Detailing a Mine
By Cooper
Last time we made the
BASIC(step 1) mine. In this second tutorial we
will detail(step 2) it and texture(step 3) the
mine. With this we will have completed the
three step process of making a model. In the
Third and last tutorial for this mine we will
discuss simple animation and some visual
effects.
To allow to make the best
models possibly you should try to add as many
details in the model, but this is hard for
several reasons. First a PC won't be able to
keep up and rendering will take forever. So we
take refuge in the textures. For this mine we
can actually model many details, but you can
also make textures to get the same
result.
The sides of the mine will be
actual details in the model the orange line
will be a texture. Furthermore we will add some
textures to make the model look better.
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Ok let's begin, first open MAX
and the model you made last time. If you didn't
get it right download my example ZIP-File.
First thing to do is to rotate
the entire mine so one of its sides is aligned
with the grid. Select the Bottom(or Top) view
Select the Select object arrow and drag a box
around all the shapes. Now give a right click
on the rotate-button(or manually rotate) and
rotate 22,5 degrees. Now the shapes will be
aligned to the grid (
Transfer interrupted!
we can make the sides. Now if you
study the STDS9-episode you will see that the
sides are green with an orange bar in it and that
one is a console and is a bit bigger than the
others. Select the Front View and use the Region
Zoom button to zoom in a bit.
Select the Create-tab, select
Shapes, select Splines and click on Rectangle.
(figure
2) Now Select the Keyboard Entry and fill
in the values for you're shape (0,15,-30 and
20,10,2) and press Create. Pay attention to
the fact that you need to be in the Front View!
Otherwise the XYZ-coordinates will be inverted.
(figure 3) Now repeat this step, using these
values: 0,15,-30 and 12,5, 2,5, 0,5. (figure
4) You now will have something that looks
like
this.
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figure 3
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figure 5
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I intend to teach you something
about the ability of splines and the modifiers
you can use on them. We will copy the small
rectangle and then join a small one and the big
one. After this we can both extrude the joined
and small spline and give them green and orange
colors. Why do we join a small one and a big
one, because when extruding it it will create a
hole in the large spline in the shape of the
small one and the other small one will fit in
perfectly. We can also achieve these effects by
making a textures, but what we can do in the
model (without compromising size and rendering
time too much) you should do in the model. Ok
lets copy the small one. Select Edit and Clone
in the menu. Next, go to the Modify-tab and
select Edit Spline. If all is well the copied
small spline will be selected. Scroll
down(using the 'hand') and click on the
Sub-Object to change from selected(yellow) to
not selected(grey). Click on the Attach button
(figure 5). Now click on the large spline and
they will merge into one spline and they look
like this(you can't see the small spline only
the joined one, figure 6).
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Now we can extrude both shapes, we
can do this separately for both of them or we can
do this together. Select both splines by clicking
the Select by name button  . Select the two
Rectangles(you may have to check there names) and
press select (figure 7). Now click on the Modify-tab
and select Extrude. The Only thing you have to
fill in is the Amount=0,5 you might also check
the Generate Coordinates button at the bottom (figure
8). Ok In the first tutorial I showed you how
to change the color for the shapes, change them
to green and orange. You now have something
looking like Figure 9. Now select the two
extruded shapes and copy them, again using
Edit->Clone. Move the copied shapes up by 59,5
units on the X axis, using the Bottom view and
right clicking the Move button.
Select one of the Orange-side shapes and
go to the Modify tab, create an Edit Mesh and
click the Sub-Object so it turns grey and press
the Attach button. Attach the other Orange
shape (select it out of the list or click on it
(this will be hard as the green shape will be
there as well, if you select the wrong one
press the undo-button). Do this for the
Green-side shape as well. First unselect (press
Attach) the orange one and repeat the procedure
for the green one.
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Figure 9
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Figure 11
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What you have now is the basis to
create the other sides very quickly. We need to
copy them and rotate them. Let's do this select
both the shapes the green and orange one. In
order not to get confused change the names of the
rectangles to green and orange respectively. Ok
be in the Bottom or Top view and select them both
orange and green shapes, copy them and right
click the rotate button fill in 45 as Z and you
will see it rotate to the sides not yet used (figure
10). Now after the rotation the copied shape
will stay selected and the rotate menu will be
there as well. Just copy(3 times) and fill in 45
until all side are done. Now it looks like figure
11.
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The only thing left to do is to
remove one 'side' and replace it with a console.
Select the Front view and select the front facing
orange side. Go to the Modify-tab and select Edit
Mesh select Sub-object(make it yellow) and select
vertex (figure 12). Now use the Select object
arrow and select the front vertices. Press the
delete key or scroll down in the Edit Mesh menu
and press delete. Repeat this for the green side
as well, leaving you now with seven sides on your
model and none on the front side (figure
13).
I have discussed Edit Mesh and Attaching
several times now, so now I want you to use
this technique to make one mesh for the green
center piece(including all 7-sides and the
center piece of the mine) and one for the
orange img\figure. Begin by selecting the
center piece(and attach the green sides). This
leaves you with 2 spheres, the centerpiece, the
orange sides and 2 red lights. Now using the
same step as making the sides we will add the
console. Select the front view and go to the
Create-tab, Shapes-tab, Splines and Rectangle.
Go to the Keyboard Entry and fill in these
values(1,15,-30) and (22,5,11,2.5) and press
create. Finally Extrude this side similar as
before with 0,5. Change the color if you wish
to a darker color and now all is finished and
it looks like figure 14. The mine is now
finished that is Basic Modeling and Detailing.
We can move on to texturing...
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