How to make Carved Wood in 3ds Max...

Hi Guys,

I am pretty new around here because I need to get comfortable with 3ds Max. Anyhow, I am modeling a interior space from AutoCAD into 3ds Max. I tried looking for some similar tutorials and didn't find what I was looking. I haven't done anything like this before and thought the "sweep" in 3ds Max would work with the design ---which would have then been attached to the columns, in order to get a "carved looked." I then realized that it wasn't working because there's a lot of detail. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Here are the details:

- AutoCAD 2011

- 3ds Max 2011

- The files are linked.

how about applying a shell modifier set to a low value followed by the pro boolean command on the object you want carved?

Thank you, I'll give it a try!

I'm not sure I understand exactly what you're trying to do? Can you provide a little more information? And maybe a few more screenshots?

I was thinking maybe it would be better to use a displacement map rather than trying to generate all that actual physical geometry on the column, but with all that tight detail work, it would probably be difficult to create a good displacement map. I don't think there is an easy answer for this. Maybe some sculpting in ZBrush or Mudbox would be the best solution.

If I have some spare time this weekend, maybe I'll try a few things and see what I come up with.

First of all, thank you guys. I provided some additional shots (I hope they’re not too large).

Image 1: Basically, I want to create the columns to look like the carved textured panel in the picture (with detail). The panel in the picture is what appears to be a door panel of some sort; however, it's being applied to columns/ceiling.

Carved Wooden Panel: http://www.nongnit.com/teakpanels/2x2/square/wpslt417/wpslt417D.htm

Image 2 & 3: The carving is supposed to wrap around the column, to give you an idea of what it looks like in a column.

Image 3: I tried to do the “shell” modifier; however, it didn’t work because I had of the number of vertices (about a million!), which kept disappearing. I proceeded to “extrude” and it worked by capping it off.

Image 4: Then, I went into the CAD file to create sample grouping of polylines, which takes forever, but I was able to adjust various carving heights. I had to stop because I encountered a problem--- for some reason my segments, elements, etc. are black and I am unable to adjust the color. The color I have assigned shows only on the selection outline. I had to do some sample renders, in order to see the height variations. I still can’t figure out how to change that back. (I wonder if it has to do with the linked layers from CAD). I haven’t come across any topics on that subject, yet. : (

Like I said I greatly appreciate everyone’s time, there’s no rush, thanks! : )

Thank you, unfortunately the "shell" modifier didn't work because of the amount of vertices linked from CAD.

have you tried to play with bitmaps instead of modeling the carvings?

If you have the jpeg of the pattern, you could build a Diffuse, Bump/Displace map for it in photoshop. then apply it as a material instead of modelling it.

The diffuse and bump/Displace is a Vray material function but there is an equivalent in mental ray materials.

a displacement modifier with a bitmap will require what i estimate 600k+ polygons in order to be as detailed as the image shown above

a displacement modifier with a bitmap will require what i estimate 600k+ polygons in order to be as detailed as the image shown above

How did you arrive at that estimation?

Basically, I want to create the columns to look like the carved textured panel in the picture

That's a lot more detailed than I had originally thought. I would not attempt to model that level of detail in Max. Sculpting in ZBrush or Mudbox would be a good option. You could then export out a displacement map from your sculpted detail to use in Max. Or, if you have a good enough photo, you could just create a displacement map from that, and then apply it to the basic geometry that you are creating in Max.

I have never tried Mudbox, but I really like the possibilities shown in the Autodesk videos---thank you!

How did you arrive at that estimation?

well its just my educated guess due to previous experience, and well if you want details you need to make a plane with a huge amount of polygons in order to be deformed correctly. the more polygons the better the detail. you can create a plane with 50x50 lenght and width segments and apply the displacement modifier and use that bitmap and end up with a patched shaped thing that you dont know what it is, so you would need to ramp up the polygons exponentially in order to achieve the desired detailed look.

well its just my educated guess due to previous experience, and well if you want details you need to make a plane with a huge amount of polygons in order to be deformed correctly. the more polygons the better the detail. you can create a plane with 50x50 lenght and width segments and apply the displacement modifier and use that bitmap and end up with a patched shaped thing that you dont know what it is, so you would need to ramp up the polygons exponentially in order to achieve the desired detailed look.

That's true to a certain extent. You can't apply a displacement map to a plane with only 8 poly's and expect to get anything recognizable, but you also don't have to go crazy and have a super high poly model to get good displacement either. Take a look at what I did below. I created a plane which is 126' x 126' with 256 length and width segments, a total of 131,072 poly's. So it's pretty low poly, relatively speaking.

I found an image of the mayan calendar online, took it into Photoshop and cleaned it up a little bit. Then I quickly created an opacity map and a displacement map from the diffuse map and loaded everything into a material slot in the Max material editor.

I applied the material to the plane, hit render and below is what I got. Now remember, the texture I used is not the cleanest, it's just one I quickly found online. If I had a cleaner texture map I could get better looking displacement, but this is still pretty good for spending only about 20 minutes on this.

That's true to a certain extent. You can't apply a displacement map to a plane with only 8 poly's and expect to get anything recognizable, but you also don't have to go crazy and have a super high poly model to get good displacement either. Take a look at what I did below. I created a plane which is 126' x 126' with 256 length and width segments, a total of 131,072 poly's. So it's pretty low poly, relatively speaking.

 

I found an image of the mayan calendar online, took it into Photoshop and cleaned it up a little bit. Then I quickly created an opacity map and a displacement map from the diffuse map and loaded everything into a material slot in the Max material editor.

 

 

I applied the material to the plane, hit render and below is what I got. Now remember, the texture I used is not the cleanest, it's just one I quickly found online. If I had a cleaner texture map I could get better looking displacement, but this is still pretty good for spending only about 20 minutes on this.

nice model you created it looks great.

Now, just to show that you don't need super high poly models for displacement, here are two renders of the same view. The first one is the 132,000 poly plane from the previous post and the second is the same plane with the poly count ramped up to 2,000,000 poly's. Can you see any difference between the two images?

nice model you created it looks great.

Thanks, but it's all an illusion. No modeling whatsoever.

Now, just to show that you don't need super high poly models for displacement, here are two renders of the same view. The first one is the 132,000 poly plane from the previous post and the second is the same plane with the poly count ramped up to 2,000,000 poly's. Can you see any difference between the two images?

i can see that the image with 2 million polygons is somewhat smoother than the image with 132k polygons

Thanks, but it's all an illusion. No modeling whatsoever.

ah i knew that, let me rephrase that... nice Render, it looks great.

i can see that the image with 2 million polygons is somewhat smoother than the image with 132k polygons

I think you're seeing what you want to see. Either that or you've got much better eyes than I do. I don't see any difference at all.

possibly , i ran some of my test and i found the even with a lot of polygons there isnt really enough of a difference to get a higher rating but of course you should not use a low poly value. also with a larger resolution bitmap the results obtained are better.