first attemp on 3Dsmax (apple)

Creating the apple was my first attempt using 3Dsmax.

I found this a very steep learning curve as the programme is like nothing I have used before. Some of the tools found in Max are similar to ones used in other programmes which was fortunate, but 99% of them were completely new to me.

How I created my apple:

I started by simply creating a sphere and colored it apple red. This was done by selecting the 'sphere' tool and dragging the pointer until the desired size was reached.

The next stage is to make the basic shape of the sphere into a shape that has lots of points that you can drag and move to change the shape of the sphere. This is called an 'edible polygon'. Once this has been achieved, the sphere is covered in small points that you can manually manipulate to change the shape of the basic sphere. I spent quite a long time editing the basic shape into the shape of an apple and applying small bumps / deficiences and indenting the top and bottom of the sphere so it looked natural and not prosthetic.

Once the above was achieved, I set about maing the stalk of the apple. This was achieved by creating a simple tube shape, and, once again, using the same steps as above to create a natural look. Lots of bumps and no straight lines or uniformality. I applied a brown color to the stalk using the standard color from the color pallette.

Next was to apply a life-like texture to the apple that would make it look multicolored, not a single color. To do this, I used the keyboard shortcut (simply by pressing 'M') to bring up the materials window. From here, I chose the 'smoke' texture and applied relevant shades of green and red to replace the default black and grey. I changed the intensity and individual settings of the smoke 'effect' to match the textures found on apples. I then applied this.

Overall, I found the creation of the apple very hard, simply because the programme is completely new to me and this was my first time creating an object in 3Dsmax. However, I have already learnt a lot within a few hours and have hopefully gained the basics needed to progress further and take on new and slightly bigger / more complicated tasks.

Week 1 ( 31 / 01 / 08 )

This week was the first week back after Christmas.



Jo has explained to us that we will be attempting to create an animation that 'shows a feature of the british seaside that is evocative of Britain'.



I understand that this means a feature that people think of when they think of the traditional british seaside i.e Beach huts, piers, arcades, ice cream, fish and chips etc.



To create this animation, we will be using 3Dsmax. A very advanced 3d modelling and animation package that has almost unlimited scope for the creation and animation of any object.



However, this is the first time that I have used 3Dsmax so I imagine the learning curve will probably be quite steep. Many of the other students have already used the package to create 3d models so they are familiar with the basic functions and tools of the programme. This isn't to say that I am not looking forward to learning how 3Dsmax works and gaining valuble knowledge and experience in the 3D design and animation field.