Getting started in Max

[Razorwing]

1.

Download the 30-day trial of 3D Studio Max from autodesk.com. You'll have to register there, then they'll email the download link to you. The actual program isn't very large, but make sure to also grab the extra stuff on the download page they link to, such as the material libraries - this is your only chance to get them without going through the registration process again. But the download page should remain active for at least a week, so get them when it's convenient for you.
Main entrance | Shortcut

2.

One of the first things you'll want to do if you've never used Max before is to register on simplymax.com and download their free video tutorials. In them, modellers show you how they work in the program while talking you through each step. Personally I think it's a good idea to start with the "User Interface - Overview" and "... - Material Editor" videos, then "Polygon Basics" and finally "Spline Modeling".
? Another place of interest is Psychodog Studios' 3D Art Tutorials forum. There's a lot of answered questions there, and they also have a couple of video tutorials that might be of interest.
? waylon-art.com has a superb article on uvw mapping.
? More tuts can be found on tutorialized.com, Max-realms and Tutorial Outpost - and of course on the CS Wiki

If you have any further questions... google!!
If that doesn't work, go ahead and start a thread on the main Faq Board with your question.

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royalblue[/hr]

Sites where you can get free textures
? Lemog3d - A texture site with 3700 textures (512x512) //Thanks to Zarkis for the tip!

? NOCTUA Graphics - click 'Download' then 'Textures'. Most of the textures are seamless and sized to a power of 2, which is immensely helpful. Especially check out the bump maps, which can give a quick and cool effect on your objects.

? David Gurrea shares freely his vast collection of handcrafted game textures. I think all of them are seamless (but you have to resize them to a power of 2 to be able to use them in Oblivion).
[indent]ImageStock
3D Millennium
3Dmaxer.dk
Spiral Graphics
P. Bourke
dustin senos
allgraphicdesign[/indent]
? Bucky's Morfit - free textures designed for use in 3d games

? Another good way of finding textures is through Google Image Search. Just enter 'texture' followed by the type you want; 'stone texture' for instance gives over 9000 results. Don't forget to make sure the site you found it on are ok with you using it!

? Photo textures can work sometimes, if you don't need a seamless texture. Here are some sites in that category: ImageAfter.com | Monitor Studios | Mayang's Free Textures | PixelPerfectDigital.com | TextureWarehouse.com

Sites where you can get free 3d models
Places where you can download premade 3d models to tweak around with.
Turbosquid
Max-realms
3D Caf?
Mr Furniture
3D Plants
3D Kingdom

[xchaosdragon666x]

Verry Nice Guide

[rzrgenesys187]

thanks a lot
are the Autodesk 3ds Max 8 Tutorial Support Files included if you download Autodesk 3ds Max 8 Reference Help Files & Tutorials

descriptions
Autodesk 3ds Max 8 Reference Help Files & Tutorials
Includes a complete set of help files including Reference, Tutorials,
MAXScript, and mental ray? help files (141 MB).

Autodesk 3ds Max 8 Tutorial Support Files
Complete set of tutorial scene (.max) files that ship with 3ds Max 8.
We recommend that you download only the files that you need.

Getting Started
- Modeling (10.5 MB)
- Materials & Mapping (25 MB)
- Animation (7 MB)
- Biped Animation (5.5 MB)
- Rendering (42 MB)
- F/X (4 MB)

Specialized
- AEC (43 MB)
- Animation (1.5 MB)
- Game Design (17 MB)
- Bones & IK (47 MB)
- Biped (16 MB)
- Dynamics (72 MB)
- Rendering (14 MB)
- F/X (2.5 MB)
- MAXScript (4 MB)
- Project Management (1 MB)

Projects
- Basic (21 MB)
- Advanced (39 MB)

sorry for so many questions

[Razorwing]

xchaosdragon666x:
Thanks

rzrgenesys187:
I'm not sure, but it can't hurt to download them. I use the reference all the time to look up stuff.

[noremorse]

rzrgenesys187:
No, they are not, you will need to download them. I figured that out a little bit after I started. Everytime I went up to help or tutorials, nothing ever showed up.

[rzrgenesys187]

alright ill be sure to do that then thanks once again

[xchaosdragon666x]

If any one goes to try and download from discreet make sure you have DAP to download the files just google it and download the free version
i wouldent sugest dap becuse of all the ads and what not but getright doesent seem to work on there server but dap does
just make sure you have the newest version

[Zarkis]

A texture site with 3700 512x512 textures I stumbled over:

http://lemog.free.fr/lemog_v5/index.php?cat=4

[Razorwing]

Originally posted by Zarkis
A texture site with 3700 512x512 textures I stumbled over:

http://lemog.free.fr/lemog_v5/index.php?cat=4

Cool! Added it. :check:

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black[/HR]

Edit 2006-03-04 12:19:
Rather pointless from our perspective but I found a program of sorts that works with 3D Studio Max. If you install it and then boot up Max you'll get a splash screen where you can import models from Half-Life 2 at the click of a button (i.e. the models are distributed with the program). It would be illegal to use them in other than Half-Life 2 mods, sure, but checking them out could be educational, I dunno

[Razorwing]

I found a gigantic texture archive by a guy named Paul Bourke:

http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/~pbourke/texture/