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Customizing the video panel in the Reallusion News project.

Level: Intermediate:

This tutorial describes the steps necessary to make a transitioning screen for use in iClone and inside the iClone News Project.

What you need for ths tutorial:

• 3D Studio Max R6 or R7
• iClone 3D Studio Max (.VNS) exporter
• iClone Studio Edition

What you need to know to complete this quick tutorial:

• Basic 3D Studio Max skills
• Working knowledge of cameras in Max
• Understanding of Material maps
• Animating with the 3DS Max keyframe timeline

Step 1: Create display planes. 

Open 3D Studio Max and create a New Scene,

Set the system unit first.
Choose Customize>Unit Setup... to bring up "Unit Setup" dialogue, Click "System Unit Setup" bottom, set System Unit Scale as 1.0 Centimeters. Centimeter is the unit used in iClone.

In the front view, create a plane with parameters as shown in the figure below:

Create or copy multiple planes, the number of planes is the number of the images you'd like to display.

Name them as "Screen01",  "Screen02",  "Screen03",  and "Screen04".

Step 2: Apply texture images.

Open "Material Editor". Prepare 4 Standard materials named "Screen01",  "Screen02",  "Screen03",  and "Screen04".

Assign the prepared display images as diffuse maps, set the color values of Ambient and Diffuse from gray(150, 150, 150) to white(255, 255, 255).

Apply the materials to the corresponding planes.

Turn "Show Map in Viewport" on to show texture map in the 3d view.

Note: To keep the display images unstretched, the images should have the same aspect ratio as the planes.

Step 3: Add transition animation.

Plan the display timing and transition first. 
The transition effect is achieved with scale animations. See the animation sample below.

Observe how the planes are scaled and moved. The tip is when a screen plane reachs its full size, move the previous one slightly backward to prevent Z fighting. 

Set keys for each transition. Please refer to the sample max file.

Step 4: Export the planes as a prop.

Choose File>Export... to export 3d content for iClone.

In the File Type option, choose iCloneExp (*.VNS) file format and select the designated folder.

Choose "Prop" object Type then click "OK"

Step 5: Replace the display.

 Run iClone, load "News" project or apply the "News" 3d scene.

Goto Scene>3D Scene>Modify tab, Click the folder icon next to the "Import 3d Scene" field.

Locate and import the exported VNS file.

Use transform function in "Adjust" panel to move the display prop to the position just in front of the original display.

Click "Add" at the bottom to add the prop into "Custom" library, or save the project to keep the result.

The technique described in this tutorial can be used to make many kinds of transitioning displays, like TV, signboards, etc.

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