Desk - 3ds Max Modeling Tutorial

Hi everyone. In this 3D modeling tutorial i will show you how to create a Desk using 3d Studio Max 2011. I will cover only the 3d modeling part. The textured model you see on the left it's only for preview. We will use 3d modeling tools such as: Connect, Chamfer, Inset, Extrude, Bevel, Attach, etc to achieve our result. Also 3d modeling modifiers like Extrude and Shell will be used. Feel free to comment if yoou get stuck. Let's move on.


Step 1: To start our 3d modeling tutorial first Open or Reset Max. From Command Panel, Create, Geometry create a Box in Top View with Length 60cm, Width 140cm and Height 2.5cm.

Step 2: Create two more boxes in the Top view. The one on the left with Length 60cm, Width 40cm and Height 70cm. For the box on the right use this settings: Length 60cm, Width 30cm and Height 70cm. Now using Select and Move tool move the boxes around to align the to the first created box like i've did below. Use F3 to turn on/off wire frame view to see exactly what you are doing.

Step 3: Select any one of the 3 boxes. Right click on it and select Convert to>Convert to Editable Poly. In Command Panel go to Modify tab, click the box next to Attach, i new window will pop-up, hold down CTRL and select the other 2 boxes. Click Attach to attach all 3 boxes together.

Step 4: In Front view create a new box. Length 30cm, Width 70cm and Height 2.5.cm. Using the Select and Move tool align it to the rest of the boxes like i've did below. Attach this box to like we did in previous step.

Step 5: In Modify tab go to Edge selection mode(shortcut key "2"), select the edges i've selected below. Select on and click Ring. Now Connect them. Click on the box next to connect, leave everything as default(1 segments, 0 pinch and slide) and click OK.

Step 6: Again, select the edges i've selected below and connect them with default settings. 1 Segment, 0 Pinch and Slide.

Step 7: Connecting the edges together in Step 5 and 6 resulted some new edges. Select two edges(one from every line) and click on Loop to make a loop selection. New click on Chamfer box and apply a chamfer with an amount of 0.1cm and 1 Segment. Press OK.

Step 8: Go to Polygon selection mode(shortcut key "4") and select 3 polygons like you see in the next image(don't select the polygons between them). Hold down SHIFT and using Select and Move tool move them just a little bit(0.1cm) in Y axis direction. A pop-up window will appear, select Clone to Object and name them Drawers. Click OK.

Step 9: Press H on you keyboard to Select from Scene, select the Drawers and click OK. From the Modifier list apply a Shell modifier with an Outer Amount of 1.5cm. Convert the object to Editable Poly.

Step 10: Now do the exact same thing for the drawer in the right. First select the Polygon, holding down shift move it in front a little bit to create a clone and detach it, select it and apply a Shell modifier with and Outer Amount of 1.5cm. Convert it to Editable Poly.

Step 11: Select the desk and go to Polygon selection mode(shortcut key "4"). Select the margin Polygon and move it on to of the drawers like i've did below.

Step 12: For the inside sliding draw create a new box in Front view with Length of 1.5cm, Width 69cm and Height 40cm. Using Select and Move tool move it to fit the inside of the desk.

Step 13: With the new created box selected, right click on the screen and select Hide Unselected to hide everything else except sliding drawer box. From Create, Shapes select Line. Set the Initial and Drag type to corner and create a new Line like in the below image.

Step 14: Go to Modify tab and select Spline from selection rollout menu(shortcut key "3"). Select the spline by clicking on it or by pressing CTRL+A(select all). In the box next to Outline enter -0.1cm and press enter to create outline or simply click on outline move the cursor on to of the spline, click and drag until you achieve your desired result.

Step 15: From the modifier list apply an Extrude modifier to out Spline with an amount of 40cm. Now using the Mirror tool, mirror our object in X axis, Offset amount 69.164cm and Clone Selection Instance(every change you make to your object will be made to your mirrored object). Click OK.

Step 16: Right click on the screen and select Unhide All. You can see that our rail is overlapping with the desk. Select the rail go to Vertex selection mode(shortcut key "1") and move the to vertices that are overlapping to the right.

Step 17: Continuing with this 3d modeling tutorial we will create the desk legs. In Top view press F3 to turn on Wire view. Create a new box with Length and Width 4cm and the Height of 8cm. Convert it to Editable Poly.

Step 18: Hide Unselected. Go in Polygon selection mode, select the top and the bottom polygons, click on the box next to Inset to inset them with an amount of 0.5cm.

Step 19: Press 2 on you keyboard to go to Edge selection mode. Make a ring selection like i've did below and click on the box next to Chamfer and chamfer the edges with an amount of 0.15cm and 6 Segments.

Step 20: Now make a loop selection for the top and bottom edges like you see below. Chamfer them with an amount of 0.15cm and 6 Segments.

Step 21: Unhide All. With the desk leg selected go in Element selection mode(shortcut key "5"), select the leg/element and with Select and Move tool holding down Shift copy the leg 7 times, select Clone to Element in the pop-up window.

Step 22: In the next step of this 3d modeling tutorial go in front view and create a new box for the drawer handle. Length 2cm, Width 6cm and Height 0.5cm. Convert it to Editable Poly.

Step 23: In Edge selection mode, select on edge and click on Ring to make a ring selection. Connect the selected edges with 2 segments and 0 Pinch and/or Slide.

Step 24: Press 4 on your keyboard to go to Polygon selection mode and select the front 3 polygons. First Inset them with an amount of 0.2cm and Type by Polygon. Second Extrude them with an amount of -0.05cm and Type Group. Third Inset them again with an amount 0.1cm and last Bevel the polygons with Height 0.05cm and Outline -0.15cm.

Step 25: With the drawer handle selected press 6 to exit selection mode. Press ALT+Q on your keyboard to go to Isolation Mode. All other object disappear and a new window with "Exist Isolation mode" will appear. Leave it alone until you want to exit isolation mode.
              Turn you drawer handle around to see the back of it. Make to Ring selection for the left and right edges. Select one from every part and press Ring.. Connect them with 1 segment and -50 Slide.

Step 26: Select the two new created polygons like i've did below and Extrude them with an amount of 1.5cm.

Step 27: Click on the window to Exit Isolation Mode. Move the drawer handle in front of the drawers to not overlap.

Step 28: With the handle selected go to Element selection mode(shortcut key "5") and click on the handle to select it. Holding down shift copy it 3 time. Select Clone to Element from pop-up window.

Step 29: Attach all object together except for the Handles, Legs and Rails.

Step 30: With the desk selected go to Edge selection mode and press CTRL+A to select all edges. We are gonna chamfer all of our edges because in real world very few things have perfect edge corners, so click on the box next to Chamfer to chamfer the edges with an amount of 0.05cm and 1 segment.

Step 31: For the final step of this 3d modeling tutorial we will change the objects color. Select them all. To do this we have 3 options: CTRL+A, click and drag over them or simple use Select from Scene(shortcut key "H"). Next click on the little colored square in top right of the screen, chose your desired color and press OK. That's it, you've completed this 3d modeling example.

3d Modeling Result:

Bar Chair - 3ds Max Modeling Tutorial

Hello my friends, in this 3D modeling tutorial i will show you how to create a Bar Chair in 3d Studio Max 2011.We will create the seat and the frame from splines and the chair leg from a Cylinder. We will use 3d modeling tools such as: Fillet, Connect-Refine, Weld, Extrude, Inset, Bevel, Ring, Loop, Connect and Modifiers such as Turbosmooth. Let's carry on.


Step 1: Open or Reset 3ds Max. From Command Panel click on Create then on Shapes and select the Line tool. Create a line like i did in the image below with Initial and Drag type set to Corner.

Step 2: Go to Modify tab, select the Spline from Selection menu and CTRL+A to select all Splines or simply click on it.

Step 3: With the Spline selected go in Front view, hold down Shift and using Select and Move tool move the Spline to the right to copy it.

Step 4: From Modify tab select the Vertex in Selection rollout menu or simply press 1 on you keyboard. In Geometry rollout menu check the box for Connect and click on Refine. Now click on the top vertex from the second spline and chose "Connect only" from the pop-up window, click on the top vertex from first spline and again select Connect only from pop-up window. Right click to finish. You will see a new created segment.

Step 5: Do exactly the same thing we did in Step 4 only this time to the bottom vertices of the splines.

Step 6: Now we must apply Fillet to some of our vertices. Select the two vertices i've circled below, click on Fillet, move the cursor on top of one of the two vertices, you will see it will change, click and drag until you have the desired amount.

Step 7: Do the same thing we did in Step 6 for the other two vertices only this time apply a smaller amount.

Step 8: We must now weld some vertices we previously created when we connected the splines. So, click and drag over the 4 corners to select the vertices. We must have a total of 8. Now click on Weld form Geometry rollout menu. If it work your vertices will be deselected right after you click weld, if not just apply a bigger amount.

Step 9: From Rendering rollount menu check the boxes for Enable in Renderer and Enable in View Port. Select the type as Rectangular with Length of 2.5cm, width of 5cm, angle of 0 and Aspect 0.5. Right click on the object and select Convert to>Convert to Editable Poly.

Step 10: Go to Modify tab and select Polygon from selection rollout menu. Select the polygons i've selected below from both side and from Edit Geometry rollout menu click on Detach, check the box for Detach as Clone and click OK.

Step 11: Exit selection mode by pressing 6 on your keyboard, right click on the screen and chose Hide Selection. We've hided the Chair frame.

Step 12: Let's center the Pivot now. Go to Hierarchy in Command Panel and first click on Affect Pivot Only, after that click on Center to Object. Go to Modify tab to exit Hierarchy.

Step 13: In Modify tab select Boarder from Selection rollout menu and press CTRL+A to select both boarders or click and drag over them. With the borders selected click on Bridge to make a bridge connection between them.

Step 14: Press 2 on your keyboard to go to Edge selection, select on edge and press Ring to make a ring selection.

Step 15: Now in Edit edges rollout menu click on the little box next to Connect and apply a connect with 3 segments and 97 Pinch. Click OK.

Step 16: Again make a ring selection, only this time of exterior edges. Select one and click on Ring. After that Connect them with 3 Segments and 70 Pinch.

Step 17: Exit selection mode, right click on the screen and select Unhide All. Select the frame of the chair, go in Edge selection mode, select one edge and click on Ring to make a Ring selection.

Step 18: Connect the Edges with 3 segments and 70 Pinch.

Step 19: Select one edge in every corner(see image below) and press Loop to make a loop selection.

Step 20: From Edit Edges rollout menu click on the box next to Chamfer and apply a chamfer of 1cm and 2 segments.

Step 21: Now select an interior edge and press Ring to make a ring selection. See next image to figure out what edge to select.

Step 22: Connect the ringed edges with 3 segments and 50 Pinch.

Step 23: From the Modifier List apply a TurboSmooth modifier with 2 Iterations and check the box for Isoline Display.

Step 24: Continuing with this 3d modeling tutorial we will create the chair's leg. Select both the frame and the seat and hide them both. To do this right click on the screen and select Hide Selected. In Top view from Create->Geometry create a Cylinder with a Radius of 30cm and a Height of 2cm. Height and Cap segments set to 1 and 12 Sides.

Step 25: Select Polygon from selection rollout menu(shortcut key "4") and select the top polygon. From Edit Polygons rollout menu apply a Bevel with the Type Group, the Height 4cm and the Outline -22cm.

Step 26: With the Beveled polygon still selected first apply an Extrude of 70cm Type Group, after that apply and Inset of 1.4cm and Type Group and then, again, apply and Extrude this time only by 50cm and Type Group.

Step 27: In Edge slection mode make a loop selection like i did below(select one edge and click on Loop) and Chamfer it with an amount of 10cm and 5 Segments.

Step 28: Again, select one edge and make a loop selection like i've did below. Chamfer it with and amount of 1.5cm and 3 Segments.

Step 29: Press 4 on your keyboard to go to Polygon selection mode, select the bottom polygon, first Inset it with an amount of 2cm and the Bevel it with a Height of -3cm and an Outline of -20cm. After that press Delete on your keyboard to delete the polygon.

Step 30: Select Edge in selection rollout menu(shortcut key "2") and make a ring selection of the edges resulted from the Inset made in previous step. Connect them with 2 segments and 50 Pinch.

Step 31: Select the edges i've selected below(Ring selection) and Connect them with 1 Segment and 50 Slide.

Step 32: Press 4 to go in Polygon selection mode. Select the Polygons resulted from connecting the edges in previous step and Extrude them with an amount of -10 and Type Group. To make an easy selection of the polygons in edge selection mode make a ring selection hold down CTRL and click on Polygon in selection rollout menu to convert the selection.

Step 33: Go in Edge selection mode and select the edges i've selected below by making a loop selection. Chamfer them with an amount of 0.25cm and 3 Segments.

Step 34: In Polygon selection mode delete the top polygon. Right click on the screen and Unhide All.

Step 35: Using the Select and Move tool move the leg down in the Y axis direction in Right view. If you have problems with proportions use the Select and Uniform Scale toll to scale our objects to fit. Now, from the Modifier List apply a Turbosmooth to our Chair leg. Set the iterations to 2 and check the box for Isoline Display.

Step 36: In the next step of this 3d modeling tutorial we will create the chair's handle. In Command Panel from Create->Shapes select the line tool and select a Line in front view like we did for the frame of the chair.

Step 37: In Vertex selection mode Fillet the middle vertex. Click on Fillet move the cursor over the vertex click and drag to make Fillet.

Step 38: In Rendering rollout menu check the boxes for Enable in Renderer and Enable in Viewport. Set the type to Radial with a Thickness of 2.0cm and 16 Side.

Step 39: Convert the Line to Editable Poly by right clicking on the screen and selecting Convert to>Convert to Editable Poly. Chamfer, Connect, Scale the edges, Inset and Extrude the Polygons to achieve more detail. Apply a TurboSmooth modifier from the Modifier List, set the Iteration to 2 and chick the box for Isoline Display.

Step 40: For the final step of this 3d modeling tutorial apply a color to the object by simply clicking on the colored square in the top right of the screen, chose your desired color and click OK. You're done. Great job!

3D Modeling Result:

As usual, don't hesitate to comment if u get stuck somewhere along this 3d modeling tutorial.