When Traffic Regulations Meet 3D
The Dirección General de Tráfico has announced that electric scooters must have mandatory insurance, a measure aimed at increasing safety on the streets following the rise in accidents. 🛴 For artists and visualizers, this news is not only relevant legally, but also presents a unique creative opportunity. Representing this new reality in 3D using 3ds Max allows communicating the regulatory change in a clear, visual, and even fun way.
Building the Controversial Vehicle
The first step is to model the protagonist: the electric scooter. In 3ds Max, this can be achieved efficiently using basic primitives. Cylinders for the handlebar and wheels, and an extruded and shaped box with Editable Poly for the main platform. Details like the brake or fender are easily refined. For materials, the Physical Material is ideal for achieving realistic finishes: shiny metal for the structure and opaque or colored plastics for the finishes. 🔧
- Base Structure: Use of cylinders and boxes for the main parts.
- Details with Editable Poly: Refinement of shapes and addition of components.
- Realistic Materials: Application of metallic and plastic surfaces.
Creating the Scene for the New Regulation
To contextualize the model, it is necessary to place it in an urban environment. A simple street can be built with Arch & Design or import sidewalk and traffic sign assets. 🏙️ The scene's focus could be a DGT sign announcing the mandatory insurance, or a row of aligned scooters, symbolizing the new control. The use of physical cameras helps frame the composition in a way that conveys the message directly and understandably.
A good 3D visualization not only shows an object, but tells a story and contextualizes information immediately.
Lighting and the Final Touch
Lighting is key to realism. Setting up a daylight with Physical Sky provides natural reflections and precise shadows on the scooter's materials and the environment. 📸 Adding a Depth of Field effect in the render directs the viewer's attention to crucial elements, like a simulated insurance plate on the scooter. For more dynamic projects, a short animation showing the regulation date in 3D text can be very effective.
The Rendering Lesson We All Learn
In the end, riding a scooter without insurance will be as risky as working on a 3ds Max project without saving in the last two hours. 😅 You know it might go well and you get home without issues... until an unforeseen event happens and everything collapses in the most spectacular way. Prevention, whether on the road or in the software, is always the best policy. Save and insure yourself! 🫠