How to Create a Realistic 3D Diamond Ring with 3DS Max Tutorial

In this tutorial, we will create a very accurate 3D diamond ring model. We will use 3DS Max to create all the necessary objects and V-Ray rendering engine to render them! So, let’s begin!

Modeling 3D DiamondsIf you’d like to have accurate model of a diamond you have to check their ratios and shapes first. If you’d like to have just a diamond not knowing how does it look like you will end up with some unrealistic model. We are certainly going to use real ratios and we’ll create as realistic model as possible. I’ve made a quick sketch (don’t use it as a reference image because it’s not precise).

Modeling Diamond – SizeLet’s start with the NGon that has 16 sides. Go to Shapes -> Splines -> NGon and create one in the top view. Place it on position [0,0,0]. My one has a radius equal to 21.7. Once you have it we can calculate all the dimensions we need:

43.4 is 100% 43.1% of 43.4 is 18.7054 2.5% of 43.4 is 1.085 15.4% of 43.4 is 6.6836 53% of 43.4 is 23.002

Modeling Diamond – Creating the ShapesOnce we have all these dimensions we can create a diamond. If you’d like it to be perfect just use the numbers above but you can also round them and make it almost perfect which doesn’t matter for simple scenes like this one. It would probably make a difference if you were working on some real ring project that requires high precision but I think 3ds Max it’s

not software created for designing professional rings.

Modeling Diamond – Extruding Your ShapesLet’s extrude your NGon with amount set to 18.7054 and add a modifier called Edit Poly to your object.

After that go to Vertex sub-level and scale all the top vertices like on the image below.

When they are close enough you can use Weld Tool to weld them together.

The next step is to rotate entire object upside down and extrude top polygon that will be our gridle. Use 1.085 as the extrudion amount value.

Afterwards extrude it again using 6.6836 for the extrudion value and select all the top vertices again. Scale them down to 57%.

Ideal CutOnce we have right dimensions it’s time to virtually cut it. It’s the hardest part because standard diamond shapes aren’t just made of a series of standard lines. To make it correct just follow the screenshots and instructions below.

1. First make sure you are using Cut Tool. This will allow you to create some more edges on top of the diamond.

2. Then go to a Top viewport3. We have to start with the center part and create there two squares4. The next step is to connect some vertices with the gridle. Make sure you are starting

with the farthest vertex that is a part of one of the squares!5. Select all the polygons around that are making specific shape presented on the fourth

image and hit delete to get rid of them6. Use cap to fill the holes7. Lastly select all the vertices you’ve previously connected with the gridle and move

them down in Front viewport. The value of this offset is hard to calculate but it’s around 1.2 Max’s units I guess

8. There are also some missing edges at the bottom of the diamond so you can simply use Cut Tool to create them.

Modeling a RingModeling a ring is quite an easy task. Inner diameter usually varies from around 11mm to 25mm so let’s create a circle that has 10mm radius (20mm diameter). After that duplicate your circle and convert it to Editable Spline. Go to Vertex sub-level of Editable Spline and drag one of the vertices up. Most of the rings has a similar shape so it’s good to draw something like this to have an outline of how it is going to look like. Afterwards delete one segment of your circle.

LoftingThen create a little NGon with 5 sides and a rectangle with rounded edges. Move one of the NGon’s vertices farther than the others.

Select the circle you’ve created in the previous step. Go to the Compound Objects -> Loft and pick a NGon as a shape.

1. Change the Path value to 30 and pick rectangle as a shape.2. Change the Path number to 70 and pick the rectangle again.3. At the end change the Path to 100 and pick NGon as a shape.

Try to adjust your ring’s shape according to the outline from the prevoius step. You can rotate and scale NGon and rectangle by going to the Loft’s sub-level called Shape.

Placing DiamondsNow it’s time for the top part of our ring. You can place there all the diamonds and other things as you like. I’m not able to depict everything because it would be boring so here is a little preview of what it is made of. If you have any problems or questions regarding this step

feel free to ask but I hope it’s clear enough how to create all the elements.

MaterialsThat’s very short and easy. Use VRayMtl for both materials.

Diamond material – diffuse: black, reflect: white, refract: white, IOR: 2.47, refractions subdivs: a lot more (like 50).

Gold material – diffuse: black, black, reflect: brown (rgb(187,164,70)), reflection glossiness: 0.8, refract: black, IOR: 0.23 or a little bit higher.

SceneCreate a plane and apply a pure white material to it. Create many omni light around but decrease their multipliers from 1.0 to 0.25. Place them randomly. You can add some random objects around (big objects or many smaller) and render your scene with the standard VRay settings and Global Illumination turned on. Use Irradiance Map + Light Cache for GI. You can also try to render it using HDRIs or you can use both lights and HDR image.

ConclusionAgain, this is what I got. I hope you enjoyed it. As usual the next tutorial is coming next week so don’t miss it!