Introducing 3ds Max® 2008

Chapter 2. Your First 3ds Max Animation

This chapter gets your engine revving right away. It begins with an overview of the user interface (UI) and starts you off with an exercise that will expose you to quite a few Autodesk 3ds Max workflows and practices. The goal of the chapter is to put some concepts from the previous chapter into production so you can get going quickly.

Topics in this chapter include:

• Getting Around in 3ds Max

• Project and File Management Workflow

• The 3ds Max Interface

• Jumping Headlong into Animation

• Setting Up the Hierarchy

• Ready, Set, Animate

Getting Around in 3ds Max

At this point, it's important not to get caught up in the details of this great machine. Don't worry about the steps, buttons, menus, switches, and levers; just allow yourself to become comfortable with the tools that you use to create your artwork. Creating art is never about which button to press; it's about what to create. Always remember that, and your studies will be a great deal more successful.

Jumping straight into an exercise without knowing how to get around the interface might seem a little weird. However, you'll find everything you ever wanted to know, and then some, in Chapter 3, "The 3ds Max Interface." Learning is an experimental art, and there's no better way to learn than to start experimenting as soon as you can. The overall goal of this chapter is to expose you to the UI and show you how to get some things done in Max. Then you can proceed to the next chapter for a debriefing. (If you ...