Project II: A Living Room

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Chapter List

Lesson 9: Modeling the Living Room
Lesson 10: Daylight Adjustment
Lesson 11: Global Lighting Material

Part Overview

In this project, we endeavor to create a model of a small and simple living room, set up the lighting, and make a short panorama clip. We did not call it "Interior design," because of the result such an enthusiastic name implies. Nevertheless, we hope that after you read these lessons, you will be able to start more complicated and realistic projects.

Despite the number of specialized architecture programs, 3ds max and its cousin Autodesk VIZ (previously known as 3D Studio VIZ) are actively used by small designer studios to model and visualize architectural projects. There are at least two factors driving the use of comprehensive packages similar to 3ds max. First, a universal package helps solve far more tasks then special packages (e.g., creation of non-standard furniture models and design elements). Second, packages such as 3ds max possess far richer options in terms of realistic images.

There are several new options implemented in 3ds max 5 that make it more suitable for architectural design and visualization. These include indirect light rendering (Radiosity and Light Tracer), new Photometric and DayLight sources of light, realistic Area Shadows, and Exposure Controls modules. These tools enable you to obtain rather convincing images.

Note 

Currently, there are three additional rendering modules for 3ds max available from third-party manufacturers. Most of them provide higher quality results in a shorter amount of time, but it is a good idea for us to begin with those in 3ds max. Besides, the tools in 3ds max work correctly with plug-ins, materials, and procedure textures of third-party manufacturers, unlike the external rendering modules that often cannot cope with all the integrated materials and textures in 3ds max. (For example, Integra InSight has problems with double-sided materials.)

We initially planned to write a small additional lesson, where the rendering and light possibilities are considered in detail, but we gradually came to the conclusion that it is more appropriate to address that as a separate project.

So, for this project, we will do the following:

  • Lesson 9: Modeling the Living Room. In this lesson, we will create a simple room and "fill" it with furniture and other objects (curtains, etc.).

  • Lesson 10: Daylight Adjustment. Here, you will learn how to use the new light sources and set up global illumination (Radiosity) and Exposure Control.

  • Lesson 11: Global Lighting Materials. To finish, we will create materials, assign them to objects and parts of objects, and "fight" the numerous artifacts that occur when used with global illumination. We will also execute the final rendering of the clip that loops around the room.

We must repeat that this project is not intended to cover every topic; some features were deliberately simplified, while other specific settings were not presented at all. For those, you will be able to use the 3ds max manuals.



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Advanced 3Ds Max 5[c] Modeling and Animating
Advanced 3Ds Max 5[c] Modeling and Animating
ISBN: 1931769168
EAN: N/A
Year: 2005
Pages: 136

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