Modeling An Infinity Mirror with 3ds Max and Vray

Today’s video ended up as an idea basically because the real product looks rather cool. If you have ever seen an Infinity mirror element you will know what i mean. Basically it’s a mirror that has a strip of LED lights and it looks like a tunnel to infinity. Having said that, the way to make something like this is both genius and simple. In the videos below you will see how to model the Infinity mirror and get everything set up.

Modeling Phase

So after going over the video and following along you should now have the model made and ready to move on to the materials.

Materials and Lighting Phase

Normal progression after the model is made is to make the materials. The materials and lighting is where everything basically comes together. I will show you how to setup both of them with using Vray. So if you want to see me do that, go ahead and watch the video below.

And if you are now reading this, and you went over the videos you have a pretty good idea on how to make this effect. So no need to make this post any longer because it’s pretty straight forward.

All i can add at the end is that if you learned something new here, or you find the video helpful just help spread it around so it can reach more people and hopefully help someone else as well.

Modeling a Chandelier with 3ds Max and Vray

Today we go on another modeling tutorial adventure. For today’s topic i have chosen a model that received a request a while back. That was how to model a specific chandelier.

Modeling Phase

Like always, modeling starts with setting up a blueprint to follow. So if you want to follow along with me, get the image from below. Now the actual modeling for this chandelier model took a bit longer then what i initially expected. Due to this  i decided to split it up in two parts. In the first part we will go over how to create the cage of the chandelier. And then we will also create some of the elements for the inner parts. So check it out in the first part of the video below.

In the second part of the video we will continue with creating the rest of the elements. That being the crystals, the light bulbs and the holders for them. You will also see how to get the crystals perfectly aligned on the handing part of the chandelier. So check this out in the second part of the video below.

Texturing And Materials

When creating modeling tutorials i usually don’t go over the materials. Main reason is that to me it seems very simple, but i’ve received some requests so here it is.

Generally when creating materials for a model, first thing you do is separate how many materials will you need. After this you need to go ahead and address those material needs. In this model it ended up being three materials. The metal, the crystal and the material for the light bulb. Before doing any of the materials though you need to see if you have to do UVW unwrapping. For this model, i got away with doing the simple UV mapping with the UV Map modifier.

The metal material will show you how to control the reflections and color of the shader. The crystal material will how you how to get that colorful refractive look that makes crystal unique. And the shader for the light bulbs will show you a few tricks on getting that glow effect. So all in all if you want to see how i did it check out the video below.

Final Thoughts

So if you followed the videos now you know how to model a chandelier like this. It was fun creating it for me, and all i can say is i hope it was helpful to you. Also if there is anything that you would like to see me create a tutorial about leave a comment on the YouTube channel and i will do my best to help you out. So until next time i leave you with the blueprint for the chandelier.

Chandelier

 

Modeling a Bar Chair in 3ds Max

Today’s article is going to be a pretty straight forward one as it will cover modeling a bar chair. When i got the idea to make the video, in my head i though it would be a quick one. Well once i started recording it turned out to be a bit longer. But lets start from the start.

Modeling Phase

Whenever you start modeling something, first step you need to make is get some reference. Most of the time that reference will be technical drawings. But sometimes you might get an actual picture of the thing you need to model. The main difference between the two is that the second one has perspective distortion. In the videos below you will see how to get started on modeling the chair.

The modeling phase is basically split in two videos as it was getting quite a bit on the long side. So without actually going and explaining too much about the videos go and actually check them out.

In the second part of the video we will continue adding some details and accents to the model.

 Unwrapping Phase

The UVW unwrapping from what i’ve noticed is where most of my students have struggled at. When it comes down to unwrapping i’ve actually created some tutorials, so if you are struggling check it out. For unwrapping this model i used Unfold3D opposed to using the native 3ds Max unwrapper. Main reason for this is that i am not a huge fan of Max’s unwrapping tools. The thing here is that once you understand the logic behind unwrapping, it’s the same in any software. So if you know how to unwrap in 3ds Max, or don’t have Unwrap3D then you’ll still be able to understand. Anyways without too much further explanation, check out the video below.

Final words

I really hope you guys had some fun with this model, and maybe even learned something new.

So this about wraps up our model for today. And if you do decide to go and model this chair you will probably want to have the blueprints for it. So  go ahead and get them from here.  So i’ll see you all in the next post. Cheers everyone.

BP_Front

BP_Side

 

Creating the Brookhaven Wooden Chair in 3ds Max

Why this model?

Today’s post comes as a direct request from a reader.The request was to model an interesting looking wooden chair. Initially when i saw the model i thought it was a simple 50$ chair. But as you will see it ended up being a whooping 9500$ piece. When i saw that i simply knew i had to make the model so this is how it all started. Just so i covered everything i decided to split this into two videos. In the first phase i go over modeling the chair, and in the second the UVW unwrapping.

The modeling Phase

The modeling phase of this project was a fun one. The model seemed very simple at first glance, but once you start doing the work it had it’s challenges. In the first part of the modeling video i went over the logical composition of the model. After the part division you will see me start with modeling the parts individually. When modeling i always choose to take things as simple as possible, as it makes controlling the model easier. But instead of explaining everything it’s a much more effective means if you can watch it happen. So if you want to see the creation process, then check out the video below.

The Unwrapping Phase

In the second part of the video i will focus on the UVW Unwrapping part. Up until now i really haven’t done any UVW unwrapping videos for the models that i’ve made tutorials about. And honestly i’ve received a few requests to do some tutorials about this topic. So i decided to make a video about unwrapping this model. Depending on the feedback i get from you guys i may continue doing these kinds of videos in the future. For this video i decided to stick to 3ds Max and not take it into an external program. In order to follow along you will need to download the Tex Tools free script. So if you want to see how i did the unwrapping then check out the video below.

Final Thoughts

Like i said in the beginning, this was a fun model to work on. The only thing that makes this model unique is that i decided to do the UVW unwrapping as well. Now if you guys liked seeing me do the unwrapping then leave a comment or a like. And i’ll see about continuing making unwrapping videos for the future videos as well. So for now that would be all, and as always you can ask anything you might want to know on the YouTube channel or the Facebook group, and also you can jump in on Discord for a direct way of communication.

Creating Custom Floor Textures in 3ds Max and Photoshop

Today’s post comes as a direct result to a request i got about making a real world scale floor texture. It sounds pretty straight forward when you say it like that, i mean you get the project with the texture for the floor but then comes the realization that the image that the client sent you is something more in tune to a thumbnail, then an actual size for a high quality texture. On top of that he or she might want to have a different color in the pattern of the texture. This is where things can get a bit complicated as you are basically left with a task in which you need to deliver an end result but you don’t have the resources delivered to you, but rather you have to make them yourselves. Once you get to this point in the project, you might start thinking that you are in trouble if you don’t know how to make those high quality textures. Well this is where today’s post comes into play and will explain exactly how to go about dealing with this issue, and hopefully resolve it. Now when i had the initial idea about this video in my head it was a fast 20 min video, but as soon i started recording i actually came to a bit of a revelation as the theme was a tad bit bigger then i initially thought, so in the end i decided to split this into three logical parts opposed to having one huge hour and a half video. Since we do have a bit to cover lets get started with it.

In the first part of the video we will setup the image that we will create (you can choose any design that you might need for this part) and then we will start with the outlining process of the whole thing. After that we will see how we can get the outlined object scaled so we have a realistic scale model, and in the end we will render out a template which we will be able to use in the process. So this is where you would be advised to go and see the video for yourself.

In the second part ( and i do know this is a bit of a longer video ) we take the template that we made in 3ds Max and we bring it into Photoshop. Now i did my best to keep the video as newbie friendly (n00b fR13ndly) so that everyone can follow along even if you are not too proficient with Photoshop. We will cover a bit of layering management, some masking as well as some hand on paining and effects adding. All in all this ended up being a long but in depth video which will leave us with a fully customizable template that we can later use for any type of floor. Also you will hear me mention a few times that you can use this exact process to get Marble and stone floors which is totally true and applicable. But enough with the explanation, go ahead and check out the video.

In the last video we take what we made in Photoshop and we dive back into 3ds Max and see how we can use all those textures. Now the emphasis in the third video is put on using Real World Scale and to explain to you how you can get your textures to use real world scale referencing rather then the default tiling option. So go ahead and check out the video for yourself.

And with this we are coming to an end of our post for today. We covered quite a bit of different things and even though i didn’t expect the videos to be that long in the end i kinda enjoyed making them and i really hope you guys will enjoy watching them and even learn a few new things from them.

So like always subscribe, like and share and i’ll see you all in the next post.

Modeling and Texturing a Flag in 3ds Max

Here we go again with another mixed request post. I got a request to actually make a video about how to model one of those little flags that you see on tables, but that would have made for a very short video so i decided to expand it a bit and make it cover the three most common types of flags that you can find. Another thing is the timing, namely this week was the release of Fallout 4 and i have been a fan of the series since 1998 (Fallout 2) so i really didn’t think that i would find the time to spend making another video, but since i want to keep it to having at least one video a week i decided to find the time and mash these two together. So with the mash of the flag request and Fallout, we ended up with these 2 videos that i think cover some nice points and tips for you guys.

In the first video we are going to go over the types of flags you can generally find, like the neutral pose (the fallen down flag), the pole binded flag and the weaving line flag. The general shape was achieved by using the Cloth modifer, so if you are curious as to how i modeled these flags and would like to see me do it go ahead and watch the first part.

So in the first video we went over and modeled the flags, in the second part we actually go and give it the Fallout look by texturing the flags and then making them look aged and damaged. It’s nothing too complex but still some nice pointers on how to approach making masks in Photoshop for damage decals, as well as dealing with the outlines that the blur can make. So again if this peeked your interest check out the second video.

Again i hope you guys liked this video and you managed to learn something new. If you liked what you saw, you can help spread the word by liking on YouTube and Facebook, share and comment so it could reach more people and hopefully help someone else the same way it helped you out.

P.S.

So since we got that out of the way i only have one thing left to add and that is a bit of extra information for you if you do choose to play Fallout 4. Know that it’s a great game if you love story, progression games and post apocalyptic scenery you will love it, but be aware that it will take a considerable amount of time so start it when you aren’t swamped with work. Oh and do give this post a go before you start it, you will thank me later.

Creating Complex Wall Shaders in 3DS Max & V-Ray

When working on a interior scene one of the most obvious, yet most skipped thing when it comes to shading is the walls of the room. What i mean by this is simply that people usually go and choose a color for the wall and call it finished. This is not wrong on a first look, but if you turn around and look at your walls (provided they are not wallpapers) you will notice that no matter how new or well done your wall is there will be some texture to the wall be it from the concrete, or maybe even from the brush that the wall was painted with. Now this information is very subtle and since we have been watching it all of our life we don’t give it too much importance, but the thing is that when you see a render without it your brain starts noticing it and your scene starts looking a bit fake. So as the old saying goes “The Devil is in the details” so every little bit of information that you can put into your scene that will make it more realistic is something that you should find a way to incorporate it into your scene.

You can either use what you see in this video on any of your scenes, or you can use the scene that i am using by grabbing the file from the post Realistic Interior Lighting.

In the following video i will show you how you can take your scenes and start adding in details that will make it more realistic. We are going to start with a simple bump map to give it some basic details, then we are going to mix it up a bit by using a VrayBlend material and take two materials with different surface and see how they are going to look. After that we will add a third layer that will have diffuse texture as well as bump to it, but instead of using it only for blending the bump we are going to make a mask in Photoshop and then use it to make our walls look old and riddled with damage and wear. So if this is something that might interest you on how it’s done, then check out the video.

So i hope you liked this video and you managed to learn something new, and like always when i finish a post i tell you that if you liked what you saw you can help spread the word by liking on YouTube and Facebook, share and comment so it could reach more people and hopefully help someone else the same way it helped you out.

Creating Seamless Textures with Photoshop

In today’s article we are going to take a look at one of the most common issues that plagues people that choose to work with 3D modeling and adding textures, and this is called non tileable textures. When you start using textures for the very first time in your scenes you are going to come to the realization that your “raw” unprepared textures are lacking when you want to tile them and make them smaller. The two most common issues that can come up are that your textures haven’t been color equalized which can lead to having different hue values across your texture, and the second issue is with the texture not being seamless. Seamless textures are textures that don’t leave a visible border when you tile them. What is important to note here is that the advantage of using seamless textures is that it has a lot of potential for reusability. What this means is that you can use it again and again opposed to a texture that you would make for an unwrapped model that would be custom tailored to that model alone.

Ok since i don’t want to make this a very long post where you have to get bored of reading i’ll go over the highlights and i’ll let you watch the video. You will see me get an image from Google, then use it in the scene from Realistic Lighting With V-Ray post, and there we’ll see the issues of tiling and color balance showing up, then in Photoshop you will see How to Equalize the Texture color and then how to make it tileable, and after that we are going to save a Diffuse, Specular and Bump map and apply them on the floor in our scene.

Just in case that for some reason you weren’t able to find the texture that i used from Google image search feel free and download it directly from here.

Wood_Base

As you could see creating seamless textures is not that complicated and pretty much anyone can do it if you follow the simple guidelines in the video. I hope you guys learned something today and that you enjoyed the video, and If that is the case then toss a like on the facebook page, subscribe to the YouTube channel, like and share so it can reach more people.

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