Modelling a Mosque Dome in 3D Studio Max

By Ali Muhammad Rizwan | 3D Studio Max | Intermediate

This tutorial will teach you how to model a mosque dome using three main techniques, (1) the box modelling technique for creating the base of the dome, (2) the lathe modifier for creating the body of the dome, and (3) loft modelling technique for creating the metal tip of the dome. This tutorial will cover only the modeling part of the project. The texturing process will be explored in a future tutorial.

Oman3D Mosque Modelling Tutorial 3DS Max

The mosque we are going to model in this tutorial is the Prophet Mohammed's Mosque in the city of Al Madinah Al Munawarah in Saudi.

Our tutorial will be divided into four parts:

  1. Modelling the base of the dome.
  2. Adding details to the base of the dome (eg. Windows).
  3. Modelling the drum of the dome.
  4. Modelling the dome - using the Lathe modifier.
  5. Modelling the tip of the dome - using the Loft technique.

Oman3D Mosque Dome 3D Studio Max

We will go through the order shown above.

Section 1 - Modelling the Base of the Dome

Our first section will involve modelling the base of the dome. We are going to use the box modelling technique to create this base.

Start off by creating a box in the perspective viewport of any size. Access the modifier panel and set Length of the box to 100 units, the Width to 100 units, and the Height to 50 units. Now scroll down a bit and set the number of segments to, 10, 10, 5 respectively.

3DS MAX - Mosque Tutorial - Create a box.

Place the box at 0, 0, 0 coordinates. Then right click on the box and convert it to Editable Mesh. Now access the Modify Panel and go to the Vertex sub-object selection mode.

Convert to Editable Mesh

Access the top viewport and select the upper half of vertices as shown in the image below and delete them. Once done, select the right half of the present vertices of the box and delete these as well.

You should be left with a quarter of a box. Access the Modify Panel and activate the Polygon selection mode. Select the polygon shown in the image below and then extrude it by a value of -10 units.

Extrude by -10 Extrude -10

Now select the polygon above it and extrude that one by -10 units two times. (You will have to click on apply twice) Once that is done, select the polygon above it and extrude it by -10 units three times.

Extrude Extrude

Extrude Extrude

Next, select the polygons shown in the image below and delete them. A notification window should pop up with the option to delete the Isolated Vertices. Make sure that you do NOT delete isolated vertices. You should end up with an image similar to the one below.

Delete Delete Faces

Select the polygons shown in the image below and delete them. Again, make sure NOT to delete isolated vertices.

Delete Face Delete Face

Rotate the viewport to show some hidden faces visible from the bottom up, select these and then delete them. Rotate the box sideways to show some more hidden faces, delete these as well. Make sure NOT to delete any of the isolated vertices in all of your steps.

Delete Faces Delete Faces

Summary

This completed the first section of our tutorial, in this section we did the following:

  1. Created a Box and converted it into an Editable Mesh.
  2. Deleted three quarters of the box to acquire a smaller box.
  3. Deleted unwanted sections to create a staggering shape.

In the next stage we will create faces over the steps to model the basic shape of the base. Click here to view the next page.

- Next Page