8

8 Chapter 1: Getting Started with 3ds Max
see in a viewport is just an approximation of the
true lig hting. Render your scene to view lighting
accurately.
Tip: If the Daylight system appears to wash out the
scene, try usi ng the
Logarithmic exposure control
(page 3–293)
.
Placing Cameras
You create and place cameras from the Cameras
category of the Create panel. Cameras define
viewpoints for rendering, and you can animate
cameras to produce cinematic effects such as
dollies and truck shots.
You can also create a camera automatically from a
Perspective viewport by using the
Create Camera
from View command (page 1–48)
found on the
Views menu. Just adjust your Perspective viewport
until you like it, and then choose Views > Create
Camera From View. 3ds Max creates a camera and
replaces the Perspective viewport with a Camera
view por t showing the same perspective.
See
Common Camera Parameters (page 2–1218) .
Animating Your Scene
You c an animate a lmost anything in your scene.
Click the Auto Key button to enable automatic
animation creation, drag the time slider, and make
changes in your scene to create animated effects.
Controlling T ime
The program starts each new scene with 100
frames for animation. Frames are a way of
measuring time, and you move through time by
drag ging the
time slider (p age 3–748) .Youcanalso
open the
Time Configuration dialog (page 3–768)
to set the number of frames used by your scene
and t he speed at which the fr ames are displayed.
Animating Transforms and Parameters
While the Auto K ey button is on, the program
creates an
animation key (page 3–1054) whenever
you tr ansform an object or change a par ameter.
Toanimateaparameteroverarangeofframes,
specify the values at the first and last frames of the
range.Theprogramcalculatesthevaluesforallof
the frames in between.
See
Animation Concepts and Methods (page
2–271)
.
Editing Animation
You edit your animation by opening the Track
View window or by changing options on the
Motion panel. Track View is like a spreadsheet that
displays animation keys along a time line. You edit
the anim ation by changing the keys.
Track View has two modes. You can display the
animation as a series of function cu rves that
graphically show how a value changes over time
in the Curve Editor mode. Alternatively, you can
display your animation as a sequence of keys or
ranges on a grid in the Dope Sheet mode.
See
Track View (page 2–483) .