This four day course is designed for users with little or no experience in 3ds Max and teaches students the 3ds Max tools essential for creating architectural renderings and animations. In this course, the instructor covers every major component of the 3D design visualization process, from modeling to production, with special emphasis on those tools that will provide users the greatest efficiency in producing visualizations. This class avoids topics unnecessary in typical visualizations, such as inverse kinematics, reactor, space warps, etc, to allow more time to be devoted to those areas of Max which are truly critical in the design visualization process. Students will learn countless tips and tricks that maximize productivity and efficiency that normally takes many years in a production environment to learn. 3ds Max is a large and complex application – but by learning just the features that apply to visualizations, you'll be learning everything you need to know to get ahead in the industry in the shortest possible time.

• Key Interface Elements
• Basic Visualization Modeling (Edit Spline, Edit Mesh, Box Modeling)
• Integrating AutoCAD with Visualization Modeling (Importing line work / Workflow)
• Critical Compound Objects Part I - Lofting
• Critical Compound Objects Part II – Scatter, Terrain, Booleans
• The Critical Visualization Modifiers
• Material Basics for Visualization (Material Editor)
• The Critical Map Channels and Map Types
• UVW Mapping

• Lighting Basics for Visualization (Light types and Critical Settings)
• Photometric Lights and Global Illumination
• VRay introduction (short hands-on project)
• Camera and Animation Basics for Visualization (Critical Settings and Constraints)
• Animation Controllers and the Curve Editor
• Rendering Basics for Visualization (Render Scene Dialog Box )
• Scene Assembly (Linking vs. Importing vs. XRefs)
• Basic Visualization Effects (Fog, Volume Light, Fire, Lens Effect, Depth of Field, Motion Blur)
• Productions Tips (30 critical tips)