Page 204 - Kitab3DsMax

Part II: Working with Objects

FIGURE 5.20
Gengon primitives are actually just extruded regular polygons.

RingWave
The RingWave primitive is a specialized primitive that you can use to create a simple gear or a sparkling sun.
It consists of two circles that make up a ring. You can set the circle edges to be wavy and even fluctuate over
time. You can also use RingWaves to simulate rapidly expanding gases that would result from a planetary
explosion. If you’re considering a Shockwave effect, then you should look into using a RingWave primitive.
The Radius setting defines the outer edge of the RingWave, and the Ring Width defines the inner edge. This
ring can also have a Height. The Radial and Height Segments and the number of Sides determine the com-
plexity of the object.
The RingWave Timing controls set the expansion values. The Start Time is the frame where the ring begins
at zero, the Grow Time is the number of frames required to reach its full size, and the End Time is the
frame where the RingWave object stops expanding. The No Growth option prevents the object from
expanding, and it remains the same size from the Start frame to the End frame. The Grow and Stay option
causes the RingWave to expand from the Start Time until the Grow Time frame is reached and remains full
grown until the End Time. The Cyclic Growth begins expanding the objects until the Grow Time is
reached. It then starts again from zero and expands repeatedly until the End Time is reached.
The last two sections of the Parameters rollout define how the inner and outer edges look and are animated.
If the Edge Breakup option is on, then the rest of the settings are enabled. These additional settings control
the number of Major and Minor Cycles, the Width Flux for these cycles, and the Crawl Time, which is the
number of frames to animate.
The Surface Parameters section includes an option for creating Texture Coordinates, which are the same as
mapping coordinates for applying textures. There is also an option to Smooth the surface of the object.
Figure 5.21 shows five animated frames of a RingWave object with both Inner and Outer Edge Breakup set-
tings. Notice that the edges change over the different frames.

Tutorial: Creating a pie
This tutorial provides a very different recipe for creating a pie using a RingWave object. Although the
RingWave object can be animated, you also can use it to create static objects such as this pie, or moving
objects such as a set of gears.

FIGURE 5.21
Five frames of a rapidly expanding and turbulent RingWave object

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