Modeling a Pen in 3DS Max
By Conceptoo | 3D Studio Max | BeginnerThis tutorial will teach you how to create a pen in 3DS Max using a poly modeling technique that makes use of the Inset, Extrude, and Bevel effects to model a cylinder into the shape we want. Our tutorial will be broken into three small sections: modeling the lower cap of the pen, modeling the body of the pen, and finally modeling the head of the pen. You are not expected to have any advanced skills in 3D Studio Max to follow this tutorial.
Original Photo
3D Model
Setting up the Units of Measurement
Start off by creating a New scene in 3DS Max. I like to do all my measurements in real life values, so I am going to change the units in 3D Studio Max to millimeters. Go through Customize>Units Setup to open up the Units Setup window. Set the Display Unit Scale to Millimeters and click OK. All of our measurements in this project will now be set in millimeters.
Modeling the Lower Cap of the Pen
We will start modeling the pen from the bottom up. In this part we will create the Lower Cap of the pen.
In the Top viewport draw a cylinder of any size. Go through Create>Geometry>Cylinder. Look for the Parameters rollout and insert all the values shown in the image below. The scale of our cylinder is very small, so you will have to click on Zoom Extents All so that the drawn cylinder is visible on all viewports. The Zoom Extents All is found on the bottom right corner of the screen on the Lower Interface Bar.
Using the Poly Modeling technique requires converting our object to editable poly. So do that by selecting the cylinder and then right-clicking the mouse and going through Convert To:>Convert to Editable Poly. To be able to manipulate these polygons with ease we have to access the Modify Panel, look for the Selection rollout and select the Polygon sub-object selection level as shown in the image below.
We will now start with the modeling process, in the Perspective Viewport select the top polygon of your cylinder, now access the Modify Panel, look for the Edit Polygons rollout and click on the box next to Bevel to open up the Bevel Polygons window. Set the Bevel Height to 1.0mm and the Outline Amount to 1.0mm and then click on OK. You should get something similar to the image below:
Once again, select the upper most polygon, access the Modify Panel and look for the Edit Polygons rollout and click on the box next to Extrude to open up the Extrude Polygons window. Set the Extrusion Height to 1.0mm. You should have the lower tip of your pen ready.
Modeling the Body of the Pen
The body of the pen is the easiest part of our project as it is a simple cylinder. Simply select the upper polygon and then click on the box next to Extrude under the Edit Polygons rollout. Set the Extrusion Height to 92mm and click on OK to do it.
Modeling the Head of the Pen
The final section of our pen is its head, this part is not too hard to do but would require a repetitive task to get the shape we need. Start off by selecting the upper polygon of the body of the pen, access the Edit Polygons rollout and click on the box next to Inset and change the Inset Amount to 1mm. Click OK, then click on the box next to Extrude and set the Extrusion Height to 7mm. Click OK to move to the next step.
Select the upper polygon again, Inset it by 1mm, then click on the box next to Bevel and set the Height to 10mm and the Outline to -1mm.
The rest of the head will simply require repeatedly applying inset and extrude. Apply the required values for inset and extrude by following the images below:
Congratulations, we are done. You can now render your model to have an awesome pen made using a poly modeling technique.
This concludes our tutorial, I hope that you have learnt something new. Please feel free to post any questions you have at the Oman3D Forum.
- End of Tutorial