Math 155B - Intro to Computer Graphics II - Winter 2005
 

Project #3 - Introduction to 3D Studio Max

    The purpose of this project is to give you an introduction to the use of geometric modeling tool, in particular, 3D Studio Max.   You will learn about modeling geometric objects, including splines and NURBS surfaces.   We will try to schedule a half hour introduction to 3D Studio Max in the PC lab in APM B337/B349 in the near future; after that, you can follow the instructions in my tutorial.   Feel free to ask fellow students, or Jefferson Ng or me, or others, for help on completing the tutorial.

SOFTWARE WORK-AROUND:  At this moment (Tuesday, January 15) the program must be run by the following procedure: From the Start Menu program list, choose  3DS Max 5 -->  Change Graphics Mode.  After the program boots, select "Software Mode".  It should run acceptably, but the graphics will be a little slow.   I hope that this problem will be fixed soon.

Due date: Wednesday, February 2.  (Tentative)  You should be GRADED by Jefferson or me by this date: the work should be done before this date.

Tasks:

  1. Download my 3D Studio Max tutorial. 

  2. Go through the entire tutorial, including a lot of the "optional" items in the notes.  Experiment and try out features that are not explicitly describing the tutorial.

  3. Pay particular attention to the splines and NURBS surfaces part of the tutorial.  Notice the distinction between control points ("control vertices") and interpolation points.  Note how the control points of a Bezier curve or NURBS curve can be modified.

  4. Save two screenshots: one of a NURBS surface and one of another scene you have created during the process of going through the tutorial.  (To save a screenshot, use CNTL-ALT-PRINTSCREEN to capture an image of the currently open window in Windows.  Then paste it into a Paint document, for instance.)

  5. For grading: 
        a. Show us the two screen shots.   
        b. Discuss the problems you encountered in going through the tutorial, and/or the features you discovered while doing the tutorial,

  6. This assignment is graded on a P/NP basis.