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Procedural Modelling: The Fortuna Chair

Model the Fortuna chair procedurally: drive the shape with deformers instead of pushing points, and keep every decision editable to ... Show more
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fortuna-chair-cover-v2
7 Lessons

Seven short lessons, about thirty minutes end to end, with nothing padded.

3 Modules

Seeing the shape, driving the form, and making it a real object.

4 Packages covered

Every tool is named in 3ds Max, Maya, Blender and Cinema 4D as it appears.

Free No charge

Free to watch with an account, including the project approach and every technique.

Beginner

Not a 3ds Max course

Fully procedural

Most modelling tutorials teach you to build one object. This one teaches you a way of working: read a complex shape, find the simple one repeating underneath it, build only that piece properly, and let deformers produce the rest. Nothing is ever committed, change the fold, the proportion or the thickness at the end and it is one number, not an afternoon.

This is not a 3ds Max course. Every tool used here exists in Maya, Blender and Cinema 4D, and the equivalent is named as it appears.

Originally recorded in Italian and re-dubbed in English with an AI model trained on my own voice. Sorry for the inconvenience if it grates a little, it was the only way to get this to you in English rather than leave it on a hard drive. Full note in the details below.

The curriculum

Module by module.

Every module is a self-contained step of the build, and all of it is free to watch. You follow along in your own scene, there are no project files with this one.

01

Seeing the shape

Before anything is modelled: how to look at a complicated object and see the two or three operations that actually make it. Then the quatrefoil itself, drawn once and drawn properly, because everything after this inherits it.

2 lessons
  • The Approach
  • The Quatrefoil
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02

Driving the form

The flat profile becomes a shell. Deformers do the bending rather than the vertices, so the chair stays editable the whole way through, change the curve and the form changes with it.

3 lessons
  • Closing the Shell
  • Bend and Deformers
  • Shaping the Curve
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03

Making it an object

The passes that turn a surface into an object: thickness, the edges that catch a light, and the base assembled underneath it. This is where it stops looking like geometry and starts looking manufactured.

2 lessons
  • Thickness and Edges
  • Base and Assembly
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What you’ll learn

  • How to read a complex object and find the simple, repeating shape underneath it
  • Building with instances so one edit propagates everywhere
  • Setting up references at real-world scale, frozen but still visible
  • Relaxing and closing a surface into one clean, welded shell
  • Bend and FFD deformers with limits: bending part of an object, exactly where you want
  • Aiming a deformer by moving and rotating its gizmo independently of the mesh
  • Clean topology, even distribution, and why relax matters more than polygon count
  • Thickness with Edit Poly, and controlling subdivision with chamfers and supporting loops
  • Building a base from planar profiles, and using Swift Loop to control the final smoothing

Who it’s for

Modellers at any level who want to stop rebuilding things every time a note comes back. Comfortable with basic polygon modelling in any package. No 3ds Max experience required. If you model in Maya, Blender or Cinema 4D you can follow every step in your own software.

Requirements

Any 3D package with a modifier or deformer stack (3ds Max, Maya, Blender, or Cinema 4D). Blueprint references for the chair are widely available; you can also follow along with any object of your choosing.

Why this course looks the way it does

This started life as a tutorial I recorded years ago, in Italian, and then left in a drawer. I went back through those recordings recently and found the thinking still holds up, the software has moved on, the approach hasn't. That felt worth putting out rather than leaving on a hard drive.

So a few things are worth saying plainly before you start.

The picture is older than my current work. This was captured years ago at 720p, which is what screens ran at then. Everything I record now is 1080p. It is not up to the standard of the paid courses in the library, and I'd rather tell you that than have you notice it thirty seconds in. What's on screen is a real working session, not a polished re-shoot.

The voice is not me speaking, it's an AI trained on my voice. The original narration is in Italian. Rather than re-record hours of material, or leave it available to Italian speakers only, I used a voice model trained on my own to re-dub it into English. It is declared on every lesson card and at the start of each video. The full courses in the library are narrated by me, in person, their free previews will let you hear the difference.

The method is why it's here. Tools change every year; how you decide to approach an object doesn't. Everything in these lessons is about that decision, what to build first, what to let the software repeat for you, and how to keep the whole thing editable so a change late on doesn't mean starting again. That transfers to any package and any version.

It's free, start to finish. No preview-then-paywall. All seven lessons, all the way through.

Course pricing

Enroll today to get the best pricing.

All future course updates included, free, forever.

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Free, forever · Watch in any order · Private Discord · All future updates included

Do I need 3ds Max to follow this?
No. It is recorded in 3ds Max, but every tool is named for Maya, Blender and Cinema 4D as it comes up. Soft selection, symmetry, lattices, bend deformers and subdivision exist in all of them.
Is this really free?
Yes, all seven lessons. You need an account to enrol so your progress is saved, but there is nothing to pay.
Why does the narration sound different from the other courses?
This tutorial was originally recorded in Italian. Rather than leave it unavailable in English, the narration is an AI voice trained on my own, used to re-dub it. The full courses in the library are narrated by me in person.
What will I actually be able to do afterwards?
Look at an object, find the shape that repeats inside it, and build only that piece, letting symmetry and deformers produce the rest. That habit is worth far more than any single model.
Certificate included
Course details
Duration 30 minutes
Lectures 7
Video 30 minutes
Level Beginner
Basic info
  • Software used: 3ds Max. Every tool is named for Maya, Blender and Cinema 4D as it comes up, so the course is followable in any of them.
  • Level: Beginner. If you can navigate a 3D viewport, you can follow this.
  • Duration: 30 minutes across 7 lessons, none longer than 4:15.
  • Resolution: 720p. These are old recordings; every new course is 1080p.
  • Price: Free. An account is needed to enrol.
  • A note on the narration: this course was originally recorded in Italian. The English narration is an AI voice trained on my own, used to re-dub it. The full courses in the library are narrated by me in person, check their free preview lessons if you want to hear the difference.
Course requirements
  • A working copy of 3ds Max, Maya, Blender or Cinema 4D.
  • Basic familiarity with navigating a 3D viewport and moving components.
  • No prior experience with deformers or procedural modelling is assumed.
Intended audience

This course is designed for:

  • Artists who can already model, but rebuild from scratch every time something changes.
  • Anyone who wants to work procedurally and keep a model editable end to end.
  • Students moving from box-modelling into shape-led, reference-driven work.
  • Users of any package, the thinking transfers, the buttons are just named differently.