CHAPTER 1 Basic Concepts Any way you cut it, everyone learns in different ways, especially when they are TE D MA TE RI AL learning about Autodesk 3ds Max 10 or any other computer graphics (CG) package. You should realize that the best education you’ll get is through months or even years of working with the software in different capacities.
■ chapter 1: Basic Concepts How to Read This Book First and foremost, you don’t need to read this book cover to cover and front to back to get the most from it. If you are the type who loves to jump right into the pool to learn to swim, then skip this chapter and jump into Chapter 2, “Your First 3ds Max Animation” to start working with the interface. If you already know how to navigate 3ds Max, you can begin with any of the other chapters.
what is cgi? ■ 3 finding that programs such as 3ds Max are valuable tools for generating elements for their own work, digital or not. Let’s take a look at the concepts behind 3D creation. The following sections break down the fundamental concepts behind CG. 3D Space 3D space, the virtual canvas in which you create 3D objects, is a simulation of space that is divided into three axes, X,Y, and Z, representing (in loose terms) left/right, up/down, and in/out. Figure 1.1 shows 3D space in a Max window.
■ chapter 1: Basic Concepts Of course, with CG you also have control over time, because you can animate your scene. The workflow we’ll discuss in this chapter is best illustrated with a film production example. The next section will briefly describe a film production workflow and how it relates to CG production. Production Workflow There are three major stages to producing films: preproduction, production, and postproduction.
production workflow Writing a Script Whether a CG project has a ton of dialogue or doesn’t have a single spoken word, both the project and you will benefit from having at least a rudimentary script. Even abstract animations can benefit from a script that presents a highly detailed explanation of timings and colors, whether that script is typed neatly or scribbled on a cocktail napkin. A script serves as your intention.
■ chapter 1: Basic Concepts Sketch or download images of the props and sets you need in your scene. You should map out the “look” for everything that you need to have in your scene. When you are working on your project, you won’t be limited to the things you picked out at this stage; however, you will find that knowing how things should look will help enormously in getting you to your final product.
production workflow Compositing, editing, and adding sound are advanced postproduction activities, and a detailed discussion of them is beyond the scope of this book. However, a multitude of books are available on these topics for further study. Compositing CG is often rendered in different layers. These segments ultimately need to be put back together. For example, in a scene where multiple characters interact, each character can be rendered separately from the others and from the setting.
■ chapter 1: Basic Concepts Sound Sound design can add an entirely new dimension of reality or mood to any CG. The audience needs to associate visuals with audio. Even a basic soundtrack adds a boost to a simple animation by enhancing realism, mood, narrative, and other aspects of its “feel.” A good music soundtrack and well-placed sound effects can be very powerful.
cg workflow When you model, of course, you’ll be faced with many choices about how to proceed. Most Max modeling is done using polygons (geometric representations of surfaces and objects); however, the specific tools you use to create the models will depend on how you like to work. The process of modeling can be easier when you have a good idea of your whole story via a storyboard and copiously reference the object you are modeling.
■ chapter 1: Basic Concepts low-resolution model of a character (one that uses few polygonal faces) can easily be placed in wide shots, and a more detailed, higher-resolution model can be used in close-ups. Architectural and Environmental Modeling 3ds Max is a natural tool for architectural and environmental modeling. In fact, architects and engineers use it to model and render designs for previsualizing. This type of modeling includes the generation of backgrounds for sets and environments.
cg workflow You don’t need to finalize every texture at the beginning, because you’ll be coming back and making adjustments all the time. Remember that the materials you create for your scene will probably look different when you light and animate everything. You’ll learn more about texturing in Chapter 7, “Materials and Mapping.” Animation Animation puts your scene into action and adds life to your characters. Animation is change over time.
■ chapter 1: Basic Concepts In this stage of the pipeline, the lighting workflow begins when you are texturing your objects. You need to light your scene initially to evaluate how your textures are progressing. However, the final lighting and look really happen after everything else is done, and you are left to go back and forth with the render to check and recheck, fix and refix issues that come up in the rendered images.
cg specialties The general rule in production is: You’re always out of time. Therefore, the most efficient pipeline will be your savior, because eventually your producer or boss will tire of hearing, “But I’m still rendering….” For now, go ahead and use as much geometry and lighting as you think is necessary. With more experience, you’ll start pruning your scenes and getting more efficient renders. Right now, knowing how a scene is put together is more important than knowing how efficient it needs to be.
■ chapter 1: Basic Concepts compositors, because so much of CG can be broken into elements that later need to be put back together. For example, the shadows in a scene may be rendered separately from the rest of the scene. Compositing as a specialty requires much less knowledge of CG, although today’s competitive compositors should know as much as they can cram in their brains about CG.
core concepts ■ 15 When you work in a program such as Photoshop, you are editing the pixels of an image directly by adjusting existing settings such as color, size, and position for all or part of an image. In this manner, you can bring a scanned photo or a digital picture of your house into Photoshop and paint one wall red just to see how it would look before you buy paint at the store. Essentially, a raster or bitmap image is a mosaic of pixels, each pixel corresponding to a mosaic tile.
■ chapter 1: Basic Concepts So why are raster images even used if you can’t scale them well? Most common displays and output methods such as television or computer screens, or even printers, are actually raster displays. The display devices need raster images to display the pictures properly. The term raster originally referred to the display area of a television or computer monitor.
core concepts original file (assuming you do not have a backup file) once you save your work because it directly affects the pixels of the image. Figure 1.4 A vector image of a girl at its original size (left) and blown up to a few hundred percent (right) shows no loss in quality. The curves are not stepped or pixelated. Image Output When you’re done with all your CG, you will probably want as many people to see your work as possible.
■ chapter 1: Basic Concepts 16-Bit Color Display or High-Color 5-Bit Image File Each color channel (red, green, blue) gets 5 bits of space to store its value, resulting in an image that can display a maximum of 32,768 colors. Each color channel has a limited range of shades, but still gives a nice color image. You might notice the gradation in the different shades of each color, which can result in color banding in the image.
core concepts FILE FORMATS In addition to image types, several image file formats are available today. The most common is probably JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group), which is widely used on the Internet for its small size and reasonable image quality. However, JPEGs are too compressed and lossy (meaning they lose color detail when compared to the original) to be used in most CG renders. The main difference among file formats relates to how they store images.
■ chapter 1: Basic Concepts Color Color is how we perceive the differences in the frequency of light. The wide range of colors that we see (the visible spectrum) results when any of three primary colors of light—red, green, and blue—are mixed together. Color can be mixed in two ways, subtractive and additive.
core concepts Color value need not be expressed in values for red, green, and blue. It can also be set on the hue, saturation, and value (HSV) channels of a color. Again, each channel holds a value from 0 to 255 (in an 8-bit image) that defines the final color. The hue value defines the actual tint (from red to green to violet) of the color. The saturation defines how much of that tint is present in the color. The higher the saturation value, the deeper the color.
■ chapter 1: Basic Concepts Table 1.1 Typical Video Resolutions STANDARD SIZE NOTES VGA (Video Graphics Array) 640 × 480 Formerly, the standard computing resolution and still a popular television resolution for tape output. 720 × 486 The standard resolution for broadcast television in North America. 720 × 480 Close to the NTSC D1 resolution, this is the typical resolution of digital video cameras.
coordinate systems The number of frames that are played back per second determines the frame rate of an animation. This is denoted as fps, or frames per second. The three standard frame rates for media are: • NTSC: 30fps • PAL: 25fps • Film: 24fps Knowing what your final output medium is going to be before you begin your project is pretty important. It is not crucial by any means, but knowing what the screen will look like (i.e.
■ chapter 1: Basic Concepts Figure 1.5 shows a box. The X-, Y-, and Z-axes of the box are displayed in the center of the box and align with the axes of the home grid (which shows the World Space axes) displayed in the lower-left corner of the window. When the box in the scene is rotated, Max retains them as Local space instead of substituting its own axes. The X-axis of the box does not change. Now the Local axis and the World Space axis are not aligned.
basic animation concepts Keyframe at Frame 1 Frame 5 Frame 10 Frame 15 Frame 20 Frame 25 Figure 1.6 In the first frame of this sequence, a keyframe is set on the position, rotation, and scale of the cone. On frame 30, the same properties are again keyframed. The computer calculates all the movement inbetween.
■ chapter 1: Basic Concepts Weight Weight is an implied facet of design and animation. Weight denotes the heaviness or presence of an element in a design. The more weight an element has, the more power it has in the composition. The weight of an object in a composition is affected by its color, its contrast, its background, its position in the frame, and other variables.
basic 3ds max terms and concepts should be a slight resting follow-through to her action. For example, she may bend slightly at the waist to center herself once she lands. You can also create a small amount of movement before your action is in full swing. Before committing to an action, a character may “wind up” to a greater or lesser extent.
■ chapter 1: Basic Concepts Figure 1.7 The Home Grid in the Perspective viewport Home Grid The Home Grid is a gray grid that displays the origin (0,0,0). It is useful for grounding yourself in the viewports, and it helps with proportion and direction as well. A Perspective viewport Home Grid is shown in Figure 1.7. Absolute/Relative Absolute refers to an adjustment on an object that is based on a fixed reference, such as World Space. An absolute scale of 2 will scale the object to a flat unit of 2.
basic 3ds max terms and concepts CG CG has an interesting history and is evolving at breakneck speeds. Acquiring a solid knowledge of this history and evolution is as important as keeping up with current trends. Kerlow, Isaac Victor. The Art of 3-D: Computer Animation and Imaging. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2000. Derakhshani, Dariush. Introducing Maya 9: 3D for Beginners. San Francisco: Sybex, 2008. Kuperberg, Marcia. Guide to Computer Animation. Burlington, MA: Focal Press, 2002. Masson, Terrence.
■ chapter 1: Basic Concepts Summary In this chapter, you learned the basic concepts that drive the CG field. Starting with production workflow and moving into CG workflow, we discussed how productions are generally run. Next, you learned the different types of tasks used in CG production and the professional specialties that have arisen from them. After that, you learned about core computer concepts, color space, and output formats.
