Mapping & UVW

[joneus]

I'm a newbie to 3DS Max and am currently learning via baptism by fire & the online tutorials from autodesk. I work for a restaurant design company in SE Connecticut and am hoping to get proficient enough to convince my boss that this software is a worthy investment (in the next 15 days... hardee har har...).

 

So far, I've done pretty well with modeling and have dabbled with the animation enough to get the general idea of how it works, but the materials & mapping part has me scratching my head. All those numbers, LOL!!!! I think I've got the basic idea behind the "how-to's" but I think it would all be a little more clear if I understood the "why" part.

 

Can someone explain (in laymens terms) what "Maps" are? To the best of my understanding, the UVW coordinates are the same as the XYZ coordinates, they're just used in describing where the material is applied- right?

[louis.cho]

It's a big question with a very big answer. first of all, I suggest you to read the Help of Max ( F1 Key), it's will be very usefull during your learning.

 

To be short, Maps are kind of layers. There is so many kind of maps that I can't name all and almost each ones have their own particularity. Most used are diffuse (color of the object, can ba an image), bump (simulation of relief), opacity(how an object let pass light). All these maps (layers) can be use to create realistic material.

 

yes, UVW refer to XYZ but it's not so simple to use. You need often to apply materials on complexe objects and you need to specify how the textures will be apply on the object. I am not an expert in materials but this site and others are excellents ressources(the search button will be your best friend).

 

Go read the Visualisation Insider in Feature Articles. There is also a couple of tutorials on this site , it's very usefull.

 

Good luck