In this lesson, you will work in symmetry mode on half the helmet. This way, any changes you make will be perfectly mirrored for the other half.

Set up the lesson:

1. Continue from the previous lesson, or open helmet_01.max. This scene is in the folder \scenes\modeling\helmet\.
   NoteIf a dialog asks whether you want to use the scene’s Gamma And LUT settings, accept the scene Gamma settings, and click OK. If a dialog asks whether to use the scene’s units, accept the scene units, and click OK.
2. If you open the new file, then select the helmet object, and on the ribbon Polygon Modeling panel, click Modify Mode.

   

   When active, Modify Mode makes the entire array of Graphite Modeling Tools available.

Add the Symmetry modifier:

1. On the Polygon Modeling panel, activate (Polygon) to go to the Polygon sub-object level.

   

2. Click the ribbon’s Selection tab.

   

3. On the By Half panel, click (Y), then click (Select).

   

   

   This selects half the object based on its Y axis orientation.

4. On the By Half panel, click Invert Axis.

   

   The polygon selection is inverted. The new selection contains the polygons we want to remove.

5. Press Delete.

   You will now add a Symmetry modifier to these polygons so that their geometry can be mirrored.

6. On the ribbon, click the Graphite Modeling Tools tab. With the helmet object still selected, go to the Modify panel and from the Modifier List choose Symmetry.
7. On the Parameters rollout Mirror Axis group, choose the Y option and turn on Flip.

   

   This properly orients the mirrored half of the helmet.

   Notice how the ribbon displays a limited set of modeling tools. This is because the Symmetry modifier is active.

8. On the ribbon Polygon Modeling panel, click (Previous Modifier).

   

   Now the Editable Poly object is active again, and the ribbon displays an expanded set of tools for polygon editing.

   The mirrored half of the helmet is hidden in the viewport because with the polygon editing controls displayed, you are editing the source polygons only.

9. On the Polygon Modeling panel, click (Show End Result) to see the mirrored side of the helmet controlled by the Symmetry modifier.

   

10. Click (Show End Result) again to turn it off.

Preview mesh smoothing:

1. On the Edit panel, click (Use NURMS).

   

   The Use NURMS panel displays at the right of the ribbon. (NURMS is short for Non-Uniform Rational MeshSmooth.)

2. On the Use NURMS panel, set Iterations to 2.

   This smooths out the object by adding more polygons to the geometry. It is best to specify an Iterations value of no more than 3, because each time you increase iterations by one, the number of vertices and polygon faces can increase by a factor of four. This can result in a lengthy calculation time.

3. If the Show Cage button is already on, turn it off to better see the geometry added by the NURMS iterations.

   

4. On the ribbon Edit panel click (Use NURMS) to turn it off.

   Next, you will add two extrusions that will form the rim of the helmet and its vertical ridge.

Select the seam and rim faces to extrude:

1. On the Polygon Modeling panel, activate (Edge) to go to the Edge sub-object level.

   

2. In the viewport, select a polygon edge as shown in the next illustration, then on the Modify Selection panel, click (Ring).

   

   

   3ds Max selects all edges parallel to the first one, in a ring around the object.

   

3. On the Loops panel, Shift+click (Connect).

   

   3ds Max draws a single loop of edges around the selected edges. It also displays the “caddy” controls for the Connect tool.

   (When you Shift+click a tool on the ribbon, 3ds Max displays the caddy controls for that tool.)

   

   By default, the loop is placed in the center of the selected edges, but the negative Slide value you will specify in the next step will position it to the left of center.

4. On the third control of the caddy, Slide, drag to the left until the value equals –50, and then click (OK).

   

   Edge slides to the left

5. In the viewport, click to select a vertical edge on any polygon at the bottom row of the helmet, then on the ribbon Modify Selection panel, click (Ring).

   The Ring tool automatically selects all the vertical edges.

   

6. On the Loops panel, Shift+click (Connect).

   Once again, 3ds Max displays the caddy controls for the Connect tool.

   

7. Change the value of the Slide control to –25, then click (OK).

   

8. On the Polygon Modeling panel, turn on (Show End Result) to see how the Symmetry modifier has added a mirrored portion to the helmet.

   

9. Right-click the helmet and from the Transform (lower-right) quadrant choose Convert To Convert To Editable Poly.

   The Symmetry modifier is removed and all the mirrored polygons are integrated into the model.

Select the helmet seam and rim:

1. On the ribbon Polygon Modeling panel, activate (Edge).
2. On the Modify Selection panel, click Loop Mode to turn it on.

   

3. Click to select one of the edges along the center edge of the helmet.

   

   Because Loop Mode is on, 3ds Max selects the entire loop of edges along the helmet ridge.

   

4. With Loop Mode still active, hold down the Ctrl key, then click an edge along the rim of the helmet.

   3ds Max selects the rim edges as well as the ridgeline.

   

5. Hold down the Ctrl key again, and on the ribbon Polygon Modeling panel, activate Polygon.

   3ds Max selects all the polygons adjacent to the edge selection.

   

Extrude the helmet seam and rim:

1. On the Polygons panel, Shift+click (Extrude).

   

   3ds Max displays the caddy controls for the Extrude tool.

   

2. On the first control, Group, choose Local Normal from the drop-down list.

   

3. On the third control, Height, change the value to 1.0 , then click (OK).

   

4. On the ribbon Polygon Modeling panel, click (Polygon) selection to exit the sub-object level.
5. On the Edit panel, click (Use NURMS) and on the Use NURMS panel, click (Show Cage) to hide the cage, then press F4 so you can see the end result without edged faces.
6. On the Use NURMS panel, set iterations to 2 to further smooth out the helmet.

   

   Helmet with middle seam and rim extrusions

   In the next procedure, you will add more edges to create a less rounded extrusion to the rim and ridge.

7. On the ribbon Edit panel, click (Use NURMS) to turn off NURMS mode.
8. Save your scene as my_helmet_02.max.

Set up the scene:

1. Continue working on your scene, or open the scene helmet_02.max
2. If you opened the new file, select the helmet, and make sure the Modify panel is active.

Refine the extrusions:

1. In the viewport, switch to a Left view. If the viewport is shaded, press F3 to turn off shading and see the helmet in Wireframe view.

   Notice the slight wave to the extruded rim of the helmet.

   

2. On the ribbon Polygon Modeling panel, activate (Vertex), then region-select the row of vertices that is second from the bottom.

   

3. On the ribbon Align panel, click (Align Z) to align all the vertices along their average orientation on the Z axis.

   

   

4. Switch to a Top view and region-select the vertices on one side of the ridge extrusion.

   

5. On the ribbon Align panel, click (Align Y) to align all the vertices along their average orientation on the Y axis.
6. Region-select the vertices on the opposite side of the ridge extrusion, and click (Align Y) again.

   Now the edges of the extruded ridge are also straight.

   

7. Change the viewport to a Perspective view once again.
8. On the ribbon Polygon Modeling panel, activate (Edge).
9. On the Modify Selection panel, click to turn on (Ring Mode).

   

10. Click to select one of the horizontal edges just on the near side of the ridge of the helmet.

    

    Ring Mode selects all edges parallel to the one you clicked.

11. On the Loops panel, Shift+click (Connect).

    3ds Max displays the caddy controls for the Connect tool.

    

12. Set the value of the third control, Slide, to 83, so the new edge loop is very close to the base of the ridge, and then click (OK).

    

    Loop slides to the left

13. Orbit the viewport so you can see the other side of the ridge of the helmet.

    

14. On the Edit panel, turn on (Swift Loop).

    

15. Drag the mouse over the surface of the helmet. A green virtual loop appears as you drag the mouse. It lets you visualize where to place the loop.

    Click to place a new, vertical edge loop on the near side of the helmet. Like the loop you placed on the opposite side, it should be close to the base of the extruded ridge.

    

    SwiftLoop provides a fast way to create and position a loop on a model.

    

16. Use Swiftloop again to place a horizontal edge loop, this one just above the helmet’s extruded rim.

    

    Click to create the loop.

    

    Adding these parallel edge loops reinforces the existing edges, so they won’t be smoothed as much as you saw in the previous lesson.

17. Click (Swift Loop) to turn it off.
18. Click (Edge) to exit the Edge sub-object level.

View the helmet with smoothing:

1. On the ribbon Edit panel, click (Use NURMS) to turn it on, then press F4 to turn off edged faces and see how the added edge loops give the base of the extrusions a sharper angle.

   

   Helmet showing sharper extrusions

2. Press F4 to display Edged Faces again, and click (Use NURMS) to turn it off and redisplay the underlying model.

Save your work:

• Save your scene file as my_helmet_03.