Sculpting 3D Models. Glossary

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1 A Array An array clones copies of an object in a pattern, such as in rows and columns, or in a circle. Each object in an array can be transformed individually. Array Flyout Array flyout is available in the Extras toolbar. This toolbar comes with a variety of tools for creating arrays of objects. Alpha Channel This is an 8-bit channel in an image that stores transparency information. A 32-bit image consists of four 8-bit channels of Red, Green, Blue, and Alpha. RGB Channel store color information. B Bevel Modifiers It helps to create beveled edges at the front and back of a shape. It increases the density of mesh by adding new faces and good visual effects to the object. BlobMesh The BlobMesh Compound Object is used to create thick liquids and soft substances that move and flow when animated. This object creates a set of spheres from geometry or particles, and connects the spheres as if they are made of a soft liquid substance. Bounding Box Mode This style depicts the edges of each object s Bounding box. Box Modeling Box Modeling is a popular technique, similar to traditional sculpting. It is used to create basic shape of the model. Bezier Curve A Bezier curve is made up of two or more vertices. Each vertex has two tangent handles to control the smoothness of the curve. C ChamferCyl Primitive This is used to create a cylinder with beveled or rounded cap edges. Cloning Cloning creates copies, instances, or reference system of a selected object or a set of objects. 3ds max has a cloning system that is called reference system. Aptech Ltd Version 1.0 Page 1 of 7

2 Conform This compound object is used to restrict or mold an object to the surface of another object. One object is called as the Wrapper object. Command Panels Command panels are present on the left side of the screen. Commands outside the main toolbar are accessed from this panel. Compound Objects Compound objects typically combine two or more existing objects into a single object. It is possible to create new shapes and structures using various compound objects. Curves Approximation In order to generate and display NURBS Curves, they must be approximated by line segments. Curve Approximation controls are displayed in the Creation parameters for Curve objects. Control Vertex (CV) Control vertex is used to control the shape of a curve or surface enclosed by a 3D grid. CV Surface It is a NURBS surface made up of CVs that control the curvature of the surface. Control Lattice The CVs consist of control lattice that specify a CV curve or CV surface. They appear as a yellow dotted wireframe above the geometry while editing the curve or surface at the CV sub-object level. You can keep the display on in the viewport at all times. D Dummy Object A Dummy object is a non-renderable wireframe box used as a helper object for complex 3d model. It makes the workflow easier as it consumes less memory in viewport. E Edge Distance This option, when enabled, limits the Soft Selection region to the specified number of edges between the selected region and the maximum extent of the Soft Selection. Edge-distance space measures the affected region in terms of surface, rather than real space. This option is useful to select only contiguous sections of geometry. Edged Faces This mode is active only when current viewport is in the shaded mode. Element Element is the last sub-object level in the stack. It is generally the selection of the entire object as one mesh selection. Aptech Ltd Version 1.0 Page 2 of 7

3 F Flex Flex is a spring based secondary motion system applied to the objects. Secondary motion is developed in objects that move quickly and stop or change directions suddenly. Flex can also be used in character animation. FPS FPS stands for Frame per Second. It is a universal method that determines the speed of the video and can be used for a playback of a video. Free Form Deformation Modifiers These modifiers are used to create grid of control points around the objects. These control points help in distorting the enclosed geometry. G Grid Object It is possible to create grid objects on any axes plane in 3d space. Grid objects are used as a reference grid for constructing an object on that particular axes plane. H Hair and Fur Modifiers These modifiers are available in Cache tools and are used to create hair for objects. Handle Handle is used to simplify tangent editing. It enables selection of vector handles associated with each vertex and also allows manipulation of handles without having to deal with vertices. Hidden Line Mode This style hides faces and vertices whose normals point away from the viewpoint, as well as any parts of objects that are obscured by closer objects. Hierarchical SubDivision Surfaces (HSDS) This modifier acts as a finishing tool. It adds details to the model, thereby refining it accumulatively Home Grid The three planes, X, Y, and Z co-ordinates in 3d space are called the home grid. This is the default reference grid for constructing and positioning of the object. Aptech Ltd Version 1.0 Page 3 of 7

4 L Layers 3ds max has a layer management system similar to the AutoCAD. Layers help to manage a complex scene with many objects that obscure each other and make it difficult to work on. Loft Lofting is another method for generating special types of models. Lofting uses a series of primarily 2D cross section splines, aligned in a certain way, to generate a surface skin for the model. M Melt This modifier simulates melting of an object by sagging and spreading edges over time. Mesh Smooth This modifier smooth geometry in the scene by adding faces at corners and along the edges. Mirror an Object The Mirror dialog box is used to mirror an object horizontally, vertically, or along both axes. It also helps to mirror the current selection about the center of the current coordinate system. Modifier Modifiers are very helpful in changing the basic shapes of meshes. They are widely used while working with any of the models. Morph A Morph object combines two or more objects by interpolating the vertices of the first object to match the vertex positions of another object. Morpher Morpher is used to blend the shape of similar or cloned mesh objects. It refers to a specific method, called Target. Morphing, in which various versions of simple models are interpolated in the course of an animation. N NURBS Modeling Tools NURBS tools are used in modeling smooth 3D surfaces. They help in representing geometrical shapes in a compact form. NURBS Tool Palette This is one of the handiest toolbox in 3ds max. This toolbox is used to attach NURBS Surfaces with curves, or to create a loft object out of a curve, or create a blend between two surfaces. NURMS NURMS is a type of sub-division method for a MeshSmooth modifier and is used to weigh each control point. ANURMS object is similar to a NURBS object as it enables setting different weights for each control vertex. Aptech Ltd Version 1.0 Page 4 of 7

5 O Object Space Modifiers These modifiers are applied to individual objects and use the object s Local Coordinate System. Therefore, the modifier values or shapes change as the object moves. Origin This is the starting point of the 3d axes in 3d space. At origin, the value of each axis is set to zero. P Player Modeling It includes creating different characters such as humans, aliens, robots, and animals. The player models are skinned and animated. Polygon Count Polygon Count is the number of Polygons in an object or scene. The Polygon Count is not readily apparent in 3dsmax. Check the Polygon Count by selecting More. ProCutter ProCutter applies specialized Boolean operations which work primarily for breaking apart or subdividing volumes of the selected object. Prompt Line Prompt line displays the specified string for the specified number of milliseconds. Q Quad Menu Quad Menu is displayed by right-clicking the active viewport. At the upper-left corner of the menu, a square is present. This square is divided into two or four smaller squares. A different menu is present for each small square. These four, smaller squares are called as quad while the four-part menu is known as Quad Menu. R Railing The Railing tool from the Object Type rollout is used to create a railing. Realistic This style by default is similar to the output of hardware rendering. Ripple This modifier creates a constant rippling effect on an object s geometry. Aptech Ltd Version 1.0 Page 5 of 7

6 S Scanline The Scanline Render is a default renderer of 3dsmax that uses a series of horizontal lines for rendering scenes. Spline Modeling The Railing tool from the Object Type rollout is used to create a railing. Snapping Snapping is used to control the placement of objects while creating or transforming them. When the snap feature is enabled, the target object automatically moves to the specified position once it is placed close to an existing geometry. Static Mesh Modeling This is one of the easiest types of modeling. Mesh modeling involves working with mappers because static meshes are used for doing detailed work in maps. Subdivision Surface This surface subdivides the faces to make it a smooth surface while retaining the general shape of the objects. This surface is used to bring out the details of an object. Surface Approximation The Surface Approximation rollout controls the approximation of surface sub-object in the NURBS model for rendering and viewport display. Script A script is a programming language. It comes with a text file that has coded instructions to automate a task. Segment Segment is a line between two vertices or control points in a spline or a NURBS point curve. Space Warps Space warps are objects that deform 3d space in ripples, waves, wind, or explosions. These warps deform objects connected to them. Space warps cannot be rendered. Moreover, there are separate space warps for geometry and particle systems. T Taper This modifier produces a tapered contour of an object s geometry by scaling up one end while scaling down the other end. Terrain Terrain is an amazingly useful and easy-to-use compound object that uses only splines to generate very realistic terrain. Tessellate This is used to add geometry to either a selection of faces or to the whole object. Aptech Ltd Version 1.0 Page 6 of 7

7 Time Controls Time controls are present to the left of the viewport navigation controls. These controls are also called as animation controls. Transform Gizmo The Transform Gizmo appears at the center of the selected object on clicking any one of the Transform buttons. The transformation mode controls the gizmo type that appears on the selected object. Three gizmos are available for each action. Transform Managers The three transform manager tools are Reference Co-ordinate System, Transform Center Fly-Out, and Axis Constraint. These tools are used to modify the actions of the transform tools. Transform Type-In The Transform Type-in dialog box is used to define the values for moving, rotating, and scaling objects. This option gives an accurate control over the transformation of objects. Twist This modifier produces a twirling effect in an object s geometry. With the help of this modifier, the twist angle on any axis of the geometry selected can be controlled. It also sets a bias that affects the pivot point which compresses the twist effect relatively. Track View Track View is a non-linear editor for animation keys. It allows you to edit, copy, and paste more than one keys at a time. Using this view it is also possible to assign animation controllers to all the keys and parameters for objects in the scene. Track views have two different modes namely curve editor mode and dope sheet mode. V Vertex A vertex is a single point positioned in 3D space. The vertex sub-object displays blue dots at every intersection. Viewport A viewport allows you to view an object in the scene. Using the viewport it is possible to display different views of a model in both orthographic and perspective camera. W Weapon Modeling It includes creating all the weapons that form a part of the game. World-Space Modifiers These modifiers are based on the world-space coordinate system, which is the universal coordinate system used to track objects in a scene. Aptech Ltd Version 1.0 Page 7 of 7

Images from 3D Creative Magazine. 3D Modelling Systems

Images from 3D Creative Magazine 3D Modelling Systems Contents Reference & Accuracy 3D Primitives Transforms Move (Translate) Rotate Scale Mirror Align 3D Booleans Deforms Bend Taper Skew Twist Squash