JG3D

http://archive3d.net/ http://www.3dmodelfree.com/ http://tf3dm.com/ http://www.creativecrash.com/ https://clara.io https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/ http://www.thepixellab.net/freebies http://3dsky.org/ There are some free 3D models on  http://www.cgtrader.com/ , like this detailed microscope: Available here:  http://www.cgtrader.com/free-3d-models/science-medical/lab-equipment/microscope--6 And of course  http://www.turbosquid.com/ , if you look hard enough you might find some surprisingly good 3d models amongst the lower quality stuff.

Grab this cool model for free over at turbosquid Made by Turbosquid user PlastyForma Created in 3ds Max 8, has V-Ray materials  

Gtools_Jar_Planter is a scatter-type utility that helps you "plant/paint" a list of objects across a surface. useful for adding rocks and trees to a terrain and so forth. Get it for free at www.evvisual.com, here Guillemro has a whole lot of useful maxscripts on his site, all available for free. If you find them useful, why not show him some props and give him a donation to say thanks for his hard work?

Here is something new - a maxscript that creates a front end GUI for the VRay physical camera, allowing for faster access to basic controls. Get it here I like how the creator says: " The compass is meant to heighten the geek factor of the script. By 150 % or so". LOL!

There is an introductory tutorial on how to use Realflow 4 with 3ds max on cg.tutsplus.com. I have to say that there is a desperate need for this kind of tutorial as learning Realflow can be a real biatch! (Realflow is a standalone fluid and dynamics simulation software package, that can import import and export 3d data to various other 3D animation packages, e.g. Autodesk 3ds max, Maya, Cinema4D, Lightwave, Houdini etc.) Click here to go to the tutorial on cg.tutsplus.com. Here is my own early attempt at using Realflow :P Realflow 4 and V-Ray liquid simulation test from JG3D on Vimeo .

Sometimes its handy to be able to access a calculator in 3ds max, for instance when you are doing timecode to frames conversions, or building an architectural model. All you need to do to access this feature is press Ctrl+N in any spinner slot

cg.tutsplus.com has an awesome tutorial on how to create an exploding glass in 3D. Click here to go to the tutorial. This is what you will make in the tutorial:

www.CreativeTools.se Has posted a video showing how V-Ray RT works, on YouTube. V-Ray RT is an interactive rendering system that is based on using CPUs - it does not require any special or expensive graphics cards. Judging by the demo video - it looks incredibly fast!

SimCloth 3 has been recompiled for Autodesk 3ds max 2010, 2009, 2008 and the earlier versions of 3ds max, 8 and 9. you can get it here: http://www.spot3d.com/simcloth/ I remember using it back in the day and it was easy to use and good, if I recall correctly. I have no idea what it's like now, but hey, its free, so that's pretty rad! (It's a simple cloth simulation plugin that can handle interactions between cloth and solid bodies) Some of the variables you can adjust in SimCloth:

I am loving these 3d renderings of the 2010 Ford Mustang , by speedshape . Rendered with 3ds max and V-Ray: But when it comes to paying out my hard-earned cash I think I will get one of these instead: Now that's badass!! (2010 Chevrolet Camaro, 3d rendering also by speedshape, 3ds max/V-Ray)

3D product rendering, just for fun - 3ds Max 2008 and V-Ray 1.5 SP3 get the model here ( link ) :p

3ds max and V-Ray1.5 ( click )

Ok, let me get this out of the way first - I am still using 3ds Max 2008. Autodesk would like me to be using Max 2010 by now, even though its only March 2009, but I couldn't be arsed. One of the things I hated about using Max 2008 for the first time was the "new" object selection box. (Select by name, H on the keyboard) If you have many objects in your scene (And even if you don't have that many), it is incredibly sloooooow. Very annoying when all you are trying to do is select an object from a list. So, the best thing to do is to revert back to the "old" object selection box. This is how you do it: Go to this ini file: C:\Documents and Settings\ >\Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk\3dsmax\2008 - 64bit\enu\defaults\MAX\CurrentDefaults.ini where > is your windows user name and change: [Scene Explorer] SelectByNameUsesSceneExplorer=1 to: [Scene Explorer] SelectByNameUsesSceneExplorer=0 Thanks to V-Ray Forum user dbibb for this trick!

Chaosgroup has released V-Ray 1.5 SP3 today. ( link ) WTF - a free upgrade? Yes, and they made the software better too, with new features that we, the users asked for, and the upgrade is free for anyone who has ever bought V-Ray in the past. Now that's service and if only Autodesk would learn from this. V-Ray 1.5 Service Pack 3 is compatible with Autodesk 3ds Max 6.xx/7.xx/8.xx/9.xx/2008/2009 as well as Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009. Both 32-bit and 64-bit OS are supported. New features included: - VRayFastSSS2 sub-surface scattering material - Linear Workflow - Mesh-based lights - V-Ray light material as direct light - V-Ray Fog environmental effect - Vector Displacement - Import Proxy as mesh - Support for Max Arch & Design materials - Region Rendering directly in VFB Some renders courtesy of V-Ray developer and all-round-nice-guy Vlado, while SP3 was in development, just to give you an idea:

I made this image with V-Ray and 3ds max. I got the material (Stool Sample_by_Mark_Noland8771) from www.vray-materials.de , which is a great site because it's free to join and it's got loads of free V-Ray materials, such as the ones below: You can get the model here Enjoy ;)

Welcome to this tutorial on making a wireframe material with V-Ray. To complete this tutorial you will need 3DS Max with V-Ray. Step 1 The fist thing we need to do is create an object that we will apply our wireframe material to, in my case I made a simple teapot. Add a camera to the scene too. Step 2 Create a normal V-Ray material. (Open up the material editor and change the first material in the material editor to a VrayMtl). Rename this material "wireframe" Step 3 Add a map to the diffuse channel of the material (by clicking the little square box next to the diffuse colour swatch). Choose the VRayEdgesTex map. Step 4 You will notice that the default colour for the VRayEdgesTex map is white. (This means the wires of the wireframe material will be white. You can change it to any colour you like, but let us leave it as white for now. Notice too that you can change the thickness/units of the VRayEdgesTex map and that you can choose to show the hidden edges too. (t...

Thomas Suurland, better known as the guy who renderers über photo realistic cars ( http://www.suurland.com/ ), has launched a new site called cg-source.com . If you look at his car renderings at http://www.suurland.com/ , you can see that he definitely knows what he is doing when it comes to 3D and V-Ray. His new site sells high-res textures and he also has some great, free maxscripts. This image shows the process on how to use the FloorGenerator, MultiTexture Map, and a MultiTexture of floorboards to create a dynamic floor that can be any size, it will never tile and it can still be seen up close: An rendered example of the products in use:

I recently read an interesting article about Autodesk's plummeting share price at cgenie.com. The original article is here: ( http://www.cgenie.com/articles/95-autodesk-wheres-the-money-going.html ) The article points out some interesting things: in the 2007/8 fiscal year, Autodesk reaped $599 million in sales, yet a year on they have estimated a drop of $99-124 million. Autodesk have laid off 10% of their staff they have a plummeting share price they have lost their CEO to Yahoo So, essentially, things are not looking good for Autodesk. Somehow, though, I am not surprised. I'm fed up with Autodesk. I am tired of updates that are not worthwhile. The Autodesk Hype Machine promises the world, but rarely delivers on the promise. What's more, the support isn't great either. The thing that really fucked me off though was the early release of Max 2009, in February of 2008. The company I work for had just bought Max 2008, (It was after all, still the beginning of ...

Creating a mirror with 3ds Max and V-Ray In this tutorial we will create a simple, framed mirror with 3ds Max. We will then create the V-Ray materials for this mirror, and finally we will render out a simple 3d scene, showing reflections in the mirror. I am assuming that you have a basic knowledge of 3ds Max, so I won't explain absolutely everything, but it should still be easy enough for beginners to figure out what is going on in this tutorial. Step 1 Creating the mirror surface. Create a box in the front viewport that is approximately 70cm x 40cm x 0.4cm (Note, it doesn't have to be exactly this size and if you would prefer to work in inches or other units, that's also okay, I'm just used to working in cm.) Step 2 Create the actual V-Ray mirror material. Open up the material editor and change the first material in the material editor to a VrayMtl. Rename this material "mirror surface" and make it totally reflective, by making the reflect col...