Modeling the Planets

Modeling a Space Scene

Modeling a Chess Set

 

Autodesk 3ds Max Tutorials >  Modeling Tutorials > Modeling a Space Scene > 

Creating an Asteroid

Modifiers can be used to alter the shape of a primitive object. In this lesson, you will use a modifier to distort a sphere into an irregular shape to form an asteroid.

Set up the lesson:

1. Open asteroid1.max from the \tutorials\intro_to_modeling folder.

   In a single viewport, you see two spheres, one large and one small.

   

2. Click the Min/Max Toggle in the viewport controls to show four viewports.
   TipYou can also toggle the Min/Max view with the keyboard shortcut: Alt+W.

Create an asteroid using the Noise modifier:

1. Select the larger sphere.
2. In the Name And Color rollout, change the name from Sphere01 to Moon.
3. Select the smaller sphere and rename it Asteroid. Press Enter.
4. Press P to switch the Camera viewport to a Perspective viewport.
5. Make sure the Asteroid object is still selected. On the Zoom Extents flyout, choose Zoom Extents Selected.

   The asteroid is zoomed in to fill the Perspective viewport.

6. Open the Modify panel. In the Modifier List, choose Noise from the Modifier List.

   The Noise modifier creates random distortion on an object's surface.

7. In the Noise Parameters rollout, turn on Fractal and set the Scale to 30. Then set these values for Strength: X to 25, Y to 10, and Z to 20.

   The object deforms to look like an asteroid.

   

Experiment with the asteroid:

1. Change the Seed value.

   This changes the random displacement of the surface, giving you a totally different shape.

   

   

   Changing the Seed yields different shapes.

2. Try applying some other modifiers to the object, such as Bend, Taper, Twist, and Stretch. Experiment with the parameters to see the variety of shapes you can make.
3. Save your file as my_asteroid.max.