Autodesk Cert Prep

DG7160 - 3DS Max Certification Prep - Part 1
Steven Schain
Tod Stephens
DG7160
Benchmark yourself with Autodesk 3ds Max Certification. Certification Prep takes you
through a review of the certification process. Experience questions similar to those in the exam, and learn
about the materials available to help you be successful in obtaining 3ds Max Certification. This is part 1 of
a 2-part series.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this class, you will be able to:
Practice questions similar to those in the exam
Review the certification preparation roadmap
Map learning objectives to study materials
Use our tips and tricks to prepare for the exam
About the Speaker

Steven is a graduate of the R.I.T. film/animation program and recently, the AB Tech Entrepreneurship
program. He started Spectralight Images in 1989 delivering 3D software training and computer animation.
He moved to Orlando, Florida from New York in 1990 to pursue a future in the computer graphics field. In
1995, he was vice president of Computer Animators Plus, and began teaching 3D animation at several
local schools including Seminole Community College. His love of art brought him to open Gallery 611 in
1997, and helped to form the Orlando Visual Artists League (OVAL) in 2000, serving as president until
2004. Steven became a Kinetix/Discreet/Autodesk training specialist in 1998, and has contributed to
the development of Autodesk certified training material for nine releases of 3ds Max, the Autodesk
Certified Instructor Program, and the Autodesk 3ds Max fundamental standards (MEIS) Documents. In
2007, he took Spectralight Images, LLC full-time, sharing with others his love of teaching and computer
graphics.
steve@sli-3d.com
3DS Max Certification Prep
Contents
Learning Objectives....................................................................................................................................... 1
About the Speaker ........................................................................................................................................ 1
Animation...................................................................................................................................................... 4
Differentiate Dope Sheet from the Curve Editor ...................................................................................... 4
Create a path animation and evaluate an object along the path ............................................................. 5
Analyze the animation of an object using the Curve Editor ..................................................................... 5
Explain how to edit tangents with the Curve Editor ................................................................................. 6
Change interpolation methods ................................................................................................................. 6
Identify Controller types ........................................................................................................................... 7
Identify playback settings ......................................................................................................................... 8
Identify the constraints used for an animation ........................................................................................ 9
Locate the value of keys in the Time Slider ............................................................................................ 10
Cameras ...................................................................................................................................................... 11
Differentiate camera types ..................................................................................................................... 11
Compositing using Autodesk Composite .................................................................................................... 15
Compositing multiple layers together .................................................................................................... 15
Remapping the color output for an image............................................................................................. 17
Data Management/Interoperability ........................................................................................................... 18
Create layer renders and import into Composite ................................................................................... 18
Differentiate common file types and usages .......................................................................................... 20
Use the import feature to import model data ........................................................................................ 21
Dynamics/Simulation .................................................................................................................................. 22
Flex Modifier ........................................................................................................................................... 22
Cloth Modifier ......................................................................................................................................... 22
Effects ..................................................................................................................................................... 24
Atmosphere effects................................................................................................................................. 24
Space Warps............................................................................................................................................ 24
Particle systems ...................................................................................................................................... 26

Lighting ........................................................................................................................................................ 27
Differentiate light functions in a scene ................................................................................................... 27
Lighting Settings ...................................................................................................................................... 27
Use the Daylight System ......................................................................................................................... 29
Light Lister ............................................................................................................................................... 30
Materials/Shading ....................................................................................................................................... 30
Use the Material Editor ........................................................................................................................... 30
Animation
Differentiate Dope Sheet from the Curve Editor
You have two Graph Editors in 3ds max, the Track View - Curve Editor and the Track View - Dope Sheet.
These editors allow you to fine-tune the animation of objects using curves and key information.
Curve Editor is a Track View mode that allows you to work with motion expressed as function curves on
a graph. You can see how an objects motion transforms between keyframes. You are able to view and
modify the motion and animation of the objects in the scene using tangent handles on the curves. The
Curve Editor interface consists of a menu bar, a toolbar, a Controller window, and a Key window. There
is also a time ruler, and navigation and status tools at the bottom of the interface.
An alternative Track View mode is the Dope Sheet, which lets you work directly with keys instead of
curves (as the Curve Editor does). The Dope Sheet editor uses tracks to display animation keys over
time. The graph is horizontal and allows you to adjust animation timing. The Dope Sheet is very useful
because you can see all the animation keys at once.
In the Dope Sheet, you can work directly with the keys, rather than with the objects in the viewport.
The Dope Sheet provides tools that allow you to select, cut, copy, paste, and insert and reverse time
using the tools on the Time menu.
Like the Curve Editor, the Dope Sheet has both a menu bar and toolbars to provide you quick access to
tools.
Create a path animation and evaluate an object along the path

A path animation is created by constraining an object to follow a spline. A spline for the path can be
drawn to create a walkthrough animation through a building, or the trajectory of a plane or vehicle.
Once the spline is drawn and the object created, you can apply the Path Constraint, which is an
animation controller. This is accomplished by selecting the object, selecting Animation > Constraints >
Path Constraint, then attaching the constraint (which displays as a dashed line) by selecting the spline.
You can also add keyframes as needed to modify the objects position, rotation or scale.
The path animation can be viewed in the Track View Curve Editor or controlled through the Motion
panel.
Analyze the animation of an object using the Curve Editor

The Curve Editor displays object animation as function curves, displaying the animation controllers'
changes of value over time. To open the Curve Editor, you select an animated object, right-click in the
viewport and choose Curve Editor from the menu.
The function curves for the object's animation are displayed in the Key window of the Function Curve
Editor. Highlighting a controller on the left side of the Editor displays keys for that controller as vertices
on the function curve. You can then highlight keys and change their values. You can also add keys to
function curves. When you add a key to a function curve, a controller is created for that track.
Explain how to edit tangents with the Curve Editor

By default, all key tangents are set to Auto and Show Tangents is on. The tangents are drawn as blue
dashed handles that display when keys are highlighted. If the Move tool is active, you can adjust the
shape of a function curve near the key by dragging the handle endpoints.
When you move the handle of an Auto tangent, the tangent type is automatically changed to Spline,
(the handle color changes to black). You can change the tangent type for all highlighted keys at any time
with the controls on the Key Tangents toolbar.
Tangent handles can be either continuous (unified) or discontinuous (broken).
When you move a Continuous handle, it moves as a single lever with its pivot at the key location on the
curve. Moving either end of a handle also moves the opposite end. To make a key's handles continuous,
click on the key and click Unify Tangents on the Tangent Actions toolbar.
When you move a Discontinuous handle, each end moves independently of the other. To make a key's
handles discontinuous, click on the key and click Break Tangents on the Tangent Actions toolbar, or hold
down the Shift key when you move a handle. By holding down the Shift key, you can edit the tangents
handles separately.
Change interpolation methods

In the Curve Editor, you can adjust the interpolation between keyframes to create particular animation
motion effects. By changing tangent types, you can make an object speed up, slow down, or stand still.
Each key has two tangents: one to define the interpolation before the key, and a second to define
interpolation following the key.
There are many types of tangents to choose from in the Curve Editor. You can create a Smooth
interpolation through a key, or a more Linear interpolation. The Step interpolation acts as a sharp
change between two values. The value of one key abruptly jumps to the value of the next key. Use this
tangent when you want to animate something by switching it On/Off.
Tangents are set as an In tangent (the left curve of a key) or an Out tanget (the right curve of the key).
The Slow In tangent decelerates as it approaches the key. A Slow Out tangent begins slow and
accelerates as it leaves the key. There is also a Fast In and Out tangent that works the opposite way,
speeding up as it approaches a key, and beginning fast and decelerating as it leaves a key.
Identify Controller types

Controllers, like Animation Constraints, control the animation tasks in a scene. They store animation key
values and they interpolate between animation key values.
Once an object is animated, it receives a controller. As soon as you modify a parameter with Auto Key
on or insert a key, 3ds Max assigns a controller to the parameter. 3ds Max chooses a default type for the
controller, depending on the animation. You can change the default controller to another type in the
Motion Panel or in Track View.
A controller handles the storage and interpolation of all animated values. The default controllers are:
Position: Position XYZ, Rotation: Euler XYZ and Scale: Bezier Scale.
3ds Max has a many different types of controllers, but the Bezier controller is very useful in animation.
Bezier controllers are used whenever you want fully adjustable interpolation between keys. Bezier is the
only controller that supports the ability to drag tangent handles, contains Step tangents for abrupt
changes from one key to the next and has constant velocity controls
Bezier controllers interpolate between keyframes in a smooth curve. You can adjust the key
interpolation on the track bar or in Track View. This is how you can control acceleration, hesitation and
other types of motion.
For fast access to Key information or controller parameters, double-click on a controller track name on
the Motion panel or in the Track View window.
Identify playback settings

The frame rate of an animation is expressed in frames per second (FPS). This is the number of frames
3ds Max displays and renders for every second of real time. You can change the frame rate for your
animation at any time without affecting your animation timing.
For example, if you create two seconds of animation using the NTSC video frame rate of 30 FPS, you will
have a 60-frame animation. If you also need to output to PAL video (which is 25 frames per second), you
can switch to that frame rate, and your animation is now set to 50 frames of output. There is no change
in the timing of your animation, only the number of frames that 3ds Max will display and render has
changed.
The frame rate and playback settings can be modified in the Time Configuration dialog.
You can choose from four frame rates. NTSC, the U.S. and Japanese video standard, is 30 frames per
second. PAL, the European video standard, is 25 frames per second. Film, the movie standard, is 24
frames per second. You can also set the frame rate to Custom and set your own.
Under Playback, the Real Time setting plays the animation at the selected playback speed, skipping
frames, if necessary, to maintain the correct speed. If Real Time is turned off, the animation will play
every frame without trying to maintain the correct speed. Also when Real Time is off, you have the
option to change the direction of the animation playback to Forward, Reverse or Ping-pong (start to end,
then end to start).
Active Viewport Only can be turned off and the animation will play in all four viewports at once.
The Speed can be changed by multiplying the frame rate by 1/4x, 1/2x 1x, 2x or 4x.
Loop can be turned off and the animation will play once and stop.
Identify the constraints used for an animation

Animation constraints are special types of controllers that automate the animation process. Constraints can be
used to control position, rotation, or scale of an object through a binding relationship with another object. For
example, you can use a Path constraint to bind a camera to a spline to create an architectural walkthrough
animation. A target object (the spline in this example) imposes specific animation limits on the constrained object
(the camera). Even though the animation limits are in place, you still have the ability to use keyframe animation to
influence the constraints binding relationship with the target object over a period of time.
There are many useful animation constraints in 3ds max. The Attachment constraint is a position constraint that
attaches an object's position to a face on another object. A Link constraint is used to animate an object linking
from one target object to another. The LookAt constraint controls an objects orientation so that its always looking
at another object. An Orientation constraint causes an objects orientation to follow the orientation of another
object. A Path constraint restricts an object's movement along a spline. A Position constraint causes an object to
follow the position of another object. The Surface constraint restricts an object to the surface of another object. To
identify the type of animation constraint on an object, you can select the object and open the Motion panel. You
will see the type of animation constraint listed under Assign Controller.
Locate the value of keys in the Time Slider

To locate the value of keys in the Time Slider, as well as the key tangent type, you can Select an object and right
click over the keyframe you are interested in.
The right-click menu will show each available keyframe value for the object. When you select the value you would
like to see, the Key Info (Basic) rollout will open. You can use the arrows in the upper-left corner of the dialog to
select another key, or choose a tangent type for the selected key from the In or Out tangent flyouts.
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Cameras
Differentiate camera types
Target and Free cameras
There are two types of camera in 3DS Max, the Target camera and the Free camera.
A Target camera is attached to a target, so it views the area around the target object. When you click
and drag in a viewport and create a Target camera, you will create a two-part icon. The first icon
represents the camera and the second icon produced is the cameras target (displayed as a white box).
The camera and the camera target can be animated independently.
A Free camera is a free-standing object that views the area in the direction that you have aimed the
camera. When you click in a viewport and create a free camera, you see a single icon. This icon
represents both the camera and its field of view (FOV). Once the camera is located in your scene, the
icon for the camera will look the same as a Target camera, but the Free camera does not contain a
separate target. Free cameras are useful when you need to animate a camera along a path.
The image below shows both types of cameras in a typical scene.
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Edit FOV (Field of View)

A cameras Field-of-View (FOV) is a camera parameter that allows you to adjust how much of a scene is visible in a
viewport and the amount of perspective shown. The FOV setting can be found in the General parameters of both
Target and Free cameras. The effect of changing FOV is similar to changing the lens on a real-world camera and is
also similar to using a Zoom command. The difference between a Zoom command and changing a cameras FOV is
that the FOV setting actually changes the amount of perspective.
If you were using a wide angle lens in a real-world camera, you would see more of your scene. In 3DS Max, as the
camera FOV setting gets larger, the angle of the camera gets wider. Too wide of an angle will cause the perspective
to become distorted.
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If you were using a telephoto lens in a real-world camera, you would see less of your scene (you would be zooming
in) and the perspective flattens. In 3DS Max, the camera FOV setting gets smaller to simulate a telephoto lens.
In a Perspective viewport, Field-of-View defines the width of your view as an angle with its apex at your viewpoint
and the ends at the sides of the view.
In a Camera viewport, Field-of-View controls the width of the area a camera views, and represents the arc of the
camera's horizon in degrees
The images below show the effect of changing a cameras FOV setting.
Near and Far Clip Planes

The Clipping planes of a camera allow you to exclude some of the scenes geometry based on its
distance from the camera. It allows you to view only certain portions of a scene. Each camera (either
Target or Free) has a near and a far clipping plane. Objects in your scene that are closer than the near
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clipping plane do not show in the camera view. Objects farther away than the far clipping plane also do
not show in the camera view. The location of each clipping plane is measured along the camera's line of
sight (its local Z axis) in the current units for the scene.
Clipping planes are useful when you want to render only a selected portion of a scene that contains a
large amount of complex geometry. You can also generate cutaway views of a scene.
Clipping planes are part of a cameras general parameters, and Clip Manually can be checked so you can
visually see the location of the Near and Far Clip range in the viewports.
The images below show the effect of changing the Far Clip value.
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Compositing using Autodesk Composite

Compositing multiple layers together
When youre rendering a scene using render passes (Render Elements), you will need a compositing
application to composite the multiple layers together to create a final image.
Using Autodesk Composite, you can composite multiple layers of images using the Blend & Comp tool.
One example of compositing layers together would be a project that had an animated logo that was
rendered as an image sequence that needs to be composited over a background image.
The first thing you need to do is import the image sequence. From the file menu in Composite, choose the
import option and navigate to the image sequence that you rendered out of 3ds Max. You simply highlight
the files and then click the import button on the lower right side. Then, use the same procedure to import
the background image.
Now we need to add the Blend & Comp tool to the Schematic view. Right-click on the Schematic View
and select Add from Pick List > Compositing > Blend & Comp.
Now, we need to connect all the nodes. Left-click and drag from the output of the image sequence (the
right side) and drag and connect to the topmost input node (called Front) of Blend & Comp (the left side).
Notice there are four input nodes on Blend & Comp: Front, Back, Matte, and Masking. We want the
animated sequence in front and the background image in the back. Left-click and drag from the output of
the background image and drag and connect to the Back input node (the second from the top) of the
Blend & Comp tool. That now connects the two footage nodes to our blend and comp node, and uses the
Alpha channel of the render sequence as a transparency channel.
Now we still dont see anything in the composition output window.
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Thats because our blend and comp node is not connected to the output. Left-click and drag from the
output of Blend & Comp and drag to the input node of Output.
Now you can see the final composition in the composition output window. If you drag the timeline youll
see the animation play in the composition output window.
To neatly organize the schematic view and make it a lot easier to work with, right click in the schematic
view, and select Layout All from the right click menu.
Now you will want to output this to a final sequence that can be converted to an AVI or MOV file. To do
this, you need to render the sequence out of Composite.
First you need to set your render preferences. Click on the output node, click on the render tab, and in the
format options click and hold the left mouse button and select PNG from the format options. Youll notice
there are quite a few options that you can choose from, however, no AVI or QuickTime file format.
Thats because Composite is really designed around a sequence based production pipeline and relies on
other tools to convert sequences to animation files.
From the file menu, click render and verify your range of frames, file format, frames per second, pixel
aspect and click the start button. This will render your sequence down to the hard drive.
To convert this file sequence to an AVI file, you can use 3ds Max to view the image sequence with the
RAM player then save it to an AVI file.
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Remapping the color output for an image

You can use the Remap Color tool in Autodesk Composite to remap an image's color output using either
the interactive histogram display or the color curve tools.
First, import an image file into Composite (File > Import). To remap the color output of the image, rightclick on the Schematic View and select Add from Pick List > Color Management > Remap Color.
The Remap Color tool shows in the schematic view. Left-click and drag from the output of the image (the
right side) and drag and connect to the input node of Remap Color (the left side). Then, left-click and
drag from the output of Remap Color (the right side) and drag and connect to the input node of Output
(the left side).
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Now, select the Remap Color tool and look at the settings at the bottom of the screen. You can control
the color settings of the input image in the Histogram/Curve viewer. Controls on the left side of the
histogram/curve viewer let you control how you want to view the histogram. You can view the source or
result histogram, or a combination of the two at the current time.
Controls on the right side of the Histogram/Curve viewer let you control how you want to view the color
curve. You can view and set values for the red, green, or blue histogram channels individually or have the
curve represent all three channels (RGB). Three curves can be displayed in the histogram/curve viewer:
the basic curve, adjusted curve, and final curve. The basic curve shows as a dashed line shows the mode
you selected. The adjusted curve (displayed as a white line) can be directly manipulated and shows you
any changes you made to the curve itself. The final curve (displayed as a heavy white line) is a
combination of the basic and adjusted curves. By default, the final curve is always displayed, but you can
view the basic and adjusted curves individually by selecting the controls on the right side of the viewer.
Once you have remapped the color, you can then select Output, right-click and Render, set your render
settings and format, and render and save the new image file.
Data Management/Interoperability
Create layer renders and import into Composite
Compositing is a time saving rendering technique. Compositing allows you to create your 3D production
using layers of visual information. These layers can then be superimposed over each other to build up a
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final completed image. Or they can be used to overlay elements on top of a finished production, such as
titles and call outs.
Compositing can help us simplify the overall production process. Lets say we have a scene that has lots
of complex objects in it, lots of complex lighting, and then text thats going to have the companys name
and logo flies into the scene at the end of the scene. If we created the animation all as one scene, the
overall rendering time could be fairly long and if we had to edit any particular aspect of the animation it
would be a fairly difficult task.
The Autodesk Composite software package that is integrated into 3ds Max can accomplish this kind of
compositing. Autodesk Composite is a powerful yet easy to use compositing application that provides the
tools youll need to composite the images and animations that you render from 3ds Max. When you look
at most feature films that are created today, nearly all of them use some sort of compositing. Especially
when youre talking about special effects heavy movies, you may be talking about 40, 50, even 100 or
more layers for one shot.
When youre rendering a scene that you know is going to be composited using a program like Autodesk
Composite, render using render passes (Render Elements). Render Elements allow you to separate
image elements and can provide an efficient way of creating a final image.
If youve never used render passes, you may be wondering what they are, and how they can be used.
3ds Max contains several pass types that have a wide variety of uses in both the direct visual composition
of the scene, and non visual components that can be used by the composite program.
For example, the diffuse pass renders out only the colors visible on the surface of objects in the scene.
This can be rendered with or without shading depending on your requirements. This image is a diffuse
pass with no shading incorporated into it.
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Another pass is the specular pass. The specular pass displays and only the specular component of the
surface textures of objects in the scene.
The lighting pass can be used to capture both direct light and indirect light, as well as shadows.
However, you can render three separate lighting passes capturing direct light, indirect light and shadows
separately.
Other passes can include passes in that create masks for objects, show object IDs or material IDs, as
well as passes that can be used to simulate motion blur and depth of field.
In general using render passes allows for a very flexible compositing pipeline.
Separating out the elements of an image allows you to make changes to separate parts of the image. For
example if you have a reflection pass, and you notice in your final rendering that the reflection is too
pronounced, you can edit the reflection pass separately and reduce the amount of reflection. You can
even go as far as masking the reflection in specific areas.
Editing individual passes not only gives you more flexible compositing, but it can provide you a way of
creating a finished image that looks completely different than the original complete rendering.
In the end, rendering passes allows you to reduce the need to re-render complex scenes, providing a
more efficient production workflow and allowing for the development of rich cinematic images.
Autodesk Composite is a node based compositing program that allows you to import footage and use that
footage for image compositing. The footage can come from 3ds Max or it can come from a variety of
other sources.
The power of this software it is that allows you to use both standard files, such as PNG image sequences,
or you can use more advance files, like the multi channel OpenEXR image format, with high dynamic
range capabilities.
Using Composite, the first thing you need to do is import the footage. From the file menu in Composite,
you choose the import option and navigate to the image sequence that you rendered out of 3ds Max. You
simply highlight the files and then click the import button on the lower right side.
Its very important that you only click the import button once, which will import these sequences into the
schematic view using what is called a footage node. Then other files can be imported and composited
using the tools available in Composite.
Differentiate common file types and usages

The Import and Export commands in 3ds Max let you share both 2D and 3D geometry with other 3D
modeling programs. 3ds Max can import and export an enormous variety of file formats.
Importing of 3D model data can be accomplished with industry standard formats such as 3D Studio
mesh files (3DS, PRJ) from the DOS-based predecessor to 3ds Max, text-based (ASCII) Wavefront format
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OBJ files, AutoCAD DWG files, DXF CAD files, Google Sketchup (SKP) files, SAT solids, native Autodesk
Inventor file formats for parts (IPT) and assemblies (IAM), FBX files, and XML and DEM files from civil
engineering projects. 3ds max objects can also be exported to Shockwave 3D format and 3D DWF. 2D
geometry can be imported from native Adobe Illustrator files as well as AutoCAD DWG linework.
For post-production and compositing, 3ds Max supports RPF (Rich Pixel Format) output, which can be
used with the Autodesk Combustion software application. While setting up a file for output, you can
select RPF Image File from the list and specify what image channels you want to write out to the file. RPF
files are a good choice for rendering animations requiring further post-production or effects work.
Another format supported by 3ds Max is IFL (Image File List). An IFL file is an ASCII file that constructs an
animation by listing single-frame bitmap files that can be used for each rendered frame. When you
assign an IFL file as a bitmap, the rendering process steps through each specified frame, resulting in an
animated map.
Use the import feature to import model data

For the Architectural industry, the native DWG file format of all the AutoCAD products can be directly
imported into 3ds Max. If an external link to the DWG file is required, the File Link Manager should be
used to link to the file. This link allows the model geometry to be updated in 3ds Max as the AutoCAD
drawing is changed throughout the design process (similar to an XREF in AutoCAD). When you use the
Import command, the DWG file will bind immediately, and does not allow the DWG file to be updated.
The Import command is used when the model geometry from the AutoCAD file is complete and all
future changes to the geometry will be made in 3ds max. If you are using Autodesk Revit, the native RVT
file format is not supported by 3ds Max. You must be in a 3D or Camera View in Revit and export the
model geometry in the DWG file format.
Google Sketchup (SKP) files can be also be directly imported into 3ds max and maintain the
material/textures and lighting applied in Sketchup.
FBX files are another format used in the Architectural industry that can be imported directly into 3ds
Max with the Import command. Autodesk MotionBuilder, Maya, Softimage, and Composite (previously
known as Toxik) can also use the FBX format, making it a bridge among all these applications. One
advantage of exporting from Revit as an FBX file is that all the materials, lighting and one camera are
exported along with the model geometry. All the Revit lighting and materials are then available for
modification in 3ds Max when the model is imported.
The SAT file format can also be imported into 3ds Max. The SAT format works with precise geometric
boundary representation (BREP) data, which are ACIS Solids. The model data is intended for solid
models and assemblies and are converted into 3ds Max Body Objects when the file is imported.
Autodesk Revit and Inventor, as well third party software such as Rhino and Catia, can export SAT files.
On the manufacturing side, Autodesk Inventor IPT and IAM files can be directly imported into 3ds Max
to import all parts and assemblies. Animation settings in Inventor are lost on import.
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Dynamics/Simulation
There may be times where your animation calls for the realistic motion of objects and how they react to
other objects in an environment. This is known as dynamics, it calculates the realistic interaction of
objects and forces in order to simulate a more natural object motion.
There are three main types of objects that can be used with in a simulation. Static objects become part of
the simulation that are locked in place and unable to move.
Dynamic objects are objects that will be acted on during the simulation. These objects like static objects
can have various properties including mass, and other physical properties. However the dynamic object
will move with realistic motion during the simulation and will interact with static objects as well as
kinematic objects.
Kinematic objects, like dynamic objects, are objects that are acted on during the simulation. However,
kinematic objects can have key frame animation applied to them and be used to affect the motion of
dynamic objects.
Using a combination of the three types of objects, you can now effectively combine dynamic simulation
and key frame and procedural animation all at the same time.
In addition, a dynamics simulation can involve forces such as gravity, wind (with turbulence), drag,
friction, and bounce. Dynamics engines can also simulate soft bodies such as cloth and rope, fluids such
as water and oil, and jointed bodies (Rag-dolls).
Flex Modifier
The Flex modifier can be used to simulate soft-body dynamics. The Flex modifier simulates virtual
springs between the vertices of an object. You have control over the stiffness of the springs (how
strongly vertices are kept from coming close to each other), as well as the amount of stretch (how far
apart the vertices can move). The simplest simulation causes vertices to lag behind an object as it
moves. More advanced simulations also control the sway (how much the angle of the spring can
change).
Flex works with NURBS, patches, polygon and mesh objects, shapes, FFD space warps, and any plug-inbased object types that can be deformed. You can also use space warps such as Gravity, Wind, Motor,
Push, and PBomb to add realistic, physically based animation to an object that has a Flex modifier. You
can also apply deflectors to the soft-body objects to simulate collisions.
Cloth Modifier
Another form of dynamics built into 3DS Max is the ability to perform cloth simulation. The Cloth modifier
can be used to simulate soft-body dynamics and can turn just about any 3D object into clothing. It also
allows you to build garments from scratch.
Cloth simulation allows you to create a realistic simulation of both loose cloth, and clothing. For example
you can simulate the tablecloth lying down on the top of the table, and you can also simulate a character
wearing a shirt and dress.
The cloth simulation within 3DS Max provides controls and parameters to allow for the simulation of
multiple fabric types. And you can adjust the parameters to get any fabric you need.
Built in stitching makes it easy to create complex clothing from simple clothing patterns.
The biggest benefit of cloth simulation is the ability to simulate complex interactions with other objects in
the scene. This allows for the application of clothing on characters, as well as the creation of scene
elements like curtains.
22
To make cloth simulation work, first you need a cloth object, such as a tablecloth or a pair of pants.
Next, you need something for the fabric to interact with. This can be a collision object such as a table
top or characters leg, or a force such as wind or gravity.
The images below show the effects of adding a Cloth Modifier onto a Plane and creating a realistic
tablecloth.
23
Effects
Atmosphere effects
Atmospheric effects can be rendered in 3DS Max using both mental ray and the scan-line render.
Atmospheric effects include lights that have a volume fog on them as well as the fire effect.
An atmospheric apparatus, or gizmo, is a Helper object that is required to contain the fog or fire effect in
your scene. There are three types of atmospheric apparatuses: BoxGizmo, CylGizmo, and Sphere Gizmo.
The shape of the gizmo constrains the shape of the volume fog or fire effect.
The image below shows the Fire Effect.
Space Warps
Space warps are unique types of objects that act as "force fields" that affect other objects in a scene.
Space warps are not renderable objects and are designed only to affect the appearance or action of
other objects. You can deform object geometry such as meshes and patches by using
Geometric/Deformable space warps that generate ripples, waves, or explosions.
24
There are additional types of space warps that work with particle systems and simulate natural effects
such as wind blowing snow or rain or the effects of Gravity on specific objects. PBomb, Wind, Motor,
and Push space warps work on particle systems.
The position, rotation, and scale of a Space Warp object can be modified in the same manner as other
objects on a scene.
To have a Space Warp affect an object, you need to bind the object to the space warp using the
Bind to Space Warp command on the main toolbar.
If objects are not bound to a Space Warp, they
will not be affected at all. Once you have bound an object is to a space warp, you will see the warp
binding appear at the top of the object's modifier stack (a space warp is always applied after any
transforms or modifiers). On the Create panel, each space warp has a rollout labeled Supports Objects
Of Type that lists the kind of objects you can bind to the selected warp.
25
Particle systems
Particle effects are one aspect of 3DS Max that has evolved along with the program and now are
available as non-event driven and event driven systems. Particle effects can be used for a wide variety of
purposes, ranging from rain and snow, all the way to complex particle systems like realistic rotor wash
from helicopter blades over the water, or animated flocks of birds flying in the sky. Essentially, particle
systems allow you to animate a large number of objects using a procedural method.
Particle Flow/Events
Particle flow (PFlow) is an event driven particle system that gives the ability to test a particles property
and direct that particle to a new event based on the results of the test. This provides an enormous
amount of flexibility and greatly expands the capabilities for particle effects within 3DS Max. For example,
you can easily create a swarm of bees flying from one beehive to another using multiple particle flow
events.
Another advantage of particle flow is that it is a node based, schematic style creation environment. The
main dialog for editing particle flow events is called the particle view. Here you use nodes, called
operators to define the properties of the particles.
These properties include the shape, speed, direction and rotation for each particular event. Test nodes
can be added to each event to test particles and for various parameters. Including the age of the particle,
the speed and whether it has collided with an object are not.
Based on this test, a particle is then sent to another event that redefines that particle based on the
parameters within the event. This process of connecting events provides for an extremely flexible particle
creation tool.
26
The image below shows a non-rendered particle system.
Lighting
Differentiate light functions in a scene
Lighting can really defined the depth of your scenes. Today the final output from 3ds Max can be both for
two dimensional display, and for three dimensional cinema or video display.
You can think of lighting almost as a painting. Traditional painting relies on a combination of both light
areas and dark areas in the image to define the depth of that image. Perspective which is inherent in the
modeling process and in the camera itself is a very important part, but lighting can make a tremendous
difference in your scene. Lighting consists of two primary components.
The first being direct light. This is light that comes directly from a light source, for example, the sun, a
light bulb in your scene, or from any object that creates light directly. Direct light emits from the light and
travels to the surface.
Photometric lights are another type of direct light. Daylight can be a photometric light. Photometric lights
are lights that work very well with the mental ray rendering engine. Theyre able to simulate highly
realistic light properties.
The other form of light is called indirect light, in a global sense, remember were looking at the overall
picture at this point. Indirect light is the light that comes from bounced light off of other objects.
Direct light comes directly from the light source itself, it strikes the surface directly. Indirect light is
reflected off of a surface that essentially adds additional light sources. mental ray uses final gather to
calculate indirect light from surfaces.
Lighting Settings
When light rays strike a surface, the surface reflects them, or at least some of them, enabling us to see
the surface. The appearance of a surface depends on the light that strikes it combined with the
properties of the surface material, such as color, smoothness, and opacity.
The intensity of light at its point of origin affects how brightly the light illuminates an object. A dim light
cast on a brightly colored object shows only dim colors.
The light an object reflects can illuminate other objects. The more light a surface reflects, the more light
it contributes to illuminating other objects in its environment.
27
Reflected light creates ambient light. Ambient light has a uniform intensity and is uniformly diffuse. It
has no discernible source and no discernible direction.
Color temperature describes a color in terms of degrees Kelvin (K). This is useful for describing the color
of light sources and other color values that are close to white.
Compare Attenuation and Decay
When we look at the world around us light gradually fades away over distance. The farther objects are
from a light source, the darker they appear. Objects located closer to a source of light appear brighter.
This natural effect is called attenuation.
Light attenuates at an inverse square rate (called the decay), which means that the light intensity
diminishes in proportion to the square of the distance from the light source. Through clouds and fog,
light is dispersed and diminishes more quickly (the attenuation is greater).
The light sources in 3ds Max allow you to set the Near and Far attenuation values. This gives you direct
control over how lights fade in or fade out. The Far attenuation value sets the distance at which the light
drops off to zero. The Near attenuation value sets the distance at which the light "fades in."
Photometric lights always attenuate at the inverse square rate.

Identify parameters for modifying shadows
If you are using Standard lighting (with the exception of Skylight and IES Sky), you can modify the
shadows through the Shadow Parameters rollout in the Modify panel.
The Shadow parameters allow you to set shadow colors and adjust the density of shadows.
You can also assign a map to the shadows to enable the map's colors to blend with the shadow
or set the light's color to blend with the shadow color.
28
All shadow types (Advanced Ray-Traced, mental ray Shadow Map, Area, Shadow Map and Ray-Traced)
have a Shadow bias setting. Shadow bias moves the shadow toward or away from the shadow-casting
object (or objects). When the Bias value is too low, the scene may have shadows that leak through
places they wouldnt normally cast shadows in the real world. If the Bias value is too high, shadows can
move too far away from an object and appear detached. The higher the Bias value, the further away the
shadow is cast away from the object.
Use the Daylight System

The daylight system is used to light exterior scenes or interior scenes that are illuminated by daylight as
the name would imply.
There is a direct light as part of the system. Weve talked about direct light as being light that comes
directly from a light source and traveling to a surface. Direct light is certainly part of this system. But in
this case the direct light were referring to is a type of light, its a light that casts light rays that are parallel
from a circular source. This light is a component of the daylight system.
Another component is the skylight. To envision what the skylight does, imagine you walk outside before
the sun comes up over the horizon. You can still see clearly, that theres light that allows you to see
where you are and whats going on. Thats because part of natural daylight is light that is reflected and
scattered by the atmosphere, from dust and water vapor, coming from the sun that is below the horizon.
Another component that isnt part of the light directly is a positioning control for the sunlight. This is the
compass. This object allows us to determine the position of the sun based on the time of day, the date,
and the location on earth.
Now there are other activities that occur because of the fact that weve placed the daylight system in our
scene. One of them is the inclusion of a physical sky map in the environment.
This is a texture that gets placed in the background of our scene and generates the illusion of a physically
accurate sky background. This can simulate a blue sky and a hazy sky. For example, if its early in the
morning and the sun is just coming up youd have a pinkish horizon.
That is a component of the physical sky that gets created automatically when you place a daylight system
in your scene.
Another important component that gets activated when you use a daylight system is the photographic
exposure control. Think of it as photography, where youre actually taking a photograph inside of 3ds
Max.
If youre taking the photographs in bright daylight you need to adjust your exposure and your shutter
speed so that you have a properly exposed rendered image. You have to close the iris of your camera to
reduce the amount of light that striking the film plane.
29
Youre doing the same thing here; youre controlling the amount of light that the mental ray rendering
engine is exposing the camera. Thats all done with photographic exposure control. All of this is part of
the daylight system in 3ds Max.
Light Lister
The Light Lister is a dialog that lets you view and control several parameters of the lights in a scene. You
can also make global settings that affect every light in your scene. The Light Lister allows you to control
the Intensity, Color, Shadow type, and Bias values of each individual light.
Materials/Shading
Use the Material Editor
Once youve begun creating your model, it doesnt have to be complete before you start creating your
materials. At some point, you have to start working on the materials, or the surface properties of the
geometry in your scene. Materials are extremely important; you can have a model that has been poorly
created and make it look good by applying properly created materials.
You use the Material Editor to create and modify materials and maps. The material on an object
describes how the object reflects or transmits light.
There are two ways to access materials: the Compact Material Editor and the Slate Material Editor.
The Compact Material Editor has been used in all previous versions of 3ds Max (prior 3ds Max 2011). It
is a convenient interface to use to view previews of materials and assigning materials that have already
been designed.
30
The Slate Material Editor is a visual material editor that provides a way of working with materials in a
schematic editing mode. In the slate material editor you create materials by wiring together maps and
shaders that graphically display the structure of your material while you create it.
31
Identify standard materials

Standard materials are not photometric, so they would not be used for physically accurate lighting
models.
There are several types of Standard materials that have specific functions and are suitable for use in
games and animation where physically accurate lighting is not required.
The Standard material type allows you to start with a single uniform color, and then gives you the ability
to add separate maps to add Diffuse Color, Glossiness, Opacity, Self Illumination, Bump, Displacement
and other properties to an object.
The Raytrace material is a surface-shading material that creates fully raytraced reflections and
refractions. It also supports fog, color density, translucency, fluorescence, and other special effects.
When a Matte/Shadow material is applied to an object, the entire object (or selected faces of the
object) turns into a matte object that allows the current background color or the scenes Environment
map to show through the object.
The Ink 'n Paint material adds a cartoon effect to the appearance of objects (the objects will have flat
shading with inked borders).
The Multi/Sub-object material is a material type that is actually a container that holds other materials. By
default it contains 10 sub materials. However, you can actually use up to 1000 materials within a multi
sub object material container. Those sub materials are assigned with a material ID number to an
individual face or polygon, or multiple faces or polygons within your model. So the geometry needs to be
configured so that the placement of these materials makes sense. For example if you have a wall thats
going to have two materials assigned to it; one on the lower half and the second on the upper half. You
would need to have the geometry split at the point in which the materials will change. And this has to be
done in order to be able to assign the appropriate polygons the material ID numbers that corresponds to
the materials that will get applied to that portion of the wall. However you use the material, it is a very
32
good production tool that allows you to apply many different materials to different pieces of a single
object.
Identify Shader parameters

The material is what gets assigned to the objects in the scene. The Shaders are elements of a material
that accept some form of input to generate some form of output. It may simply be a color or it may be
patterns, there are lots of options. A Shader is an algorithm that calculates how a surface responds to
light.
In mental ray, the term shader is used in a more general sense, but is still a function that calculates light
effects. There can be shaders for lights, cameras (lens shaders), materials and shadows. mental ray
materials have specific components that allow you to assign a shader. Standard materials that are not
photometric also allow you to assign shaders in the mental ray Connection rollout of the material. If you
are using the Default Scanline renderer, mental ray shaders are not supported and typically appear as
black or white surfaces, or are completely ignored.
You use the Material/Map Browser to assign a mental ray shader the same way you do a map.
Use Blending Modes with a Composite Map

The Composite map type is made up of other maps, which you lay one on top of each other using the
alpha channel and other methods. For this type of map, you can use overlay images that already contain
an alpha channel, or use built-in masking tools for overlaying only certain parts of a map. You can blend
the maps together, similar to blending layers in Adobe Photoshop.
33
The drop-down list shows the available Blending modes that control how the pixels in one layer interact
with those in an underlying layer. The blending modes allow you to blend layers by adding or subtracting
pixels, darkening or lighting pixels, and also using functions such as Linear Burn, Color Dodge, Overlay,
Soft and Hard Light. Hue, Saturation, Color and Value can also be blended between layers.
34
Autodesk 3ds Max 2012

Autodesk Certification
Exam Preparation Roadmap
Autodesk certifications
are industry-recognized
credentials that can help
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The certifications provide
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and enhanced credibility.
Autodesk highly recommends that you structure

your examination preparation for success. This
means scheduling regular time to prepare,
reviewing this exam preparation roadmap, using
the Autodesk Official Training Guide, taking an
assessment test, and using a variety of resources.
Equally as important, actual hands-on experience
is recommended.
The Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Certified Associate
exam consists of 30 questions that assess your
knowledge of the tools, features, and common
tasks of Autodesk 3ds Max 2012. Question types
include multiple choice, matching, and point-andclick (hotspot). The exam has a 1-hour time limit. (In
some countries, the time limit may be extended.)
Autodesk offers the choice of two Professionallevel exams for 3ds Max 2012: Models to Motion
or Surface and Look Development. The 3ds Max
2012 Certified Professional exams are performancebased tests. The exams are each comprised of 20
questions. Each question requires you to use 3ds
Max 2012 to create or modify a data file, and then
type your answer into an input box. The answer you
enter will be a text entry or a numeric value. The
exam has a 90-minute time limit (In some countries,
the time limit may be extended.)
To earn the credential of

Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Certified
Professional, you must also pass
the Autodesk 3ds Max 2012
Certified Associate exam. You can
pass the exams in any order.
To recertify from Autodesk 3ds
Max 2011 Professional to Autodesk
3ds Max 2012 Professional, you
need only pass the Autodesk 3ds
Max 2012 Certified Associate
exam.
Assessment Tests
Autodesk assessment tests will help identify areas
of knowledge that you should develop in order
to prepare for the certification exam. At the
completion, you will be able to review the items
you missed and their correct answers. Contact an
Autodesk Certification Center for more information
at http://autodesk.starttest.com.
Autodesk Official Training Guides
The Autodesk Official Training Guide for the
Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Certification exams
is Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Essentials from Wiley
Publishing. This guide is available from booksellers
and online booksellers worldwide.
ATC Instructor-Led Courses

The Autodesk Authorized Training Center (ATC)
program is a global network of professional
training providers offering a broad range of learning
resources. Visit the online ATC locator at
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Recommended Experience Levels for the
Autodesk 3ds Max Certification exams
Actual hands-on experience is a critical component
in preparing for the exam. You must spend time
using the product and applying the skills you
have learned.
2012 Certified Associate exam:
Introducing Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 course (or
equivalent) plus 100 hours of hands-on application
2012 Certified Professional exams:
Introducing Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 course (or
equivalent) plus 400 hours of hands-on application
Why are we offering two Professional exams?
Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 is used throughout the
production cycle in film, video game, design
visualization, and television development.
Creating two different Professional exams
allows you to focus on the subject areas that
relate to your career path, or to add additional
skills in new areas. If you are interested in
early stages of the production process, such
as creating and animating digital models, the
Models to Motion exam would be a good
choice. If you are interested in defining the final
look of digital models and their environment,
Surface and Look Development is the right
choice. If you pass both Professional exams,
you will earn two certificates: Autodesk 3ds
Max 2012 Certified Professional Models to
Motion and Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Certified
Professional Surface and Look Development.

Exam Topics and Objectives
We recommend that you review the topics and objectives during your preparation for certification. The Autodesk Official Training Guide for the Autodesk 3ds
Max 2012 Certified Associate exam is Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Essentials from Wiley Publishing. That guidewhich covers the topics and objectives listed belowis
available from booksellers and online booksellers worldwide. Please note that not all objectives will be tested during your certification exam.
Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Certified Associate

Topic
Objective
Animation
Change interpolation methods

Differentiate Dope Sheet from the Curve Editor
Explain how to edit tangents with the Curve Editor
Identify Controller types
Identify playback settings
Cameras

Explain Near and Far Clip Plane for your camera
Compositing
Demonstrate how to composite multiple layers together
Dynamics / Simulation
Use modifiers for soft body simulation
Effects
Identify an atmosphere effect

Identify an event
Identify particle systems
Identify Space Warp types
Lighting
Compare Attenuation and Decay

Identify parameters for modifying shadows
Materials / Shading
Modeling
Differentiate reference coordinate systems

Differentiate workflow
Identify Clone types
Identify Vertex types
Use object creation and modification workflows
Use polygon modeling tools
Rendering
Differentiate Renderers
Identify pass types
Identify rendering parameters
Rigging / Setup
Describe common Biped features

Identify Controller usage
Identify IK Solvers
Scripting
Describe common use of scripts
UI / Object Management
Identify Selection Regions

Exam Topics and Objectives
We recommend that you review the topics and objectives during your preparation for certification. The Autodesk Official Training Guide for the Autodesk 3ds Max
2012 Certified Professional exams is Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Essentials from Wiley Publishing. That guidewhich covers the topics and objectives listed belowis
available from booksellers and online booksellers worldwide. To earn the credential of 3ds Max 2012 Certified Professional, you must also pass the 3ds Max 2012
Certified Associate exam. You can pass the exams in any order. Please note that not all objectives will be tested during your certification exam.
Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Certified Professionals
Topic
Animation
Cameras
Models to
Motion
Surface and Look

Development
Analyze the animation of an object using the Curve Editor
Create a path animation and evaluate an object along the path
Identify the constraint used for an animation
Locate the value of keys in the Time Slider
Use animation passes and animation editors
Compositing
Data Management / Interoperability
Demonstrate how to composite multiple layers together
Demonstrate how to remap the color output for an image
Create layer renders and import into Composite
Differentiate common file types and usages
Use the import feature to import model data
Differentiate light functions in a scene
Use the Daylight System
Use the Light Lister
Identify Shader parameters
Identify standard materials
Use Blending Modes
Materials / Shading
Use object creation and modification workflows
Use polygon modeling tools
Use ProBoolean (Max) / Boolean (Maya)
Rendering
Rigging / Setup
Edit FOV (Field of View)
Lighting
Modeling
Objective
Identify rendering parameters
Use Render to render an effect pass
Identify Bones
Use Weight Table
Scripting
Apply (run) scripts
UI / Object Management
Describe and use object transformations
For more information

http://www.autodesk.com/certification
Find an Autodesk Certification Center
http://autodesk.starttest.com
Autodesk and 3 ds Max are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries. All
other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product and services offerings, and
specifications and pricing at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document.
2011 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
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Autodesk Revit
Architecture 2010
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Date
Autodesk and Revit are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the
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belong to their respective holders. 2009 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.
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President, Chief Executive Officer
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Take an assessment test to measure your knowledge of the application,
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requirements.
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the USA and/or other countries. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks
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Apply your training:

Practice what you have learned to gain experience.
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Take the required exam:

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Register for your exam online.
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Summary of Certification Exam Information

2012 Certification Exams
Exam
AutoCAD 2012 Associate
AutoCAD 2012 Professional
AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012 Associate
AutoCAD Civil 3D 2012 Professional
Autodesk Inventor 2012 Associate
Autodesk Inventor 2012 Professional
Revit Architecture 2012 Associate
Revit Architecture 2012 Professional
3ds Max 2012 Associate
3ds Max 2012 Professional Models to Motion
3ds Max 2012 Professional Surface and Look Development
Maya 2012 Associate
Maya 2012 Professional Models to Motion
Maya 2012 Professional Visual Effects and Simulation
# of
items
30
20
30
20
30
20
30
20
30
20
20
30
20
20
Time
allowed
60 min
90 min
60 min
90 min
60 min
90 min
60 min
90 min
60 min
90 min
90 min
60 min
90 min
90 min
Passing
score
72%
76%
80%
80%
72%
75%
80%
80%
70%
70%
70%
70%
70%
70%
# of
items
30
20
30
20
30
20
30
20
30
20
30
20
20
30
20
20
Time
allowed
60 min
90 min
60 min
90 min
60 min
90 min
60 min
90 min
60 min
90 min
60 min
90 min
90 min
60 min
90 min
90 min
Passing
score
73%
74%
80%
80%
70%
75%
80%
80%
70%
70%
70%
70%
70%
70%
70%
70%

Exam
3ds Max Design 2011 Associate
3ds Max Design 2011 Professional
3ds Max 2011 Associate
3ds Max 2011 Professional Models to Motion
3ds Max 2011 Professional Surface and Look Development
Maya 2011 Associate
Maya 2011 Professional Models to Motion
Maya 2011 Professional Visual Effects and Simulation

Exam
# of
items
30
20
30
20
30
20
30
20
30
20

3ds Max Design 2010 Associate
3ds Max Design 2010 Professional
Time
allowed
60 min
90 min
60 min
90 min
60 min
90 min
60 min
90 min
60 min
90 min
Passing
score
77%
80%
73%
75%
77%
80%
83%
85%
77%
75%
Assessment and Practice Tests

Exam
AutoCAD 2011 and 2012 Assessment
AutoCAD Civil 3D 2011 and 2012 Assessment
Autodesk Inventor 2011 and 2012 Assessment
Revit Architecture 2011 and 2012 Assessment
3ds Max Design 2011 Assessment
3ds Max 2011 and 2012 Assessment
Maya 2011 and 2012 Assessment
AutoCAD 2010 Assessment
AutoCAD 2010 Professional Practice
AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 Assessment
AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 Professional Practice
Autodesk Inventor 2010 Assessment
Autodesk Inventor 2010 Professional Practice
Revit Architecture 2010 Assessment
Revit Architecture 2010 Professional Practice
3ds Max Design 2010 Assessment
3ds Max Design 2010 Professional Practice
# of items
35
35
35
35
35
35
35
65
20
55
20
59
20
67
20
59
20
Time allowed
90 min
90 min
90 min
90 min
90 min
90 min
90 min
90 min
135 min
90 min
135 min
90 min
135 min
60 min
135 min
90 min
135 min
Notes:
There is no passing score for assessment tests.
1/3 time is added in countries where English exams are delivered, and where English is not the first
language. This happens automatically and will appear when the candidate starts the test.

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DG7160 - 3DS Max Certification Prep - Part 1

Practice questions similar to those in the exam

Review the certification preparation roadmap

Map learning objectives to study materials

Use our tips and tricks to prepare for the exam

About the Speaker

3DS Max Certification Prep

3DS Max Certification Prep

Particle systems ...................................................................................................................................... 26

3DS Max Certification Prep

3DS Max Certification Prep

Create a path animation and evaluate an object along the path

Analyze the animation of an object using the Curve Editor

3DS Max Certification Prep

Explain how to edit tangents with the Curve Editor

Tangent handles can be either continuous (unified) or discontinuous (broken).

Change interpolation methods

3DS Max Certification Prep

Identify Controller types

3DS Max Certification Prep

Identify playback settings

3DS Max Certification Prep

Identify the constraints used for an animation

3DS Max Certification Prep

Locate the value of keys in the Time Slider

3DS Max Certification Prep

3DS Max Certification Prep

Edit FOV (Field of View)

3DS Max Certification Prep

Near and Far Clip Planes

3DS Max Certification Prep

3DS Max Certification Prep

Compositing using Autodesk Composite

3DS Max Certification Prep

3DS Max Certification Prep

Remapping the color output for an image

3DS Max Certification Prep

3DS Max Certification Prep

3DS Max Certification Prep

Differentiate common file types and usages

3DS Max Certification Prep

Use the import feature to import model data

3DS Max Certification Prep

3DS Max Certification Prep

3DS Max Certification Prep

3DS Max Certification Prep

3DS Max Certification Prep

3DS Max Certification Prep

The image below shows a non-rendered particle system.

3DS Max Certification Prep

Photometric lights always attenuate at the inverse square rate.

3DS Max Certification Prep

Use the Daylight System

3DS Max Certification Prep

3DS Max Certification Prep

3DS Max Certification Prep

Identify standard materials

3DS Max Certification Prep

Identify Shader parameters

Use Blending Modes with a Composite Map

3DS Max Certification Prep

Autodesk 3ds Max 2012

Autodesk highly recommends that you structure

To earn the credential of