3DS MAX Animated Fire Tutorial for Beginners in 3DS Max Tutorial

Step One

We should have practice of saving file at the initial stage of our work within a specific folder. So, save the file as Animated Fire.max under the folder of same name. This is because you will have advantage to keep the track of your file.

Figure 1.  Click here to view larger image.

Step Two

Choose Create > Geometry > Patch Grids > Quad Patch and draw a Quad Patch in the top viewport.

Figure 2.  Click here to view larger image.

Step Three

Set both the Length Segs and Width Segs as 12.

Figure 2.  Click here to view larger image.

Step Four Apply “Edit Patch” modifier to the Quad Patch.   Figure 4.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Five Go to Vertex sub-object level of Edit Patch modifier. Expand the Soft Selection rollout and check “Use Soft Selection”. Also, adjust the Falloff and Bubble value. Then, with the Move tool, select and move some vertices in Z axis so that the patch grid gets a terrain shape.   Figure 5.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Six Press ‘M’ in the keyboard to open the Material Editor. We will make material for the terrain ground at first. The first sample slot should be selected by default. Click the map button for Diffuse slot.   Figure 6.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Seven Choose Bitmaps and then choose “GRYDIRT2.JPG” which should be found in the Maps > Ground within your Max root directory.   Figure 7.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Eight Apply this material to the Quad Patch.   Figure 8.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Nine In the Material Editor, adjust the Tiling value for both U and V as 4. You can play with this value.   Figure 9.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Ten Choose Create > Camera (Standard) > Target and place a Target Camera in the Top viewport as shown below. Activate the Perspective viewport and assign the camera to it by pressing ‘C’ in the keyboard. Using Pan tool, adjust the camera viewport like below.   Figure 10.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Eleven Adjust the value of camera Lens as around 28 mm. Play with different value so that you can get a dramatic view of the terrain shown as below.   Figure 11.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Twelve We will now make background sky for a night scene. Press ‘8’ in the keyboard to open the “Environment and Effects” window.   Figure 12.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Thirteen Click the button labeled “None” under Environment Map and choose “Noise” in the Material/Map Browser.   Figure 13.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Fourteen We will have to edit the Noise parameters to get a reasonable night sky map with stars in the black background. To be able to do it, open the Material Editor again. Make sure that the Environment and Effects dialogue box is still opened.   Figure 14.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Fifteen Now, drag the Noise map from the Environment window (under Environment Map) to the second empty slot of the Material Editor. Choose “Instance” as option when the option appears.   Figure 15.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Sixteen Close the Environment window now. In the Material Editor, under the Noise Parameters roll-out, choose “Turbulence” as Noise Type. Set the Size of Noise = 0.1. For Noise Threshold, set High = 0.7 and Low = 0.55.   Figure 16.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Seventeen Render the scene by pressing the “Quick Render” button in the main toolbar while the Camera viewport is activated. Your rendered scene should be a like below comprised of a terrain and starry background.   Figure 17.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Eighteen We want to see the Sky in the viewport also. So, while the Camera Viewport is activated, press “ALT + B” in the keyboard to open the Viewport Background dialogue box. Check “Use Environment Background” and “Display Background” and then click OK.   Figure 18.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Nineteen You will immediately see the night sky background in the Camera01 viewport.   Figure 19.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Twenty Now, we need some wooden sticks to burn. Choose Create > Geometry (Standard) > Cylinder and draw a Cylinder in the Camera viewport.   Figure 20.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Twenty One Adjust the Radius, Height and Segments to give it a reasonable size and shape for matching with the scene.   Figure 21.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Twenty Two To give it a rough shape, apply a “Noise” modifier to the Cylinder.   Figure 22.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Twenty Three Adjust the Scale value and X, Y, Z strength values for the Noise modifier to have a shape of the stick like below.   Figure 23.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Twenty Four Open the Material Editor and choose the third sample slot. Assign a Wood bitmap (can be found under Max root > Maps > Wood) to the diffuse map. Assign this material to the Cylinder01 (wooden stick) and adjust tiling etc. in the material editor (if necessary).   Figure 24.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Twenty Five Open the Material Editor and choose the third sample slot. Assign a Wood bitmap (can be found under Max root > Maps > Wood) to the diffuse map. Assign this material to the Cylinder01 (wooden stick) and adjust tiling etc. in the material editor (if necessary).   Figure 25.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Twenty Six Choose Create > Helpers > Atmospheric Apparatus.   Figure 26.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Twenty Seven Choose “SphereGizmo” and click and drag in the Perspective viewport to draw a SphereGizmo in the Camera view (or Top view) on the sticks to encompass all the sticks.   Figure 27.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Twenty Eight Adjust the Radius and check “Hemisphere” option in the modifier panel. Then scale it in Z axis as shown below.   Figure 28.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Twenty Nine Under the “Atmospheres & Effects” roll-out, click “Add” button.   Figure 29.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Thirty Environment and Effects window will open to let us assign effects on the SphereGizmo. You will be working with the “Atmosphere” section below Exposure Control.   Figure 30.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Thirty One Under the Atmosphere roll-out, click “Add” button.   Figure 31.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Thirty Two Under the Add Atmospheric Effect list, choose “Fire Effect" and click OK.   Figure 32.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Thirty Three Click “Pick Gizmo” button under the Fire Effects Parameters roll-out and then click the SphereGizmo01 in the viewport to pick it.   Figure 33.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Thirty Four Now, if you do a Quick Render, you will see the result something like below which says that we need to make some adjustments for the fire.   Figure 34.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Thirty Five Return to the Environment and Effects dialogue box and scroll down. Under the Shapes group, set the Stretch = 2 and Regularity = 0.6. Then in the Characteristics group, set the Flame Size = 3, Density = 50, Flame Detail = 3 and Samples = 4.   Figure 35.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Thirty Six Quick Render again. The result will look like below and it is much better than before.   Figure 36.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Thirty Seven To animate the fire, we should animate the values for “Phase” and “Drift” under Motion group. Turn ON the “Auto Key” mode and go to the last frame. In the Environment and Effects > Motion group, set both the values for Phase and Drift as 50. Turn the Auto Key mode OFF.   Figure 37.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Thirty Eight A light is needed to simulate the lighting as if it is caused by the fire. Create an Omni light (Create > Lights > Omni) inside the volume of the SphereGizmo and move it above the ground as shown below. Choose a fiery color for the Omni light under Intensity/Color/Attenuation roll-out in the modifier panel.   Figure 38.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Thirty Nine Quick Render again and see the result.   Figure 39.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Forty Such a light’s intensity in the real-world are not constant. It ups and downs. To simulate this fact, we will animate the light’s Multiplier value. While the Omni01 is still selected, open the Track View – Curve Editor (from Graph Editors menu or by right-click method). Then highlight the “Multiplier” under Object (Omni Light) and right-click. Choose Assign Controller.   Figure 40.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Forty One Select “Noise Float” from the available controllers’ list and click OK.   Figure 41.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Forty Two Noise Controller window for Omni01\Multiplier will appear with the default values of Noise Float controller.   Figure 42.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Forty Three Adjust the Strength and Frequency values. A Strength value of 2 and Frequency value of between .35 and .4 should work well. Make sure “Fractal Noise” is checked as well.   Figure 43.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Forty Four Press ‘F10’ in the keyboard to open the Render Scene dialogue box. Set the Range for animation. Also choose a filename and movie format (.avi / .mov etc.) for the Animation to be saved into. Then click Render to start the render the animation.   Figure 44.  Click here to view larger image.   Step Forty Five After rendering is finished, navigate to the output directory and play the tendered movie to see the result. Please feel free to play with the parameters of fire etc. as it will give you more clear ideas on the effects.   Figure 45.  Click here to view larger image.