6/7/13

Realistic Water in 3DS Max - CGRats - CG Tutorials and resources

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Realistic Water in 3DS Max

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3/4 3DS Max Water effects

With the water material still selected, set the Transparency value to 0.5. Scroll down and roll-out the Special Effects tab. Enable Ambient Occlusion and
set the Max Distance to 4cm.

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Realistic Water in 3DS Max - CGRats - CG Tutorials and resources

Scroll down even more and open the Advanced Rendering Options panel. Set the Max Distance to 50 cm and the Color at Max Distance to a dark
greenish color. The deeper the fountain, the darker the water.

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Realistic Water in 3DS Max - CGRats - CG Tutorials and resources

Even further down, locate the Displacement entry under Special Purpose Maps. Click the map button and assign a smoke map to it.

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Set the Smoke maps size to 8 and apply {

Realistic Water in 3DS Max - CGRats - CG Tutorials and resources

} the material to the water plane.

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Realistic Water in 3DS Max - CGRats - CG Tutorials and resources

Switch to the Camera view {C} and render the scene. It should look like this
3DS Max

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Water Drop

Tutorial

Realistic

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Realistic Water in 3DS Max - CGRats - CG Tutorials and resources

To get a more fountain-like look we need to create some ripples. Set the bump map to 0.2. Right click the Bump Maps Ocean map entry and click
clear.

Click the map button and assign a Waves map to it.

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Realistic Water in 3DS Max - CGRats - CG Tutorials and resources

In the Waves map change:

the X and Y Tiling to 2
the Num Wave Sets to 4
the Wave Len Max to 30, the Min to 7 and the Wave Radius to 4
the Distribution to 2D

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Realistic Water in 3DS Max - CGRats - CG Tutorials and resources

4/4 Tweaks and materials

Finally, you can import our fountain material files.

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Realistic Water in 3DS Max - CGRats - CG Tutorials and resources

The fountain_misc is for the small, center- cylinders and fountain base is for the fountain body and the plane that makes-up its base.
Switch to the Camera view and render:

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Realistic Water in 3DS Max - CGRats - CG Tutorials and resources

The End

By combining this tutorial with the Realistic Grass, the Old Rock Procedural Texture and the HDR Reflections tutorials we got:

Could of been even better if we would of used the techniques from the Mental Ray Caustics one too. Play around, see what you get.
Featured!

Water Wave Water Glass Body Water

Texture

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More Info:

Author: Tudor Nita

Born from an unhealthy cross-over between a rat and a pet hamster. Likes cheese, and chewing his way through virtual cardboard walls.
Original photo: CGRats
Keytags: 3ds max, A&D, arch&design, displace, map, material, mental ray, real, realistic, Texture, texturing, tutorial, water
Re late d Stuff:

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Realistic Water in 3DS Max - CGRats - CG Tutorials and resources

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Tudor:
Programmer and 3D enthusiast. Teaches web design, builds games and maintains this site in his spare time.
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Iulian:
2D/ 3D artist. Loves game& product art.
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Vlad:
2D/ 3D artist. Works as a print designer and does 3D art in his spare time.
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