darran Jones

    Hi mate, great tutorials!

    One quick question though. What version of 3ds Max are you using? From the icons and the ‘File’ menu button it looks more like 2010 but the UI colour scheme isn’t the default 2010 one, looks more like 2009′s.

    The only reason I ask is because I’ve been learning Max for a few weeks using 2009 and have recently tried out 2010, which I like, but I’m finding it more difficult due to the icons not having any colour in them. Makes it hard to differentiate between the different toggles etc.

    Do you know of any way to have coloured icons in Max 2010?

    Thanks in advance,

    Darran

    • http://kaleb-3d.com Kaleb Aylsworth
      Author

      Open 3ds Max. Go to “Customize > Load Custom Ui Scheme”, and browse to “C:/Program Files/Autodesk/3ds Max 2010/ui”.
      There you will be able to find several different versions 3ds Max user interfaces, including 3ds Max 2009 default.

      Cheers!

  • raf

    gud

  • Z

    I must say, an EXCELLENT tutorial for beginners
    that is what i myself am :P

    that’s all the start i needed for 3DS max, awesome job Kaleb !!

  • X-3T3RN1TY

    Thx man, learned many things with those vids.

  • Sandra

    Honestly, this ist terrible! I’m not talking about the content. No flw here, but the way it’s presented is pathetic.
    What are you doing with your mouse? It’s running around like blue-arse flies allt the time. This diverts my concentration from what you’re actually saying. Sad…

  • Getlostloser

    Ummm….have you read the rest of the comments here. Apparently you’re the only one who had any trouble following this tutorial….everyone else thought it was great. You know what’s pathetic though? People who go onto forums and flame other strangers hard work in a feeble attempt to appease their own raging self esteem problems…

  • TS

    been using max for a few months now and this still was very useful

  • iasus

    this was exactly what i needed to fil in the basics that i was lacking… just playing about with certain goals in mind is fine for a while, but this really let me nail the basics i would be using to help me model better!

  • Kabuki

    THANKS SO MUCH!!!!
    This tutorial covered in 1 1/2 hour all the stuff, our teacher wasn’t able to explain in more than 12 hours. Really easy to follow, absolutely understandable, even if English is not my native tongue.
    You just saved my summer vacation – thanks to you 3ds Max isn’t that big mystery anymore :) and I don’t have to waste time on figuring out functions and shortcuts. But can acctually start straight ahead with modeling stuff.

  • Ant Gray

    Didn’t know about collapse, I used weld with big values for that.

    I have probles with polygons sometimes, when I move vertices it may result in non-planar polygons. How do I fix it, and how to detect them?

  • Brian

    Excellent tutorial, especially for those of us moving from other modeling tools, such as blender. You covered most of the major points of confusion, and while some of the stuff seemed to be a retread of what we already knew, it was in general extremely good at both showing the salient points AND showing off some of the features unique to max.

    And yes, it definitely showed why max, while maybe not superior to blender for scene and movie renders, is definitely the tool of choice for game modellers :)

  • Nikola

    Thank you very much for these videos. :)

  • http:www.hawktimewebdesign.net Gary Calhoun

    display>display properties> click the box that says transparency is the other way to get into xray mode alt+x is the shortcut

  • Robert Crisp

    Its not showing my segments do i have a setting turned off or sothing cause i increase the segments and nothing happens

  • http://www.skecthuptutorial.net hussel hann

    thanks a lot Kaleb…really help a lot