3ds Max® 2012 Bible
Table of Contents
Part I: Getting Started with 3ds Max
Quick Start: Laying Siege to the Castle Wall
Breaking the Walls—Planning the Production
Setting Up the Scene
Tutorial: Building a wall
Tutorial: Gathering models
Tutorial: Adding a ground plane
Adding Materials and Lights
Tutorial: Adding materials
Tutorial: Adding a Sun & Sky system
Tutorial: Rendering a preview
Creating a Dynamic Animation with MassFX
Tutorial: Running a simulation
Tutorial: Rendering the final animation
Summary
Chapter 1: Exploring the Max Interface
Learning the Interface Elements
Using the Menus
Using the Toolbars
Docking and floating toolbars
Using tooltips and flyouts
Using the Quick Access toolbar
Learning the main toolbar
Using the Ribbon
Using the Viewports
Using the Command Panel
Working with rollouts
Increasing the Command Panel's width
Tutorial: Rearranging the interface for lefties
Using the Lower Interface Bar Controls
Interacting with the Interface
Gaining quick access with the right-click quadmenus
Using Caddy controls
Understanding the button color cues
Using drag-and-drop features
Controlling spinners
Understanding modeless and persistent dialog boxes
Getting Help
Using the InfoCenter toolbar
Viewing the Essential Skills Movies
Using the online reference guides
Using the rest of the Help menu
Summary
Chapter 2: Controlling and Configuring the Viewports
Understanding 3D Space
Learning Axonometric versus Perspective
Learning Orthographic and Isometric views
Discovering the viewports in Max
Using the Navigation Gizmos
Working with the ViewCube
Using the SteeringWheels