2009 August | MrBluesummers.com

Circular Holes

Written August 24th, 2009
Categories: Modeling, Videos
14 comments

Hey all!

This is another one of those topics where I’m surprised I haven’t covered it yet. I’ll be showing you how to cut perfectly circular holes (or perfectly ‘any-shaped’ holes) into a turbosmoothed mesh. It’s less focused on keeping tight geometry, and more focused on the basic idea.

We start by taking a spline shape (in this case a circle) and using the cut tool and snaps toggle (with ‘vertex’ enabled) and we cut the circular hole into the target polygon. Once that’s done, it’s up to you what you want to do with the shape!

P.S. I’m stoked by all the comments people are leaving! Thanks for letting me know what you think, and I’m open to more ideas for Monday Movies!

Decals

Written August 16th, 2009
Categories: Modeling, UVWs / Texturing, Videos
10 comments

Hey all,

This week we’ve got a really super technique- decals. I’ll be showing you how to very quickly add some uniqueness to otherwise repetitive textures in 3dsMax and game levels.

Basically what you’ll do is create a layer of polygons just above the original geometry. This is accomplished by selecting polygons in the editable poly object, using the detach tool (as clone), and applying a push modifier. Then you can apply an opacity mapped material to add graffiti, posters, or trash to almost any surface! As always, don’t hesitate to leave comments for improvement or ideas for future Monday Movies!

Snazzy New Social Networking Buttons

Written August 15th, 2009
Categories: Blog
No Comments »

For those of you who asked (and for those who want it for your own blog), I’ve installed Sociable- a WordPress plugin that puts social networking buttons on my blog posts. Now when you see a post that’s just too-dang-cool, you can share it with the world. Show them how ahead of the curve you are. =)

Cheers!

Mirroring UVW Coordinates

Written August 11th, 2009
Categories: UVWs / Texturing, Videos
10 comments

Hey everyone,

I’m afraid that this isn’t my best performance. It’s late, and the audio has a nasty popping noise that I can’t get rid of. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that this Movie’s got something for everyone! I’ll show you how to quickly mirror UVWs using a symmetry modifier to get more texture space. Who doesn’t want more UVW space? As usual, don’t hesitate to leave comments or suggestions for future Monday Movies!

Copy and paste under the "Edit" menu.

Edit: Mr. Tom of FGI Services noted that you can also layer up UVW coordinates using the Copy/Paste function of the UVW editor. You can find this under the Edit menu item (see image). To use this technique, start by selecting the parent cluster- the one you want to stay still- and use Edit>Copy. Then select the target cluster- the one you want to move to the parent cluster- and use Edit>Paste. You can use this second step (Edit>Paste) as many times as needed. 3 cheers for Mr. Tom!

Filmstrip Material and Animation

Written August 3rd, 2009
Categories: Animation, Materials / Shaders, Videos
3 comments

Hey Everyone.

This week we’re looking at how you can create a reel-to-reel film material in 3dsMax. I’ll walk you through how to blend opacity mapped materials with translucent mental ray materials, and I’ll also give you a few pointers about how to animate the technique!

I’ll post the scene files for download in a little bit. Enjoy!