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3ds MAX 8 - T4 - Materials and Lights




This tutorial is about 95% complete, I will be adding two bits and recreating the three renderings some time over the next week.       Stephen Peter, 10 March 2006

Introduction

There is a proverb that goes something like "risk only what you can afford to loose" - it has many meanings ranging from Love to Gambling, but it also applies to using computers! Remember to save your work regularly, and maintain backups!





This tutorial will introduce Materials, you will learn how to 'create' materials and how to access MAX's material library. In addition, you will learn how to light your scene!

Start by downloading the tut4.max file (right click on the link and select the option to save the file). The scene also uses 2 images as magazine covers (on the coffee table), so download elle0693 and elle0793.

When you open the file, you will see an almost complete model of a simple interior (based on the previous tutorials). You will also notice that without 'proper' materials, it doesn't look like much!


This diagram shows a simplified plan of the space.


As you can see, I've removed the columns...

Cameras




To really get the idea about how a space may look, you need to get inside the space(!) and to do that you need to create cameras!

I suggest you place the camera at the southern (bottom) end of the Living Room and the target point near the northern (upper) column.

To insert a camera, click on the Camera icon in the Create command panel and click on the Target button. Move the cursor (in the Top view) to where you'd like the camera and then drag in the direction that you want the camera to look. You should notice (in the Front or Left views) that the camera is "sitting on the floor" and looking along the floor!




Click on Select and Move then move the camera and target point up - be careful that the cursor is the "move" cursor (which looks like a cross with arrows on each arm).

This technique can be used to change any of the views, for example you can change the Front view into a Back view!

Once you've set both positions, right-click on the label of the Perspective view, choose Views and then Camera01. This will change the perspective view into a camera view. Render the Camera01 view!


Note that the (zoom) icons in the bottom-right corner of the application change when the current viewport is a camera view... investigate...


Let there be light...




Before we add the materials we must first put some lights in the space! Once you place a light in the scene MAX will stop using its default lighting...



Firstly, we'll put general lighting and then we'll place some wall lights.

After you do this, you may need to change the camera view... if you want to see the lights.

In the Top view, you should see four circular shapes in the middle of the spaces - these are the light fittings. Use Select by Name to select the 4 "light fitting" objects, then (using the Display tab) hide the unselected objects.


Use the Top view to place and then the Front to raise.

We will now insert lights into these fittings. In the Create tab, click on Lights and then Omni. Place an omni light inside one of the fittings - you will need to move it up or across depending on which View you use - don't use the Camera View!!



After placing the light, zoom-in and to make sure the light object is - more or less - centred inside the fitting. One way to zoom-in easily is to select the Light fitting and then use Zoom Extents All Selected.

Ray Traced Shadows will make sure the light passing through the light fittings is modelled (more) correctly.

You'll need to set some of the parameters via the Modify command panel. In General Parameters turn Shadows on and change Shadow Map to Ray Traced Shadows. In Intensity/Color/Attenuation, click Use in Far Attenuation and set the Start value to 500 and End value to 7500.

Remember that the lights in the Dining Room and Kitchen need to be 1000 higher...

After placing the first light, place instance-copies of the light inside the other three fittings, then fine-tune the position of the lights. Finally, unhide the rest of the model and do a zoom-all.

Wall Lights

Like before, you will probably need to zoom-in to the position right.



If you look carefully, you'll see five green blobs on the walls, these are light shades. Put an omni light in one of these light shades - it will require a bit of fiddling to get it inside the shade. Set the Far attenuation to start at 100 and end at 2000, and check that shadows are turned ON, and Ray Traced Shadows are the set shadow type.




Then (instance) copy the omni light into the other wall mounted light shades! Once you've instanced the lights, zoom in to check the lights are centred inside the shade. Remember to check that the height is correct...

Sunlight

Systems is at the right hand end of the Create tab's options, the icon looks like 2 gears.

I found creating the compass quite tricky but it doesn't really matter - and can even be not shown.


In the Create tab, select Systems and then Sunlight. Click the Get Location button and select a location (I chose Sydney), then set the time and day (I set the time to 8am and the day to today - 7 march). Finally, in the Top view, (outside the space) click and drag to create the "compass rose" and then set the Orbital Scale.

If you chose the same parameters as I did then the sunlight will "stream" into the space from the east (right); but, since our windows aren't glass (yet) you will only see sun coming in through the (open) doors.

As you can see, we've got a lot of work to do... to make this space look good!

Living in a Material world










Now, the fun begins! There are a number of ways to 'create' materials in MAX:
  -  set the diffuse colour -simple 'flat' colour materials);
  -  set more parameters and/or change the shader;
  -  import a material from the library;
  -  create your own material using an image.
Each of these techniques will be explored below...




Select Material Editor from the Rendering menu (or type M or click the icon). You'll see a group of spheres at the top and a swag of parameters down the bottom! The gray coloured spheres are "unused". Click on the first unused sphere, MAX will draw a border around it (to highlight it).

Press the Select button after picking the objects in the list.

Click on Select by Name (from the main toolbar, not the Material Editor), then select Bedroom01 and Bedroom02. Click on Assign Material to Selection, hopefully the border on the sample sphere will change to include filled triangles at each corner - this is how MAX displays materials that have been assigned to objects.

This process has assigned a "flat" colour to an object. This would be similar to (a non-reflective) paint on plasterboard.

In the Blinn Basic Parameters rollout, click on the gray coloured rectangle to the right of Diffuse, a colour selection dialog will be displayed - choose a colour - then click Close.

Finally, change the material's name (from 01 - Default or whatever it is) to Walls.









There are two subtle things to point out about this material. Firstly, above the first rollout there is a button on the right that should have Standard written on it. Secondly, in the first rollout the Shader Type should be set to Blinn. In the coming sections I will show you some alternatives to these settings...




Select the North Wall and South Wall and then assign the (same) material to them.

Glass

Creating a material...












In the Material Editor select the next gray (empty/unassigned) material, then
  -  change 02 - Default (or whatever) to Window Glass
  -  change Blinn to Phong,
  -  set the Diffuse colour to Black,
  -  set the Opacity to 25,
  -  set the Specular Level to 80,
  -  set the Glossiness to 60.
This will create a reasonable glass material.










Some explanations...! The Diffuse component controls the colour of areas receiving light, by setting it to black we are saying this material is without colour. Reducing the Opacity introduces transparencey into the material, setting it to 0 (zero) would make the object totally transparent (and so, close to invisible). The Specular section controls the "shiny" areas of the material. The higher the Glossiness the "sharper" the reflection.

Assigning the (glass) material...

Use Select by Name to select [balcony glass] and [east wall glass] then click on Assign Material to Selection (in the Material Editor). That will turn the glass in the east wall and the balcony into glass!



We will come back to the glass in the doors and windows later...

Timber


Get a material from the Material Library.







Click on the next empty material sample and then Get Material; the Material/Map Browser will be displayed. In the Browse From section select Mtl Library; then in the Show section de-selected Maps. From the bottom of the list (on the right) double-click Wood_Cedfence (Standard) and then close that window. Use Select by Name to select Dinning Floor, Hall Floor Living Floor and [Steps]. Once you've selected the floor, go back to the Material Editor and select Assign Material to Selection to make the floor timber.

If you render the room now, you should agree that it is looking more like a room! Particularly if you look towards the east wall - so you can see the sunlight on the timber floor.


If you don't like the black background, select Environment from the Rendering Menu and then set the Background colour to sky blue!

Multipart Materials




If you use MAX's built-in Doors and Windows you need to understand multipart windows, to apply materials to them.







Open the Material Editor, select a fresh sphere and select Get Material; then change Browse From from Mtl Library to New and double-click Multi/Sub-Object. You will see (in the Material Editor) that the material is made up of 10 sub-materials! Change the material name to Doors and Windows.




Click on the gray rectange to the left of the On/Off tick and choose a bright colour! Repeat this for the first 4 materials. Then select PivotDoor01 and Assign Material to Selection.


This shows the bright colours chosen to help us identify which material is assigned to the glass part of the doors.

If would probably be a good idea to change the materials to something more tasteful, after you've completed the next bit...








If necessary turn the camera so it is looking towards the door. You should see that Material #0 is the door frame, and Material #2 is the "glass". Now we want to change "glass" into a glass material. Drag the second material (Window Glass) over the Material #2 button and drop it! MAX will ask whether you want a copy or instance, choose Instance.

Here the third material has been replaced with an instance of the "Window Glass" material.









Next, assign this material to the Windows:
  -  AwningWindow01 . . . AwningWindow06
  -  Din Rm Window
  -  Kitchen Window
  -  Liv Rm Window North
  -  Liv Rm Window South.

A picture is worth a thousand words...






You will now use an image to create a material. There are two variations on this idea. Firstly, having the image placed once - like a picture. Alternatively, the image can be made to repeat (tile) so it forms a repeating pattern. We will use the first technique here.

Instead of picking the object, you can select the [tv] object using Select by Name.

At the southern end of the living room there is an orange coloured shape - the TV - select that shape, then use Display - Hide Unselected to hide everything else! Once you have done that, click Zoom Extents All.




Next, ungroup the object by selecting Ungroup from the Group menu; then use Select by Name to select tv screen.

This image is from www2.
physics.umd.edu/~yskim
/style/gonew.jpg

Now you'll create the material...














In the next section you can either download this image from "Gone with the Wind" or use your own image. If you want to use your own image, make sure the image is quite small - my image is 700x450px which is actually quite large - (if necessary) use Photoshop to edit your image to be about the correct size and proportion. Once you have the image, paste it into the same folder as where your MAX file has been saved into.

Press m to display the Material Editor, choose the next unused sphere and then click on the gray button to the right of the diffuse colour rectangle. In the Material/Map Browser choose Bitmap MAX will display a File-Open dialog box (called BSelect Bitmap Image File) navigate to your image, click on it and hit the Open button.

Here we are making sure the image will be shown in the Perspective and Camera views, not just in the rendered views.


Next, click on Show Map in Viewport (the checkered box - see image below) and then Go to Parent (the up arrow - see image).









Finally, assumming the tv screen box is still selected click Assign Material to Selection. Once you've done that use Display - Unhide All to make the rest of the scene visible. You may want to re-hide the Compass & Sun. This material-texture technique can be used to create many kinds of surfaces, especially when you remember that you can 'scale' the picture so it becomes a pattern...

Scaling Materials






If you render a view of the living room (that shows the floor), you should notice that the timber tecture appears too large; so we need to scale the material! To do this correctly, you need to study the material to determine its "size" and base the scaling on that information.




Bring up the material editor (if you've closed it); and click on the timber material. Notice the material's name is listed as Wood_Cedfence!


The M stands for "map" which is short for "texture map"!



In the Blinn Basic Parmaters rollout, notice the small button with a M, beside the Diffuse colour... click on the button. This has the effect of selecting the material map associated with the diffuse colour and displaying its properties. Notice that the name listed (where the material name was) is now Map #1 (or similar)!

Many of the materials in MAX are simply pictures that are "tiled" over an object to create the effect of an object with a particular material. It is possible (and in-fact very easy) to replace the "standard" picture with a new one and thereby create a new material!

Click on View Image button which is in the Cropping/Placement section of the Bitmap Parameters rollout.

The key issue with making materials look believable is working out the size of the "object" in the image. You should be seeing a picture of 10 floor boards. If we assume each board is 100mm wide, then the whole view is 1m wide! Armed with this understanding of the "true" physical size of the material map we can calculate the correct scaling.

Looking at the image, I would say the timber is about 1000 x 700.


This image is simply "stretched" over the object using this material, so if the object is about 1000 wide the material will look OK, if on the other hand, the object is 4000 wide the material will look oversized. This is the situation with the Living Room floor.




Close the image view and the Material Editor, then select the Living Room floor and click on the Modify tab in the Command Panel. Note the width of the box (the floor) is 5200mm.



I personally find that scaling the image's length to 14 leads to unresirable effects, so feel free to use a lower number, for example 7.

Now we want to work out how many times we want the image to be repeated over the floor to give us a reasonable timber floor. I said (I thought) the image was about 1m wide, so if we repeat the image 5 times horizontally it should look good! The floor is about 10m long and the image 0.7m 'long'. Divide 10 by 0.7 and you get 14.28; so if we repeat the image 14 times along the length of the floor that will make it perfect.




Click on the Modifier List and select UVW Mapping. Change the U Tile value to 5 and the V Tile value to 14.

If you want a 'better' timber material, create a new raytraced material (use Get Material then double-click Raytrace), click the blank diffuse map button, double-click Bitmap, then find the CEDFENCE.JPG image (which should be in the {max}\maps\wood folder), hit Show Map in Viewport and Go to Parent, then untick Reflect and set the value to 10. Finally attach the material to the floor objects.

The floor in this rendering is UVW Mapped to 5 & 7, with 10% reflectivity.

Finishing






You should now understand the basics of Lighting and Materials in MAX! But having some more practice would be a good idea. Happily, there are still lots of surfaces in our spaces that need materials. Spend some time creating and applying materials...