The telecine suite.

Scene creation tutorial.

Tim Ellis 2007

Digital camera
Tape measure
Blender 3D 2.42
Photoshop 7
3D Studio Max 7
Maxwell Render V1.1

Jump to 3DSMax Camera match section.

Jump to MXI texture creation section.

Jump to Maxwell Studio section.

Due to the large number of objects in the scene, I won't be explaining how to model everything.

This tutorial will refer back to anything already covered, to save repeating the same methods again and again.
For example, the material creation and assignment, is only explained once, but is referred to throughout the tutorial.
Text will refer to the image immediately below it.

Photograph of the suite:-

Resources preparation:-

As I needed to recreate the materials, I took close up photographs of the door, carpet, camera sheets and both of the chair fabrics.
I also took non-flash photographs of each computer screen and the waveform monitors, to use as MXI emitters later.
All of the other materials will be created using BSDF layers, in Maxwell Studio.

Modeling with Blender.

Preparation:-

Start Blender 3D. We will use the default scene as our base file, so first select and delete the default cube.
Next press F2 to 'Save the file as' and name the file appropriately.

Now we need to split the viewports to make things easier.
Hold the mouse over the thin bar between the bottom header of the 3D viewport and the top header of the buttons window.
The up down cursor will show if you're in the right spot. Press the middle mouse button and select 'Split area'.
Move the mouse to the middle of the 3D viewport and press the left mouse button. You will now have two 3D viewports.

Click the view button in the right hand 3D window and select view properties. The view properties dialogue will open.

We need to change the grid spacing in the view properties to 0.5.
This will make each grid square equal to 50cm and any cubes we add will measure 1m x1m x1m, when exported as a .OBJ file.
Note:- You might need to install Python 2.4 for the .OBJ export script to work, but the standard Blender install should be okay.
Repeat the same for the left hand viewport and press CTRL+W & confirm 'Save over'.

Now we will set up our base scale cube.
With your mouse cursor over the left viewport, press Number pad 3 to change the view to left.
Now move your cursor back to the right viewport, which should already be in top view. (Num-pad 7).
Press the space bar and Add>Mesh>Cube.

Check the 'Limit selection to visible' is turned off for both viewports.
Note:- This option will only appear in shaded view modes. Press Z with the mouse cursor over a viewport to cycle through the display modes.

Press G to grab the verts and holding CTRL move the mouse so the bottom left verts of the cube are at 0,0 (X,Y) and left mouse click to confirm.
Now move the mouse cursor back to the left viewport and press G again. Hold CTRL and move the mouse so the bottom left verts of the cube, are at 0,0 (Y,Z).
Holding CTRL whilst transforming, will allow you to move only in whole units, whilst holding SHIFT, will allow you precise movement.
Your cube should be in the same position as shown below. The 3D cursor is at 0,0,0 (X,Y,Z).

Lastly press N to open the Transform dialogue, which we shall use to set measurements accurately.
I'll refer to this cube as the 'Base Scale Cube" during the Blender section of this tutorial.
Save the file with CTRL+W.

Modeling:-

The room

Press A to deselect all verts and in the right viewport, press B to open the select tool. Left click and drag to select the top verts.
Hold SHIFT and left click the Median Y numeric in the transform properties dialogue. Enter 5.49 and press enter.

Press A to deselct all verts, press B to select the right hand verts as before.
Hold SHIFT and left click the Median X numeric in the transform properties dialogue. Enter 3.78 and press enter.
In the left hand viewport, press A to deselect all verts and again use B to select the top verts as before.
Hold SHIFT and left click the Median Z numeric in the transform properties dialogue. Enter 2.22 and press enter.

Your cube should now look like this:-

We need to flip the face normals as everything in the scene will be contained inside this cube. Select all verts by pressing A twice.
Press W to open the mesh tools menu and select 'Flip normals'.
In the left viewport, press A to deselect all verts and use B to reselect the top verts & face of the cube.
Press X and select 'Only Faces' from the erase menu. Press TAB to exit vertex edit mode and CTRL+W to save the file.

This is the basis for creating all the cube type objects in the scene, to the correct dimensions.

The ceiling

Enter vertex edit mode (TAB) and set the dimensions of the cube in the same way as before, but to 0.5m x 0.5m x 0.02m (X,Y,Z). This will be our base ceiling tile.
Exit vertex edit mode and press G in the left viewport. Constrain the transformation to the Z axis, by pressing Z. Move the tile so it's top edge lines up with the wall's top edge.

In the right hand viewport, SHIFT+D to duplicate the ceiling tile. Press X to constrain movement to the X axis and hold CTRL while draging the mouse.
Position the new tile next to the old one, 0.6000 along the X axis, to leave an adequate gap for the batons that support the tiles.
Note:- The header bar at the bottom of the viewports, will show any transformation values made. X,Y,Z format.

Repeat across the whole ceiling in the X direction. Once completed use B in the left viewport and select all the tiles.
Return to the right viewport and SHIFT+D to duplicate, then press Y to constrain movement to the Y axis. I've moved them by 0.5262.

Repeat to cover the whole ceiling.

Reselect the first tile and duplicate it again with SHIFT+D. Position the new tile so it's center is between the first two tiles. Left click to confirm the transformation.

Using S to scale, constrain the scaling to the X axis first by pressing X. Scale the tile so it's just wider than the gap we left, between the tiles.
Repeat the scaling for the Y axis, making the tile long enough to cover the whole ceiling. Use G to transform the object so it is correctly positioned.
I've dropped it slightly in the Z axis, to give the impression of the baton supporting the tiles.

Duplicate the baton using SHIFT+D and transform (G) in the X axis. Repeat for all the gaps in the tiles.

Reselect the first baton with the right mouse button and duplicate it again.
Press R to rotate and hold CTRL whilst dragging the mouse, so the baton is rotated 90'.

Transform this baton and duplicate it, to cover the tile gaps we left.

Use the B select tool to select all the batons and all the tiles.
Note:- While using the B select tool, press B twice to open the circuler selection tool.
You will need to press B again for multiple de/selections when using the rectangular selection tool.

Press CTRL+J to join all the objects together, so we have one object for the whole ceiling.

Press F9 to open the Edit buttons for the mesh. Left click the name box.

Change the name to 'batons & tiles' and click the 'Set smooth', button to smooth the mesh.
Note:- I will refer back to this method throughout the tutorial, as 'rename the object' and 'set the mesh smooth'.

Now we will assign a material to the object. Press F5 to open the shading buttons and press the 'Add new' button.

Left click the material name box and change to 'batons & tiles'.
Note:- I will refer back to this method throughout the tutorial as 'assign a new material'.

Note:- As Blender materials will not import into Maxwell Studio, there is no need to set up the materials, except for changing the name.
When we export the model from Blender, the method we will use, will retain the material and object names to facilitate the material assignments in Studio.
In some cases for pre-viz in Blender we will change the colour swatch box, to match the material colour in the photo for that object.

Ceiling lights.

Enter vertex edit mode for the batons & tiles object, by pressing TAB.
Press A to deselect all verts and place your mouse cursor over the 4th tile along the X and Y axis.
Now press L to select that tile. If you don't get the right tile straight away, deselect with A and try again.

Now press P and confirm Separate Selected. Press TAB to exit vetex edit mode for the batons and right click the tile we have just separated.
We are going to use this tile as the base for the ceiling strip lights. Press TAB to enter vertex edit mode for the tile and press A to deselect all verts.
In the left hand viewport, select the bottom verts using the B tool. Press X and choose 'Only Faces' from the erase menu.

Press A twice to deselect & then select all the verts. Press W and choose 'Flip normals'.
Use the B select tool and drag with the middle mouse button pressed, to deselect the bottom verts.
Press G and transform the top verts along the Z axis, to give the light fitting some depth. I held CTRL and moved the verts 0.100 along the Z axis.

Now we need to snap the 3D cursor, which Blender uses for creation of new objects, to these selected verts.
Do so by pressing SHIFT+S and choosing 'Cursor to selection', from the snap menu.

Now press the Spacebar and add a Tube, change the number of verts to 6 and confirm.

Press S to scale the tube. As before hold CTRL and scale down to 0.1000. Left click to confirm and press S again. This time hold CTRL and scale to 0.5000.
In the top viewport, scale the tube along the X axis, so it fits into the fixture.
Use G to transform the position to the center of the fitting, as in the left view of the image below.

Next duplicate the tube using SHIFT+D. Whilst transforming, hold CTRL and move the new tube 1.000 along the Y axis.
Repeat so we have five tubes, which will be used as the fluorescent emitters later.

We can now separate the emitters from the main light fitting and assign a new material for them.
Hold your mouse over each of the tubes and press L to select alike verts. Press P and confirm 'Separate selected'.
Exit edit mode for the light fitting (TAB) and select the tubes.
Assign a new material called 'lite-strips-1'. Press F9 to open the Edit buttons, rename the object 'light-strips1' and set the mesh smooth.

Reselect the light fitting and create and assign a new material called 'lite-reflector'. Then re-enter vertex edit mode.
We'll use a tube again to create the reflector sections. Press Spacebar>Add>Tube change number of verts to 7.
Scale the tube by 0.1000 and then rotate it by 6.75' to make the bottom edge parallel to the Y axis.
Hold SHIFT whilst transforming, to move in tiny increments.

Select the bottom four verts and delete them. Re-select all verts in the tube and transform the tube along the Z axis, so it is inside the fitting.

Next duplicate the tubes as we did for the emitter tubes. transform by 1.000 alaong the Y axis as before.
Select all the tubes using the L key, with your mouse over each tube.
Scale along the X axis in the top viewport, again so that the tubes are still inside the fitting.
We need these tubes to relfect light on the sides facing the emitter faces, so press W and 'Flip Normals'.
Then rename the object as 'light-fitting1' and set the faces to smooth shading as before, in the Edit buttons.

Use B select tool and the middle mouse button to deselect the top row of verts.

Duplicate the remainder in the Top viewport and rotate them by 90'.
Scale along each axis so the tubes fit inside the fitting, then transform them along the Z axis, so they don't intersect the emitters.

Exit vertex edit mode for the fitting and hold SHIFT and select the emitter tubes.
SHIFT+D to duplicate the light and transform it three tiles along the Y axis and one tile along the X axis.

Select the Batons & tiles mesh and enter vertex edit mode. Use the L key with the mouse over the tile which needs to be removed for the light fitting.
Then delete these verts using X.

Now select the ceiling tile to the right of the first light fitting we created.
Snap the cursor to the verts in this tile and exit vertex edit mode with TAB.

Round lights:-

Using the left viewport, transform the verts along the Z axis, so they are positioned just inside the bottom face of the tile.
Next using the top viewport, scale the verts to 0.1000.

Place the mouse cursor over the left viewport, press E and confirm 'Extrude Only Edges'.
Press Z to constrain movement to the Z axis and move by -0.0200.
Extrude again and right click to cancel the transformation. Press S and scale by 0.9700.
Press G and transform by -0.0007 in the Z axis. This will give a nice beveled edge.

Extrude and scale again by 0.600. Extrude again, then scale by 0.9700 and transform by 0.0007 along the Z axis.
Make a final extrusion 0.100 along the Z axis. Select all verts with A and CTRL+N to re-calculate the face normals. This is the outer casing.

In the left viewport press and hold CTRL+ALT, position the mouse cursor so it's over the edge of the innermost faces and right click.

This should select the edge loop that runs round the inside. Duplicate it and right click to cancel the transformation.
Press W and 'Select swap', then press H to hide the selected verts. Next use the B tool to select the bottom row of verts.

Extrude these verts and scale by 0.9700, then transform along the Z axis by -0.0007. Extrude and scale again by 0.5000.

Use the same method we used for the outer casing, to extrude the inner section of the inner casing.

Use the B select tool in the top vewport, to select the inner verts. Scale them along the X axis by 1.500 and by 0.700 along the Y axis.

Select all verts and recalculate the face normals. Press ALT+H to unhide the other verts. Rename the object as round-lite and set the mesh smooth.
Exit vertex edit mode for the mesh, create and assign a material called 'round-lite' and rename the mesh.

The last things we need to do before duplicating the mesh, are to add an emitter plane and set up the lamp rotation.
In the top viewport, press Spacebar>Add>Mesh>Plane. Scale so it fits inside the opening we've left in the inner light casing.
Press W and 'Flip Normals' so that the light will be emitted in the correct direction.

Exit vertex edit mode and transform the plane along the Z axis, so it's positioned inside the inner casing.
Assign it a new material and name the object.

Next re-select the light casing and open the Edit buttons (F9). Add a Subsurf modifer, reduce the render levels to 1 and turn on Optimal Draw.

Enter vertex edit mode for the casing. In top viewport select the inner casing verts. (Deselect all with A, then hold mouse over inner verts & press L.)
Rotate these verts by -90'. Switch to the left viewport and rotate by 10' and exit edit mode.

Select the emitter plane and rotate this 10' in the left viewport, to match the casing rotation.

In top view, select both the casing and the emitter plane and duplicate them.
Transform them to match the positions in the following image. You can rotate each lamp so the light beam will point where you want it to go.

Black and white strip lights.

Use the methods we used earlier to create the room and apply them here, to make the cube 6cm x 6cm x 125cm.
Pressing N will reopen the transform dialogue, for the viewport your mouse is above.

Select all verts using A, press W, select 'Bevel' and confirm 1 recursion.

Adjust the bevel with the mouse and confirm with a left click.

In the left viewport, press A to deselect all verts and use the B select tool to select the bottom left verts.

Press E to extrude this face and confirm 'Extrude Region'. Hold CTRL and extrude to 0.0500, left click to confirm.

Extrude again but this time to 0.010. Deselect using A and use B to select the bottom right verts.

Extrude this face to 0.0700

We need to bevel the edges of the new section. In top view press K to open the Knife tools.

Choose 'Loop cut' and confirm the faces to cut. (The purple line shows which faces will be cut.)
Hold CTRL whilst moving the cut position and cut at 0.0000.

Repeat the process to add a new edge loop at each end of the new section.
I've cut the two new loops at 0.98000 & -0.98000. (Highlighted yellow in the image below.)

Select all verts, press CTRL+N to recalulate the face normals outside and set the mesh smooth.
Snap the 3D cursor to the selected verts with SHIFT+S.
Rename the object 'strip-lite1', assign a new material and exit vertex edit mode for the object.

In the left viewport, press Spacebar>Add>Mesh>Tube and change the number of verts to 6.
Scale and transform the tube so it fits the light casing.

Next we will cap the ends of the tube. Press A to deselect all verts and use the B tool to select the verts at one end of the tube.
Extrude these verts but cancel the transformation by right clicking. Then press ALT+M and confirm merge at center. Confirm the number of verts removed.

Repeat for the other end of the tube. Select all verts, recalculate the normals and set the mesh smooth.
Rename the object and assign a new material, 'strip-lite1-emitter'. Exit vertex edit mode.
Note:- Do not be concerned about using triangular faces, as all the mesh objects will be triangulated when we export the mesh to Maxwell Studio.

Select the emitter tube and the casing. transform to match the position in the image below, using G and R.

Next we'll model the black strip light.
Duplicate the base scale cube and snap it to the 3D cursor, as we did for the white strip light.
In the same way as before, make the cube 6cm x 6cm x 125cm.
Once completed we will subdivide the cube. Select all verts and press W.
Choose 'Subdivide Multi', confirm Number of cuts = 2.

In the left viewport, deselect all verts with A, use the B tool and select the two inner edge loops along the Y axis.
Scale these along the Y axis to 2.2000. (S, Y, hold CTRL)

Repeat for the two inner edge loops along the Z axis.
Scale these to 2.6000 constrained to the Z axis. (S, Z, hold CTRL)

Deselect all and use the B tool to select the bottom left verts.
Extrude the faces to 0.1200, then scale them constrained to the Y axis, by 0.500.

Repeat for the bottom right verts.

In the top viewport, deselect all verts and use the B tool, to select the inner edge loops.
Scale these constrained to the X axis to 2.9600. (S, X, Hold ALT)

Next we need to add another edge loop. Press K to open the knife tool menu and select 'Loop Cut'.

Make the cut inbetween the far right pair of edge loops at -0.9000.

Repeat for the other end of the mesh.

We need two more edge loops next, but this time we'll use a slightly different method.
Select all verts by pressing A twice. In the left viewport, press K to open the knife menu and choose 'Knife Exact'.

Left click the knife near the top of the extruded section and move the mouse across to the right.
Try and make the line as horizontal as possible and left click on the right hand side of the mesh.
The thin horizontal yellow line in the image below, is the visual representation of where the cut will be made.

Then press Enter to confirm the cut.

In the top viewport, select the end verts on the right of the mesh. Then press the . key on the number pad, to zero the viewport to the selection.
Hold the middle mouse button (depress the scroll wheel if no MMB.) and move the mouse so you will be able to select the inner verts as shown below.
If you've selected the correct four verts, the face will turn light purple.

Extrude this face by 0.0200 along the Y axis.

Deselect the top verts with B and middle mouse button. Press G, then Y to move the bottom verts along the Y axis by 0.0172.

Repeat this for the other three matching mesh sections.

Select all verts and recalculate the face normals, then set the mesh smooth. Snap the 3D cursor to the selected verts and exit vertex edit mode.
Rename the object 'black-striplite' and assign a new material.
Select and duplicate the emitter tube we made for the white strip light.
Snap it to the 3D cursor and change the right hand viewport back to top view, by pressing number pad 7. (SHIFT+D, RMB, SHIFT+S)
Transform the emitter tube to fit the casing, using G and R.

Rename this emitter tube 'strip-lite2-emitter'. In the material buttons (F4), press the number 2 to the right of the material name, to make it a single user material.
Rename it to match the object name.

Next select both the casing and the emitter tube and transform them to match the image below.

The curtain.

In the top viewport, left click outside the left hand wall of the room, to position the 3D cursor.
Press Spacebar>Add>Mesh>Plane. Delete the two verts on the right hand side.

You might find it useful to turn off the 3D transform manipulator, as it can obscure the mesh sections we're working on.
Just click the little hand icon in the viewport header to toggle the manipulator.
Note:- If you've been using the manipulator to move, rotate & scale, use the G, R & S keys instead.

Transform the remaining two verts and deselect the top one. Extrude the bottom vert and confirm it's new position, repeat by extruding and positioning.
Note:- Only extrude the last vertex in the mesh, to avoid uneccesary mesh errors.
We are essentially drawing the folds of the curtain.

Carry on working along the Y axis. You can select all the verts, duplicate them and move them along the Y axis to save some time.
Just remember to create an edge between the originals and the duplicated verts, to continue the mesh.

Repeat until the mesh is approximately as long as the room.
I've also scaled my mesh along the Y axis, to bring the folds a bit closer together.

With all the verts selected, extrude them along the X axis by 0.0100.

With the mouse cursor over the top viewport, press number pad 1 to switch to front view.
Select all verts and extrude along the Z axis by 0.0500.
Scale these extruded verts constrained to the X axis by 0.900 and move them along the X axis, so the left hand edge is vertical.

Extrude these verts again, constraining the transform to the Z axis by -0.0018

Scale again, constrained to the X axis and then re-align the left hand edge to the vertical.

Extrude again along the Z axis by -0.0200.
Extrude again along the Z axis by -0.0018, then scale along the X axis and re-align the left hand edge.

Extrude again along the Z axis, this time by -1.0000. Scale by 1.500 along the X axis and re-align the left hand edge, as before.

Repeat the extrusion, with an X axis scale of 1.1000 and re-align the left hand edge.

Select all verts and recalculate the face normals. Rename the object and assign a new material.
Exit vertex edit mode and set the mesh smooth.
Press number pad 3 to switch to side view. We can see that the curtain's folds are quite regular, so we will increase the irregularities next.

Re-enter vertex edit mode for the curtain object.
Deselect all verts with the A key. In the left hand viewport, press Spacebar>Select>Random.
Change Percentage to 5 and confirm.

Use the scale and move transforms, to position these selected verts. Repeat as required.

Cut a new Edge loop 0.90000 above the bottom row of verts, to help the sub-surf calculation.

Add a subsurf modifer in the Edit buttons, turn on Optimal Draw and reduce the Render Levels to 1.

Next we need to bend the curtain to match the room.

Exit vertex edit mode for the curtain.
Switch back to top view and with the mouse pointer over the viewport, press Spacebar>Add>Curve>Bezier Curve.

Rotate the curve by 90' and scale constrained to the X axis. Hold CTRL and scale to 0.0000.

Press A to deselect all and reselect the bottom control point.
Transform this along the Y axis, so it reaches the end of the curtain mesh.

Open the Edit buttons for the curve (F9) and switch on the 3D button.
Select all the control points in the viewport and press W. Choose 'Switch direction'.

Exit edit mode for the Curve and enter vertex edit mode for the curtain.
Select all verts and align the top corner to the 3D cursor.

Exit vertex edit mode and select both the curtain and the curve.
Right click the curtain first, then hold SHIFT and right click the Curve.
Press CTRL+A to apply any transformations applied to the objects.

We now parent the curtain to the curve using the deform function.
Press CTRL+P and choose Curve Deform from the menu.

Align the two objects, so they are inside the room parallel to the wall.

Press TAB to enter edit mode for the curve. Moving either of the control points will deform the curtain.
You can add more control points by selecting two or more adjacent points and pressing W. Choose 'Sub-divide' and confirm.
Position the control points, so the curtain follows the wall.

If the curtain becomes too long, select it and enter vertex edit mode.
Switch the 'Transform around pivot' to the 3D cursor.

Then scale constrained to the Y axis. Exit vertex edit mode to see if you've scaled it correctly. Adjust again if neccesary.

To make things visually simpler, let's move the curtain to it's own layer. Select it and press M.
The layer menu opens and press the second layer button and OK.

To view this layer, press number 2. To view it with layer 1, hold SHIFT and press 2.
Note:- You can only move objects to different layers, in Object mode. In Vertex edit mode, M = mirror tool.

The Desk.

Exit edit mode, select and duplicate the base scale cube again.
As before set the dimensions to 213cm x 370cm x 9cm.

In the left viewport. select all the verts and move them so the bottom face of the desk is aligned with the top face of the cube.

Next bevel the cube. Press W and choose bevel. Set Recursions to 2 and confirm.

Bevel to 0.0400 and confirm.

Next make several cuts on the Y axis edges. Make one at Y=0.97, Y=1.18, Y=2.32 and Y=2.985.
Hold SHIFT whilst moving the mouse for small increments.

Select the top right verts and move them along the X axis, so they line up with the edge of the 111.5cm wide cube.

Exit vertex edit mode and reselect the desk scale cube. Change the X axis value for the right hand side verts to 1.8700.

Exit edit mode and reselect the desk.
Move the verts on the right at Y=1.18, at the bottom of the angled faces along the X axis, to match the desk scale cube.

Finally select the top right hand verts at Y=2.985 and move them along the X axis to 1.080.

Select all verts and set the mesh smooth. Assign a new material and name the object. Exit vertex edit mode.

Desk monitor housing.

Switch the left viewport to front view by pressing number pad 1. Select the top right verts and move them along the X axis to 0.510.

Select all verts and bevel the cube using 1 recursion. (A, A, W, Bevel, LMB) Bevel to 0.005.
In the top viewport, cut an edge loop along the Y axis at Y=2.030.

Cut another edge loop along the Y axis at Y=1.017.

Finally move the bottom verts up to Y=0.472.

Select the vertex on the far right of the top edge loop, using the right mouse button.
Snap the 3D cursor to this vertex and change the 'Transform around' to 3D cursor.

Select the rest of the verts and rotate by -25'

Repeat for the last edge loop and rotate by -20'.

So now we have the basic beveled shape, we need to make new edge loops to make the cube hollow.
In each case make cuts at the midway point for each face loop.
Once you have chosen the face loop to cut, press P to use the proportional knife tool, which will cut perpendicular angles between loops.
Pressing F will flip the active loop allowing you to use the perpendicular knife, if it doesn't show initially.

Now we need to make a cut on each side of these new edge loops and the existing ones.
Make each cut at 0.90000 from each edge loop.

Next switch the viewport to 'Face select mode'.

Select the front faces as shown below.

Extrude these faces inside the cube by 0.40000
Note:- Extrude in pairs rather than all together. This will retain the face normal direction, for the extrusion direction.

Switch the viewport back to 'Vertex select mode'.

Select all verts and recalculate the normals. Set the mesh smooth, rename it and assign a new material.

In the top viewport select both the desk top and the desk mesh. Move them along the X axis by 0.2000 (20cm).
Switch to perspective shaded mode for the top viewport, by pressing number pad 5 and toggle Z.
Turn on any hidden layers, using SHIFT and a numeric key. (Not the number pad keys.)
Navigate the viewport using the middle mouse button and the scroll wheel. Your scene should look as the image below.

As you can see we need to lift up the curtain for the left hand side of the desk.
Change the viewport back to wireframe mode, orthographic and front view. (Z, number pad 5, number pad 1.)
Select the curtain and switch to the Edit buttons (F9).
Press the 'Make real' button for the Curve parent deform modifier. Then Apply the modifier.

Lastly cancel the parent chain by pressing ALT+P and selecting 'Clear and Keep Transformation'.

Enter vertex edit mode for the curtain and deselect all verts with A. Press O to open the proportional editing tool (soft selection).
Select a few of the verts at the bottom of the curtain, where the desk intersects them. Move them along the Z axis.
Note:- Change the area of influence by scrolling the mouse wheel, or using + & - on the number pad.

Select a few of the top right hand verts and move them along the X axis. This will make the bottom of the curtain splay out.
Again adjust the proportional influence area to suit.

Switch off the proportional editing tool by pressing O and exit vertex edit mode for the curtain. Save the file with CTRL+W.

Desk supports.

Press Spacebar>Add>Mesh>Circle and confirm 16 verts.
Scale this circle to 0.5000 constrained along the Y axis. Next select the three verts at the far right hand side of the circle.
Scale these to 0.0000 constrained along the X axis and repeat for the other end. Finally scale the whole circle by 0.7000.

Switch the left viewport to side view, number pad 3.
Move the verts along the Z axis, so they touch the bottom of the desk mesh.
Extrude the circle along the Z axis to -0.5500.

Extrude again along the Z axis to -0.0062. Extrude again and scale to 0.9000. Repeat one more time.
Lastly, extrude again along the Z axis by -0.0062 and then extrude again, down to the floor plane.

Select all the verts and recalculate the face normals.
In the top viewport, duplicate the verts and move them along the Y axis to -1.5000.

Exit vertex edit mode, set the mesh smooth, rename it and assign a new material.

The door and frame.

Change the top viewport to front view and switch to face select mode.
Select the face we've just created. In the side viewport extrude this to make the doorway.

Snap the 3D cursor to the face and recalculate the face normals inside the mesh with CTRL+SHIFT+N. Exit vertex edit mode.
In top view, duplicate the base scale cube and set it's dimensions to 5cm deep along the X=0.77 Y=0.05 Z=1.995.
Align this to the doorway.

Bevel the cube with 1 recursion, to 0.002. Duplicate the cube and scale to fit the rest of the doorway.

Exit vertex edit mode for the door. Rename the object, set the mesh smooth and assign a new material.

Next the frame work.
In top view, duplicate the base scale cube and set it's dimensions to X=0.05 Y=0.05 Z=2.06.
Align this to the edge of the door frame.

In front view create a mitre edge to the top left corner of the cube, by lowering the top left verts to Z=2.02.

Switch to top view, select the left hand verts of the frame mesh. Scale constrained to the Y axis to 0.700.
Align the frame so it's midway through the wall face.

Switch back to front view and select just the top four verts. Duplicate these and move them along the X axis by -0.0010.
Extrude this face across the whole doorway and flip it by pressing the M key and choosing X Global.
Realign the verts to the doorway.

Select all the faces connected to these, by pressing L with the mouse over the verts.
Snap the 3D cursor to these verts and deselect them with A.

Select the right hand frame with L and duplicate it. Cancel the transformation by right clicking.
Change the rotation/scaling pivot to the 3D cursor, press M and select X Global, to mirror the object.

Select all verts and recalculate the face normals outside. Set the mesh smooth and rename the object.
Create and assign a new material and exit vertex edit mode.

Television monitors

Duplicate the base scale cube and set the dimensions to X=0.42 Y=0.46 Z=0.26
Select all verts and press W. Choose Subdivide Multi and confirm 2 divisions.

Lets give ourselves some room. Exit edit mode and press M. Choose a new layer for the object, I'll use layer 4.
Press the number of that layer to hide the others, in this case 4.
You can also use the layer buttons in the header bar of the 3D viewport.

Return to vertex edit mode for the tv cube, so we can make some edge loops to refine the edges and corners of the monitor.
In each case make a loop cut at 0.9000 to each outer edge.

Next in front view, cut two new loops for the outer edges of the screen along the X axis. Midway on each loop should be fine.
Cut two more along the Z axis.

Cut two more edge loops at 0.90000 either side of each X axis cut we've just made.

Deselect all verts and use the B tool to select the verts shown in the image below.
In the top view, deselect the rear verts using the B tool and extrude the front faces back into the tv casing.
Make the first extrusion -0.0010 and the second -0.0100.
Scale the faces slightly to give an angle around the edge of the screen.

Press Y to split these faces from the rest of the mesh. Using the B tool, deselect all verts except the center section.
Move these along the Y axis by 0.0020 to give the screen surface a slight curve.

Set the mesh smooth, add a sub-surf modifier and rename the mesh in the Edit buttons. Create and assign a new material.
As this mesh will have several materials applied to it, we need to add them in the edit buttons.

We need five materials, so press the 'New' button to create five.
At the moment, each material in the index refers back to the first material in the index stack.
So we need to make each material a single user. Open the material buttons (F4) and press the 'Make single user' button.
Increase the material index number to make the remaining materials, also single users. Rename each one accordingly.
1.TVgrey, 2.TVblack, 3.TVscreen, 4.Tvwhite, 5.Tvdarkgrey. Change the colour swatch respectively for each colour.

Now we need to assign each material to the correct sections of the mesh.
Deselect all verts and hold the mouse over the screen section of the mesh. Press L and go back to the edit buttons.
Change the index number so the material displayed is TVscreen. Now press Assign to assign that material to the selected faces.

Hold CTRL+ALT and right click the face loop that surrounds the screen section. Assign the Tvblack material, in the same way.

The front section is dark grey so select that material in the index. Select the screen verts and hide them. (A, L, H)
In the top view, press A twice and deselect all verts except for the front two edge loops, using the B tool.

Change the material index to 2.Tvblack and press the 'Deselect' button.
Change the material index to 5.Tvdarkgrey and press the 'Assign' button.

Next add an edge loop to refine the edge of the dark grey area.
Press K and cut a loop 0.90000 from the dark grey edge.

The buttons are mostly cubes, so select one of the verts on the front of the tv.
Snap the 3D cursor to this vertex. In front view, Add>Cube and press W. Choose sub divide multi 2 and scale the cube.

Duplicate the cube for the other buttons, scaling where neccesary and transform their positions with G.
Assign the Tvgrey material to all the buttons.

The knobs are created from circles. In front view, Add>Circle change the number of verts to 8 and confirm.
In side view, scale the circle and extrude it along the Y axis by -0.0040.

Extrude again in the Y axis by -0.0005. Extrude again and scale by 0.7000 and move along the Y axis by -0.002.

Extrude along the Y axis by -0.0005, then extrude again by -0.015 and one more time by -0.004.

Extrude again and scale to 0.9000. Extrude a final time and right click to cancel the transform. Press ALT+M and merge at the center.
Select all verts in the knob with L and CTRL+N to recalc the face normals.
Set the mesh smooth in the Edit buttons and assign the Tvblack material to the verts.

Duplicate the knob and transform as required.

Select one of the knobs and duplicate it. Move it to the base of the tv casing and rotate it by -90'.
Reduce the scale along the Z axis by 0.700.

In top view, duplicate the knob for each corner of the casing.

In the front view, place the 3D cursor below the knobs, Add>Circle and confirm 8 verts.
Scale this to 0.100 and again to 0.100. Scale a final time to 0.500.

In top view, extrude along the Y axis by -0.0250. Extrude again along the Y axis by -0.0050, then rotate by -45'.

Extrude by 0.015 along the X axis and scale to 0.0000 constrained to the X axis.
Snap the 3D cursor to the verts and change 'Rotation/scaling around pivot' to 3D cursor.

Select connected verts with CTRL+L and duplicate the mesh.
Cancel the transform and press M. Choose X Global to mirror the mesh, press W and choose 'Flip normals'.

Select only the verts at the 3D cursor and press W. Choose Remove Doubles and confirm 8 verts removed.
Select the connected verts with CTRL+L and switch to front view.
Position the handle and duplicate it for the other side of the screen.

Reveal any hidden verts with ALT+H and exit vertex edit mode.

All of the rack mounted objects and the other objects, were created using the same methods used here.
Instead of explaining how to create each one, here are the wire frame screen shots, which show where I've cut edge loops etc.

TV monitors.

Rack mounted Kodak box and switcher panel.

Small TV monitor.

Rack mounted Large TV monitor control panel.

Rack mounted Waveform monitors.

Rack mounted Audio control panel.

Da Vinci control surface.

Sting control surface.

A4 folder & paper.

Telephone.

This is the method for creating the coiled phone cable.
Change a viewport to front view and press CTRL+C to center the 3D cursor, then press C to center the camera.
Press Spacebar>Add>Mesh>Circle change the number of verts to 8 and confirm.

Scale the circle to 0.1000, then scale again to 0.1000 and one more time to 0.3000.
Move the circle by 0.0050 along the X axis, then select one vertex with the right mouse button.
Duplicate this and snap it to the 3D cursor. Extrude this vertex along the Z axis by 0.0050.

Note:- The size of the circle represents the thickness of the wire.
The distance of the circle from the Zero crossing point, represents the coil radius.
The height of the extruded vertex from the zero crossing point, represents the distance between coils.

Open the Edit buttons with F9. In the 'Mesh Tools' section, change the steps to 8 and the Turns to 120.
Press the Screw button and click in the front viewport. In a few seconds you should have a coil.

In top view, select and delete the verts in the center of the coil. Select all and set the mesh smooth.

Rename the object, create and assign a new material.

To deform the coils, use the same method we used for the curtain. Parent the coil to a Bezier curve, using the deform function.
Applying a sub-surf modifier to the coils, would help them to deform better, along the Bezier curve.

Exporting the objects.

Note:- It's very important that you don't select the Blender camera to be exported.
If a Blender camera is selected and exported the scene scale will be incorrect. Use the B tool to deselect the camera.

In side view, rotate the objects by 90'.

Now go to the File menu and select Export> Wavefront (.obj)
Confirm a location to save the file and click 'Save'. We will keep the assigned filename.
Set the .obj export options as follows and press OK.

We now need to export the scene again for the camera match, in 3DStudio Max. Rotate the objects back -90'.
Scale all the objects by 100 and export an .obj. Change the filename for this export. FilenameX100.obj will do.
Keep all the export options the same as before. Save the file and exit Blender.
Note:- 3DStudio Max imports .obj files with a 0.01 scale value, hence the need to scale up by 100 before export.

Download the Blender scene file here. - Right click & save as.

Jump to 3DSMax Camera match section.

Jump to MXI texture creation section.

Jump to Maxwell Studio section.

Tim Ellis. 2007 tim.ellis@emp3d.com

Return to home page. Return to tutorials page.