An Introduction to 3D Animation

Tutorial Four
Cameras and Lights
Selected light source Parameters

View through a spotlight View through a camera Place Highlight tool

View Controls for a camera

Malcolm Wilson
An Introduction to 3D Animation

A Reminder about gmax

The end of this tutorial contains the instructions for the first Practical Assignment, starting with the Post-
Production section on page 25. Read this now. Your first task will be to plan your scene.
You can use your own free copy of gmax at home just to build (and animate) most of the objects in your
scene. Gmax offers Standard Primitives, 2D Shapes, Booleans, Modifiers, Cameras and Lights. Gmax
does not have Extended Primitives, Particle Systems nor any type of Rendering. The Material Editor in
gmax is much simpler than the one in max and will not contain any bitmaps unless you import or
download some. Nevertheless, gmax is the ideal way to get started and will really help you to design
your scene.
Scene files from gmax will load into max, but not the other way around. (However, you can use the “3ds”
file format to Import/Export either way between the two systems. These commands are in the File Menu)

PRE-PRODUCTION

Duplicating objects
There are a number of ways to duplicate any object in max. The simplest is a straightforward Clone –
either through the Edit Menu or by holding down the Shift key while moving the object with Select and
Move, Select and Rotate or Select and Scale.

In this tutorial you’ll meet a couple of new tools which can create multiple clones of an object in some
sort of pattern. One of these is Snapshot, which clones an object as it moves through its animation.
Imagine creating clones of the NGon in Tutorial Two as it flies through the letters of your name.
However, unlike normal clones, Snapshot only copies the object and not the animation – all of the
Snapshot clones will be stationary.

The same is not true of the Array tool, which is ideal for creating rows or ranks or stacks of objects in
straight lines, circles or arcs only. The Array tool will copy any animation applied to the object as well as
the object itself.

Cameras
So far, we’ve only used viewports for rendering. Camera objects in max are non-renderable – just like
some particle emitters and space warps. Cameras are really just movable perspective viewports – they
can be animated just like any other object in max. They also offer a couple of camera-based effects –
Multi-pass Depth of Field and Multi-pass Motion Blur. We won’t use these effects – partly because they
are slow, but also because they are not compatible with something called Video Post (see page 6).

Multi-camera control
Video Post is a section of max which allows us to fade and cross-fade between cameras (Section 5 of
the OCN Assessment Criteria mentions multi-camera control – see the Log Book)

Lights
Lights in max, like the cameras, are also non-renderable. There are specific types of source designed to
shine “light” in different directions – in some sort of well-defined beam or everywhere. They shine light
onto other objects in the scene but the light objects themselves do not appear in renderings unless you
apply certain Rendering Effects – either through the Environment and Effects dialogue or through Video
Post. Gmax offers a simpler choice of lights, but without the rendering effects.

Shadows
Whenever you create a light, it will not cast shadows unless you specifically turn these on. Shadows
cost – in terms of processing time and memory usage. Therefore max provides five different shadow
types which offer different quality/speed settings. Shadows only appear in renderings. They are not
shown in viewports (see the front cover of this tutorial)

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Modelling through Animation (G)

Reset max (if asked – don’t save)

• In the Perspective Viewport, use Keyboard Entry to create a Cone (Radius 1 = 12, Radius 2 = 6,
Height = 5)

• Turn on AutoKey

• Drag the Time slider to frame 100

• Increase the height of the Cone to 40 (use the Parameters Rollout, not the Keyboard Entry)

• Turn off AutoKey

• Use Keyboard Entry to create a Helix shape in the Perspective Viewport (Radius 1 = 80, Radius 2=
20, Height = 0)

• When the Helix appears, reduce the number of Turns to 0.93

• Use the Motion Panel to give the Cone a Path Constraint Animation Controller, and assign the Helix
as the Path.

• Press Play and watch the animation – nothing particularly new.

• Stop the Playback and make sure that the Cone is selected.

• Click on the Tools Menu and select Snapshot. The following dialogue
appears.

• Select Range.

• Increase the number of copies to 8

• Make sure Clone method is set to Mesh and click on OK.

If you drag the Timeslider back and forth you’ll see that the original Cone is
still there. You can delete this if you wish, along with the Helix.
TIP: Snapshot is one way to build a sequence of objects following some sort of pattern. Snapshot will
work with any animation – you don’t have to use a Path. We could Group all these Cones together and
Clone them to make more spiral patterns if necessary.

• Either way, select all the Cones and keep them on screen for the next exercise.

Two more Quads

So far, we’ve met the Right-click Quad (General) and the Ctrl + Alt + Right-click Quad (Lighting and
Rendering)

• Now hold down the Alt key and Right-click.

A different Quad appears this time.
This is the Animation and Coordinates Quad

Alt + Right-click on a 3D Primitive

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An Introduction to 3D Animation
Notice the options available this time. The Show Trajectories Toggle allows you to turn trajectory display
on or off without going to the Display Panel and the Keyframe option lets you set a key for the selected
object at the current frame without turning on Autokey.

• Cancel this Quad by right-clicking to one side of it.

• Now just press the letter v on the keyboard (no mouse click)
This is the Viewport Quad
Notice that it offers to change the active viewport into a Camera View. If you click
on this, it will just tell you that there are no cameras in the scene.

The Align Flyout (G)

• Up on the Main Toolbar, find the Align tool. Click and hold on this tool with the left mouse button.
The following other tool options will appear.

Select each tool in turn and label the following diagram.

______________________(Alt + a) – we met this in Tutorial One – allows you to align the

centre of any object (or selection/group of objects) with the centre of any other object(s)

______________________(Alt + n) – used while sub-object selection is active on a

particular object and lets you line up a facet(s) on the surface of the object with another facet
(this other facet could be on the same or a completely different object)

______________________(Ctrl + h) – used to position reflections (of any selected object)

or the specular highlights of any selected light source.

______________________(no shortcut) – it will be moved so that it is looking directly at the

point on an object which you specify.

______________________(no shortcut) – lets you choose a Local axis of an object and

align it with the Z-axis of the current viewport.

Creating and Positioning Cameras

Keep all the cones on screen for this next exercise. We’re going to add three cameras into this scene.

Situation 1 – no cameras in the scene (note: this does NOT work in gmax)

• With the Perspective Viewport active – press Ctrl + c on the keyboard

This does three things:-
1. creates a Camera
2. positions it so that it mimics the view of the perspective viewport
3. swaps the viewport so that it is looking through the new camera (look at the viewport name, now it
says Camera01 instead of Perspective).

Notice that you can see the camera icon in the other viewports.

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TIP: This shortcut will not work if you have an orthographic viewport selected. You cannot match a
camera to an orthographic viewport.

• Press p to turn the currently selected (camera) viewport back into a

perspective view

• In the Create Panel click on Cameras as shown.

There are only two types of camera to choose from. Free and Target

• Select Free and click once in the Perspective viewport.

The Camera appears, positioned on the grid.
The initial direction of the camera is along the negative Z axis of the current
viewport grid, which is why the camera is pointing straight down. Similarly, if you
create a Free Camera in an orthographic viewport, the initial camera direction is directly away from you.

Situation 2 – a currently selected camera in the scene (this one DOES work in gmax)

• Use Ctrl + r to rotate the Perspective viewport into a new position.

• Press Ctrl + c
The currently selected camera moves to mimic the view of the perspective viewport BUT the perspective
view is not swapped to look through this repositioned camera (the viewport name remains “Perspective”)

• Press c to swap the currently selected viewport to look through the currently selected camera
(Camera02)

• Up on the Main Toolbar, click on the Camera Align tool we met earlier

• Experiment with clicking on the surface of different cones. You have to re-select the Camera Align
tool each time. When you hold down the mouse with this tool, the pointer shows a normal to the
selected point on a surface. Release the mouse button and the selected camera will jump to a new
position to look along the normal, directly at the point you clicked on.

• Press p to turn the camera view back into a perspective view

• Use Ctrl + r to rotate the perspective view to a new position

Target Cameras (G)

• Back in the Create Panel, click on Target
Creating a Target Camera is a little more complex.

• Click in the perspective viewport to define the position of the Camera body, then

• Drag the mouse and release the mouse button to define the position of the Target
Both Camera and Target are initially located lying on the grid of the current viewport.
1. Target cameras always look at anything around the target.
2. Target cameras are easier to aim
3. Free Cameras have to be rotated to aim at the objects you wish to include in the view.
4. Free Cameras are easier to use with Trajectories
5. Free Cameras can Bank along a Path.

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TIP: You can Select and Move the Target independently of the Camera itself, but the Ctrl + c option will
move both Camera and Target to mimic a (non-orthographic) viewport.
TIP: If you need to animate the movement of a camera in your scene, using a Free Camera will give a
more natural cinematic look. A Target camera moves in a more artificial way because it always looks at
exactly the same spot in the scene as it moves. (ie the Target)

• Press Ctrl + c and the currently selected camera (Camera03 and Camera03, Target) will move to
mimic the position of the currently active viewport (the perspective viewport)

• Press c and the currently selected viewport will change to look through the currently selected camera
So now the Perspective viewport is set to look through the Target Camera (Camera03)
TIP: If no camera is selected, then pressing c will bring up a list of available cameras for you to choose
from. OR you can press v and use the viewport Quad to select the view you need. (OR you can right-
click on any viewport name and select the word “Views”)

Obviously you can use the Select and Move and the Select and Rotate tools to position cameras, but it is
usually much simpler and more intuitive to set a perspective view correctly and then use the Ctrl + c
shortcut to align a selected camera to copy this view. (Use F3 to swap between wireframe and shaded)

Changes to the View Controls (G)

• Make sure that the Camera03 viewport is active
Now that we are looking through a camera, some of the view controls have changed
________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________ ________________________

Notice that some of these icons are poorly designed. It is very difficult to identify the Dolly Camera, Dolly
Target and Dolly Camera + Target tools simply by looking at the icons themselves. You have to stop
and check with the Tool Tips.

However, on the plus side, although some of the tools have changed, the same shortcuts still work. Use
Ctrl + r to orbit the camera (It’s the same as rotating the perspective view to a new position.)

• Make sure no camera is selected and right-click on the Left Viewport to make it active

• Press c and choose Camera02 from the list of available cameras.

• Use the same method on the Top viewport to make it look through Camera01.

So now we have three viewports showing the views through our three cameras, but what about
rendering? Normally when you render a file you can only specify a single viewport (or camera) for the
entire sequence. What if you want to cut or dissolve between different cameras?

Using Video Post

• Go to the Rendering Menu and click on Video Post.

Video Post is really a Compositing Tool, where Computer-generated and/or live-action video or still
images can be combined together. We could have used Video Post to combine the Snow particle

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system with the snow scene photograph in the last tutorial. Obviously another approach would be to
render the views from different cameras to individual AVI files and then combine them together in Video
Post or in Video Editing program such as Adobe Premiere. Video Post provides many of the same tools
without us having to leave max. Video Post can also include various rendering effects – such as glows
and Lens flares and YET ANOTHER type of Motion Blur called Scene Motion Blur!
There are four main sections to Video Post
Video Post Toolbar – provides the Video Post commands

The Queue – this lists the various elements which are to be combined
together.
Event Track Area – defines the number of frames over which a particular
element will be active.

The VP Status Bar and View Controls – shows information about the
currently selected element and lets you control the display of tracks in the Event Track Area

Let’s define the sequence we want to create

1. A quick Fade In to Camera01 – say 1 second (25 frames)
2. A hold on Camera01 – say approx 15 frames
3. A cut to Camera02 – so this will have to be around frame 40
4. A hold on Camera02 – for 10 frames
5. A dissolve between Camera02 and Camera03. – this will start at frame 50 and last for 25 frames
6. A hold on Camera03 – say for 5 frames
7. A fade out from Camera03 – adjust the length so that the whole sequence ends on frame 100
Notice that it is a really good idea that you include some indication of
frame numbers in your plan. You can always change these later on, but
it really helps with getting started

• On the main Video Post Toolbar, find and click on

Add Scene Event (Ctrl +s)

• Select Camera01 from the drop-down list.

• Camera01 is going to be used for the first 40 frames (25 + 15), so in

the same dialogue, change the VP End Time to 40 as shown. (Make
sure that you change the settings under Video Post Parameters and
not the Scene Range settings)

• Click OK

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Now the Video Post window should look like this.

• Notice that we can only see about 30 frames in the Event Track Area, so click on the Zoom Extents
button here
And the Event Track Area is zoomed to show the current length of the entire queue.

The Queue automatically adjusts to last as long as all of the events listed, so it’s only 40 frames long at
the moment to match the Camera01 event.
Obviously at this point, we could set up the 25 frame Fade In for Camera01, but I’m going to put in all the
Camera events first and then set up the various fades and dissolves. Once you’ve seen how it’s done
then you can decide how you prefer to work.
Let’s just review how the sequence will work:-
Camera01 is “used” for the first 40 frames – the first 25 frames of this will be a fade in.
Camera02 will start from frame 41 and finish on frame 75 – part of this will be a cross-fade to…
Camera03 will start from frame 50 and carry on until the end of the
sequence at frame 100 – part of this will be a cross-fade from Camera02
and a fade-out at the end.

• Click on the Add Scene Event button (Ctrl + s)

• Select Camera02 from the list

• Change the VP Start Time to 41 and the VP End Time to 75 as shown

• Click OK

• Click on Zoom Extents again

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…and now the queue looks like this…

• In exactly the same way, add in another Scene Event. This time select Camera03 and set the VP
Start and End Times to 50 and 100 respectively.

• Click on Zoom Extents as before

The Video Post queue should look like this…

TIP: if you need to edit any event in Video Post, just double-click on it. You can double-click on the
event name in the Queue or on the relevant bar in the Event Track Area.

TIP: Start and End frames can either be set by typing numbers into the relevant dialogue OR by
dragging the white squares at the end of each Event track. Entire tracks can also be dragged to new
positions. (The VP Status Bar gives a readout on track start, end and frame length as you drag)

Incidentally, if we were to render this sequence now then we would look through Camera01 for the first
40 frames, then cut to Camera02 for 9 frames and then cut again to Camera03 from frame 50 onwards
(items lower down the queue are the last to be rendered)

Now we need to start adding the fade and dissolve events.

Adding and setting a Fade In

• Click once on the Camera01 event listed in the Queue to select it

• On the Toolbar, click on the Add Image Filter Event (Ctrl + f)

• Select Fade from the drop-down list.

• Now click on this Setup button.

• Tick the Fade In option and click OK

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• The Fade automatically sets itself to last as long as the Camera01 event, so change the VP End
Time to 25 as shown here.

• And click on OK to finish setting this Fade Event

Now the Video Post Queue will look like this…

Notice that the Fade Event has been added to our selected camera, Camera01.

IMPORTANT: Some tools in Video Post only become active when you select two events. For
example…

Re-ordering the queue

• Hold the Ctrl key and click on any two events

• The Swap Events button becomes active.

You can click on it if you like, but if so, click again to put the queue back to the original order.

TIP: You can also re-order the queue by selecting an event and dragging it up or down the queue list to
a new position.

Adding and setting a Cross-Fade

• Hold the Ctrl key and select the Camera02 and Camera03 events in the queue

• On the Toolbar, click on the Add Image Layer Event button

(or press Ctrl + L).

• Select Cross Fade Transition from the drop down list.

Notice that the VP Start and End Times default to the start frame of one
camera and the end frame of the other
camera – so we need to change this

• Change the VP End Time to 75

• Change the VP Start time to 50

• Click on OK

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…and now the queue looks like this…

Now although Camera03 Scene Event is being used as part of the Cross Fade Transition, we can still
use it for the final Fade Event providing that we’re careful with setting VP Start and End Times

Adding and setting a Fade Out

• Click on Camera03 in the queue list to select it.

• In the Toolbar, click on Add Image Filter Event (Ctrl + f)

• Select Fade from the list

• Setup will already be set for a Fade Out

• Set the VP Start Time to 80 (leave the End Time at 100)

• Click on OK
And the Video Post Queue now looks like this…

Notice that the Cross Fade Transition does not clash with the final Fade Out. Even though both of them
use the same Camera03 event, they occupy different time sections of the animation. (If these two
events did overlap then the Fade Out event would dominate since it is listed lower down the queue.)

Saving a Video Post File.

Video Post files are always saved as part of the max scene file anyway. The only reason for saving
Video Post files separately is that they can be used in any scene, i.e. this Video Post queue you have
just created can be loaded back into Video Post in any scene you choose and used to render the scene.
(providing that the scene contains three cameras named Camera01, Camera02 and Camera03).

• Click on the disc icon on the Video Post toolbar

• Create a Tutorial Four folder in your network home area

• Save the Video Post file as VideoPostTest

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Rendering A Video Post Queue.

The bottom-most event in a Video Post Queue should normally be an Image Output Event (Ctrl + o).
This allows you to define an AVI file to save the rendered sequence.

• Click on the Image Output Event Tool

• Click on Files

• Navigate to your Tutorial Four Folder

• Set up an AVI file called VPtest and click on Save.

• Click OK for the Cinepak Codec settings

• Back in the Add Image Output event dialogue shown here, check that it
is set to cover all the frames of the animation (it does not have to, of
course). And click OK

• On the Video Post Toolbar, click the Execute Sequence button (Ctrl + r)

This dialogue allows you to specify the frames and output

size required.

• Under Time Output, select Range and the full 100 frames
(i.e 0 to 100)

• Leave the Output Size at 640 x 480.

• Click on Render.

And the Sequence is rendered. Notice how the Fades and

Cross Fades are built up.

• When the rendering finishes, go to the File Menu and select View Image File. Navigate to your
Tutorial Four folder and playback the VPtest.avi file.

Notice that the video feels rushed. Fades and dissolves tend to need more screen time than we have
allocated.

Notice also that the surface shading of the objects shimmers slightly as the fades and cross-fades
happen. This is an effect of the image compression carried out by the Cinepak Codec and only become
apparent when you playback the finished animation. Although we’re not going to worry about this for this
course, such “moving image artefacts” are always produced by the scanline renderers in max, XSI and
Maya and this is the main reason that these programs are used alongside the separate rendering
systems – mental ray and Renderman – for film-based special effects.

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TASK ONE – Multi-Camera Control

Reset max (don’t save)

Read through everything first so that you understand what is required.

We’re going to add three cameras into an old scene and use Video Post to render a single video file.
1. Navigate to the Tutorial One folder and load in the SimpleScene1 file. Re-save this scene as
MultiCamera in the Tutorial Four folder.
2. Apply Cap Holes Modifiers to the cups and sugar bowl to make them complete objects (OR if
you’ve been very observant in the previous tutorials, you can turn off the backface cull for these
objects)
3. Create three cameras (Free and/or Target as you wish) which each look at the items on the table
from a different viewpoint as follows:-
Camera01 – shows an extreme close up of the handle of one of the cups.
Camera02 – shows a close up of the teapot spout
Camera03 – shows the table top with all the items.

4. Feel free to re-position objects if this helps.

5. Open Video Post and create suitable events for the following;
A 10 frame fade-in on Camera01
A 15 frame hold on Camera01
A 10 frame fade-out on Camera01
5 empty frames (set up a suitable view eg Left or Top showing an empty view)
A 10 frame fade-in on Camera02
A 15 frame hold on Camera02
A 10 frame dissolve to Camera03
A 15 frame hold on Camera03
A 10 frame fade-out on Camera03

6. Start by introducing just four Scene Events – one for each of the three cameras plus the Top
viewport OR if you prefer, you can load in the VideoPostTest file you saved earlier and
modify that instead.
7. Save the Video Post file as you work, to the Tutorial Four folder, under the filename SimplePost
8. Create an Image Output Event set to a file called SimpleScene.avi to be saved in the Tutorial
Four folder using the Cinepak Codec as usual.
9. Render this Video Post Queue at 640 x 480.
10. Show your tutor the saved Video Post file and the rendered video and keep this scene loaded
for the next exercise.

This is one way to solve this task. I’ve labelled the various events to make them easier to identify.

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Animating Cameras
• Keep the previous scene loaded for the next exercise but minimise Video Post for the time being
(we’ll need it again shortly)
As well as fading or dissolving between cameras, individual cameras can also be animated to move
around your scene. There are a few terms to understand.
Pan – the camera stays in the same position but is rotated from side to side. This is not the same
as the usual viewport Pan we’ve met before.
Tilt – the camera stays in the same position but is rotated up and down.
Truck – the camera moves crab-wise (sideways). Truck shots nearly always use Pan as well.
Dolly – the camera moves towards or away from the action (always used in preference to a zoom)
IMPORTANT TIP: Students nearly always make the mistake of moving cameras too far and too fast in
their animations. If cameras move at all, then the speed of movement should match the pace and tempo
of the action they view, so that the audience is not distracted by inappropriate camera behaviour. (For
irritating and distracting camera work, watch an old episode of the TV series NYPD blue)

• Turn on AutoKey (n)

• Drag the Time Slider over to frame 77

• Use the Dolly Camera tool on the correct viewport to pull Camera02 back a small distance, away
from the teapot, so that a little more of the lid can be seen as well.

• Turn off AutoKey (n)

On the Track Bar there should be two keys defined for Camera02; one at frame zero and the other at
frame 77.

• Click and drag the key at frame zero up to frame 37.

• Select the Camera02 viewport to make it active.

• Press Play
As the animation plays the Camera02 viewport will show the camera movement between frames 37 and
77.
Why 37 and 77? Well if you look back at the Video Post file you will see that the final rendering only
uses Camera02 between frames 40 and 75. Setting the Keyframes a little longer than this ensures that
the Camera is already moving when we look through it. If you drag the key at frame 37 up to frame 50,
then the camera will start to move during its shot (which may be just what you need).
IMPORTANT TIP: When you animate several cameras around other animated objects it is important to
make sure that cameras and objects are in the right place at the right time. Again, rendering Previews of
relevant frame sequences helps you to check what’s going on.

• Press h and select Camera03 from the list.

• Turn on AutoKey

• Drag the Timeslider over to frame 100

• Use Select and Move and the Transform Type In and increase the X value by about 10

• Turn off AutoKey.

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• With Camera03 still selected, go to the Track Bar and drag the Key at frame zero up to frame 60
Again, this ensures that Camera03 is already moving when we look through it.
IMPORTANT TIP: The real skill in multi-camera control lies in synchronizing scene events with camera
movement and Video Post events.

Setting up Scene Motion Blur

Scene Motion Blur can only be applied to Scene Events in Video Post (i.e. cameras and/or viewports). If
you apply Scene Motion Blur to a camera, then everything that the camera looks at has Image Motion
Blur applied to it automatically – whether it needs it or not.

• Open up Video Post and double-click on Camera02

• Tick the box labelled Scene Motion Blur, followed by OK

• Re-render the Video Post Queue (Ctrl + r). Answer Yes to overwriting the SimpleScene.avi video
file.

• When the rendering is finished, view the video file.

Ok it’s still too rushed, but notice the camera movements, some of which are continuous across different
Video Post Events. Rendering Camera02 with motion blur takes longer and to no real purpose, because
objects in this scene do not really move fast enough to need Blur.

Camera Controls (G)

• Press h and select Camera03 (this should be the camera body of the target camera)

• Select the Modify Panel to show the settings for the currently selected camera.

Some of the terminology comes from real-world cameras.

Lens Focal length - A 50 mm focal length lens is a common standard in

conventional photography and produces a view which is similar to that recorded
by the human eye. A lens with a smaller focal length is called a wide-angle lens, a
lens with a larger focal length value is called a telephoto lens.

• Change the Lens value and watch the Camera viewport (usually, you need to
make sure that the camera you are changing is also one you are looking
through in a viewport)
Orthographic Projection – makes the camera viewport look like a User view (ie the
camera seems to be infinitely far away and fitted with a large telephoto lens).
Leave this control off.
Stock Lenses group – click on a few of the buttons to select different standard
lens sizes.

• When you’re ready, select the 50mm Stock Lens.

Type – you can change a Free Camera into a Target Camera and vice versa.
However, if you change a Target Camera into a Free Camera, any animation you have created for the
Target object is lost, because the Target disappears.
Show Cone – The camera’s field of view cone (actually it’s a pyramid) is always shown when the camera
is selected. Turning this option on will show the cone permanently.
Show Horizon – When on, a dark grey line appears in the camera viewport at the level of the horizon.
The line may not be visible if the camera is tilted too high or too low.
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Environment Range – we’ve met an example of Rendering Effects (Lens Glow). There is another group
of Effects in Max, called Environment Effects (Fire Effect, Fog, Volume Fog and Volume Light). Two of
these (Fire and Volume Fog) only work within the confines of a specially created
helper object – called an Atmospheric Apparatus Gizmo. The other two (Fog and
Volume Light) will extend through the entire scene unless you define the
Environment Range values. So for example, if you are using Fog, turn on Show
and set the Far Range value to just beyond your furthest object and the Near
Range to intersect the closest object to the camera.
Clipping Planes – normally a camera will render everything it sees. However,
setting the Near and Far clipping planes will restrict rendering to those objects (or
parts of objects) which lie between the clipping planes. Useful in foggy scenes
since it stops max processing distant objects which will be lost in the fog anyway.

Multi-Pass Effect – there are three camera-based effects – Depth of Field and
Motion Blur and Depth of Field (mental ray). The last option can only be used if
mental ray is selected instead of the Scanline Renderer. Only one effect can be
applied to a single camera.

“Multi-pass” really means “multi-image”. So max renders (say) 12 images and then
combines them together to create a single frame!

Sadly Video Post does not support direct multi-pass rendering of motion blur or depth of field.
You can only render a multi-pass effect by pressing F10 and setting up a normal AVI file output.
You then need to add these AVI files into Video Post as Image Input Events; then set up the fades
and cross fades between these AVI files and finally re-render the whole sequence to a new AVI
file. Rather more time consuming.
Multi-Pass rendering really comes into its own when computer generated images must be integrated
seamlessly with Live-action footage. But of course, accurate 3D motion blur is only one aspect of image
appearance and everything else – from the materials used to the choice of anti-aliasing method must be
chosen appropriately. As you might expect, rendering times get even longer!

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Introducing Lights
Reset max (don’t save)

• Under Standard Primitives, select Plane

• Draw a Plane in the Perspective viewport and adjust its size to 800 by 800.

• Swap to Standard Primitives and draw a Sphere on the Plane

• Move the Sphere upwards so that it floats just above the Plane

• In the Create Panel, click on the Light Icon

There are two main classes of lights – Standard and Photometric. Photometric
lights (not available in gmax) accurately model real-world light sources (you can
even import photometric data files from lighting manufacturers to design lighting
based on real, commercially available lights – useful for Architects)
Unlike Photometric lights, Standard lights do not have physically-based intensity
and colour-temperature values – but they are easier to use and (all together now)
faster to render.
We’ll be sticking with Standard Lights for this course.
With Standard Lights selected, there are four main groups: Omni, Direct, Spotlight
and Skylight
Omni Lights are like naked light bulbs – radiating light equally in all directions.(G)
Spotlights produce a conical beam of light (G)
Direct lights produce a cylindrical beam of light – useful for creating sunlight (G)
Rather like cameras, Direct lights and Spot lights can be either Free or Targeted (G)
A Skylight is a one-stop device to create general daylighting – however, it must be used with something
called a Light-Tracer which increases rendering times. (not gmax)
Omni lights and Spotlights can also be mr Area lights. These can only be used with the mental ray (mr)
renderer. (not gmax)

Creating a Direct light (G)

• In the Create Panel, click on Target Direct

• Click in the Perspective viewport and drag the mouse. Release the mouse to define the Target.

The Direct light appears on the grid and max’s default lighting is switched off in favour of the new light.

Keep this new light selected

• On the Main Toolbar, select Place Highlight (Ctrl + h)

• Drag the mouse over the surface of the Sphere and/or the Plane. The Direct light will move to
position the specular highlight where required.
Using Place Highlight is one way to position Omnis, Directs and Spots.

Looking through Lights (G)

• Right-click on the Left viewport NAME

• Select Views followed by Direct01 from the list.

Immediately the Left viewport changes to show the view through this Direct light

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An Introduction to 3D Animation
• Press F3 to make this a shaded view
You can look through Spots and Direct Lights, but not Omnis.
Because we are looking through a light, some of the View Controls have changed. Label this screenshot

________________________ ________________________
________________________ ________________________
________________________

________________________
________________________ ________________________

• Experiment with clicking and dragging the Light Falloff tool in the Direct01 viewport
Notice what happens to the diameter of the light beam

• Activate the Perspective viewport and Quick Render (Shift + q) and clone the
image
Look at the edge of the light beam

• Experiment with clicking and dragging the Light Hotspot tool in the Direct01
viewport

• Quick render the Perspective view again and compare the two images
IMPORTANT: 1) the Light Hotspot tool creates a soft edge to the illuminated area.
2) max only calculates shadows within the Light Falloff area. 3) Along with Place
highlight, looking through lights is the other main method for positioning lights

Parameters for Lights (G)

• Select the Modify Panel
The General Parameters Rollout for any light allows you to:-
Turn the light on or off and change the light type between Direct, Omni and Spot
and between Free and Target.
Turn Shadows on or off and select different shadow types (see below).
Exclude some objects in your scene from illumination and/or shadow casting. This
last option gives you greater control over a lighting setup and speeds up rendering
since shadows are only calculated for important scene objects.
The Intensity/Color/ Attenuation Rollout for any light allows you to:-
Change the brightness of the light with the Multiplier value.
Change the Colour of the light.
Select how the brightness of the light decreases (decays) with distance.

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 Tutorial Four

Shadow Types
There are five different types of shadows:

Shadow Type Advantages Disadvantages

Shadow Maps Produce soft edged Do not support objects with
shadows. Processed only transparency or opacity
once if the light and object maps. Can use a lot of
remain in the same place. memory if finer detailed
The fastest shadow type shadows are needed
Raytrace Shadows Support transparency and Can be slower than shadow
Opacity mapping. maps. Raytracing always
Processed only once if produces a hard edged
there are no animated shadow.
objects/light
Advanced Raytrace (Adv. Support transparency and Processed for every frame.
Ray Traced) Opacity. Uses less RAM Shadows always have a
than standard Ray-traced hard edge. Not supported
shadows. Recommended by the mental ray renderer
for complex scenes with
many shadow casting lights
Area Shadows Support transparency and Slower than Shadow Maps.
Opacity. Support soft Processed for every frame.
edged shadows. Use very Not supported by the
little RAM. Recommended mental ray renderer
for complex scenes with
many lights. Max supports
different formats for Area
shadows
Mental ray Shadow Maps Support transparency and Similar soft-edges to
Opacity mapping if used ordinary Shadow mapping.
with “Caustics”. Can be Not supported by the
quicker than ray-traced scanline renderer
shadows with the mental
ray renderer

So if you are recreating a bright sunny day, use Advanced raytrace shadows, cast by a single large
Direct light (Target or Free as you wish). Use dimmer, non-shadow casting Omnis as fill-in lights to
make shadow areas less black.
For overcast daylight or interior scenes, use Area Shadows
We’ll focus on these two Shadow Types but of course there may be situations – such as scenes which
don’t have objects with transparency or opacity mapping – where simpler and faster shadow types will
produce the result needed. It’s the usual speed/quality trade-off

Lighting a simple Sunny Day

• In the Modify Panel for the Direct light, in the Intensity/Color/Att Rollout, click
on this.

• Change the RGB values to 250, 255, 175 (or equivalent HSV values are 45, 80
and 255).
In clear weather, sunlight is typically pale yellow. Obviously this colour is not constant. Cloudy weather
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An Introduction to 3D Animation
can tint sunlight blue, shading into darker grey for stormy weather. At sunrise or sunset, the colour shifts
towards orange/red. (A directional light can also simulate moonlight, which is white but very much
dimmer than the sun. Fill lights can be dim, deep blue Omnis)

• In the Directional Parameters Rollout, decrease the Falloff value so that only part of the sphere is hit
by the light beam.
Notice that this does the same as using the Light Falloff tool in the light’s viewport.

• Click the Overshoot button

• Quick Render and Clone the Perspective view a third time

Overshoot overrides the Falloff setting, however…

• In the General Parameters Rollout, select Adv. Ray Traced from the list of Shadows.

• Quick Render and Clone a fourth time. Notice the slowdown in rendering thanks to the raytraced
shadow.
IMPORTANT: Shadows are only calculated within the Falloff region. So use this to create shadows
where they will definitely be seen in the video. Use Overshoot to light other objects in your scene which
do not need to cast shadows.
Fill lighting
It is normal to have at least one, non-shadow casting Omni light in the scene to fill in shadow areas (true
black shadows only occur in outer space with no nearby illuminated or radiant
objects to fill shadow areas with light). Complex scenes may need more Omnis.

• In the Create Panel, click on Omni

• Click once in the Perspective viewport

The Omni-light icon appears on the grid. Keep this new light selected

• Re-position this Omni light so that it will light both the shadowy side of the sphere
and the shadow on the plane.
In the Modify Panel, reduce the Multiplier value to 0.3 as shown

• In the Advanced Effects Rollout, tick the Ambient Only option

• Quick Render and Clone a fifth time.

Lighting a simple Moonlit Night

• Select the Direct Light and return the RGB values to Maximum to create white
light and then reduce the Multiplier value down to about 0.3 to make the light
dimmer.

• Select the Omni Light and reduce the Multiplier to 0.05 and for the colour, reduce
the R and G values to zero to leave only blue to fill in the shadow areas.
Again, some experimentation with these values will be needed in different scenes

• Quick Render one last time.

• Of course, believable daytime or night time scenes depend on far more than just
a couple of lights. The modelling of objects has to look convincing, as do the materials applied to
them and the chosen background. Always remember that this course is only an Introduction to
Animation and don’t get bogged down in photorealism.

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 Tutorial Four

TASK TWO – Interior Lighting

Reset max (don’t)

Read through everything first so that you understand what is required.

The Ambient Only option can be difficult to control and some situations may need multiple lights. Interior
spaces are difficult to simulate since light comes directly from sources and scattered from illuminated
objects like walls. The full-on solution for this is a technique called Radiosity. Suffice to say that we’ll be
taking a simpler approach in this task.
1. Load up the completed Ashtray scene file from Tutorial Two and save it immediately as
InteriorLighting in the Tutorial Four Folder.
2. Press Ctrl + c to add a Camera into the scene
3. Draw a Plane under the Ashtray, adjusting its size to 1000 by 1000
4. Apply a suitable wood material to the Plane, choosing one with an appropriate size of wood grain
5. In the Material Editor, open the Maps rollout for the wood material. Two maps will probably be
applied – for Diffuse and Bump. Untick Bump.
6. In the same rollout, tick the box next to the word “Reflection” and reduce the Amount value for
Reflection down to 5 and then click on the large Map button next to Reflection (it currently says
None)
7. Select Flat Mirror from the Map list.
8. In the Flat Mirror Parameters, increase the Blur value to 3 and tick the box labelled “Apply to Faces
with ID” (leave the ID value at 1). (Notice that this map includes a Distortion section with Built-in
Noise – you can even animate the Phase value if you ever need moving wave-like reflections)
9. Increase the Specular Level (to about 90) and Glossiness values (70) to suggest polished wood.
10. Create four Omni Lights in the Perspective viewport.
11. Move each Omni light to the corner of the Plane and increase their Z coordinate to 1000
12. Select the Omni light nearest the camera and reduce its Multiplier value to 0.4 and in the Advanced
Effects Rollout, untick Specular. Reduce its height from 1000 down to 100.
13. Select each of the other three lights and reduce their Multiplier values to 0.6 and in the Shadow
Parameters Rollout, turn on Area Shadows for these three Omni lights only.
14. Open the Area Shadows Rollout for each of these three lights in turn and increase the Sample
Spread value from 1 to 16. This creates softer shadow edges
15. Render the Camera01 viewport and note the render time on the Status Bar. Save the single Image
as AreaShadows.jpg in the Tutorial Four folder.
16. Swap all three Areas Shadows for Shadow Maps. Re-render and re-save as ShadowMaps.jpg
17. Compare images and rendering times and show the images to your Tutor
Save your final scene and keep it loaded for the next exercise.
TIP: Always try to use the fastest shadow type which will produce the look you require.
TIP: The Flat Mirror map is a quick way to create flat or distorted reflections on any flat surface without
resorting to raytracing. However, this map only works on the flat surface of an object. So if you apply it
to, say, a cylinder, only the flat ends of the cylinder will look like a mirror.

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An Introduction to 3D Animation

Light Speed
Keep the previous scene loaded for this exercise.
Omni Lights render the quickest and since interiors are always characterised by multiple light sources,
you should start with these.
It is always necessary to have some sort of Fill light in a scene (so called because its job is to “fill-in”
shadow areas). If you’re using an Ambient Only setting, this can be placed anywhere in the scene.
However, the Ambient Only setting can create some odd effects, especially when used at higher levels
of illumination. Using the “just Diffuse” setting (as we did in the last Task) is a safer bet, but then the
light does have to be in the right position to illuminate the underside of objects. Either way, Fill lights
should either not cast shadows at all or cast very feint Area Shadows.
The number of fill lights needed in a scene will increase if you need extensive camera movement.
Looking at the ashtray from the far side would need at least one (preferably more) fill lights to light other
sections of the underside of the ashtray. Obviously it is important to be able to adjust the overall
brightness of all these lights

Negative Brightness
• Select one of the three, shadow-casting Omni lights in your scene

• Reduce its Multiplier to 0.2 and re-render. That particular light will be dimmer.

• Reduce the Multiplier value still further to make it negative (say, -0.9)

• Quick Render
Notice that the shadow area is now brighter than the surroundings – negative multiplier values absorb
light from the scene and brighten the shadow. Surprisingly, this can be useful when used alongside a
light’s Attenuation Parameters. You can use a (non shadow-casting) light with a negative multiplier to
create a small darkened area in the corner of your scene. This is often an easier approach than trying to
create the same effect by adjusting the main lights in a scene.

The Light Lister

Once you start adding several lights to your scene, adjusting them one at a time becomes a real pain.

• Go to the Tools Menu at the top of the screen and select Light Lister.

• These buttons turn on the Modify Panel for the relevant light. Try them out
The Light Lister cannot control more than 150 unique light objects at a time(!) This is seldom a
handicap.

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 Tutorial Four

The Array Tool (G)

Reset max (don’t save)
This can be used as an alternative to the Snapshot Tool we used earlier to create repeating patterns of
objects such as rows of particle systems or circles of lights (or anything else). The advantage of the
Array tool is that you do not have to create any Path or Keyframe animation.

• Create an Omni light in any viewport

• Use Select and Move and the Transform Type In to move it to X=200, Y=0, Z=50

• In the Modify Panel, reduce its Multiplier down to 0.5

• On the Main Toolbar select this icon from the Flyout.

This re-positions the Origin of the current transform to the centre of the perspective view (the World
Origin) – if you look closely you’ll see that the red axes tripod has been moved from the object to the
centre of the grid. This is the point about which we’ll create a circle of lights.

• Go to the Tool Menu and select Array or click on this button in the Main Toolbar
The following dialogue appears

Notice that there is a Scale

option to change the
proportions of the objects as
they are duplicated (we could
have used this on the Cones
back at the start of the
tutorial). Scale won’t work on
lights.

• Change this Z Rotate

value to 36 degrees.

Notice that we are creating Copies (rather than Instances or References)

A Reference Clone is a sort of “one-way instance”. Changing the original object updates the references,
but changing any reference won't change the original object (or the other references)
Notice that we are making 10 copies.

• Alternatively click this button.

Sometimes its easier to just say that you
want 360 degrees and this many objects
and leave max to work out the angular separation.

• Click on OK.
And the light is copied nine times around the Transform Coordinate centre.
Keep this scene loaded for the next task

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An Introduction to 3D Animation

TASK THREE – Post Effect

DON’T Reset max

Read through everything first so that you understand what is required.

The previous scene with the circle of Omni lights should still be loaded.
If you are using multiple Cameras, then any lens flares or other Effects have to be applied through Video
Post.
1. Save this scene immediately as PostEffect in the Tutorial Four folder.
2. Select all of the lights and use the Group menu to Group them together. Choose a Group name.
3. Create a Circle, radius 100 in any viewport.
4. Give the Group of lights a Path Animation controller and assign the Circle as the Path. Tick Follow,
Allow Upside Down and Z
5. Zoom out to see all the objects
6. Press Play to check the motion. Adjust the motion if you prefer.
7. Select the group of lights, go to the Group Menu and click on Open
8. Create three Cameras, each looking towards the rotating lights from a different position.
9. Open Video Post and load in the Video Post file SimplePost which you saved earlier.
10. In Video Post, create a new Image Filter Event and choose Lens Effects Flare from the drop down
list. Click OK to return to the main Video Post window
11. Drag this Lens Effects Flare Event up the queue so that the it sits just above the File Output Event in
the Video Post queue.
12. Double click on the Lens Effect Flare Event followed by Setup.
13. In the Lens Effects Flare dialogue find and press the buttons marked VP Queue and Preview
14. Below the Preview button, type in a new Size value of 5
15. Press the button marked Node Sources and select ALL the lights (click and drag down the list of
Omnis)
16. Click on OK
17. Save regularly. Should you save the max scene or the Video Post Queue? Or both?
18. Back in Video Post, change the Filename for the AVI output file to LensFlare.avi
19. Execute the Video Post queue (640 x 480 +Cinepak). Read the next pages while you wait
20. Show the finished video to your tutor.
If you are just rendering through a single viewport or camera, you can set up these sorts of Lens Effects
through the normal Environment and Effects dialogue (8 on the keyboard and select the Effects Tab).
These effects do look cool but you need to careful in their use. For one thing, they dramatically increase
rendering times – particularly when applied to multiple light sources. Secondly, they can be very
distracting and it’s a bit embarrassing if your audience is more impressed with the Lens Flares than they
are with the rest of your animation!

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 Tutorial Four

POST-PRODUCTION – READ THIS FIRST

The previous Tutorials have thrown a lot of examples and ideas at you and now it’s time for you to come
up with your own designs based on the theme given on the next page.

Where do Animators get their ideas?

There is an enormous amount of cribbing going on out there. If you think about it, both films and video
games suffer from too many sequels (there is no such thing as a FINAL Fantasy and they should never
have made Matrix Reloaded or Revolutions). The only truly original work I’ve seen in the last few years
is “Spirited Away”. My point is that true originality is a rare event. Most of the time the film and game
industries survive on adaptation; that’s “copying” to you and me.
From our point of view, this is actually a good thing. There is no need to get hung up about creating your
own totally new and never-before-seen-vision in these practical animation assignments. Just do what
everybody else does – adapt and copy.
In the instructions which follow, some objects will be clear to you – you’ll have a good idea about the sort
of forms you want to create. Others will be less-easily defined. So, look for inspiration in the shapes and
forms around you. Anything can be a starting point. A lampshade. A household ornament. Part of a
pattern on a plate. Anything – adapt and copy. The only trick is teaching yourself to look more closely at
the things around you – the everyday objects which are so familiar that you’ve ceased to notice them.
Imagine them cut into smaller sections, duplicated, mirrored or revolved. Move a small mirror across a
photograph or a page of words. If you use two mirrors you can play around with ideas of rotational
symmetry – as in a Kaleidoscope. Then scale these shapes up or down and imagine them made out of
totally different materials. It’s amazing how many boring and unlikely shapes can suddenly look
wonderful when duplicated and combined in different ways.
Next comes sketching. Don’t worry if you can’t draw in 3D, just keep it simple and draw side views and
top views. Try to puzzle out how the pieces of the object should fit in your drawing.
Then there is the task of thinking about how individual forms will be made in gmax. How about 3D
Primitives + Modifiers, or 2D Shapes extruded or lathed? Then there are Booleans, Snapshot and Array.
Inspiration may come from these objects/processes as well, so look back through the previous tutorials.

Preparing for BOTH Assignments – Practical and Written

YOU NEED TO SORT OUT THE DESIGNS FOR ANY ASSIGNMENT IN YOUR OWN TIME – HENCE
THE NEED FOR SKETCHING AND YOUR OWN COPY OF GMAX.
START WORKING ON THIS PRACTICAL ASSIGNMENT TONIGHT WHEN YOU GET HOME. DON’T
WAIT.
RE-READ THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS IN THE LOG BOOK BECAUSE
YOU NEED TO DECIDE WHICH ASPECTS OF G/MAX WILL FORM THE BASIS OF BOTH THIS
PRACTICAL ASSIGNMENT AND YOUR FIRST AND THIRD WRITTEN ASSIGNMENTS.

There is one very important thing to do when you come to start building your scene:-

Save regularly – so that you can call up earlier work easily when you need to capture
screenshots. And if disaster strikes, you can get up and running again easily

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An Introduction to 3D Animation

THE FIRST PRACTICAL ASSIGNMENT – The Fountain

Create a scene in response to this description.
In the middle of the courtyard stood a fountain. The base appeared to be made from interlocking stone
sections which formed a pattern of numerous pools of water. The heights of these increased towards
the centre of the fountain so that I could not see the water surface in the innermost pools. Strange
metallic symbols resembling the letters of some ancient language were set into the sides of some of the
stone sections. The letters shone out against the dark stonework.
Rising out of the centre of the fountain were a number of pipe-like structures composed of different
colours of metals. Some rose into the air, supporting a large, single sphere above the centre of the
fountain. Other pipes looped over and submerged into the water in some of the deeper pools. Others
were positioned out over the fountain; coloured water spraying from their ends. These pipes revolved
slowly around the fountain, spraying water into the pools below. As I watched, it seemed to me that as
the pipes rotated, the coloured water would suddenly stop spraying for a moment and then start again in
a different colour. Other jets of water sprayed upwards from some of the pools of water. Each of these
jets supported a single sphere, which rose and fell, supported by the force of the water alone.

Getting started
Decide on the lighting – it can be anytime day or night. Where and what is the main source of light
(this is known as the “Key light”)? Where might the fill lights need to go? What about shadows?
Deciding on the “look”. Does the fountain look organic, industrial or geometrical or how about a
mixture of the three?
Deciding on numbers – how many pools? How many letters? How many pipes? How many different
colours of metals? How many pipes spray water? How many different colours of water? How many
spheres?
Deciding on sizes and proportions – this is where the sketching comes in. Start with a stick figure
representing you looking at the fountain. How high are the innermost pools? How wide should the
whole fountain be to stay in proportion to the height of these pools? What about the pipes? How much
higher should some of these rise into the air? How large is the central sphere? Where should the other
water jets be positioned? How high should the other spheres rise on their jets of water?
Deciding on how it works – any design looks more convincing if it works according to some believable
rules. These could be the laws of Physics – but you can pick and choose which ones you want to use.
Some of the pipes spray water. How far, wide and fast should these sprays be? You also need to
decide on the reason WHY the water sprays stop spraying for a moment and then start again. What’s
going on that would require this? As you sketch, possible reasons should suggest themselves. You’ll
need to sort out the timing.
Decide on the surroundings – what about this courtyard? What is the ground under the fountain like?
What are the sides of the courtyard like?
Start building objects in gmax – the courtyard, the fountain, the 3 cameras and the lights. Use dummy
objects (look under Helper objects) as stand-ins for the particle emitters, to test out your ideas.

Problem Solving
In gmax – setup a total of three cameras, at least one should be animated smoothly and slowly.
In max - How can you set up particle systems to stop and start spraying repeatedly? (Clue – think about
particle systems – plural)
As some of the pipes rotate, how can you animate the particle systems so they look like they stay in the
ends of the moving pipes? (Clue – you need the first Animation Controller – also available in gmax)

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 Tutorial Four

Technical aspects and suggestions

The animation must be 500 frames long (PAL) but should not “loop” (i.e. don’t waste time making the
final frame match the first). The final video should be 640 x 480 and use the Cinepak Codec.
Some form of Motion Blur must be used on the water jets/sprays
You should NOT try to model accurate interaction between falling water splashing into the water in the
pools. However, you MUST use appropriate material settings to SUGGEST that the water surface is
moving as water is poured down into a pool. (Clue. Re-read Task Two)
Rendering must be carried out through Video Post to allow for fading/dissolving between THREE
cameras and at least one of these cameras must be animated along a short path.
The total rendering of all 500 frames should take a maximum of FIFTY minutes (an average of SIX
SECONDS PER FRAME)
You must find a balance between Level of Detail, Material choices/settings, Lighting/Shadow Casting,
Motion Blur and other Effects you may choose to use to stay within this rendering time frame.
THINK ABOUT SET-BUILDING FOR TV SHOWS AND FILMS – if the cameras never sees it there is no
reason to build it, i.e. don’t make unnecessary work for yourself.
AS YOU WORK, GIVE MEANINGFUL NAMES FOR THE OBJECTS YOU CREATE. DON’T RELY ON
THE DEFAULT NAMES. This will save time later.

Your checklist
This assignment will be complete when the following conditions are satisfied:-

Scene created which includes all the features covered in the description.

Motion Blur for the water jets/sprays

Appropriate animated material(s) used to suggest water ripples.

Appropriate materials for the other objects.

Three cameras used and at least one of them animated along a short path.

Fades and dissolves used for the cameras in Video Post.

Final Video is 500 frames long and uses the PAL frame rate.

Final video rendered at 640 x 480 + Cinepak in 50 minutes or less.

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