01-21-2006, 10:56 PM
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.
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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.
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
