Before attempting to create a scene it is important to understand global settings pertaining to any scene that will make modelling more efficient together with settings that pertain to individual scenes and stages in scene development. This tutorial explains Viewport Configuration options, Scene Settings and basic MAX / VIZ Configuration.
kf102_files.zip (1mb)
module_1_maps.zip (11kb)
MAX / VIZ uses viewports to:
Navigate around the project and display different parts in different viewports
Transform objects on different planes when using the viewport reference coordinate system
Display object elements in a variety of ways to aid modelling
At this stage in Key Fundamentals it is important to understand that in MAX / VIZ you have to deal with two types of rendering.
1. What you see in the viewport, or Display Rendering
2. What you produce as an output image or animation or Output Rendering
The following two sections explain how to alter certain display rendering and output rendering settings to help you model efficiently
The Viewport Menu and Viewport Configuration dialog are used for altering the display render as shown below:
To Open the Viewport Menu right click on the viewport text (eg'Perspective') to the top left of any viewport you need to configure. The following menu appears. Commonly used items are shaded in the image below:
TIP: Toggle between Wireframe and Smooth and Highlight display mode frequently when modelling. Usually only one viewport (two at most) are kept in Smooth and Highlight mode when modelling to save on system resouces
Keep the same scene open to explore the next three options
Grids are a modelling aid, often used to 'snap' vertices and even objects to when creating a scene. However, they have limited use in landscape work due to two main issues
1. A large proportion of surface boundary detail and object positioning is done in AutoCAD
2. Grids tend to complicate the view when working with many landscape surface meshes
The grid displayed in this scene is the default Home Grid and all geometry is created by default at the level of the home grid. However, grids can be created, moved and used as modelling aids
TIP: Use the Show Grid toggle as a visual aid at the start of modelling to quickly view how far a surface or object is above 0
NOTE: This is usually kept off and just used as a reference when needed so that the modelling viewing area is maximised
TIP: This can be a useful technique for cutting into the landscape to show a section view
NOTE: MAX / VIZ defaults this to Off to save on system resources. Paving materials are often better viewed in the viewport with this set to On and unfortunately this has to be set every time the scene is opened
NOTE: If another graphics driver is selected other than the Software Z-Buffer option, the texture may display correctly in the viewports
MAX / VIZ has a number of different default views to choose from. Briefly explore the different views available (apart from Camera View)
NOTE: Views are changed in other ways later in the tutorial
Before starting modelling certain environment settings in the scene need attention together with some viewport settings
For the background colour of output renderings (as oppose to the display render) and ambient light the Environment dialog is used. For display options to aid the modelling process the Viewport Configuration dialog is used. These dialogs are both used in the initial setup of a scene
The background colour of output renderings needs changing as the default colour is black and for now Exposure Control needs setting to 'no exposure control'
Keep the scene open for the next stage
Ambient light is light that is reflected from all objects in the real-world environment. For starting a scene and to add a lighter ambient tone to the scene in both the display and output renders, lighten the ambient colour as described below:
NOTE: The objects in the scene will not look brighter if default lighting is used in the viewports. The setup is changed to not use default lighting a little later in the tutorial when the ambient lighting effects can be seen in the viewports
Keep the scene open for the next exercise to determine viewport layouts
The layout of viewports are a personal preference. You can change the layout at any time in the Viewport Configuration dialog
Changing the View in the viewport
On the keyboard type T for Top, L for left, F for Front, P for Perspective, U for User
The Rendering Tab of the Viewport Configuration dialog is where you use three particular settings that aid the modelling process (Force 2-Sided, Default Lighting and Shade Selected Faces). Force 2-Sided is explained below:
NOTE: MAX / VIZ renders one sided by default to save system resources, so if the scene does not need Force 2-Sided leave these options checked off
NOTE: As well as changing this setting in the viewport and render settings, you can configure any material to display 2-Sided. This is covered in 'KV04 Lighting, Materials and Production'
NOTE: On the Viewport Configuration dialog on the Rendering Method Tab notice that you can apply any changes to all viewports under the Apply To group section
MAX / VIZ provides default lighting unless a light object is inserted into the scene. Creation of real-world lighting often happens later in the modelling process. There are options, however, to alter the default lighting in the scene
NOTE: When having inserted lighting objects later, you may find that the basic lighting effects are not shown in the viewports. This is because you have left the default lighting options on. Turn these options off when using MAX / VIZ lighting objects
The last main setting in the Viewport Configuration dialog is the option to shade selected faces. This is so you can see them whilst modelling in sub-object mode
The following scene settings need attention before starting the modelling process:
MAX / VIZ references many asset files such as images used in materials, photometric files amongst others. Part of the setup of a scene is to review where files are kept and if needed configure the file paths for these assets. You can also tell MAX / VIZ to start looking in certain folders for AutoCAD drawings and scene files etc
Configuring bitmap paths
NOTE: Whenever a warning dialog appears showing 'Missing Maps', this means that either the maps (usually bitmaps) do not exist on your system or that the external file paths need configuring on your computer. Archiving a scene makes sure that all referenced files such as bitmaps are collected with the scene in one zip file. When opening the scene on another computer it is common practice to configure paths to the bitmaps so that the scene can 'see' them
Spinners are prevalent everywhere in MAX / VIZ for quickly changing values in settings. To explore the correct way to use spinners and the extra need for adjusting spinner snap work through the following tutorial
Notice that stepping up or down incrementaly takes the value up or down in 0.5, or 1 intervals. Usually, if accuracy is needed, then the 'spinner snap' needs altering to suit
To alter Spinner Snap
Notice on the Snaps Toolbar the end button 'Spinner Snap' is depressed. When needing to use Spinner Snap for more accurate input make sure that this button is depressed (this actually checks the 'Use Snap' checkbox on the Preferences dialog)
Before modelling configure some basic render settings for carrying out simple initial renders whilst modelling
NOTE: When rendering, often a Raytracing progress dialog pops up even if these settings have been made. This is due to the use of Raytrace materials which MAX / VIZ by default has in the Material Editor. This can be stopped by making sure that the Material Editor just displays Standard Materials and no Raytraced materials (unless needed) are used in the scene. Landscape scenes can do without raytraced materials unless needed for particular effects. There is a 'trade off' between the use of these materials and the annoyance of messages and rendering time. Ref: 'KV04 Lighting, Materials and Production' for more information regarding Render Presets and changing the types of materials in the Material Editor. At this stage in Key Fundamentals the above settings will do fine
Press the Quick Render icon to implement output renders with the current settings and without having to open the Render Scene dialog
In order to make modelling more productive and the viewport display easier on the eye, a few elements of the interface need configuring. You can even save your own interface in a CUI file
NOTE: The changes described in this section apply to all new and saved scenes
It is important to make the background colour of the viewports as comfortable to the eye as possible. Unlike AutoCAD 2D work, the 3D environment requires visual depth and most modellers choose a mid grey background colour. Make it a habit to change the tone of the viewport background to suit the task at hand
NOTE: MAX / VIZ is extremely customisable. Explore this dialog to see just what can be changed. Most users, however leave the interface as default apart from the viewport background colour
A toolbar are a handy place to store your favourite commands. These are configured again in the Customise User Interface dialog
When the toolbar has been created elect to show or hide the toolbar by selecting it in the dropdown list and checking or unchecking the Hide checkbox
Change the number of undos available thus
This is usually defaulted to a low number to save system memory
NOTE: Modern computers can cope with many more undos than the default 20
Elect to show or not to show buttons by selecting Show Buttons
MAX / VIZ allows you to save your own interface in a CUI (Customer User Interface) file. This file has a .cui extension and you can load your own customised interface on any computer running the MAX / VIZ
TIP: Keep a copy of your CUI File on disk - handy for using MAX / VIZ on other computers
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