Animated Still Life

This tutorial, intended for those new to 3ds Max, offers a quick introduction to the world of 3D while you play with some traditional elements of art. Using basic features of the program, you’ll create a composition of an orange and an apple, a windowsill and wall, a bottle and a knife. You’ll also add lights and a camera, and view the scene from different angles. The final steps introduce you to some basic animation.

Animated still life

When you learn to paint, you start with a still life, perhaps a bottle and some fruit arranged on a table. In this tutorial, you’ll make a “not-so-still life” that is animated.

The idea for this tutorial was taken from the Salvador Dali painting “Nature Morte Vivante,” in which the traditional elements of a still life are painted flying through the air. You’ll use the same idea for your first animation project in 3ds Max.

Skill Level: Beginner

Time to complete: 20 minutes

Features Covered in This Tutorial

As you do this tutorial, you’ll be learning a number of things at once:

• How to open a scene
• How to model objects and apply realistic materials
• How to navigate the viewports and interface of 3ds Max
• How to move and animate objects
• How to render

Tutorial Files

All the files necessary for this tutorial are provided on the program disc in the \tutorials\still_life directory. Before starting the tutorials, copy the \tutorials folder from the disc to your local program installation.

In This Tutorial

• Navigating a Scene
• Creating an Orange
• Adding a Material to the Orange
• Animating the Still Life Objects
• Rendering the Animation