3D Studio Max Texturing Tutorials

Use texturing in 3D Studio Max to create the surfaces for your 3D objects.

Modeling in 3D Studio Max is only the beginning for creating 3D stills or animation. After you have the model completed, you’ll need to texture it to create the colorful covering over the model that the viewer sees. Texturing is the placement of an overlay onto the model that can be anything from a metal skin on a spaceship body, to a colorful vinyl-looking skin over a beach ball. The difference once the texture is placed is a great one, changing your grey-colored model into a multi-colored finished-looking object. The best method of applying a texture is to create one in a graphic design program and save it as a bitmapped file. You can then apply that texture directly to the object through the 3D Studio Max program.

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Bitmapped texture file
• Materials library file

1. Applying a Bitmapped Texture File

   • 1
     Load up 3D Studio Max on your computer and then create your model using the modeling tools provided.
   • 2
     Press “M” to open up the Material Editor window.
   • 3
     Create a new material by dragging the “Normal Bitmap” material button from the listed materials on the left of the Material Editor into the View box to the right.
   • 4
     Drag the small circle on the right of the new material box in your viewport over to your model to select that model for texturing.
   • 5
     Select a map from the left menu to modify the appearance of your texture. For example, select the “noise” map to create a bumpy texture on your material. Drag the map over to the material box in the viewport, and then click on the small circle to the right of the map box and drag it to one of the circles on the left of the Materials box to apply it to that aspect of the material. The “noise” map, can be applied to the “Diffuse Color” parameter for example. You can modify the look of the map by making changes to the perimeters of the map through the “Additional Params” tab.
   • 6
     Drag the texture-filled sphere from the editor window onto the model, to apply the material. Click the “Show standard map in viewport” button beneath the spheres in the editor window to make the texture visible on the model in the screen.

   Using the 3D Studio Max Library

   • 1
     Select the sphere that you wish to apply the material to in the Material Editor window. Press the “Get material” icon of a ball beneath the spheres to open the 3D Studio Max library. This will open the Material/Map Browser window, which has the standard materials available through installation of the 3D Studio Max program.
   • 2
     Select the “Mtl Library” option in the Material/Map Browser window to open a listing of the default materials. Click the “Open button in the Material/Map Browser under the “File” option to change the material library from the default. This will open a file navigation window. Navigate to your desired materials file, material files end in the .mat extension. Select the file then click open to select the new materials library with a list of the materials contained in it for application to your model.
   • 3
     Select the image desired, and then double-click on the filename to move the material to the sphere. Drag the sphere to your model to apply the texture.