BONUS CHAPTER 11

Quick Start—3ds Max 4 Bible: Animating a Fighter Jet Fly-By

When you first got your hands on 3ds max 4, you were probably focused on one goal—creating cool 3D images and animations. I know many of you bought Max to make money, claim a tax write-off, earn a way to Hollywood, or impress your girlfriend or boyfriend, but I'll just ignore those reasons for now. The goal is to create something cool.

If you've perused this book's Table of Contents or thumbed through its many pages, you've seen sections on modeling, NURBS, dynamics, and other topics. But if you're like me, you don't want to wade through tons of material before you have something to show off to mom (actually, if you're like me, you've opened straight to the special effects section, in which case you won't be reading this).

The purpose of this Quick Start is to give you a taste of what Max can do. This soaring view of the software from 20,000 feet is intended to show you the big picture before you delve into the details. It exposes you to the most common modeling, material, and animation features and whets your appetite for the more in-depth chapters to follow.

This part of the book is intended for those new to the software. If you're an experienced user, then your mom no doubt is already impressed with your work, so you can happily advance to whichever chapter appeals to you. (Forgive me for catering to the newbie, but we were all beginners once.)

The Speed of Jets

It happens every Fourth of July during the parade. You hear a rumble of approaching thunder off in the distance, and everyone's gaze turns to the skies. Then quick as a flash, the fighter jets roar by and are gone. I always love the tingling rush that sweeps over my body as they disappear.

Animating in Max isn't bound by reality. You can animate anything you can imagine, and I'll get to the unbelievable soon enough, but for this Quick Start I've elected to work with an example that is based in reality. This example lets you play with a jet plane. The tasks to be completed include the following:

• Find a digital model of a jet and load it into Max.
• Apply materials to all the different parts of the plane.
• Create a scene or environment to fly our jet around.
• Include some props like a windmill.
• Set a camera to watch the jet's motion.
• Animate the jet's motion.
• Add a smoke trail special effect.
• Render the final animation.

This Quick Start is divided into separate tutorials, with each tutorial containing a series of easy-to-follow steps. These steps are intended to show you the results of performing certain Max operations, but feel free to deviate from these steps to create your own results. Being creative and exploring the software is the best way to learn.

Tutorial: Importing the Jet Model

Accurately modeling an object such as a jet fighter can take many months of skilled work, which brings me to my first tip of modeling: Don't build it when it's already been done for you. You can find many repositories of digital models—from websites to software dealers to the CD in the back of this book. An untold number of models exist, covering almost any possible subject matter you could think of. The difficult part is wading through all the available models to find the exact model you need. The answer to this dilemma is not to be afraid to alter an existing model to fit your needs.

Follow these steps to learn the easiest method for modeling:

1. Reset the Max interface by choosing Application Button Reset, and click Yes in the alert box that appears, asking whether you really want to reset.
2. Insert the CD from the back of the book, and choose Application Button Import.

   The Select File to Import dialog box appears.

3. In the Files of Type drop-down list, select 3DStudio Mesh. Locate the Bonus Chapter 11 directory on the CD, and select the file named F14A Tomcat1.3ds. Click OK.

   The 3DS Import dialog box appears.

4. Select the Merge Objects with Current Scene option, check the Convert Units check box, and click OK.

   The jet model appears at the center of each viewport. The viewports are the sections of the interface that provide a view into the scene. The default viewports include Top, Front, Left, and Perspective.

5. Choose Application Button Save As to open the Save File As dialog box, shown in Figure 1. Select a directory in the Save in drop-down box where you want to save the file, type Imported Fighter Jet in the File name field, and click Save.

   The name of the current file appears in the title bar of the Max window.

FIGURE 1 The File Save As dialog box lets you save files.

The imported jet appears as shown in Figure 2.

FIGURE 2 The viewports display the fighter jet after being imported into Max.

Tutorial: Applying Materials to the Jet Model

Nice jet, huh? Try a quick smooth rendering in the ActiveShade window by choosing Rendering ActiveShade Floater to open the ActiveShade Floater and render the active viewport. Rendering the scene computes the effects of the lights, material, and environment into a single image. This process could take some time, depending on the complexity of the scene, but the ActiveShade window is a quick rendering window that lets you see the results of materials and lights. The results of the ActiveShade rendering show the jet model with simple materials on a black background, which doesn't look very accurate. But don't worry; you're just getting started. You can close the ActiveShade window by clicking the close icon in the upper-right corner of the window.

The next step is to choose individual parts of the plane and apply different materials to each. The windows will be glass; the wheels will be rubber; and the plane body will be a smooth, sleek silver metal.

To apply materials to the model parts, follow these steps:

1. To assign materials, you must first select the model parts. Open the Select Objects dialog box, shown in Figure 3, by choosing Edit Select By Name (or press the H key).

   Notice that the pane on the left displays all the various parts that make up this model.

   FIGURE 3 The Select Objects dialog box lists all the objects in the scene.

   

2. Double-click the part called cockpit in the left pane. Doing so selects the part and closes the dialog box. Alternatively, click its name, and click the Select button at the bottom of the dialog box. (You can clear any selections by clicking the None button.)

   The jet canopy is highlighted white in the viewports.

3. Open the Material Editor by choosing Rendering Material Editor (or pressing the M key).

   The Material Editor, shown in Figure 4, allows you to create, edit, and apply materials to objects in the scene.

   FIGURE 4 The Material Editor can create a vast assortment of materials.

   

4. In the Material Editor, click the Get Material button (the small, leftmost icon with an arrow pointing to a sphere).

   The Material/Map Browser dialog box opens, as shown in Figure 5. In it, you can load a library of preset materials.

5. From the panel menu in the upper-left corner, select the Open Material Library menu command. Locate and select the quickstart.mat file from the Bonus Chapter 11 directory on the CD.
6. For the selected cockpit object, select the Cockpit Glass material in the Material/Map Browser by double-clicking it.

   The glass material loads into the first Material Editor sample slot. Using the material parameters that appear in the Material Editor under the sample slots, you can alter the material.

7. For now, stick with the preset library materials, and apply the material to the cockpit object by clicking the Assign Material to Selection button (the third small icon from the left that shows an arrow pointing from a sphere to a cube).
8. Close the Material Editor and Material/Map Browser windows by clicking the X button in the upper-right corner.
9. Repeat the preceding steps until all parts of the jet have materials, as listed in Table 1. Use a different sample slot for each unique material. This makes the material available to add to other objects. To work with a different sample slot, click one of the other sample spheres in the Material Editor before selecting a new material in the Material/Map Browser.

   FIGURE 5 Use the Material/Map Browser dialog box to manage materials.

   

   Tip

   You don't need to close the Material Editor each time. You can leave it open while you work with the viewports behind it.

   TABLE 1 Jet Fighter Material Assignments

   Model Part	Preset Material
   cockpit	Cockpit Glass
   ctrim	Metal Trim
   elev	Silver Metal
   exhaust	Black Metal
   fuselage	Silver Metal
   insets	Black Metal
   intakes	Black Metal
   nose	Black Metal
   nozzle	Fire Red
   rudder	Silver Metal
   tabs	Metal Trim
   tubes	Metal Trim
   vents	Black Metal
   webs	Black Metal
   wing	Silver Metal

10. Choose File Save As to open the Save File As dialog box. Type Materials Applied Fighter Jet in the File name field and click Save.

Figure 6 shows the jet model with all the materials you applied to it rendered in the Virtual Frame Buffer. This image was created using the Render Scene dialog box, which you access by choosing Rendering Render (or pressing F10 or Shift+R).

FIGURE 6 This rendered image shows how the jet looks with the materials applied.

Tutorial: Positioning the Background Environment

Okay, I have a confession to make. Earlier I explained how jets flying over a parade are awesome and that is why I chose them as the subject for this tutorial. Well, the real reason is that you usually see jets when they're flying in the sky, and the sky is a very easy backdrop to work with. You don't need to match up the object with the ground plane and you don't need to worry about the perspective size of the objects in the scene. All you need are some clouds and lots of light blue—no windmills, no trees, and no people. The same applies to space. That is one of the reasons why we see so many space animations.

So all you need to create a realistic environment is an image of the sky and some clouds. You could use Max to create an original image, but the easier method is to find a bitmap image of the sky and some clouds. Plenty of these types of images are available. After you locate a perfect sky scene image, you need to include it as the background image in the current project.

You can use two separate commands for dealing with background images:

• Views Viewport Background: This displays an image as a viewport background. Be aware that you mainly use this background image just for aligning the objects to the background, and it is not included as part of the rendered image.
• Rendering Environment: This assigns a rendered background image called an Environment Map.

To add a background to a scene, follow these steps:

1. Open the Environment dialog box, shown in Figure 7, by choosing Rendering Environment. Check the Use Map check box, and click the Environment Map button labeled None.

   FIGURE 7 Use the Environment dialog box to set environment properties, such as a background image.

   

   The Material/Map Browser dialog box appears.

2. In the window to the right with a list of material and map items, double-click Bitmap.

   The Select Bitmap Image File dialog box opens.

3. Locate the background image named Sky1.tif in the Bonus Chapter 11 directory on the CD, and click it to select it. You must select the TIF image format in the File Type drop-down list for the image filename to appear.

   When selected, the image appears in the Preview pane, as shown in Figure 8.

   FIGURE 8 The Select Image File dialog box includes a preview pane to view images before opening them.

   

4. Click Open to load the background image.

   This sky image was cropped from a Corel PhotoCD image.

5. Click the close icon in the upper-right corner of the Environment dialog box to close it.
6. Although a background image was specified, it doesn't show up in the viewport background. To make the environment map appear in the viewport, you must open the Viewport Background dialog box, shown in Figure 9, by choosing Views Viewport Background or by pressing Alt+B.
7. Check the Use Environment Background and the Display Background check boxes, and click OK.

   The background appears in the viewport.

8. Choose File Save As to open the Save File As dialog box, name the file Environment Background, and click Save.

Figure 10 shows the environment background in the active viewport. You can maximize the active viewport by clicking the Min/Max toggle (the icon in the lower-right corner of the Max window).

FIGURE 9 Use the Viewport Background dialog box to make background images viewable in the viewport.

FIGURE 10 This maximized viewport displays the background image.

Tutorial: Adding a Windmill Model

The sky background works to a small degree, but to really show off the speed of your jet, you need a windmill in the scene. Because large objects like this windmill are static, they are relatively easy to add. For a windmill model, we could create something simple using primitives, but instead we again are going to load them from the model clip art library created by Viewpoint Datalabs.

To load and position the windmill model, follow these steps:

1. Before importing the windmill model, group all the parts of the jet together. Select all the parts for the jet by choosing Edit Select All. Then group all the parts into one by choosing Group Group.
2. In the Group dialog box that opens, shown in Figure 11, give the group the name Fighter Jet and click OK.

   Now when you import the windmill, the windmill parts won't be confused with the jet parts.

   FIGURE 11 Use the Group command to group several objects together.

   

3. To add a windmill model to the existing scene, choose Application Button Import to open the 3DS Import dialog box.

   The model name is windmill.3ds located in the Bonus Chapter 11 directory on the CD.

4. Select the option to Merge the objects with the current scene, and check the Convert Units check box.

   This model already has materials applied to it.

5. While all the windmill parts are selected, group them together with the Group Group command and name the group Windmill.

   Note

   The windmill model was created and provided by Viewpoint Datalabs.

6. Scale the jet model to be proportional to the windmill model. Press the H key to open the Select Objects dialog box, and double-click the Fighter Jet group to select it.
7. Click the Select and Move button (the one with four arrows pointing in each direction) in the main toolbar. Position the mouse over the axes in the top viewport and drag the axes over to the left beyond the windmill edges.

   This actually is the jet model, but it is so small compared to the windmill that it is hardly visible.

8. Click the Select and Uniform Scale button (the one with a small, red outlined box inside a larger gray box), and drag on the axes again until the size of the jet looks proportional to the windmill.
9. When the jet is the right scale, click the Select and Move button again and right-click the Left viewport to make it the active viewport. Move the jet object to the left of and above the windmill.
10. Choose File Save As to open the Save File As dialog box, name the file Positioned Fighter Jet, and click Save.

Figure 12 shows the jet positioned relative to the windmill. The jet is much smaller than the windmill, but it is selected and the axes mark its location.

FIGURE 12 The axes in each viewport mark the location of the jet object.

With the windmill correctly positioned, we're ready to set the camera.

Tutorial: Working with Cameras and Lights

The next step is to position the camera and lights. This camera gives us a new perspective on our scene. Cameras can move, rotate, and zoom in and out on subjects within the scene. For this example, however, the camera is static. We need to position the camera so the windmill is clearly visible while leaving enough space for the jet to maneuver.

The default lights that are included automatically with new scenes provide lights in the rendered images if you don't add any new lights to the scene. But we want to have control over the lights in this scene, so let's add our own.

To create new a camera and lights, follow these steps:

1. Open the Create panel in the Command Panel to the right of the Max window, and click the Camera category button.
2. In the Object Type rollout (a rollout is a pane of parameters that you can open by clicking its title once), click the Free button, and click in the Front viewport at a location in front of and slightly to the right of the windmill model.
3. Click the Select and Move button on the main toolbar, and move the camera object to the right in the Left viewport so it's in front of the windmill and up in the Front viewport about half the height of the windmill.

   Figure 13 shows this camera object's position.

   FIGURE 13 The camera object's position is in front of the windmill model.

   

4. Right-click the Perspective viewport title, and choose Views Camera01 from the pop-up menu (or right-click the Perspective viewport to make it the active viewport and press the C key).

   The viewport changes to show the camera's view.

5. With the camera selected, choose Animation Constraints Look At Constraint.

   In the viewports, a dotted line extends from the camera object.

6. Move the cursor within the Front viewport over the fighter jet object until the cursor changes to a plus sign, and click to make the fighter jet object the target for the Look At constraint.

   This animation constraint automatically rotates the camera to look at the target object, which is the fighter jet. The camera automatically points at the jet model, which you can see in the viewport labeled Camera01, but the orientation is upside-down.

7. Move the cursor over the Command Panel until it changes into a hand icon, and drag upward to scroll the Command Panel.
8. Scroll to the bottom of the LookAt Constraint rollout, set the LookAt Axis to the Z-Axis, and check the Flip check box.
9. Select the LookAt Upnode Control option to fix the camera orientation.

   Figure 14 shows the results of these settings.

   FIGURE 14 With the camera orientation corrected, the windmill appears upright in the Camera01 viewport.

   

10. To add lights to the scene, open the Create panel again and click the Lights category button (to the left of the Camera category icon).
11. Click the Omni button, and click in the Top viewport at a position in front of and to the right of the windmill. Click again directly in front of the windmill, and set the Multiplier value in the General Parameters rollout for this light to 0.3.
12. Click to create a third light in front of and to the left of the windmill. Set this light's Multiplier to 0.5.
13. Click the Select and Move button, and drag the first and third lights up above the windmill in the Left viewport. Then select all three lights and move them to the right in the Left viewport to give them some distance from the windmill.
14. Choose File Save As to open the Save File As dialog box, name the file Camera and Lights, and click Save.

Figure 15 shows the positions of the light objects in the scene.

FIGURE 15 The light objects are far enough away from the scene to provide adequate lighting.

Animating the Jet

Within a Max scene, you can animate many things besides the models, such as materials, lights, and cameras. You can animate in many ways as well. For this example, you create a path and set the jet to follow it. This lets you set a Banking option, which is typically how jets move.

Tutorial: Creating an animation path

To create an animation path, you use the line drawing tool. This tool can create splines, which are lines with controllable handles. After the line (or spline) is drawn, you can move the points around.

To create a spline path, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the Top viewport to make it active. Open the Create panel, and click the Shapes category button (the second category icon from the left).

   Several buttons appear that you can use to create all sorts of basic shapes.

2. Click the Min/Max toggle located in the bottom-right corner of the Max window to expand the Top viewport to make it easier to work with. Click the Zoom Extents button to make all your scene objects visible.

   The Zoom Extents button is in the lower-right corner of the Max window; it looks like a cube surrounded by brackets.

3. Click the Line button. The cursor changes into crosshairs when you move over the viewports.
4. In the Creation Method rollout, select Smooth for both the Initial Type and Drag Type. In the Top viewport, create a line that moves from the jet's location, veers near and around the windmill, and ends in front of the camera. Right-click to end the line.

   Figure 16 shows the first try at the jet's path in the Top viewport.

   FIGURE 16 The line in this viewport is the path that the jet will follow.

   

5. Make sure the line is still selected (it should be white), and open the Modify panel in the Command Panel. Right-click the small plus sign to the left of the Line object name.

   The Line subobjects appear in a hierarchy list.

6. Select the Vertex subobject.

   It allows you to move the individual vertices.

7. Click the Min/Max toggle to return to the default four-viewport layout. In the Left viewport, click the Select and Move button, and then click each of the vertices and move them up until they are all visible in the Camera view. Click the Vertex subobject again to exit subobject mode.
8. Choose File Save As to open the Save File As dialog box, name the file Animation Path, and click Save.

Figure 17 shows the completed path after editing.

FIGURE 17 The path created for the jet to follow.

Tutorial: Assigning a controller

Now that the path is established, you need to attach the jet model to it. You do so using the Path Constraint.

To attach the jet model to the path, follow these steps:

1. Open the Create panel, and select the Helper category (the button icon that looks like a tape measure). Click the Dummy button, and drag in the Top viewport on top of the jet object. With the Dummy object selected, choose Tools Align or press Alt+A.

   The cursor changes to an alignment symbol.

2. Click the fighter jet object to make the Align Selection dialog box appear, as shown in Figure 18.

   FIGURE 18 Use the Align Selection dialog box to align objects.

   

3. Check the X, Y, and Z options for Align Position and Orientation, and select the Center options for both the Current and Target Objects.

   This dummy object aligned to the jet model enables you to constrain the jet to the animation path; you cannot assign a constraint to groups. Click OK to accept.

4. Press the H key to open the Select Objects dialog box, and double-click the Fighter Jet object to select the jet model. Then click the Select and Link button on the main toolbar (the first button from the left), and press H to open the Select Objects dialog box again.
5. Double-click the Dummy01 object to select it as the parent to the fighter jet model. Now, moving the dummy object also moves the jet model. Click the Select Objects button on the main toolbar (the arrow button) to exit link mode.
6. With the dummy object selected, choose Animation Constraints Path Constraint. A dotted line extends from the dummy object. Move the cursor over the spline path, and click to assign the constraint target.

   The Motion panel opens, in which you can set the path parameters.

7. Select the Follow and Bank options in the Path Properties rollout, and set the Bank Amount value to 2.
8. Right-click the Top viewport to make it active, use the Min/Max toggle to enlarge the Top viewport, click the Region Zoom button in the lower-right corner (it has a magnifying glass inside a dotted rectangle), and drag a box around the jet.

   This zooms the viewport in on the jet where it first connects with the path.

9. Click the Select and Rotate button, click the Restrict to Z button in the main toolbar, and rotate the jet about its local Z-axis to be aligned with the path. Repeat this step for the Left view also.

   The jet's nose cone should point directly to the path, as shown in Figure 19.

   FIGURE 19 The jet model has been rotated to point along the path.

   

10. With the Path Constraint in place, make the Camera viewport active and click the Play Animation button at the bottom of the window.

    The jet moves along the path.

11. Choose File Save As to open the Save File As dialog box, name the file Animate Along Path, and click Save.

Figure 20 shows the jet as it travels along the path. By sampling the animation motion at critical key frames, we get an idea of how the final animation will look. This way, if modifications are needed, we can merely return to the Modify panel and change the path.

FIGURE 20 One frame of the jet following the path

Tutorial: Adding a Smoke Trail

You can add special effects to the scene in several ways and you have many different effects to choose from. In this example, we do only one—adding a smoke trail from the jet engines using a particle system.

A trail of smoke shows how the jet moves through the scene. To achieve this effect, we link a Super Spray particle system to the jet's rear thrusters.

To add a trail of smoke, follow these steps:

1. With the Top and Left views still zoomed in on the jet (you may need to use the Region Zoom button again to zoom in on the jet's nozzle), open the Create panel, click the Geometry category (the leftmost button), and select the Particle Systems subcategory from the drop-down list. Then click the Super Spray button, and drag in the Top view to create a Spray particle system.
2. Use the Region Zoom button and the transform buttons to position the Spray particle system icon directly behind each jet nozzle, so the direction arrow points away from the jet.
3. With the Super Spray object selected, open the Modify panel and make the following changes:
   • Basic Parameters rollout: Set the Off Axis Spread value to 10 and the Off Plane Spread value to 90.
   • Particle Generation rollout: Select the Use Rate option, and set the value to 100. Set the Speed to 0 because the jet will be moving. Set the Emit Start to 0, the Emit Stop to 100, and the Life to 100. Then set the Size value to 5.
   • Object Motion Inheritance rollout: Set the Influence value to 0. This causes the particles to stick around as the jet moves on by.
4. Click the Select and Move button, and hold down the Shift key while you drag the Super Spray object from one nozzle to the next.

   The Clone Options dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 21. You use this dialog box to create a clone of the Super Spray object.

   FIGURE 21 The Clone Options dialog box lets you specify a clone as a copy, instance, or reference.

   

5. Click OK to exit the Clone Options dialog box. Position the cloned Super Spray object over the second nozzle.
6. Click the Select and Link button in the main toolbar, and drag a line from each individual Super Spray object to the jet group.

   Doing so makes the particle system move along with the jet.

7. Open the Material Editor, and select one of the unused sample slots. Click the Get Material button and select the Mtl Library option in the Browse From section. Locate and double-click the Smoke Trail material.
8. Choose File Save As to open the Save File As dialog box, name the file Smoke Trails, and click Save.

Figure 22 shows the Top view with both Super Spray objects positioned and linked to the nozzle objects.

FIGURE 22 The Top view shows the icons for two Super Spray particle systems that have been linked to the nozzles of the jet.

Rendering the Final Animation

Rendering the final animation can take lots of time, depending on the output resolution and the power of your computer. The final output is started through the Render Scene dialog box, which you can open with the Rendering Render command. The Render dialog box offers several options for customizing the output, but before we render the final output, let's create a preview animation to make sure everything looks okay.

Tutorial: Creating a preview animation

Before we render the final scene, we should produce a Preview animation. Doing so helps to eliminate some problems before time is spent rendering the entire animation. The Preview is simply the viewport scene stitched together into an animation. The shading options are the same as those available for the viewports.

To create a Preview animation, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the Camera viewport to make it active, and choose Tools Grab Viewport Create Animated Sequenced File.

   The Make Preview dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 23.

   FIGURE 23 The Make Preview dialog box can produce a quick look at your animation sequence.

   

2. In the Make Preview dialog box, you can select the Active Time Segment, which will include all frames in the animation. Set the Image Size to 50 percent, and select the AVI Output option. In the Display in Preview section, make sure to check the Geometry, Lights, Particle Systems, and Background check boxes.
3. Click the Create button.

   Max begins the rendering, opens the default Media Player when finished, and plays the preview.

4. Choose Rendering View Preview to view the preview again if desired. Figure 24 shows the preview playing in the Media Player window.

As you look at the preview, watch for the following errors:

• Objects moving through one another
• Insufficient lighting
• Erratic object (non-smooth) motion

FIGURE 24 Preview animations render quickly and can be viewed in the default Media Player window.

Tutorial: Rendering the final animation

After you've fixed all the errors and you're comfortable with the Preview animation, you can open the Render Scene dialog box (by pressing F10) and prepare your final animation for rendering.

To view the final animation rendering settings, follow these steps:

1. Open the Render Scenes dialog box, shown in Figure 25, by choosing Rendering Render.
2. In the Time Output section, select Active Time Segment. In the Output Size section, select 320×240 as the resolution.
3. Next, we'll save the rendered scene to a file. In the Render Output section, click the Files button to open the Render Output File dialog box. Select the location to save the file; enter the name Fighter Jet Fly-by; and from the Save as type drop-down list, select .AVI as the format. Click Save.

   Tip

   If you don't want to save the file, you can render the scene to the Virtual Frame Buffer. After the rendering is complete, you can save the animation by clicking the Save Bitmap button. The Virtual Frame Buffer can save to both animation and bitmap formats.

   FIGURE 25 The Render Scene dialog box includes many diverse rendering settings.

   

   The Video Compression dialog box appears.

4. Select the Cinepak Codec by Radius Compressor with a Quality setting of 100 and a Key Frame every 15 frames. Click OK to continue.
5. Back in the Render Scene dialog box, check the viewport setting at the bottom of the dialog box and make sure Camera01 is selected. Then click the Render button to start the rendering process.
6. Choose File Save As to open the Save File As dialog box, name the file Final Render, and click Save.

Figure 26 shows some frames from the final animation.

We could do much more to this animation, such as using lens effects or adding a motion blur, but I wanted to save some effects for the rest of the book. Feel free to load and modify this simple animation as you desire.

FIGURE 26 Four frames from the final animation of our fighter jet fly-by

Summary

I hope you're happy with your first footsteps into Max. This chapter exposed you to a number of important aspects of Max including

• Opening a scene file and importing an object
• Selecting and applying materials to scene objects
• Loading a background image for the scene
• Adding and positioning cameras and lights
• Animating the fighter jet to follow a path
• Using a particle system to create a smoke trail for the jet
• Rendering the final animation
• Working with the Max interface

But hold onto your seats because so much of the software lies ahead. In Chapter 1, you start easily with an in-depth look at the Max interface. If you feel ready for more advanced challenges, review the Table of Contents and dive into any topic that looks good.