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Tutorial: Adding 3D objects to a scene

A common use of the Matte/Shadow map is to add 3D objects to a background image. For example, if you add a Plane object that is aligned with the ground plane in the background image that has a matte/shadow material applied to it, then the Plane object can capture the shadows of the 3D objects, but the matte/shadow material allows the background to be seen through the Plane object. The result is that the 3D object appears added to the background image scene.

To use a matte/shadow material to add an object to a background image, follow these steps:

1. Open the Xylophone on shadow matte.max file from the Chap 30 directory on the CD.

This file contains a background image of a cow statue taken in front of the Boston Convention Center. The scene also includes a xylophone positioned on the Plane object. The Plane object has a Scale multiplier of 4 to make a complete ground plane when the scene is rendered.

2. Open the Slate Material Editor by pressing the M keyboard shortcut. Double-click the Matte/Shadow option in the Material/Map Browser. Name the material Shadow plane, and apply it to the Plane object in the Perspective viewport.

3. Select the Create⇒Lights⇒Standard Lights⇒Omni menu and click in the Top viewport to create a light. In the General Parameters rollout, enable the Shadows option. Then in the Shadow Parameters rollout, click the Color swatch. In the Color Selector that opens, select the Sample Screen Color eyedropper tool, and click the cow's shadow color to select it. Then adjust the Density setting to 0.7 to make the shadow slightly transparent.

4. Right-click the Perspective viewport's rendering label in the upper-left corner of the viewport and select the Lighting and Shadows⇒Enable Hardware Shading. Then select the Lighting and Shadows⇒ Shadows option.

This makes the shadows appear in the viewport on the Plane object.

5. Move the Omni light in the Left and Top views until the shadows are projected along the same path as the cow's shadows.

Tip

One way to help align the shadows is to make the shadows of parallel geometry objects, like the xylophone's vertical leg and the cow's leg, parallel. •

6. To see the final result, you need to render the image. To do this, select Rendering⇒Render (or press F10) to open the Render Scene dialog box. Click the Render button at the bottom of the dialog box, and the image is rendered in the Rendered Frame Window, or press the F9 key.

Figure 30.1 shows the resulting rendered image.

FIGURE 30.1

A rendered xylophone fits into the scene because its shadows are cast on an object with a matte/shadow material applied.

Using the Ink 'n' Paint Material

Although it may seem silly, many different production houses use Max to create 2D line-drawn cartoons. This is accomplished using the Ink 'n' Paint material. Traditionally, cartoons have been drawn by hand using a paper and pen. Then animation houses found that, using computers, you can fill in a cartoon feature easily, but using a 3D program like Max with its ability to animate using keyframes simplifies the animation task even further. The difference is in how the objects are rendered; the Ink 'n' Paint material controls this.

With the Ink 'n' Paint material selected, several rollouts appear, including the Basic Material Extensions. This rollout includes options for making the material 2-Sided, enabling a Face Map, and making the material Faceted. Other options cause the background to be foggy when not painting and make the alpha channel opaque. Maps are available for Bump and Displacement.

Controlling paint and ink

The Paint Controls rollout includes settings for how the paint (or colors inside the ink outline) is applied. You can specify colors for the Lighted, Shaded, and Highlight colors. The Lighted color is used for sections of the material that face the scene lights, the Shaded color is used for sections that are in the shadows, and the Highlight color is for the specular highlights.