Texture Research and Tutorials

Online Tutorials
Grass:
http://www.myinkblog.com/create-an-awesome-grass-texture-in-photoshop/

TreeBark:
This texture would require the use of photos and find away to make one which has seamless edges which makes the texture easy to tile.
Stone:
http://www.myinkblog.com/creating-a-realistic-stone-texture-using-photoshop/
Nice for the exposed rocks that will be doted around.

Brick
http://custommapmakers.net/index.php?option=com_kunena&func=view&catid=18&id=399&Itemid=54
http://photoshopcafe.com/tutorials/brick/brick.htm

A very good tutorial which can be applied to all different types of Bricks.

Water:
For water i've decided that you can create a descent looking water by using the settings provided in the 3ds program its self. Setting the color as blue and lowing the opacity should create this.

Glass texture

This was sourced for a tutorial. 

http://www.3dvalley.com/tutorials/creating-realistic-glass-material-in-3ds-max/

Very helpful

and will be used on random objects and windows. This has a very nice finish to it and is very  easy to follow.

Will be useful on final buildings and for the future.

Branch tool

I used the branch tool to create fine details and more unique designs on certain things.
For example:

This tool was extremely useful to create organic looking objects, because of how it will flow and follow the mouse, However one problem i did find is that it can make the object flat meaning it only looks slightly 3d from certain angels and it greatly boosts up the poly count slowing the program down.

Some of the things i used this on where. 

• Focus piece for my main building
• Some roots and vines growing up a wall
• A tree for the branchs and main stem. 

Street research(other streets)

Bump map

What a bump map is:

Bump maps are often described as maps that allow you add intricate details easily to textures, as its name suggests - adding all those little 'bumps' to objects that would otherwise take hours of painstaking modelling.

However, this isn't exactly true. Bump maps actually control the way light is reflected on objects.  It simulates detail on objects by artificially redirecting light rays as they would if the geometric deformation existed.

It tweaks or perturbs the normal based on the information in a bump map - usually a greyscale map where lighter colors signify the bump intensity.

Here are some other online tutorials i have looked at. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVS9iJK3Mq4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ABB1VmkCy8&feature=related

How to bump map:

Uses:

To create fine details and highlighted points on a model which improve the realism and aesthetic look of them.

It is a good way to add more detail, dents and hollows without adding more pollys, Adding more detail in a low poly model, Good for games where lots is going on at one time.

Pressentation

My street

Extrude and Inset

Mirror

Bend Modifier.

The bend modifier is found in the modifer list when the object has been turned into a Editable poly.
The uses for this tool are limited but its results are faster then the other methods of achieving the same thing.
The bend modifier bends a selected section without the need for more Vertex's. How ever adding more vertex will add greater

This tool requires a bit of fiddling with to get the results you want as sometimes if you have the wrong selection tool up it will deform an object.

The use i found for this tool was during a tutorial where we made a basic lam post, and used the bend modifier to get a curv just before the head.