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2 Chapter 1: Getting Started with 3ds Max
Windows method. The figure below shows the
application window with a scene file loaded.
Main program w indow
Note: If you open 3ds Max from a Command
Prompt window or batch file, you can add
command-line switches. See
Starting 3ds Max
from the Command Line (page 3–719)
.
Note: 3ds Max is a single-document application,
meaningyoucanworkononlyonesceneatatime.
However, you can open more than one copy of
3dsMaxandopenadifferentsceneineachcopy.
Opening additional copies of 3ds Max requires a
lot of RAM. For the best performance, you should
plan to open one copy and work on one scene at a
time.
Openingmultiplecopiesof3dsMaxisnot
supported in Windows ME.
Modeling Objects
You model and animate objects i n the viewports,
whose layout is configurable. You can start with a
variety of 3D geometric primitives. You can also
use2Dshapesasthebasisforloftedorextruded
objects. You can convert objects to a variety of
editable sur face types, which you can then model
further by pulling vertices and using other tools.
Another modeling tool is to apply modifiers to
objects. Modifiers can change object geometry.
Bend and Twist are examples of modifiers.
Modeling, editing, and animation tools are
available in the command panels and toolbar. See
Modeling Objects (page 1–5) . A ls o, you can learn
a good deal about modeling from the tutorials
available from Help menu > Tutorials.