Have
you ever been modeling something
out of half transparent tinted
plastic or glass and wondered
how, without a shadow map, you
would make the color of the
material project onto the surrounding
objects? Well, with Raytraced
Shadows, you can do just that.
Along
with projecting "Filter
Colors" as they are called,
Raytraced Shadows can be used
instead of the Standard. Although
a slightly longer rendering
time results, Raytraced Shadows
are more accurate, more versatile,
and can make the difference
between looking like CGI and
looking Photorealistic.
For
this tutorial I assume you know the
basics of the 3D Studio Max Interface.
Until — and possibly after —
the material section, your colors will
vary from those shown in this tutorial.
PHASE
ONE: Modelling
This
scene uses only two meshes; a tube
and a box. Here's how to create them
like I did.
Fig.
01
Make
a tube to about this size (or
whatever size you want for your
ring) in the Top view,
but watching the Perspective.
FIG.
02
FIG.
01
Fig.
02
Add
a Meshsmooth to the tube. Change
the standard Iterations to 1
and Render Iterations to 2
Fig.
03
This is what your ring should
look like with the meshsmooth
applied. Note that when rendered
it will be even smoother —
an Iteration of 2. We don't
need this in the viewport though,
so we will keep the standard
one at 1.
FIG.
03
FIG.
04 / FIG. 05
Fig.
06
To the box, add a Normal modifier,
and check Flip normals. This
will make the normals point
inwards, so we can use the box
like a small room around the
ring, and it will have something
to reflect. Let's get on to
the Lights!
Figs. 04/05
Zoom out in the Top and Front
views to about the size shown,
and create a box with the mouse
to the size of the white outlines.
FIG. 06
PHASE
TWO: Cameras and Lighting
This
lighting setup differs slightly from
the standard 3-point scheme.
I first made this scene before I had
learnt placement for the lights, so
though there are three, they are slightly
differently placed.
Figs.
07/08
Add three omni lights in the
Top view, with the positions
shown. Raise them up a bit in
one of the side views, so they
are near the roof, to give them
more overall coverage.
FIG.
07 / FIG. 08
FIG.
09
Fig.
09
In the Light Lister (Tools Menu
=> Light Lister) change the
back left light (the one farthest
away in the Perspective view)
to Raytrace Shadows, and turn
shadows on for that
light only. Change
the Multiplier on each of them
to 0.75, otherwise the scene
is too bright.
Figs.
10/11
Add a free camera in the bottom
right of the Top viewport.
Move it up above the box (Left
view) and rotate and scale
it so it's view distance looks
like this one. Right click
on the word Perspective in
the Perspective view, then
click on Camera01 (or whatever
you have called it). Oh no!
There goes lovely the perspective
view you made. Not to fear.
Fig.
12
Make sure the Camera view
is selected, then use the
buttons in the bottom right
hand side of the 3D Studio
Max window to rotate, pan
and zoom the view until it
gives a shot like this. Once
you have that, it's time for
the Materials!
FIG.
12
FIG.
10
FIG.
11
PHASE
THREE: Materials
I
know you are probably dying to get
to the final render, so I will get
through this section quickly. Only
because it is the smallest section
though. The material(s) I used for
the ring are from the 3D Studio Max
4.2 Raytrace MatLib (Material Library).
I don't know if earlier versions have
the same materials (though I'm sure
the later ones do), so if you have
an earlier version, just download
the MatLibs at the end of the tutorial.
Let's get on with it!
Fig. 13
We'll start with the material
for the box — the simplest
one, though for the ring you
won't have to do anything.
In the Material editor (you
can push the M key to get into
it), make the Diffuse Color
of one of the materials pure
white: R255.G255.B255. The Specular
color and level can stay as
they are.
FIG.
13
FIG.
14
Fig.
14
Scroll down and open the Maps
rollout. Click on the Bump map
button, and in the box that pops
up, double click the Noise map.
Fig. 15
In the noise map options,
scroll down and change the
size value to 0.25. That's
all you need to do for that.
FIG.
16
Fig.
16
Click on another material
now, so you don't lose
the one you just made.
Then click on the button
down the left hand side
to load a material from
a MatLib.
Fig. 17
In the box that popped up
(haven't we seen this before?)
click on Mtl Library in the
Browse From area, then click
the Open button. Now here's
where you find out whether
you have got the right materials
or not. Go to the 3ds max
folder (usually in Program
Files).
Now — if you can answer
No to any of the below questions,
you need to download the MatLib
from this site (the link is
below).
Is
there is "matlib"
folder in the 3ds max
folder?
In
that matlib folder, is
there a file called "RayTraced_01.mat"?
If,
by double-clicking on
that file, does a list
come up with "GlassYellow"
in it? (You may have to
click the little
button to see the names)
FIG. 15
FIG.
17
If
you answered yes to all those,
double click the name GlassYellow
and continue.
Otherwise, download the file
below.
FIG.
18
Fig. 18
If you haven't already, drag'n'drop
the white material to Box01 (or
whatever you called it) and the
yellow material to Tube01 (or
is it Ring?). What a drab picture
in the Camera viewport. Not to
worry. Now you can do a final
render (it may take a while) and
see your ring project yellow light
towards you.
Here
is the MatLib mentioned before.
It has all the 3D Studio 4.2
MatLibs in a zip file. Uncompress
it to a folder ("C:\Program
Files\3ds max\matlibs"
would be a good one), and then
load it in to the Material editor
as described above.
Some
other suggested ideas for the
ring are: GemstoneRuby (RayTraced_02.mat),
MetalGold (RayTraced_02.mat),
Ice (RayTraced_02.mat) with
a Melt modifier added :). Have
fun with all of them. Some require
pictures as textures which I
have been unable to find, so
those will not work, nameably
the wooden ones. But the RayTraced_0X
ones all work, and those, in
my opinion, are the best in
the Zip.
button to see the names)
