3ds Max 9 Bible

The Panorama Exporter tool (found in the Rendering menu and in the Utilities panel) can be used to create a panoramic scene consisting of images rendering in all six directions from the current camera and stitched together.

A camera needs to be added to the scene at the center of the panoramic view, and the camera needs to be selected. You can quickly create a camera using the Perspective view with the Views Create Camera From View (Ctrl+C) command. Then click the Render button in the Panorama Exporter rollout. This opens a Render Scene dialog box where you can specify the size of the images and the rest of the Render parameters. Click the Render button to render the panoramic scene.

Once rendered, the panoramic scene is opened within a Viewer, as shown in Figure 43.12, where you can move about the scene using the mouse. Dragging with the left mouse button spins the scene about its center point. Dragging with the middle mouse button zooms in and out of the scene. Dragging with the right mouse button pans the scene. The Viewer interface includes a File menu that can be used to open or export the scene file. Export options include a Cylinder, Sphere, and Quicktime VR.

Figure 43-12: The Panoramic Viewer lets you zoom, pan, and spin the scene about its center location.