Topics in this section

• Project Workflow

  Once you've installed 3ds Max (see the Installation Guide included with your software package), you open it from the Start menu, or use any other Windows method. The figure below shows the application window with a scene file loaded.

• Setting Up Your Scene

  You start with a new unnamed scene when you open 3ds Max. You can also start a new scene at any time by choosing New or Reset from the Application menu.

• Modeling Objects

  You model objects in your scene by creating standard objects, such as 3D geometry and 2D shapes, and then applying modifiers to those objects. 3ds Max includes a wide range of standard objects and modifiers.

• Using Materials

  You use the Material Editor to design materials and maps to control the appearance of object surfaces. Maps can also be used to control the appearance of environmental effects such as lighting, fog, and the background.

• Placing Lights and Cameras

  You place lights and cameras to complete your scene in much the same way lights and cameras are placed on a movie set prior to filming.

• Animating Your Scene

  You can animate almost anything in your scene. Click the button to enable automatic animation creation, drag the time slider, and make changes in your scene to create animated effects.

• Rendering Your Scene

  Use the rendering features to define an environment and to produce the final output from your scene.

• The 3ds Max Interface

  The 3ds Max window is the entry point to most of the features of this application.

• Managing Files

  3ds Max supports many types of files for working with plug-ins, image maps, models from other programs, rendering images and animations, and of course saving and opening your scene files.

• Importing, Merging, Replacing, and Externally Referencing Scenes

  You can realize great productivity gains when you reuse work by combining geometry from scenes or other programs. 3ds Max supports this technique with the Import, Merge, and Replace commands. You can also share scenes and objects with others working on the same project using XRef functionality.

• Using the Asset Browser

  The Asset Browser provides access from your desktop to design content on the World Wide Web. From within 3ds Max you can browse the Internet for texture samples and product models. This includes bitmap textures (BMP, JPG, GIF, TIF, and TGA) and geometry files (MAX, 3DS, and so on).

• Startup Files and Defaults

  When you start 3ds Max, several auxiliary files load, setting things like program defaults and UI layout. You can even create a scene, named maxstart.max, that automatically loads when you start or reset 3ds Max. In some cases, 3ds Max updates files when you change settings and when you quit 3ds Max.

• The Initialization File

  The file 3ds Max uses to store settings between sessions is named 3dsmax.ini. In most cases, you don’t need to access this file directly. To find it, if necessary, use the Windows Search function.

• Backing Up and Archiving Scenes

  You should regularly back up and archive your work. One convenient method is to save incremental copies of your scenes. This method creates a history of your work process.

• Crash Recovery System

  If 3ds Max encounters an unexpected crash, it attempts to recover and save the file currently in memory. This is fairly reliable, but it does not always work: the recovered scene could be damaged during the crash. The recovered file is stored in the configured Auto Backup path. It is saved as "<filename>_recover.max" in this path. It is also placed in the INI file as the most recently used file in the Application menu. This makes it easy to return to the file, if you choose to do so.