Tutorial 1 - Introduction to low poly modelling and Spline modelling

In 3D Studio Max there are many simple shapes which can be created. This includes cubes, cones, cylinders etc. The following image is of a simple castle created by using those simple shape tools.

The castle is made up of three cuboids to create the walls and four cylinders used in the corners of the Castle. Another shape was used which is in the shape of a c, which is a cuboid missing a part in the middle. This shape was used for the door and ceiling. With a hole in the ceiling a set of stairs were added.

The second part of the tutorial was creating a snow man. It is important to always name the shapes, so that when working on bigger projects, the names will mean something instead of cone01, square23 etc. Also when adding a stage, we must use a circle instead of a square. If you use a circle there will be a horizon but if you use a square, you will see the corner of the shape. The snow man is made up of 2 large spheres for the body, 2 small spheres and a cone for the face. The hat is made up of 2 cones which have been grouped together. Just like the shapes groups can also be given names.

The more shapes you use the more memory will be taken up and the long it will take to render. It is important to keep the shape count to a minimum. A way in which we keep the shapes to a minimum would be to create a polly and keep adding and taking away to form a complex single shape. An example of this would be for the caste which was created first. Instead of using many shapes for the walls and ceiling, just one box can be manipulated into the shape of a castle. To access the menu to edit a polly you must select modify and then choose from a drop down list "edit polly".

The apples were made by using spheres which were then mishapped to give a more organic feel to them, because apples are not perfect spheres. A cone was then added as a stork. The bowl was also a sphere which was pulled into itself to make a bowl shape.