Reference Panels and Tank

The final thing we looked at in tutorial 2 was reference panels. This enables a picture to be placed into 3ds max as a reference to draw with. To do this firstly a plane needs to be created. This needs to be sized to the image that will be used. In this case it was 40 x 34.7. Next you go to material editor and click the grey square next to diffuse. Choose bitmap and select the image.



In this case, the image was a tank. This is convenient, as I was planning on using Goldeneye as part of my trailer anyway! Using the reference plane really helps, as you can mould the shape using the techniques learnt last week (convert to poly, selection tools). It is important as few shapes are used as possible, otherwise the file size will become huge.


I am quite pleased with my tank, the tracks need some work though. This will be one of my models used in the final production.




I am enjoying this module, still getting to grips with using it. One of the areas I am struggling with is the basic drawing tool. I have never been very good at drawing, so I need to practice! This is why it is very important that I use reference panels! I am beginning the storyboarding process now, I already know which films I am going to cover. I have watched four James Bond films last week, and will recreate a part of all of them for the final trailer.