How To Create A Room In 3ds Max

Looking to create a low-poly house to use for your graphic design or illustration projects? Or perhaps you'd like to learn a little bit of 3D modelling whilst creating something fun and simple? Well, you can do it in this tutorial, where we will go through the step-by-step process of creating a mini house in 3D Studio Max.

In this tutorial, we'll learn how to create a fun, low-poly, miniature house which you can use in your own illustration or video game projects. Some of the skills you will learn will include creating basic 3D shapes and basic modelling techniques. Let's begin!

1. How to Create the Basic Shapes

Step 1

Open 3D Studio Max and create a standard box object. To do this, selecttheBox button under Standard Primitives in the Create menu. To follow this guide, you can also choose the same parameters, although this is not 100% necessary.

Image showing how to create standard primitives

Step 2

Once you have created your box, it should look similar to the image below. This is your basic shape for the main body of the house.

Step 3

Next, we will create the basic shape for the roof. To do this, selectExtended Primitivesfrom the dropdown menu under Geometry, and select thePrismbutton.

Step 4

Now use theMoveandRotatetools to place the newly created prism on top of the box.

Image of a box and a prism to create a house

2. How to Model the Roof

Step 1

Now we must make the prism editable. To do this,Right-Clickon the prism and selectConvert to Editable Poly.

Image of how to convert an object into an editable poly

Step 2

Using thePolygon Selection Tool, select the left, right and bottom faces and then press theDeletebutton.

Image of how the Polygon Selection Tool works

Step 3

With the prism still selected, selectShellfrom the modifier list.

Step 4

Now input the values you would like for the roof. The recommended values in the image below areInner Amount: 1.0andOuter Amount: 0.0. This will give you the thickness of the roof.

Image of the new roof using the shell modifier

Step 5

For the chimney we will want to create a new box (parameters shown in the image below if you wish to follow this tutorial exactly) and then place it on top of the roof.

Step 6

Now Right-Clickon the new box and selectConvert to Editable Poly as we did with our previous 3D objects.

Right click and convert to editable poly

Step 7

Using thePolygon Tool, select the bottom and top faces of the chimney. Now use theBevel Tool to create an inner square (use the values ofBevel Height: 0.0 and Bevel Outline: -1.0to follow this tutorial exactly).

Step 8

Now delete the inner squares at the top and the bottom. You can then use theEdge Selection Tooland theBridge Toolto fill the inside faces of the chimney.

3. How to Model the House

Step 1

Now select the main body of the house. Create three new width segments and two length segments. Once you have done that, we will want to make the box editable. This is done in exactly the same way as before byRight-Clickingand selectingConvert to Editable Poly.

Adding more segments to the body of the house

Step 2

Using theEdge Tool, select the middle edges. Now, using theMove Tool, move the edges up so that it fills the roof space.

Step 3

Now use theCut Tool to create a new edge for the roof space on the left and right side of the house.

Step 4

Use the Polygon Toolto select the left and right boxes of the front (and back if you want) of the house. Then use theBevel Tool to create window spaces.

Image of using the bevel tool to create windows

Step 5

Now, with the windows still selected, use theScale Tool to make the windows the shape that you want.

Image of using the scale tool to edit the size of the windows

Step 6

Repeat the previous two steps to create windows for the left and right sides of the house.

Image of using the scale tool and the bevel tool to create windows

Step 7

Select all the windows and hit theDelete key on your keyboard.

Step 8

Now, under Geometry, selectWindows in the dropdown menu and play with the parameters to create a window that will fit into the window spaces of the house.

Step 9

Repeat the previous steps to create windows for your house.

Step 10

Now attach all the elements you have created using theAttach Tool.

Step 11

Using the same steps as above, create a door. You will find the options to create a door under the same dropdown menu where you created the windows.

Step 12

Now you can use the skills you've learnt so far in this tutorial to create further details for the house, such as creating the roof windows and stairs shown below.

4. How to Colour the House

Step 1

To colour the house, you will need to separate the house objects according to the colours you want to use. One way of doing this is by using theElement Tool. Use the tool to select the object you want to colour (e.g. the roof).

Step 2

Now, with the element selected, click on theMaterial Editorbutton which can be found on the top menu.

Step 3

Drag and drop aStandard Material into the main view andDouble-Clickon it to display the options.

Step 4

Double-Click on theDiffuse Boxto bring up the colour menu.

Step 5

Choose the colour you want your roof to be and then click theAssign to Material button.

Step 6

Repeat the last steps to colour in the rest of the house!

Awesome Work, You're Done!

And with that, your 3D mini house is complete! Feel free to share your own creations below! You can also export your image into Adobe Photoshop to enhance it further or to use it as part of a larger image. I hope you've enjoyed this tutorial, and I'll see you next time!