This 3DS Max tutorial will help you create realistic, volumetric, clouds using a Particle Flow Source (PF Source), a procedural opacity map and a 3D object. The technique is for intermediate Max users but the tutorial can be followed by beginners just as well. We’ve also attached the scene file so you can examine our results.

This is an introductory FumeFx tutorial in which you’ll be creating a realistic looking fireball. Fireballs are good starting points because you have to go through most of FumeFx ‘s settings to get good results. This tutorial doesn’t skip any steps and goes to great lengths to explain every value you change.

A realistic 3D model of a Subaru Impreza S2000 rally car. Completely textured; Just drag and drop into your scene.

Another basic tutorial that talks about natural interior lighting and the “theory” behind it. A must, if you just can’t seem to get your interior scenes to look right. This 3DS Max tutorial will walk you through lighting a small room, using “natural” light casting through a single window.

This quick tutorial will help you create realistic water for your 3DS Max scenes. You’re going to use mental ray’s Arch& Design material. The trick to water and the A&D material in general is in the details so this is what we’ll be discussing here.

During the course of this tutorial you will learn the various options of the Hair and Fur Modifier (WSM). The grass you’ll create will look great from a distance and more than decent in those highly coveted grassy close-ups. The downsides of the Hair and Fur modifier is that it usually increases render time and that the results are not always predictable.

In this quick tutorial you’ll learn how to create a realistic rock texture and apply it to a low-poly model. The texture you’ll create is completely procedural and requires nothing more than 3DS Max. You’ll pick-up some creative uses for the smoke map and learn how to control map-based displacements.

Ever wondered how you can create a table cloth without tweaking every last vertex? This tutorial will help you achieve that effect using the Cloth modifier in just a couple of minutes. You’ll also find out how the Relax modifier can get you out of a messy modeling jam in no time.