3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [488]
To create an electric arc that runs between an outlet and a plug, follow these steps:
1. Open the Electricity.max file from the Chap 46 directory on the CD.
This file includes an outlet and an electric plug. A spline runs between the outline and the plug with a Noise modifier applied to it, which will be our electric arc.
2. Open the Material Editor by pressing the M key, and select the first sample slot. Select a yellow Diffuse color and an equally bright yellow for the Self-Illumination color. Set the Material Effects Channel to 1 by clicking the Material Effects ID button and holding it down until a pop-up array of numbers appears, and then drag to the number 1 and release the mouse. Drag this new material to the electric arc and close the Material Editor.
3. Open the Render Effects dialog box by choosing Rendering⇒Effects. Click the Add button, select the Lens Effects option, and click OK. Then select Lens Effects from the list, and double-click Glow in the Lens Effects Parameters rollout. Select Glow from the list; in the Glow Element rollout, set the Size to 1 and the Intensity value to 50. Then open the Options panel, set the Material ID to 1, and enable it.
Figure 46.24 shows the resulting electric arc.
FIGURE 46.24
You can create electricity using a simple spline, the Noise modifier, and the Glow render effect.
Tutorial: Creating neon
You can also use the Glow render effect to create neon signs. The letters for these signs can be simple renderable splines, as this tutorial shows.
To create a neon sign, follow these steps:
1. Open the Blues neon.max file from the Chap 46 directory on the CD.
This file includes a simple sign that reads “Blues.”
2. Open the Material Editor with the M key, select the first sample slot, and name it Blue Neon. Set its Diffuse color to blue and its Self-Illumination color to dark blue. Set the Material Effects Channel to 1, and apply the material to the sign.
3. Open the Rendering Effects panel, and click the Add button. Double-click the Lens Effects option to add it to the Effects list. In the Lens Effects rollout, double-click the Glow option and select it in the list to enable its rollouts. In the Lens Effects Globals rollout, set the Size and Intensity values to 1. In the Glow Element rollout, set the Size to 10 and the Intensity to 100, and make sure that the Glow Behind option is selected. For the neon color, set the Use Source Color to 100. Finally, open the Options panel, set the Material ID to 1, and enable it.
Note
As an alternative to using the source color, you could set the Use Source Color value to 0 and set the Radial Color swatch to blue. This gives you more control over the glow color. •
Figure 46.25 shows the rendered neon effect.
FIGURE 46.25
The glow of neon lights, easily created with render effects
Ring
The Ring Lens Effect is also circular and includes all the same controls and settings as the Glow Lens Effect. The only additional values are the Plane and Thickness values. The Plane value positions the Ring center relative to the center of the screen, and the Thickness value determines the width of the Ring's band.
Figure 46.26 shows several Ring effects with various Thickness values (from left to right): 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24.
FIGURE 46.26
Ring effects can vary in thickness.
Ray
The Ray Lens Effect emits bright, semitransparent rays in all directions from the source. It also uses the same settings as the Glow effect, except for the Num (Number) and Sharp values. The Num value is the number of rays, and the Sharp value can range from 0 to 10 and determines how blurry the rays are.
Figure 46.27 shows the Ray effect applied to a simple Omni light with increasing Num values: 6, 12, 50, 100, and 200. Notice that the rays aren't symmetrical and are randomly placed.
FIGURE 46.27
The Ray effect extends a given number of rays out from the effect center.
Star
The Star Lens