Page 329 - Kitab3DsMax

Chapter 11: Introducing Modifiers and Using the Modifier Stack

modifications to a scene or project without having to save and reload the project. If you use these com-
mands before applying or deleting modifiers, you can avoid some potential headaches.

Tip
Along with saving your file often, using the Hold command before applying any complex modifier to an object is a
good idea. n

Collapsing the Stack
Collapsing the Stack removes all its modifiers by permanently applying them to the object. It also resets the
modification history to a baseline. All the individual modifiers in the Stack are combined into one single
modification. This feature eliminates the ability to change any modifier parameters, but it simplifies the
object. The right-click pop-up menu offers options to Collapse To and Collapse All. You can collapse the
entire Stack with the Collapse All command, or you can collapse to the current selected modifier with the
Collapse To command. Collapsed objects typically become Editable Mesh objects.

Tip
Another huge advantage of collapsing the Modifier Stack is that it conserves memory and results in smaller file
sizes, which makes larger scenes load much quicker. Collapsing the Modifier Stack also speeds up rendering
because Max doesn’t need to calculate the stack results before rendering. n
When you apply a collapse command, a warning dialog box appears, shown in Figure 11.4, notifying you
that this action will delete all the creation parameters. Click Yes to continue with the collapse.

Note
In addition to the Yes and No buttons, the warning dialog box includes a Hold/Yes button. This button saves the
current state of the object to the Hold buffer and then applies the Collapse All function. If you have any problems,
you can retrieve the object’s previous state before the collapse was applied by choosing Edit ➪ Fetch (Alt+Ctrl+F). n

FIGURE 11.4
Because the Collapse operation cannot be undone, this warning dialog box offers a chance to Hold the scene.

Using the Collapse utility
You can also use the Collapse utility found on the Utility panel to collapse the Modifier Stack. This utility
enables you to collapse an object or several objects to a Modifier Stack Result or to a Mesh object. Collapsing
to a Modifier Stack Result doesn’t necessarily produce a mesh but collapses the object to its base object state,
which is displayed at the bottom of the Stack hierarchy. Depending on the Stack, this could result in a mesh,
patch, spline, or other object type. You can also collapse to a Single Object or to Multiple Objects.

281

6/30/10 4:19 PM
18_617779-ch11.indd 281
18_617779-ch11.indd 281 6/30/10 4:19 PM