Creating a Glass Teapot in 3DS Max

In this tutorial I will show you how to achieve some impressive effects with transparency in 3DS Max. Transparency in 3DS Max is not perfect but simulating the correct lighting can be done quite well.

1. Make sure you start with a new scene and click the teapot button under the Objects tab, drag the mouse in the top view and then do the same to insert a plane.

2. Now click on the Lights & Cameras tab and insert a Spotlight. Then click in the top view to rotate the Spotlight to face the teapot.

3. Under the Modify tab Click on Free Spot and turn on Cast Shadows in the settings. Then click the teapot and change the Segments to 10 to smooth out the teapot object. Also, change the color if the light to a light sky blue.

4. Insert an Omni Light opposite the spotlight to position in front of the teapot and make it's color a lighter orange under the Modify tab.

5. Now press "M" to bring up the material editor. On the first sphere where it says Standard and double-click Raytrace. Now checkmark 2-Sided and then drag the material onto the Plane and Teapot objects.

6. Under Maps checkmark Transparency and choose Noise. Set the Noise Size to 70. Then drag the Noise Map on to the Diffusion slot.

7. With the material editor still open and the same material selected go down to the Extended Parameters rollout. Next to Translucency choose a light gray color from the color chooser.

8. Now go to the Rendering menu, click render and make sure Perspective is chosen under Viewport. Once you render you should get a similar result to my scene. Now you're done and have created the glass teapot with complete with lighting.

I have also included a link to the 3DS Max 4 format 'Transparency in 3DS MAX.max file' for your use in case you want to look over my scene. Now go own and experiment with your own styles and imagination to create a scene of your own.