Quote - For the inner cardboard tube, I didn't start the same way as with the roll of paper towels itself; I started with an extruded helix shape because those inner rolls have a spiral detail to them, so I needed a spiral edge, and this was one of the easiest ways to get it:

Hey bro, that's not the easiest way to do it in 3dsmax.  Start with a tube primitive.  Then,  go to your modifier panel, and choose the Slice modifier.  Make sure "Refine Mesh" is selected, NOT "split mesh".  Then just tilt the slice plane at an angle to get the same edge loop you got by extruding the helix spline, only you save yourself like 3 or 4 unnecessary steps.  Plus, doing it your way, you end up having to clean up both the top and bottom of your tube manually after you weld all the vertices.  With the slice tool, you have a nice clean new edge loop, and still maintain a perfectly cylindrical shape to the tube at both ends.

I really like what you did for the holder thing.  It does look like some sort of weird modern modern sculpture instead of a plain ol paper towel holder, which some people might find interesting for a kitchen.  I've seen some strange ones in real life, but this one is kind of sexy the way those things curl around it.

Great render.  I've been playing with the Octane demo, and it's pretty slick.