Taking Care to Ensure a Proper 3D Graphics Work Flow

With all of the options that 3D graphics software can provide you, it cannot force you to actually make yourself organized. If you find that you are having problems working with the files that you want to work with then it is important to take some time to start organizing all of your files. The best way to do this is from the very beginning, though understandably that is not a lot of enjoyment for many people and can be something that is put off until the last minute.

It is a good idea to always organize your files though, not only does it make them easier for you to work with, but is also makes it easier for someone else to work with in the event that you need to pass the files along to someone else for a portion of the work. Having to navigate an unorganized file can make someone stressed out, cranky, and quite unhappy. Taking the few minutes of time to get the files into order from the beginning saves not only others time, but also yourself a lot of time.

Begin by ensuring that all of the primitives that you work with are properly named. Do not drop a single primitive into the scene unless it is named with something that allows you too quickly and easily identity it at a moment's glance. Many people make the mistake of not naming the files primitives and find that it is extremely easy to get lost and lose track of which primitive is which, and which layer goes where, and so forth. Naming each primitive as they are created will help to reduce these problems, and ensure that you can quickly scroll through the list of primitives and find the piece that you want to work with.

Additionally, layers and even selection sets are important. By carefully arranging objects into layers inside of 3DS Max, you are able to quickly and easily interact with objects, such as moving, freezing, hiding, showing, and other tasks easily. It is very important to remember though, layers inside of 3DS Max, do not work the same as layers inside of a program such as Photoshop. While in Photoshop, a layer is an actual physical layer of the image, a layer in 3DS Max is a piece of the scene that consists of primitives.

Taking the few additional minutes to organize all of your scenes as you are working on them will not only save you a ton of time, but also ensure that you are able to quickly find the aspects of the scene that you are working to work on. Being very careful to look at all of the parts of the scene and spend a few minutes putting it into order can save you hours later on when you come back to the project, or even save tons of time later on as you look to pass the scene onto someone else for them to work with it.