Page 186 - Kitab3DsMax

Part II: Working with Objects

Using the Create panel
The creation of all default Max objects, such as primitive spheres, shapes, lights, and cameras, starts with
the Create panel (or the Create menu, which leads to the Create panel). This panel is the first in the
Command Panel, indicated by a star icon.
Of all the panels in the Command Panel, only the Create panel—shown in Figure 5.1—includes both cate-
gories and subcategories. After you click the Create tab, seven category icons are displayed. From left to
right, they are Geometry, Shapes, Lights, Cameras, Helpers, Space Warps, and Systems.
The Create panel is the place you go to create objects for the scene. These objects could be geometric
objects such as spheres, cones, and boxes or other objects such as lights, cameras, or Space Warps. The
Create panel contains a huge variety of objects. To create an object, you simply need to find the button for
the object that you want to create, click it, click in one of the viewports, and voilà—instant object.
After you select the Geometry button (which has an icon of a sphere on it), a drop-down list with several sub-
categories appears directly below the category icons. The first available subcategory is Standard Primitives. After
you select this subcategory, several text buttons appear that enable you to create some simple primitive objects.

Note
The second subcategory is called Extended Primitives. It also includes primitive objects. The Extended Primitives
are more specialized and aren’t used as often. n
As an example, click the button labeled Sphere (not to be confused with the Geometry category, which has
a sphere icon). Several rollouts appear at the bottom of the Command Panel: These rollouts for the Sphere
primitive object include Name and Color, Creation Method, Keyboard Entry, and Parameters. The rollouts
for each primitive are slightly different, as well as the parameters within each rollout.
If you want to ignore these rollouts and just create a sphere, simply click and drag within one of the view-
ports, and a sphere object appears. The size of the sphere is determined by how far you drag the mouse
before releasing the mouse button. Figure 5.2 shows the new sphere and its parameters.

FIGURE 5.1
The Create panel includes categories and subcategories.
Create panel

Category icons
Subcategory drop-down list

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