12 Roof Tiles
27 Walls
20 Floors (wood, stone, tiled etc)
6 Fencing
6 Doors
6 Windows
8 Ground (sandy, stone etc)
12 Woods (planks, raw etc)
13 Stone (pebbles, rocks, stone faces etc)
22 Trees (trees, leaves, bark etc)
18 Skies (night & day)

Xfrog 3.5’s organic modeling is based on studies of plant development.

The rendering features include support for shading and texturing using standard 3ds Max maps and materials; Motion Blur and Depth Of Field effects; Particle Self-Shadowing and Shadow Casting from and onto matte objects; Ambient Participating Medium Extinction to simulate atmospheric and underwater light and color behavior and more.

The Particle Manipulation pipeline includes Particle Culling using arbitrary geometry and Particle Deformations using 3ds Max deformation modifiers and Space Warps like Bend, Twist, PathDeform and Free Form Deformation lattices.

The Particle Management features include the ability to generate millions of particles using a unique Particle Partitioning method which overcomes memory and system limitations of 3ds Max; Input and Output support for Frantic Films’ open, compact and flexible .PRT particle data format, NextLimit’s RealFlow 3 and 4 particle BIN file format and a versatile and easy to use ASCII Comma Separated Values .CSV format which could be used to interact with any application that can read and write text files. Particle files can be saved from Krakatoa™ and also loaded into 3ds Max using Krakatoa™ Particle Loader objects or into Particle Flow using dedicated Krakatoa™ File Birth and Krakatoa™ File Position operators, thus allowing for a full data flow cycle where particles can be saved, reloaded and processed multiple times through different particle system setups.

3ds Max 2009 Documentation

You can also download this information in PDF format:

3ds Max 2009 Help Vol 1 (pdf - 67823Kb) 3ds Max 2009 Help Vol 2 (pdf - 39940Kb)

3ds Max 2009 Help Vol 3 (pdf - 72422Kb)

3ds Max Shortcut Guide

This shortcut list in PDF format is a summary of the most common shortcuts in 3ds Max. For the quick reference list of shortcuts, see the Quick Reference Cube (shipped with 3ds Max). You can also generate a complete list of shortcuts. In 3ds Max go to Customize>Customize User Interface>Write Keyboard Chart.

3ds Max 2009 and 3ds Max Design 2009(pdf - 547Kb)

3ds Max 2009 Features

With each new release, Autodesk software solutions become more intuitive and user friendly, while gaining functionality and a broader tool set. The following videos introduce the new features and functionality of Autodesk® 3ds Max® software.

Modeling and Animation
With the introduction of the ForeFeet option, Biped now fully supports four-legged characters, In this video, animators see that the center of mass can be animated using external pivots, like the working pivot, making it easier to create realistic body movements like falling forward. Animators also see how the Walkthrough Assistant simplifies the process of creating walk-throughs and how soft selections can be interactively adjusted with a few mouse-clicks.

Iterative Rendering
This video introduces the new Reveal™ rendering technology that streamlines the process of tweaking, finalizing, and experimenting with animator’s renders. The framebuffer adds a subset of render settings, enabling animators to switch from high to low-quality settings and to include or exclude features, while continuing to make test renderings and scene changes.

Materials and Maps
This video introduces ProMaterials™ technology, a set of powerful and flexible materials new to Autodesk 3ds Max. These mental ray® software materials can create extremely realistic surfaces and have a full set of customizable features. The new composite map adds numerous features and a simple workflow for the creation of complex maps, with layers, masks, opacity, and more. The viewports now support the display of multiple maps so results can be seen without test renderings.

Mapping
The new Spline Mapping tool can map otherwise difficult geometry by using splines to drive the UV generation. In this video, animators see how they can map twisted roads, arches, and characters’ limbs in minutes. In addition, improved Relax and Pelt workflows streamline UVW unwrapping, enabling animators to achieve desired results in fewer steps.

Lighting
Powerful photometric lights make realistic light creation a snap. Templates, distribution, and shapes are all available in a single light object. This video demonstrates how the viewport can display IES lights and their web distribution. It also highlights the daylight system sky, which now supports new sky models. Learn about how support for weather data files can accurately re-create weather and lighting conditions on specific dates or over a period of time.

mental ray
Support for mental ray proxies allows animators to create scenes with a huge number of object instances, while allowing fast rendering and keeping memory usage low. This video introduces new options that let animators control how individual objects interact with Final Gather. It highlights the new mental ray-specific render elements that offer many options for post-processing and compositing. Learn about the glare shader, which provides realistic glare around bright areas of the rendered image.

Production Shaders
This video introduces the mental ray production shaders that further improve the rendering capabilities of 3ds Max 2009. With two images and a few shaders, artists can match lighting and reflection of an existing background image. The new easy-to-use HDR Image Motion Blur shader creates fast and realistic motion blur effects.

Navigation Tools
This video introduces two easy-to-use viewport navigation tools in Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2009 software: ViewCube™ and the SteeringWheels™ technology. These tools, which can also be found in other Autodesk 3D products, provide users with a familiar way to navigate scenes. The ViewCube control makes it easy to orbit or look at an object from different angles. The SteeringWheels control makes exploring an architectural interior or a game level a whole new experience.

User Interface
The 3ds Max user interface has been improved and made more consistent by renaming and reorganizing some of the tools. The new Infocenter tool, which is used in other Autodesk products, is the front end for a new way to access help files and get to the information artists are looking for. Scene Explorer now has permanent filters to further improve the way scenes can be managed.

3ds Max Design

With each new release, Autodesk software solutions becomes intuitive and user friendly, while gaining functionality and a broader tool set. The following videos introduce the features and functionality of Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design software.

Exposure Part 1
In part one of the Exposure™ series, this video will show animators how to set up a scene for lighting analysis. It also features the 3ds Max Design sun and sky models, a quick-settings dashboard interface, and an intelligent user interface for accessing the various aspects of the software used in a light simulation, such as render settings, light settings, and material settings.

Exposure Part 2
In part two of the Exposure series, this video will help animators understand the power of light analysis. Exclusive to 3ds Max Design 2009, Exposure technology is used for simulating and analyzing sun, sky, and artificial lighting in a 3D scene. Ideal for sustainable-architecture projects, this powerful feature set is designed to assist architects in evaluating light intensity in their designs and can help facilitate the evaluation of indoor environmental quality required, for example, for LEED EQ 8.1 Credit.

Reveal Workflow
With 3ds Max Design 2009, Autodesk introduces Reveal™ rendering technology, a system that gives animators very precise control over renders, which in turn streamlines iterative workflows and enables animators to render final imagery. Highlighting this key feature, the video demonstrates how animators can visualize and manipulate a given region in both the viewport and the framebuffer. Animators will see that the rendered image framebuffer contains a simplified set of tools to quickly validate changes in a render, by optionally filtering out objects, regions, and/or processes to temporarily balance quality, speed, and completeness. For instance, render speed can be modulated by toggling geometry translation, lighting calculation, and image-quality settings. Learn how animators can also auto-generate regions around selections and reuse temporary Final Gather maps at any time.

Enhanced Per-object Render Settings
In this video, learn how additional object-level settings for mental ray® rendering technology gives animators, designers and visualization specialists the maximum level of control over their renders.

Revit Interoperability
This video introduces animators to the new FBX-base Recognize™ scene-loading technology, which gives architects, designers, and visualization professionals fast access to high-accuracy geometry, light, material, and camera data from their Revit® Architecture 2009 software scenes.

ProMaterials
ProMaterals™, a library of easy-to-use, physically based materials for mental ray software—based on manufacturing-supplied data and professional images—is included in 3ds Max Design 2009. This video demonstrates how these tools give architects and designers fast access to commonly used building and design materials like professional wall paint—with glossy or matte finishes and solid glass or concrete surfaces.

Photometric Lighting Enhancements
Learn how 3ds Max Design 2009 delivers a number of photometric lighting enhancements. In this video, animators will learn that this software supports artists with types of area lights such as photometric web previews, both circular and cylindrical, in the Browse dialog and Light UI, as well as near-field photometry quality and spot distribution. Plus, distribution types support any emitting shape, and light shapes can appear in a rendered image.

Composite Map and Color Correction Map
The composite map has been designed in 3ds Max Design 2009 to give animators options for independent color correction of texture maps. This video demonstrates how the feature set supports multiple blending modes, color correction via the color-correction map, opacity adjustments, reordering of images or layers, as well as hiding and deleting of layers. Learn about a feature that gives animators the option of replacing or creating alpha channels with any type of map, including procedurals.

Edit Soft Selection
Learn about the Edit Soft Selection hotkey and how it enables animators to interactively manipulate falloff, pinch, and bubble directly on the screen. In this video, animators will see that the cursor changes to indicate which values are being affected, and feedback is given directly on the object.

FBX Import/Export & Mudbox Interoperability
This video demonstrates the interoperability between Autodesk 3ds Max Design software and other Autodesk software such as Autodesk® Maya® and Autodesk® MotionBuilder® software with improved Autodesk® FBX® software memory management, data translation fidelity, and import options. Support for the OBJ file format, including export options, facilitates the importing and exporting of model data between Autodesk® Mudbox™ software and 3ds Max Design, and other third-party 3D modeling applications. Learn how animators can take advantage of export presets and additional geometry options, including hidden splines/lines and optimize options that reduce file sizes and performance. Also, there is exture map handling, and there is import information available in regard to face-counts-per-object.

Working Pivot Rotation & Hands Like Feet Option & Mirror Animation Options & Triangle Neck
Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2009 software supports rotating Biped objects around the working pivot, as well as the pick pivot, for the creation of certain kinds of dramatic animations, such as a character falling to the ground. This video demonstrates how animators can have their Biped characters’ hands behave like feet with regard to the ground plane, which dramatically simplifies the number of steps needed to create quadruped animations. Animators have a choice to mirror Biped animation while keeping the COM orientation intact. Learn how Biped gives animators the ability to link a character’s clavicles to the top spine link, instead of to the neck—similar to the triangle pelvis feature.

Render Final Gather and Global Illumination
In this video, animators will learn about two settings— the Render Final Gather Only setting and the Render Global Illumination Only setting. They enable animators to quickly cache specific types of maps for animation rendering.

Review Enhancements
Using Review, multiple maps can be simultaneously displayed in the viewport for accurate previewing. In this video, animators will see that Review has full photometric light support (including IES files) for instant feedback on how real luminaries will affect the environment. Animators will also see that support has been for real-time shadowing of objects that use architectural and design materials.

Enhanced Accessibility of Production Shaders
This video demonstrates how the mental ray production shaders are accessible in 3ds Max Design 2009. For example, a lens shader enables mental ray to evaluate only those rays that intersect specified objects, a matte/shadow material can capture indirect illumination, and a chrome ball shader enables the designer to quickly create reflection maps.

mental ray Proxy Objects
In this video, animators will see that a primitive is in 3ds Max Design, enabling high-resolution meshes (that can be demand-loaded at render time) to be cached. Learn how this process saves memory, increases performance, and allows designers to render much larger scenes.

mental ray Render Elements
This video highlights elements in mental ray. One mental ray-specific render element is included in 3ds Max Design for extracting HDR data from architecture and design materials. Another element allows animators to define the type of data they would like to extract from the shader tree.

Spline Mapping
This video demonstrates how the new spline mapping feature in Autodesk 3ds Max and included in Autodesk 3ds Max Design software can be used to map tubular and spline-like objects.

ViewCube Navigation & SteeringWheels Navigation
This video introduces the ViewCube™ and SteeringWheels™ navigation technology, features of the Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009 software solution, which are also found in several other Autodesk 3D software products. Learn how the ViewCube provides feedback about current viewing angle in relation to the model world. Animators can use this on-screen, cube-shaped widget to click directly on a face or rotate the ViewCube (with a click-and-drag motion) to change the view. Animators will also learn about SteeringWheels™ navigation technology, a simple-to-use camera interface that creates a comfortable transition from the world of 2D to 3D—perfect for design and architectural visualization professionals to 3ds Max Design.

Download All video Links:

http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/spline-mapping.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/steeringWheel01.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/render-elements.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/proxies.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/FG-GI.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/Review.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/pro-shaders.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/EditSoftSelection.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/FBX-OBJ.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/biped.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/Exposure-part1-settingassistant.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/Exposure-part2-analized.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/reveal01.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/per-object.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/Revit-Interop.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/pro-material.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/new-light.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmaxdesign/2009demos/composite-map-colour-corr.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmax/2009demos/02%20User%20Interface.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmax/2009demos/03%20Modeling%20And%20Animation.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmax/2009demos/07%20Iterative%20Rendering.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmax/2009demos/04%20Materials%20and%20Maps.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmax/2009demos/05%20Mapping.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmax/2009demos/06%20Lighting.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmax/2009demos/08%20Mental%20Ray.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmax/2009demos/09%20Production%20Shaders.mov
http://download.autodesk.com/us/3dsmax/2009demos/01%20Navigation%20Tools.mov