RENDERING
Render Gamma
Tutorials dealing with render gamma. The gamma function shifts pixel intensity values in a way that approximates the way humans perceive light. These tutorials deal with the gamma function in Design 3D 8.0.
Gamma correction and linear workflow
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Gamma and the color white
Going from 1.0 gamma to 2.2 gamma, Tutorial 1
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Tutorial 2
Pixel Detail / Anti-Aliasing
Tutorials on Anti-Aliasing.
An introduction to Anti-Aliasing
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Anti-Aliasing & Pixel Detail settings, 8.0 version
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8.1 version
Adaptive Shadow Sampling
Adaptive Shadow Sampling allows the renderer to save time by adaptively lowering render quality parameters in dim shadow areas. This can save quite a bit of time in some scene, but can also introduce artifacts if set too high. These tutorials discuss how it functions in both 8.0 and 8.1. Important changes to version 8.1 are discussed in the second video below.
Adaptive Shadow Sampling, 8.0 version
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8.1 version
Working with Direct and Indirect light
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This tutorial is designed for those new to Design 3D who want to know the difference between direct and indirect diffuse illumination. It also shows how to control parameters which influence these lighting types in Render dialog. It specifically looks at the Lighting, Shadow and Detail panels, covering Raydiosity Bounces, Cache Hits, Adaptive Shadow Sampling, and Anti-Aliasing parameters as they relate to direct and indirect illumination.
Working with Diffuse Light Bounces
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This tutorial shows how to use the render parameter called Raydiosity Bounces within the Render dialog. It discusses how to determine an optimal value for several different types of scenes.
Using the Inverse Square light falloff law
This tutorial shows how to use two lighting panels to light the scene, and using the inverse square light falloff law to control light and dark regions of this studio-photography like setting. It explains how to use their placement to control how light is cast into the scene.
Using the Inverse Square light falloff law
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Further adjust the pill bottle scene lighting
High Precision Floating-Point Color
These tutorials deal with the advanced high precision floating point color generated from Design 3D 8.0.
Working with floating point color, Tutorial 1
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Tutorial 2
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Tutorial 3
Lightdome Intensity vs Brightness Option
This new option allows the Lightdome to affect the scene in one of two ways; one is solely through amplification of diffuse illumination (raydiosity) or through source pixel brightness which also affects reflections. This quick tutorial shows specifically what this very useful function does.
New 8.0 Intensity option in the Lighting tab
Interactive Renderer
The Interactive Renderer allows for rapid scene previews using raytracing.
Optimize interactive render performance
Identify and control various render quality parameters
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This tutorial shows how to identify and control the visual quality of parts of a rendering. It shows how to control reflection quality through the use of reflection samples and an adaptive sampling mechanism; how to control diffuse illumination quality; and how to control overall image quality through the use of several anti-aliasing controls.
MATERIALS
Basic Material Setup
Learn to use the Fresnel interpolator and energy balance when setting up a material. This is useful for materials like plastics or glossy wood surfaces.
The basics of setting up a reflective material, Part 1
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Part 2
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Part 3
How To Vary Reflection Smoothness According To Incidence Angle
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In this material and rendering tutorial the ability to vary the degree of surface roughness according to view angle is explored. This is a powerful technique that simulates real world material properties which can be useful for architectural and product/package design.
Specularity On Metals, Primary And Secondary Smoothness
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This texturing tutorial shows how to use the Primary Mix Ratio to use two specular components on metallic surfaces. This allows materials with no diffuse component to interact with direct light sources.
Animate A Progressive Reveal Of An Object
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This tutorial shows how to use the Mask channel to create a crawling, progressive-reveal of an object.
Special glass for architectural scenes
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This tutorial shows how to create a special type of glass object for architectural scenes which is designed for optimal render times.
Texturing a metal cooking pot
Part 1
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Part 2
his tutorial begins the process of setting up a complex material system for a cooking pot. It looks at creating a metallic material that uses a series of overlaying ‘modifier’ materials to create the final appearance. Material subsets, anisotropy, UV mapping and incidence reflectance are covered.
UV MAPPING
UV Mapping for Beginners
( Go here for more UV tutorials )
UV Mapping a Simple Cube, Part 1
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Part 2
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Part 3
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Part 4
Apply different materials to each face of a cube. Learn to use polygon subsets and also UV mapping to apply different bitmaps and materials to each of the cube sides.
Basic UV Editor Operations with advanced UV unwrap
This tutorial walks through the use of the UV mapper, specifically looking at the use of the BurnUV, Conform (LSCM unwrap) function, Flatten, Move To, and Fit operations, and Point Pinning within the UV editor. It also shows the work flow for generating UVs starting with cylindrically burned UVs.
General UV Mapping Tutorials
( Go here for more UV tutorials )
This tutorial looks at UV mapping a sofa seat cushion object. Part 1 specifically looks at a simplified object in order to demonstrate UV unwrapping a simple or a more complex, but comparable, shape and why one might be more beneficial than the other.
UV Maps and Physical Size, 8.0
This tutorial shows how to create a UV map that conforms to the size of existing Illustrator art whose physical size needs to be maintained. UV space is an abstractly measured system, and this tutorial shows how to create UV template which relates to the physical size of Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop artwork.
Working with Path Extrude and UVs, 8.0
This tutorial talks through the process of creating a Path Extrude object and work converting it to a polygon mesh object in order to work with and adjust the UV coordinates. This allows for predictable application of textures.
UV Mapping A Padlock With The Conform Function. 7.5, 8.0
This UV mapping tutorial shows how to use the BurnUV Conform function. It also shows how to identify ‘hinge’ edges for use in unwrapping. This tutorial was recorded in Design 3D version 7.5 but also works in 8.0
Merging UVs from a primitive into an existing polygon mesh, 8.0
This UV mapping tutorial shows how to merge a 2D Polygon primitive, with its pre-defined UV coordinates, with another polygon mesh and sync up the UVs from both. It also shows how to retain the existing UVs after a few modeling operations are done, using point pinning and the Conform function.
Model, UV Map And Apply A Bitmap Label To A Wristband Type Object, 8.0
This modeling, UV mapping, and texturing tutorial shows how to model a simple wristband type object using polygon modeling and subdivision surfaces. It then walks through the process of UV mapping it so a texture can be applied in a controlled and precise manner.
POLYGON EDITOR TOOLS (7.0 to 8.0)
Transforming Geometry
These tutorial pages discusses how the polygon editor’s Move, Rotate and Scale tool groups work.
Move Tool Group
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Rotate Tool Group
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Scale Tool Group
Adding/Extending Geometry
These tutorial pages discusses how the polygon editor’s Extrude tools work.
Extruding Polygons
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Extruding Edges
POLYGON MODELING
Subdivision Surfaces for Beginners
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These tutorials introduce new users to the process of subdivision surfaces. They show how to model a simple bowl, vase and mug shape. It also begins to show how to use the polygon modeling tools to control the subdivision modeling process.
Modeling a stairwell component, for beginners
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This tutorial is for people quite new to Design 3D who want to get a sense for object manipulation and modeling using a real-world project. It shows how to finish the construction of a simple stairwell component, using several different approaches (object level, element level), in order to get a sense for how Design 3D handles geometry.
Modeling Intersecting Tubes
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This modeling tutorial shows how to reconstruct a curving surface to use quads instead of triangles at the center in order to avoid possible visual artifacts.
Using quads to model a curved cooking pot lid
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This modeling tutorial shows how to intersect two tubes and then create thickness with them. It specifically shows how to use the boolean tools, how to watch for some issues relating to the use of boolean operations, and then how to finalize the object to become a well constructed subdivision surface object.
Creating a power cord
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This modeling tutorial deals with creating a path extrude object that is similar to a typical power cord. It shows a technique of deriving a path that has imperfections which look like a semi-rigid cord with irregularities. The technique uses a path extrude object, the decimation tool and a bit of polygon editing.
Create a rounded cube with inset region using subdivision surfaces
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This tutorial shows how to create an inset cube with rounded corners using an ideal method. This method uses a simple polygon mesh ‘cage’ that is subdivided. This approach is better than using other methods because it is easily UV mapped and controlled to scale to different sizes.
Working With The Rotate Connected Function In The Polygon Modeler
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This tutorial shows how to use the Rotate Connected function within the polygon modeler in order to facilitate accurate positioning of objects. It also shows how to prepare a polygon for sweeping along a path with an accurate starting orientation via the Rotate Connected function.
Using Geometric Centers To Control Modeling Processes
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This tutorial shows how to use geometric centers of objects to control various modeling operations. It looks at the difference between object level and element level modeling centers to precisely control how geometry is rotated and scaled.
Giving Thickness To Compound Paths
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This quick tutorial shows how to deal with extruded compound paths which contain connecting lines from inside to outside paths.
Adding a rounded endcap to a circular object
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This tutorial shows how to add a rounded endcap form to a partial lathe object. It’s a polygon modeling tutorial which discusses issues to watch for when importing Adobe Illustrator artwork to be used with the bezier tools (like the Lathe tool), and how to correct some of these issues with the polygon editor.
Creating A Floor Plan From Adobe Illustrator Art
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This tutorial shows how to create a 3D model of a floor plan based on artwork set up in Adobe Illustrator. It shows how to prepare the art in Illustrator, import the art, extrude it and then create windows and doorways.
Modeling a helix twist based off Adobe Illustrator Art
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This advanced modeling tutorial shows how to model a twisted 3D shape using an Adobe Illustrator file as a starting point.
Modeling The Leg Of An End-Table
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This modeling tutorial shows how to use the Path Extrude tool to help generate the leg of an end-table. It also shows how to use the Skin tool, the polygon Bridge function, vertex gravity and custom grids to shape the contour of the leg geometry.
Revising a magazine holder geometry
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This beginner modeling tutorial shows several approaches to modeling a relatively simple piece of geometry. It shows how to revise some existing geometry using the polygon modeling tools, but also how to start the document/magazine holder from scratch using a couple of different bezier curve objects, then convert the bezier based geometry into a polygon mesh for final set up.
Modeling an M5x20 screw
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This modeling tutorial shows how to create a standard M5x20 screw.
Using active grids to control the creation of a gem object
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This tutorial creates a gem objects from a template. It uses grid templates and shows how to create the planar faces of the gem using the 3-click method for grid creation.
Using the Magic Wand tool for deselection operations
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A big part of polygon and subdivision surface modeling involves the selection and deselection of polygon sets. The magic wand tool can be very useful for helping to perform these complex selection and deselection operations. This tutorial shows how to use it for several deselection scenarios that also involve the Select Perimeter operation.
Modeling a paper clip
Longer ‘beginner’ version
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Shorter version
This tutorial shows how to model a paper clip in order to help demonstrate various modeling approaches and tool usages. There are often multiple ways to model something and this tutorial gives one approach which helps to demonstrate good modeling practices. It is generally geared to people new to modeling in 3D.
Bathroom Ladder
Modeling
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UV Mapping
This modeling tutorial is designed to address some questions regarding how the active grid functions work. It shows how to effectively use grids and guides to control the modeling process and shows many situations where precise modeling can be achieved by use of custom and standard active grids, in conjunction with guides. The fundamental perpendicular to surface relationship is discussed to give a basic sense for how these modeling tools work.
For more modeling tutorials
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HDR LIGHT STUDIO
Working with HDRI Light Studio and Design 3D 8.0
These tutorials will help you get up to speed with using HDR Light Studio in conjunction with Design 3D 8.0.
A workflow introduction
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A simple beginner tutorial
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HDR LS custom map sizes
MISCELLANEOUS TUTORIALS
Boolean Objects and STL Format
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How to attend to details necessary for outputting a mesh to STL format which used a boolean tool as part of its construction.
Replace Selected vs Exchange Selected
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This tutorial discusses the difference between Replace and Exchange Selected. It then goes on to show how these functions can be used, in an architectural setting, where instance elements need to precisely and accurately repeat across an angle. Other functions used in this tutorial which are used as part of the workflow include Scale, Flip Perpendicular to Grid, Lock Position and ReCenter Origin, and 2-click Custom Active Grid creation. There is some really cool functionality demonstrated in this tutorial so make sure and watch all the way through.
Using Global, Local and Grid centric coordinates to place tiles on a wall
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This tutorial shows how to use Global, Local (Object) and Grid coordinates to control the placement and arrangement of tiles on a wall. It also shows how to properly arrange an object inside a shape so it predictably places on a grid or object.
FULL 8.0 PROJECTS
Pill Bottle Packaging Project
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his project models, UV maps, textures and renders a typical type of pill bottle product. This is a Design 3D 8.0 specific tutorial series.
Air Freshener Riser Product Display
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This project models, UV maps, textures and renders a typical type of product display seen in stores which holds flat types of products. This is a Design 3D 8.0 specific tutorial series.
Yogurt Cup Packaging
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This is a series of tutorials walking through the process of creating and rendering yogurt cup type of package. This is a Design 3D 8.0 specific tutorial series.
Dreidel Spin Toy
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These tutorials walk through the process of modeling, UV mapping, and texturing a dreidel wood toy object.
Fruit & Nut Bar
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These tutorials walk through the process of modeling, UV mapping, and texturing a fruit and nut bar. A focal point of this tutorial series is the use of the Mask channel to set up a clear transparent plastic region on the nut bar.
