CREATING REALISTIC CROWD SIMULATIONS WITH POPULATE

Using this you can generate a crowd of background characters doing a multitude of tasks so that you may fill a scene.

The populate option is located at the top of 3ds max, hitting the drop down key next to it you will be able to access the tools necessary to populate your scene.

Create flow will allow you to create a crowd of walking pedestrians.

Left click to create your area path.

The red and blue markers represent female and male characters within a scene, the lines also representing the pathways they walk along.

Do not be concerned with the linear nature of the pathway as 3ds max will make it so the characters move naturally and not stiffly on track. Choosing simulate will this create your pedestrians.

You can also create an idle area where the characters solely stand about.

You can also have simulated people who sit.

You can also change the resolution of your bystanders.

Regenerate will allow you to randomize your flock of humans.

The slider bar making it more or less random, the dice representing random and the red square specifying one pedestrian type and making everyone in the scene the same person.