Rendering multiple frames for a complete animation can be time consuming, even on a fast machine, because each frame is individually processed. Realistic materials, shadow casting, and other factors can slow the process as well. This scene is relatively simple however, so it shouldn’t take that long to render.

Set up the scene:

• On the Quick Access toolbar, click (Open File) and open your saved animation, my_battlefield attack.max. Or, open battlefield_attack.max, located in the \scenes\startup folder.
  NoteIf you saved your completed files to a folder other than \scenes\startup, when you open one of your files you might encounter messages about missing files. If you run into this problem, click the Browse button on the Missing External Files dialog. This opens the Configure External File Paths dialog. Click the Add button. Use the Choose New External Files Path dialog to navigate to the folder where you loaded the original file, and then click Use Path. Click OK, and then click Continue.

Render your animation:

To complete this tutorial, render the animation you made earlier. The rendering time is probably under 15 minutes, depending on the speed of your machine.

1. On the main toolbar, click (Render Setup).

   3ds Max opens the Render Setup dialog.

2. In the Time Output group, choose Active Time Segment. (If you left the setting at Single, just the currently displayed frame would render.)
   
   TipIf your computer is fast, you can skip the next step.
3. In the Output Size group, change the default (640 x 480) to 320 x 240.
   

   This smaller size has only one-quarter the area of the default, making it much faster to render.

4. In the Render Output group, click the Files button. (You might have to scroll down in order to see this control.)
   
5. On the Render Output File dialog, name your animation mybattlefield_attack.avi. Click Save to save the animation to the default folder (usually \renderoutput).
   WarningYou must either add the extension .avi in the file name, or else select AVI as the file type. If you don't tell the program what type of animation format to save in, the rendering won't work.
6. On the AVI File Compression Setup dialog, do the following:
   • Choose a codec (video compressor). There are different codecs you can choose. The available choices on your system depend on which version of Windows you are using, and how your system has been set up.
   • If the Quality slider is active, set it to a high value: between 90 and 100.

     For some codecs, the slider is not active: In this case, the code has only one quality level, which you cannot change.

   • When you have chosen the codec and set its options, click OK.

   On the Render Setup dialog, Save File is now on and the output field shows the location of mybattlefield_attack.avi.

7. At the bottom of the Render Setup dialog View list, choose Camera01.
   

   Always check to be sure you’re rendering the right viewport.

   Tip In most cases, you will render the camera viewport.
8. Click Render to begin the rendering process.

   Watch a few frames to make sure that the rendering gets off to a good start. The Time Remaining estimate gives you an idea of how long the rendering will take.

Play the rendered animation:

1. When your animation is finished rendering, choose Rendering menu View Image File.

   By default, the View File dialog opens in the \renderoutput subfolder.

2. Highlight mybattlefield_attack.avi and click Open to display the Media Player.
3. In the Media Player, play your animation.