In this tutorial I will show you how to create dice roll animation with 3ds Max. This tutorial is divided into 2 sections. In the first section, you will

create a 3D die model. In the second, you will create the animation. You can create as many dice as you want.

Let's begin by creating the 3D die model.  

Dice Roll Animation Part 1

• Open 3ds Max. Go to Command Panel. Choose Extended Primitives from drop-down list. Click ChamferBox button. Then, click and drag in viewport to create ChamferBox. Next, go to Modify tab and enter values in image below. When finished, you get basic shape of a dice.

• Right click ChamferBox and choose Convert to>Convert to Editable Poly. In Modify tab, activate Polygon selection. Select 4 polygons at one side of ChamferBox (hold Ctrl while clicking to select more than one polygon). After that, in Edit Polygons rollout click the Settings button right next to Inset. In Inset Polygons dialog box, enter Inset Amount=3. Don't deselect anything. This time, click the Settings button right next to Extrude. In Extrude Polygons dialog box, enter Extrusion Height=-2.

3. Next, select 2 polygons in the middle. Use the same value of Inset and Extrude. When finished, you get 6-dotted at one side of the dice.

4. Using the same procedure, apply Inset and Extrude to all sides of the dice. Tip: Having real dice in front of you is helpful. You can easily see how many dots are needed in each side. If you don't have dice handy, you can look at image below.

5. Next, select all extruded polygons in all sides. There are 21 polygons you need to select. As always, hold Ctrl while clicking to select more than one polygon. In the Selection rollout, click Grow to add more selection. Then, in the Polygon Properties rollout enter Set ID=2. By default, other polygons have ID=1. When you’re finished, turn off Polygon selection.

6. In this step, we are going to add material. Open Material Editor (press "M" in keyboard). By default, one of the unused sample material slot is selected. Name this material "dice". Click the Standard button to change material type. In Material/Map browser double click Multi/Sub-Object. In the dialog box, just click OK. In Multi/Sub-Object Basic Parameters rollout click Set Number, enter 2 and click OK. You only need 2 sub material. Click the button under Sub-Material (where ID=1). Name this sub-material "white" and change Diffuse color to white. Click Go to Parent button to go back to Multi/Sub-Object Basic Parameters rollout. Using the same procedure, change other sub-material name where ID=2 to "red". Use red Diffuse color. Click Go to Parent button. Finally, click and drag from sample slot to dice object in viewport to apply material.

7. To finish this section, apply TurboSmooth modifier to the dice object. Use Iterations value=2.

8. The image below shows the rendered dice. Next, you will animate the dice. A finalized model of the dice is included and attached to this tutorial.

Dice Roll Animation Part 2

In the first part of the tutorial, you created a single 3D die model. Now it's time to add some animation. In this part of the tutorial, you'll learn how to animate dice being thrown and bouncing several times before coming to a stop. It is possible to create this kind of animation manually keyframe by keyframe, but it's very time consuming to get a realistic effect. This part of the tutorial will show you have to do it in no time. We'll also use reactor, a plug-in for 3DS Max, that allows animators and artists to easily control and simulate complex physical scenes. Using reactor, you can include as many dice as you want in your animation. 

1. You can continue the tutorial or use the attached 3D Max file. First, create a box in Top viewport. You will use this box as a ground/surface. For example I use 500x500x10 for the box dimensions. You can name this box as "ground". Position the box far below the dice. 

2. Before you use reactor, you need to adjust object the properties first. Select the die object. From top menu choose reactor>Open Property Editor. Rigid Body Properties window will open. By default each object has a Mass=0. Change to Mass=10. For other object (box), let Mass=0, because we want this object to be static. You will understand this better later. 

3. Make sure that the die object is still selected and click on the Rigid Body Collection icon (or from Top menu reactor>Create Object>Rigid Body Collection). Rigid Body Collection is automatically created in viewport. You can move it to any place. Go to the Modify tab. Because the die object is selected while you create Rigid Body Collection, the die object is listed as Rigid Body. You also need to add ground object (box) as Rigid Body. Use Pick or Add button to the list box as Rigid Body. Rigid bodies are the basic building blocks of reactor simulations. We use Rigid Body because dice and ground don't change their shape. Then, in reactor you can simulate mass, friction, and whether the body can collide with other rigid bodies 

4. This is the fun part. From Top menu, choose reactor>Preview Animation. A window will open. By default, reactor preview take perspective view. Click and drag inside this window to rotate view. Then, choose Simulation>Play/Pause. You will see dice object (Mass=10) falling to the ground. But, the ground object (box) is not moving (Mass=0). That's what Mass is for. :-)

5. Close preview window. Rotate the die object in viewport in any direction you want. Open reactor preview window again. Play simulation and watch: the animation is very realistic.

6. How about more than one die? Simply select the die object and Shift+drag to create cloned dice. You can create as many as you want. Also position and rotate all objects in any way you want. After that, select Rigid Body Collection icon. Go to Modify tab. Click Add button and make all cloned objects as Rigid bodies. Then preview your animation.

 

7. Right now, the animation is only available in preview window. Close preview window. In Top menu choose reactor>Create Animation. In opened dialog box, just click OK. Rigid Body animation is now transferred as a keyframe by keyframe animation. Therefore you can render your animation as usual. Look on the Village tutorial for the 3ds Max file for the final step for anyone who may need further assistance.