Differences Between Lofting and Lathing in 3DS Max

With 3D modeling software, some of the most complicated and complex pieces of software on the market today, it is likely that you will encounter a lot of questions as you are trying to learn them. One of the most popular is 3DS Max, and it is an extremely complicated, complicated and yet powerful piece of software that has a great array of options, possibilities and tools that you can use to create the exact 3D object that you want.

Some of the most common forms of using 3DS to achieve a rounded object include both lathing as well as lofting. Both have their benefits as well as drawbacks and we will take a moment to compare these. The first we will look at is lathing.

In order to use the lathing function in 3DS you need to actually draw a portion of the image. For example, if you wanted to draw a wine glass, you would need to draw a flat half of the glass, making sure that it is aligned with the grid so that the starting and ending points are exactly at 0.0 along the X-axis.

Using this method, you simply draw the shape that you want, then use the various modifiers to reshape the lines and create the exact shape that you want. However, this often requires a lot of detailed drawing experience and can be quite complicated since the results are not always extremely precise.

The alternative to lathing is lofting. This involves creating a lofting object around a single line that is drawn and then using points to simply adjust the shape of the object. Typically when starting with lofting, you have 2 points to work with, the top point, as well as the bottom point. You will then be able to add additional points all along the profile of the object in the place that you want, and move them up or down, and in and out as you please until the object takes on the exact shape that you are wanting.

Using lofting can allow you to have much greater control over the object that you are modeling since you will be able to add points as necessary and move them around. Just remember, the first point, as well as the ending point are only able to move along the axis in a single direction, while the other points that you add can be moved in almost any direction allowing you the greatest control over your object possible.