Modeling a Sci-Fi City in 3ds Max

Learn how to create your own futuristic city to scale with animated cameras and vehicles in this 3ds Max tutorial. Planning, reference materials, and imagination will be addressed, so that students are led to optionally create their own version of the tutorial, equipped with the methods they learn in the video. Included is creating a 3D set to scale, how to make models appear large and dramatic, and maximizing the use of 3 simple tools -- extrude, inset and bevel in polygonal modeling. We will create textures for variation in tones of buildings. Cloning of buildings and attention to staging will be discussed and demonstrated, to maximize the use of a limited number of models to achieve a sense of scale, without sacrificing variety. The fly-through will include creating and animating a camera as it travels with a vehicle flying through the model city. Textures will be from the 3ds Max libraries. A procedural map will be used to create a futuristic sky around the scene. We also cover mental ray rendering and the daylight system for sophisticated shadows, ambient lighting and reflections for glass. Software required: 3ds Max.