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Modeling and "posing" a 3D chain may seem like a tedious job, but it can actually be done easily by using the array tool and treating the links in the chain as bones. In this tutorial I'll show you how to model a chain and assemble it in a few easy steps. This allows you to pose and animate chains in an efficient manner. This tutorial is aimed at beginners and each step is outlined and shown in detail, but does assume some basic knowledge of 3D Studio Max.
Step 1 We'll start by modeling a single link in the chain. Click the "Shape" button on the command panel, click the "Rectangle" button, and draw a rectangle as shown in the image below. Don't worry about the exact size.
Step 2 Click the Modify tab of the Command Palette and change the Length and Width values under the Parameters section to 1 cm and 3 cm respectively:
Step 3 Press the zoom range selection button at the bottom right of the screen:
Step 4 Set the Corner Radius setting to 0.35cm
Step 5 Click on the Rendering section to open it, enable the Enable in Renderer option and Enable in Viewport option. Set the Thickness value to: 0.4 cm.
Step 6 Click the Hierarchy tab of the Commands panel, and then click the Affect Pivot Only Pivot button. Move the perspective to the right to the position shown in the image below:
Click the Affect Perspective Only button to disable it again.
Step 7 Unless you're using a large screen, zoom out a bit for what you'll be doing in the next step. Select Array... from the Tools menu:
Step 8 Change the Incremental Move X value to -2.54cm and the Incremental Rotate X value to 90. Set the 1D Count value to 10 and click the Preview button. If the result is as shown below, press the "OK" button.
If you want to use textures for links, you should create at least 3 to 5 different versions depending on the length of the chain, and rotate and mirror each link to avoid texture duplication.
Now we have a straight chain with only 10 links. While we could have chosen a higher number for the count value in the array tool, using less can actually save you some work in the next step and allow you to add some extra variety by rotating the links. The next step is "link link".
Step 9 Click the Select and Link button on the main toolbar:
Select the last link on the left side of the chain, and drag the mouse pointer to the next link. If done correctly, the link linking another link will flash white for a split second. Repeat this process for all chain links
Step 10 Select all the links, hold down the Shift key and drag the links to the left, as shown in the image below. When the Clone Options dialog box appears, select the References option.
Step 11 Click the Select and Link button again to link the middle two links (from left to right, just like we did before. In other words, link the link going from the center of the chain to the left to the link to the right from the center of the chain. Make sure to deselect the 20 links you just cloned. To create a longer chain, you can simply repeat the process, e.g. select all 20 links, clone them, and link the center again Chain links. You can make the chain as long as you want, as long as the links link in one direction. I repeated these steps again and ended up with a chain of 40 links.
Step 12 Select the first link on the left side of the chain. Choose Spline IK Solver from the IK Solver submenu of the Animation menu.
The mouse cursor will change to a + sign showing the trace back to the selected link. Now click on the link at the other end of the chain. Two blue lines were added, one of which went all the way through the model, as shown in the image below. This is called an IK chain.
Step 13 Click the Shape button on the Create tab of the Command Palette. Click the "Line" button to draw a straight line approximately the same size as the chain directly above the chain. Make sure to draw it from right to left, clicking 5 times along the way to add some vertices to the line. Disable the Enable In Renderer and Enable In Viewport options.
Step 14 Click on the Motion tab of the command panel. Click the button labeled "None" under "Pick Shape:" in the "Spline IK Solver" section and select the line created in the previous step. The button for the label changes to Line01.
Step 15 Select "Line" and switch to the "Vertex" sub-object level. Select a vertex of the line and move it. If you followed all the steps correctly, the chain should now take the shape of a line.
Step 16 To give the chain a more realistic shape, we need to change the vertices from "Corner" to "Smooth". While you still have the vertices selected in the previous step, press Ctrl-A on your keyboard to select all vertices in the line. Right-click in the viewport and choose Smooth, as shown in the following image:
Lines and chains will now take on a more curved shape. Move some other vertices and see what the result is. If the links do align on some corners, you can change the corresponding vertices to bezier, which gives you some extra control. For example, instead of using the spline IK solver, you could use the simpler HI solver (in step 12), but by using additional wire shapes to control the IK chain and chain objects, you can Easily strike a chain pose. For example, wear the necklace around the model's neck, or hang it slightly between two poles. The more links you add, the more vertices you add to the control spline, and the finer the control over the chain.
Assign it a metal or paint material, and you've got a chain that comes to life. Instead of creating links based on rectangles, try one of the other shapes (e.g. circle, donut, oval, spiral, star) or create your own original links by drawing complex line shapes.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and that it contributed to your 3D Studio Max modeling skills.
Original Link: Pose Chain Models in 3ds Max (mvrlink.com)