Using MAXScript to animate an advertisement inside 3ds Max

In this tutorial we will for the first time get into the animation process inside 3ds Max and create a changing advertisement using the tools available inside 3ds Max. The tutorial will start with creating the appropriated shapes for the actual advertisement board which is made from two main parts. The first part is just a frame which is holding the second part which are panels in a shape of a triangle on which are applied the actual images or advertisement. The main objects would be made using the poly-modelling technique and this part of the tutorial will be very quick and easy. After creating the shapes for the advertisement we will start the animating process. Here you have actually two options how to make it; either using the manual method where you would be moving and rotating the separate parts or using the inbuilt MAXScript language which will do the work for you. Of course we will choose the second option because the way how it’s made using the second option is much more interesting and even more challenging. The MAXScript allows you to code a set of instruction by which you can use all available tools, methods and options available in 3ds Max.

It could be compared to the VBA language inside EXCEL and the logic is indeed the same but the code is of course different. After creating the MAXScript and running it the panels of the advertisement would be animated in a certain step where they are smoothly rotating on one side and then on another and so changing the actual image which is placed on the faces of the panels. At the end we will use the 3D-Sphere material library which you can download from the menu on the right side of 3D-Sphere and apply the materials and textures to our model. For rendering I will use Photometric Lights and MentalRay. You can download the reference materials, the used MAXScript and as well watch the tutorial below and if you have any questions, just write us.

for i=1 to 27 do

(

if i<10 then panel="Panel00" else panel="Panel0"

a= i as string

theObject=Execute("$'"+panel+a)

select theObject

slide = num as string + "f"

slide2 = slide as time

sliderTime=slide2

rotate $ (angleaxis 0 [0,0,1])

slide3= num2 as string + "f"

slide4 = slide3 as time

sliderTime=slide4

rotate $ (angleaxis 120 [0,0,1])

num=num+2

num2=num2+2

clearSelection()

)

)