Hey friends,
I'm brand new to this forum, and I'm pretty new to 3Ds Max. I'm using 3Ds Max 9. I created a fountain, as shown below, and I'd like some advice on how to make it better. I'd like another water texture, but this is the only one in the material library. The one below it, that looks 10x better is what I wanted to get at. I have no clue though, how to make grass... The rocks shouldn't be hard... :-\



So I guess I have to direct questions, and I'll accept any (constructive) criticism:

1. How can I improve my water?
2. How can I implement grass into the scene?

Please explain your answer, or link me somewhere that explains, since I am pretty much a noob.

Thanks,
Lorgon Jortle

hhhhhmmmmm.

1. for the grass, you can use hair and fur, or just a grass bitmap fo your diffuse map plus bumps

2. for the rocks - i just use a noise modifier on a rectangular object, the material i use is blend material, meaning two rocks material combined into one.

3. the water material is a gradient ramp for the diffuse slot, with some opacities, then with a noise bump. i put a ripple modifier to the water surface.

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Hello Lorgon Jortle, and welcome to 3dmd forums!
You can improve your water by adding some reflection and refraction to the material you use.
Also for the particles add some motion blur.
Ask if you don't understand anything I will try and explain
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Andyba, 3d artist
skills: 3d modeling, texturing, rendering, 3d character animation, compositing
3d software experience: 3ds max, Maya, Softimage XSI, Deep Paint 3d, Body Paint 3D, Wings 3D, Z Brush
2d software experience: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After effects, Macromedia Flash, Freehand

Explaining would be great, please.
Thanks for the replies.
Here is what I have now:





Also, thanks to whomever posted the pictures.

This is a nice improvement!
You should add some shadows now to make it look better.
To help you with reflection and motion blur i need to know what render are you using. Default 3ds max renderer, mental ray or v-ray?


Happy new year!
Btw you can now upload images directly on this forum by attaching a file.
_________________
Andyba, 3d artist
skills: 3d modeling, texturing, rendering, 3d character animation, compositing
3d software experience: 3ds max, Maya, Softimage XSI, Deep Paint 3d, Body Paint 3D, Wings 3D, Z Brush
2d software experience: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After effects, Macromedia Flash, Freehand

Also I think Ambient Occlusion will come very handy in this situation (if your computer allows you to do this ...). Need to work with lighting - shadows in particular.

The UV mapping for grass and stone should be adjusted.
Also some basic light setup will greatly improve it.

use Real Flow

can you post the fountain itself without everything else.