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This tutorial is to demonstrate how to use the FS naming convention "Tick_18" to add rotation to an object and also demonstrate one type of material name (BRIGHT_) used in FS to produce light. There are two source files included: tower01.gmax which is the starter file and tower_animated_light_material.gmax which is the completed scene.

Both source files can be obtained from here should you choose not to down load the standalone tutorial which includes all needed files.

Launch Gmax and open the source file "tower01.gmax". Let's start with the rotation animation first. Select the object in the scene named (rotating _light) and change it's name to Tick18 manually or use TagTool to help.

Now choose the Select and Rotate icon from the toolbar, or right click in the scene and select it from the Quad Menu instead.

In the lower part of the Gmax screen locate the "Angle Snap Toggle" icon and select it. After the "Angle Snap Toggle" is active place the mouse over it again and use a Right click to open the "Grid and Snap Settings" dialog.

Change the Angle (deg): to 45 and close the dialog by clicking on the X in the upper right corner. This will help with the rotation of the object in just a moment. It will cause the object to snap every 45° as it's being rotated. You should be able to count 8 snaps as the positions change.

Reposition the Time Slider to 50 by dragging it along the timeline or by typing 50 into the keyboard entry window located between the "Key Mode Toggle " icon and the "Time Configuration" icon. If you use the Key board entry window be sure and hit return after you've made the entry.



Enable the Animation button by selecting it. It should turn red and look like this when ready to record movement in the scene. Place the mouse on the Y axis of the Gizmo and rotate the object (Tick_18). Two rotation keys will be added to the timeline one at time 0 and the other at time 50. When the object has been rotated a full 360° turn off the Animation button by again clicking on it. Select the rotation key at position 50 in the timeline and move it to time 100.

That will do it for the scenery animation. Export the scene to FS to see if the work has paid off and the naming convention Tick18 works.

In this section, material will be added to the scene to produce a light emitting source from object Tick18. Select the object Tick18 at the Polygon sub-object level and draw a selection box around the entire object.

Scroll down to the Surface Properties rollout and change the Material ID to 3. Press the Enter/Return key on the key board to set the new ID value.

Leave the object Tick18 selected at its Polygon sub-object level and open the Material Editor using keyboard shortcut M or click this icon on the main toolbar.

When the Material Editor opens select the New button to start a new material type.

Choose "Multi-Material" from the New Material dialog and select OK.

You will see the new multi-material appear in the Material Editor with two sub materials. At this point rename the parent material to "rotating_light". The sub materials will have their color changed and also be renamed in a moment. Also select the Set Number and increase it to 3.

With the mouse click on the small light gray box next to the material slot Mtl #0 ( Standard ). This will open the Color Selector dialog. Choose the color to be white. Now click on the box next to material slot Mtl #1 ( Standard ) and choose the color to be red for it and finally select the box next to Mtl #2 ( Standard ) and set it's color to green. Close the Color Selector dialog.

With the material colors now set, click on material slot Mtl #0 ( Standard ) to gain access to the first sub material's properties. Re-name the sub material to BRIGHT_ and select the (Go Forward to Sibling) icon

by using the (Go Forward to Sibling) icon you can advance to the next sub material. Change the name on this sub material to BRIGHT_ also.

Open the gmax Material Navigator using this icon . Drag the Navigator to a location that will allow you to view the Tick18 object and the Navigator at the same time. You should see only one multi-material in the navigator at this point. Select the parent material named (rotating_light) and drag it over the Tick18 object. The pointer will change when you are over the object. When this happens release the mouse. This should apply the material to the object and you will see the material name updated to indicate it has been applied to the object Tick18.

Switch to the Perspective viewport now and select the object Tick18 at the Polygon sub object level. Position Tick18 so you can see one of the light's lens. Select the lens and change it's Material ID to 1. Select the opposite lens and change it's material ID to 2.

Select the opposite lens and change the material ID for it to 2.

Thanks for taking the time to read over the tutorial. If you have any questions email FSEdge

Happy Designing
FSEdge