Page 56 - Kitab3DsMax

Part I: Getting Started with 3ds Max

Tutorial: Adding a Sun & Sky system
Another benefit of having the mental ray Renderer enabled is that you also can use the Sun & Sky system. This
system simulates outdoor lighting from a distant source like the sun and generates a sky for the background.
To add a Sun & Sky system to the scene, follow these steps:
1. Select the Create ➪ Lights ➪ Daylight System menu command, and drag in the Top viewport to add a
compass helper to the scene. Then click and drag to position the Sun light icon in the Top viewport.
Note
When the Daylight System is applied, a dialog box automatically appears recommending that you use the
Logarithmic Exposure Control and asking whether you want to make this change. Click Yes to continue. n

2. Select the Render ➪ Environment menu command (or press the 8 key) to open the Environment
and Effects dialog box. Click the Environment Map button, and select the mr Physical Sky map
from the Maps/mental ray folder in the Material/Map Browser. Then enable the Use Map option,
and close the Environment dialog box.
3. Choose the Views ➪ Viewport Background ➪ Viewport Background menu command (or press
Alt+B) to open the Viewport Background dialog box. Select the Perspective viewport, enable the
Use Environment Background and the Display Background options, and close the dialog box.
4. Click the Maximize Viewport button (Alt+W) in the lower-right corner of the interface to make
the Perspective viewport full-sized.
5. With the daylight light selected, click the Setup button in the Daylight Parameters rollout found
in the Modify panel. Then set the Time Hours to 11. This sets the time of day to late afternoon.
6. To see the lights and shadows in the viewport, click the viewport shading label in the upper-left
corner of the viewport and select the Lighting and Shadows ➪ Enable Hardware Shading (or press
the Shift+F3 shortcut). Then turn on Enable Exposure Control in Viewport, Enable Shadows, and
Enable Ambient Occlusion in the same Lighting and Shadows menu.
The viewport now shows the scene with a background sky, as shown in Figure QS.4.
Tutorial: Rendering a preview
Before moving to animation, you can render the scene now that lights have been added. Rendering is con-
figured using the Render Scene dialog box.
To render a preview of the dinosaur scene, follow these steps:
1. Select the Rendering ➪ Render menu command (or press the F10 key), and open the Indirect
Illumination panel. Turn on the Enable Final Gather option, and set the Preset to Medium. This
computes a global illumination model by determining how light rays bounce about the scene.
2. Back in the Common panel of the Render Scene dialog box, select the image size in the Common
Parameters rollout and click the Render button. The active viewport is rendered and displayed in
the Render Frame Window.

Tip
This scene is fairly simply and renders quickly, but if you need the test render to be even faster, you can enable
the Quicksilver Hardware Renderer instead of the mental ray. n

The rendered dinosaur image, as shown in Figure QS.5, includes all the materials and lighting effects.

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