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  • Writer's pictureMichael

3D Studio Max: Class Notes – Flat Plane Modelling

1: Draw a plane in front view with one height and width segment. convert to editable poly. Choosing the edge selector, hold shift and drag the edge to the side- this will create another plane attached to the first. Do this a few times to get 3 or 4 planes together.


2: In the top viewport drag and select the polygons and move them/rotate them into a light curve shape.  Now, select the top edge of each polygon and shift + drag them up vertically. Now a new row of polygons appears- select the top edges or vertices (it doesnt matter which) move them backwards to create a complex, double curve. This can be repeated to create ever more complex curves. Apply a meshsmooth modifier to create more organic curves.



3: You will notice that only one side of the plane is visible- from behind it is invisible. to fix this, press M to open the material editor, drag a material onto your object, and ensure that in the material parameters, 2-sided is ticked.


Tooltip: In order to make your model translucent, so that you can see reference images behind or other parts of your model, click the ‘Display Tab’ in the right toolbar.  Scroll down to ‘display properties’ and tick the ‘See through’ option. Note that this will only affect the object in the modelling window- it will not affect its properties when it is actually rendered.


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