3ds Max 2026 Essential Training

13h 34mBeginner2025-04-16

Authors

Aaron F. Ross

3D Expert, Video Producer, and Teacher

Course details

3ds Max is best known for its modeling and rendering tools. These strengths come into play in architecture, manufacturing, game development, industrial design, and motion graphics. There are dozens of features and techniques to master, from modeling and texturing to lighting and rendering. This course covers 3ds Max from the ground up, providing an overview of the entire package as well as essential skills that 3D artists need to create professional models and animations.

Learn how to get around the 3ds Max interface and customize it to suit your preferences. Discover how to model different objects using splines, polygons, and subdivision surfaces as well as how to construct hierarchies, add cameras and lights, and animate with keyframes. Instructor Aaron F. Ross also takes an in-depth look at materials and texture mapping, along with options for rendering engines such as Quicksilver.

Skills covered

3ds Max3D AnimationRenderingMotion Graphics and VFXAutodesk3D ModelingVisualization and Real-TimeEssential TrainingAECProduct and ManufacturingAnimation and Illustration

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Introducing 3ds Max 2026
02 - Using the exercise files
03 - Setting preferences
04 - Using project folders

1. 3ds Max Interface

05 - Getting familiar with the interface
06 - Creating primitives
07 - Position, rotate, and scale objects
08 - Navigating in viewports
09 - Orbit and viewport undo
10 - Accelerate workflow with hotkey shortcuts
11 - Choosing viewport shading modes
12 - Configuring viewport layouts

2. Scene Setup

13 - Specifying units of measurement
14 - Defining the home grid
15 - Saving a maxstart.max template scene
16 - Merging scenes

3. Managing Objects

17 - Outlining object names with Scene Explorer
18 - Managing objects with Scene Explorer
19 - Duplicating forms with Array modifier
20 - Duplicating objects with Clone
21 - Collecting objects in a group
22 - Managing display layers in the Layer Explorer
23 - Using Isolate Selection and Lock Selection

4. Transforming Objects

24 - Selecting in window and crossing modes
25 - Moving objects in reference coordinate systems
26 - Rotating objects in reference coordinate systems
27 - Choosing a transform center
28 - Transform center reference coordinates
29 - Introducing snap
30 - Precision transforms with grid snap

5. Spline Modeling

31 - Creating shapes
32 - Editing Bezier splines
33 - Setting shape detail with interpolation
34 - Modeling with the Extrude modifier
35 - Extruding along a path with the Sweep modifier
36 - Importing Illustrator paths to 3ds Max
37 - Adding a Bevel modifier
38 - Modeling typography with TextPlus

6. Parametric Modeling

39 - Deforming an object with a modifier
40 - Layering deformers in the modifier stack
41 - Defining polygon-level detail
42 - Passing a selection up the stack
43 - Understanding topology dependence
44 - Versioning parametric assets

7. Polygon Modeling

45 - Combining meshes with Boolean modifier
46 - Adding edges with Quickslice
47 - Adding edges with Cut
48 - Hard and soft edges with Smooth modifier
49 - Using the Modeling ribbon
50 - Branching with Editable Poly Extrude
51 - Detailing a mesh
52 - Grow and convert sub-object selections
53 - Rounding corners with Chamfer
54 - Optimization with the Retopology modifier

8. Subdivision Surface Modeling

55 - Understanding subdivision surfaces
56 - Modeling with the Symmetry modifier
57 - Modeling curvature with Soft Selection
58 - Refining geometry with Swift Loop
59 - Sub-object transform constraints
60 - Correcting a seam with Align to Grid
61 - Preserving polygon count with Edge Crease

9. Camera Techniques

62 - Understanding camera types
63 - Creating a Physical Camera
64 - First-person camera navigation
65 - Enabling safe frames
66 - Setting render resolution and aspect ratio
67 - Rotating in Gimbal coordinate space
68 - Emulating a tripod with rotation axis order

10. Practical and Studio Lighting

69 - Rendering in the viewport
70 - Creating photometric lights
71 - Adjusting intensity and color
72 - Enabling exposure control
73 - Adjusting light shape and distribution
74 - Controlling spotlight parameters
75 - Using the Light Explorer

11. Environment Lighting

76 - Illumination with an environment color
77 - Illumination with an HDRI environment
78 - Separating the environment from the background
79 - Creating a Sun and Sky
80 - Art directing Sun and Sky parameters

12. Materials

81 - Render setup for materials
82 - Using the Slate Material Editor
83 - Assigning materials to objects
84 - Changing the node display and graph layout
85 - Managing scene materials
86 - Managing sample slots
87 - Saving a material library
88 - Physical Material basic parameters
89 - Physical Material reflection parameters

13. Mapping

90 - Material shading in the viewport
91 - Creating a 3D procedural map
92 - Mapping bitmap image files
93 - Restoring links with Asset Tracking
94 - Projecting UVs with the UVW Map modifier
95 - Using real-world map size

14. Hierarchies

96 - Understanding hierarchies
97 - Transforming pivot points
98 - Prioritizing rotation axes
99 - Linking objects
100 - Locking transforms

15. Animation Essentials

101 - Setting frame rate in Time Configuration
102 - Viewport playback options
103 - Creating keyframes in Auto Key mode
104 - Creating keyframes in Set Key mode
105 - Best practices for Set Key mode
106 - Editing timing in the Track Bar timeline

16. Animation Editing

107 - Navigating in the Dope Sheet
108 - Editing keyframes in the Dope Sheet
109 - Navigating in the Curve Editor
110 - Editing keyframes in the Curve Editor
111 - Changing interpolation type
112 - Manipulating keyframe tangents
113 - Editing a trajectory with Motion Path