How to model a Digital Photo Frame with 3ds Max

Digital photo frame LG

Hi again, if you will read this tutorial you will learn how to create a Digital Photo Frame. The entire process will be covered, how to model, texture, create materials and render with VRay. At bottom of tutorial you will find link to download sample of this tutorial in .max, .3ds, .obj formats. Let”s move on.

Step 1: Open or Reset 3ds Max to start this tutorial. From Create> Shapes create a Rectangle with 11 Interpolation steps, the Length of 40.0cm, the Width of 49.0cm and the Corner Radius of 3.5cm. After you”ve created the Rectangle right click on the screen and Convert it to Editable Poly.

Note: This is not real world size of the frame.

Step 2: In the Modify tab go to Polygon selection mode. Select the Polygon(we only have one) and Extrude it with an amount of 0.3cm by clicking the box next to Extrude like you see below.

Step 3: Now Bevel the same polygon with an Height amount of 0.5cm and an Outline amount of -0.6cm.

Step 4: With the last beveled polygon selected click on Detach, check the box for Detach As Clone, change the Name to Front and click OK.

Step 5: Go in Border selection mode, select the Border, we only have one, and click on Cap to create the back polygon.

Step 6: Select the new caped polygon and Detach it as Clone, change it”s name to Back.

Step 7: With our first created object selected right click on the screen and click on Hide Unselected. Doing this we will hide the Front and the Back objects. We will unhide them later when we will work on them.

Step 8: Select the front and the back polygons of our object (not the detached ones) and Inset them like you see below with an amount of 0.3cm.

Step 9: Make a loop selection of the edges, select one of them from each line and click on Loop. After that Chamfer the edges with an amount of 0.075cm and 3 Segments.

Step 10: Right click on the screen and click Unhide all to unhide all of our objects. Select the Front object and again Hide Unselected to hide everything else.

Step 11: Select the left and the right edge and Connect the with 2 Segments and a Pinch of 80.

Step 12: With the new create edges selected Connect them to with 2 Segments and a Pinch of 70.

Step 13: Select the middle Polygon, click on Detach, change it”s name to Display and click OK. Hide it as you”ve learned by now. Also remember to delete the Polygon intersecting with the Display from the Middle object. The middle object is our first create object from witch we detached the Front and the Back.

Step 14: Inset the 4 polygons i”ve selected like you see below with an amount of 0.2cm.

Step 15: From the Modifier list add a Shell modifier with the Outer amount of 015cm, right click on the screen and Convert the object to editable poly or simply right click on the modifier and chose Collapse to…

Step 16: By now you should now how to make a Loop selection. Make one like i”ve made below. Chamfer the edges with an amount of 0.05cm and 3 Segments.

Step 17: Unhide all, select the Back object and Hide Unselected. Go in polygon selection mode and Bevel the Back polygon with an Height amount of 1.5cm and an Outline amount of -0.8cm.

Step 18: Inset the same polygon with an amount of 1.5cm.

Step 19: Make a loop selection of the edges and Chamfer the with an amount of 1.3cm and 8 Segments.

Step 20: In Border selecti0n mode, select the border and Cap it.

Step 21: Inset the caped polygon with an amount of 0.3cm like below.

Step 22: Make a Loop selection of the edges like i”ve did and Chamfer them with an amount of 0.15cm and 3 Segments.

Step 23: From the Modifier list add a Smooth Modifier to of Back object and check the box for Auto Smooth. Add this modifier also to the Middle and the Front objects.

Step 24: Right click and Unhide all of the objects.

Step 25: To see the object in the viewport more easy you can assign a different color to every one of them by clicking on the small colored square in the top right corner. Simply select an object click on the square, select the color and click OK.

Step 26: To create the Holder of the Frame, from Create, Shapes create a Circle with the Radius of 10.0cm. Check the Boxes for Enable in Renderer and Viewport, change the Type to Rectangular, change buy cialis the Length to 0.5cm the Width to 3.0cm. Convert the Circle to Editable Poly.

Step 27: Scale the holder using the Select and Scale tool in the Y axis direction until 120.

Step 28: Now in the Back make a Ring selection of the edges and connect the with 1 Segment.

Step 29: Using the Select and Move tool move the newly create edges like you see below.

Step 30: Chamfer the edges with an amount of 2.0cm and 10 Segments.

Step 31: Make a loop selection of the inside and outside corner edges and Chamfer them with an amount of 0.15cm and 3 Segments.

Step 32: Using the Select and Move, Scale Rotate tools you can arrange your objects like you see below. We can also do this later so don”t bother.

Step 33: To create the Remote control simply create a new Rectangle only this time change the Interpolations steps to 5, the Length to 20.0cm, the Width to 10.0cm and the Corner Radius to 1.0cm. Convert it to Editable Poly.

Step 34: In Edge selection mode using the Cut tool create the Highlighted edges you see below. It”s very important to make the Cut from Vertex to Vertex, not from Vertex to Edge or something.

Step 35: In every corner make 2 new cuts like i”ve did. Again, it”s very important to make the Cut from vertex to vertex so pay extra attention. We will only have quads now(4 sided polygons).

Step 36: Go in polygon selection mode and select all polygons. Bevel them with an Height amount of 0.3cm and the Outline amount of -0.5cm.

Step 37: Detach the Polygons as Clone and Name them Remote_Front.

Step 38: Exactly as we did with the Frame create the Remote”s Back and Middle Side. Detach, Bevel, Inset, Chamfer. Do the exact same things only with different amounts. Leave the Front polygons as it was when we Detached it.

Step 39: Our middle polygons should have the Length of 9.0 cm and the Width of 18.0cm. You can create a Plane with this size from Create, Geometry, an position it in the back of our Remote_Front as reference.

Step 40: Select the edges i”ve selected and Connect the with 18 segments.

Step 41: Again select the edges you see selected below and Connect them with 9 Segments.

Step 42: Select all the Polygons and Inset the with an amount of 01.cm.

Step 43: Add a Shell modifier with the Outer amount of 0.05cm and Convert the Object to Editable Poly.

Step 44: Make a Loop selection of the outer edges and Chamfer them with an amount of 0.01cm and 1 Segment.

Step 45: Using the Cut tool create the edges you see below. I”m sorry for repeating my self but, again, make sure your Cut is from Vertex to Vertex. If you don”t make the cut correctly you will have problems when we will add the Turbo Smooth modifier.

Step 46: Select the Middle Vertex and Chamfer it with an amount of 0.85cm.

Step 47: Inset the polygons create from chamfering the vertex with an amount of 0.01cm.

Step 48: Change the Inset amount to 0.2cm click Apply 2 Times and then click OK.

Step 49: Using the Cut tool create new edges like i”ve did.

Step 50: Select the middle 9 vertices and in Soft selection rollout menu check the box for Use Soft Selection. Change the Falloff amount to 0.65cm and the Bubble to 0.6. Using the Select and Move tool move the vertices outwards in the Y axis direction. Uncheck the Use Soft Selction box when you finish.

Step 51: Using the exact same method we used to create our first button create the rest of the button. You can create them all at once. When you finish add a TurboSmooth modifier from the Modifier list.

Step 52: Unhide the rest of the objects if you”ve hidden them. Position the objects to fit one with the other.

Step 53: We will now make the LG logo, so, create a new circle with 12 Interpolations steps and a Radius of 2.0cm. Convert it to Editable Spline.

Step 54: In the Modify tab go in Spline selection mode and select the Spline. Using the Select and Scale tool hold down Shift to clone/copy the Spline in the to 85 in the X and Y axis direction.

Step 55: Clone the Spline again only this time make it smaller. In Geometry rollout menu create the new lines with the Create Line tool. Weld the vertices of the new created line. Study the image below.

Step 56: Using the Outline tool outline the Splines like i”ve did. Click on outline, click on the spline and drag, release where you want to finish.

Step 57: Using the Text tool in Create, Shapes create a new LG Text next to the logo.

Step 58: Select the Logo and using Attach, attach the text to the logo by clicking on it.

Step 59: Add an Extrude modifier with any amount you want, i”ve used 0.02cm, using the Select and Move tool select the logo right in front of the Front side of the Frame, they most overlap a little. Also change the Logo”s color to white.

Step 60: Using the exact same methods i”ve used to create the logo create the side shapes of the frame. Take your time, use the Shapes in Create tab. I”ve use the Line, the Rectangle and the Circle. Outline them and add the Extrude modifier.

Step 61: On the main toolbar click on Render Setup or press F10, go in Common tab, click on the 3 dots next to Default Scanline Renderer, chose VRay and click OK.

Step 62: Create a Plane with the Width of 200.0cm and the Length of 350.0cm and position it like below.

Step 63: Go in Edge selection mode, select the Back edge, hold down Shift and using the Select and Move tool copy it 2 times, first time up and after that to the left.

Step 64: Chamfer the back edges with an amount of 15cm and 4 Segments. Add a TurboSmooth modifier.

Step 65: From Create, Lights, create 2 Vray lights one on the right and one on the left. For the one on the left change the multiplier to 4, the color to a very light blue, check the box for invisible and change the subdivs to 16. For the one on the right change the multiplier to 8 and the color to light yellow.

Step 66: Now from Create, Camera create a new Target camera an position it like you see below. Press “C” on your keyboard to go to camera view.

Step 67: In Perspective or any other view use the Select and Move to position the Camera. If you press “C” to go in camera View use the tools in the lower right corner to position it. Also use Select and Move, Scale and Rotate to position our objects in the scene.

Step 68: Press “M” to open Material Editor or click on it on the main toolbar. Select the first slot, click on Get Material, Select the VRayLightMtl, check the Box for Emit light on back side, change the multiplier to 1.5, click on None, select Bitmap and open this image(click to open).

Step 69: Select the Display, in material editor click on Show Standard Map in Viewport and Assign material to selection. Add a UVW Map modifier and your image should look OK.

Step 70: In the second slot add a VRayMtl and assign it to the scene plane.

Step 71: In the 3rd material slot add a new VrayMtl an change the settings like below. Assign it to the middle of the frame and remote.

Step 72: In the

4th material slot add a new VrayLightMtl change the color to red(RGB:255,10,10), check the box for Emit light on the back

side and apply this to the frames buttons.

Step 73: Create a new Black material ass you see below. Assign it to the front of the frame.

Step 74: Select the Front of the Remote and convert it to Editable Poly.Select the polygons i”ve selected.

Step 75: With the previously selected polygons still selected add an Unwrap UVW modifier from the modifier list. Duplicate the last create material by clicking on it and dragging it to an empty slot and rename it. Click on the box next to Diffuse, select Bitmap and open this Texture(click to open). Uncheck the Tile boxes and assign the material to the object.

Step 76: Click the plus sign next to the modifier to expand it, select Face click on Edit to open Edit window and select all the faces. In Edit window click on Tools, Relax change the amount to 1 and click on Start Relax. Wait for a wile until you don”t see much movement. Click on Apply.

Step 77: In Edit window use the scale tool and scale down the faces to fit the square. After that click on Pit Texture and open the Texture i”ve provided for you in step 75.

Step 78: Still in Edit window using the move tool move the face/edges/vertices, witch ever you want to fit the texture.

Step 79: Add a new Vray light like you see below. It”s very important how you position this light because it will affect the reflections on our objects. So use the image below as reference and try to do the exact same thing. Also change the multiplier between 3 and 5, check the box for invisible and change the subdivs to 16.

Step 80: Press F10 and change the render settings as i”ve did below. Also check the box for Show calc. phase in Light Cache since it”s not viewable in the image.