3ds Max 9 for Tiles and Sprites?

xxxRedMetalxxx

xxxRedMetalxxx

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Hey everyone.

I just recently acquired 3D Studio Max 9 and need a little help.

The thing is, I have only ever used blender (a long time ago) and find the controls and layout of Studio Max to be completely alien. I only need to know a few things to start me off, after that I am confident I could produce good mods and already my head is overflowing with ideas. I know a little about rendering from tinkering about and a little help from diablo7707.
Basically it would seem that I need an isometric camera/s, some kind of lighting to resemble Fallout Tactics lighting style, and the ability to drop a shadow under a sprite or tile, just like in Fallout. So, If anyone reading this has ANY knowledge of using 3ds Max for sprites or tiles this is exactly what I need to know;

1; When placing a camera, How can I get an exact isometric view? And should I use more than one camera or just rotate the object? Also where the hell are the degrees for object rotation? I can't seem to find the numbers for rotating an exact amount of degrees.

2; I need to have some kind of light to display the object properly. I'm guessing I could set up a scene (or studio) that would have the right lights and cameras in the right location, and then just drop an object in. Can you even do that? And again, what would be the right locations?

3; Shadows. In Adobe Photoshop you can create a small shadow under objects and choose the transparency, but I know there is a way of rendering an object with a shadow. It would save me a lot of time not manually drawing these shadows myself. Where and how do I draw shadows in the studio that are exactly like Tactics.

Any info on these issues is greatly appreciated.
 
Ok diablo you've pointed me in the right direction and it is as I thought.
It helps to set up a studio in-which cameras, lights and models can be manipulated in separate frames. Rendering the frames as batches helps too. Whether you choose to fully create models or load others as templates this program is tricky but just takes practice.
Texturing is and has always been one thing I have experience in so that won't be too difficult for me. Making an entity sprite that has colour layers is a nightmare for animated sprites, but I won't be deterred from at least trying it. I can see why not many people have attempted this even having the knowledge of how to accomplish it.
I definitely have the knowledge and skills to create tiles and sprites from 3ds Max now. But I am going for the deep end. I am starting with animated sprites, with colour layers. The rest should then be a breeze.
Thank you diablo for your insights and I hope to surprise you with what I will achieve.

You may not see me for a few days:grin:
 
Ok things are coming along nicely now with my 3D modeling, just caught up in this project for a while. I am enjoying it though.

Another question of similar nature, does anyone know if the 3D models originally used for Tactics can be found and downloaded somewhere? I am mostly seeking the BOS leather armour model, but any will do.
 
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