Page 286 - Kitab3DsMax

Part II: Working with Objects

FIGURE 8.9
The Spacing Tool dialog box lets you select how to position clones along a path.

The Lock icons next to the Start and End Offset values force the Start or End Offset values to be the same as
the Spacing value. This has the effect of pushing the objects away from their end points.
Before you can use either the Pick Path or Pick Points buttons, you must select the object to be cloned.
Using the Pick Path button, you can select a spline path in the scene, and cloned objects are regularly
spaced according to the values you selected. The Pick Points method lets you click to select the Start
point and click again to select an end point. The cloned objects are spaced in a straight line between the
two points.
The two options for determining the spacing width are Edges and Centers. The Edges option spaces objects
from the edge of its bounding box to the edge of the adjacent bounding box, and the Centers option spaces
objects based on their centers. The Follow option aligns the object with the path if the path is selected.
Each object can be a copy, instance, or reference of the original. The text field at the bottom of the dialog
box displays for your information the number of objects and the spacing value between each.

Tip
Lining up objects to correctly follow the path can be tricky. If the objects are misaligned, you can change the
object’s pivot point so it matches the viewport coordinates. This makes the object follow the path with the
correct position. n

You can continue to modify the Spacing Tool dialog box’s values while the dialog box is open, but the objects
are not added to the scene until you click the Apply button. The Cancel button closes the dialog box.

Tutorial: Stacking a row of dominoes
A good example of using the Spacing tool to accomplish something that is difficult in real life is to stack a
row of dominoes. It is really a snap in Max, regardless of the path.

238

6/30/10 4:15 PM
14_617779-ch08.indd 238
14_617779-ch08.indd 238 6/30/10 4:15 PM