Page 357 - Kitab3DsMax

Chapter 12: Drawing and Editing 2D Splines and Shapes

FIGURE 12.2
The extended shape primitives: WRectangle, Channel, Angle, Tee, and Wide Flange

The Start New Shape option creates a new object with every new shape drawn in a viewport. Leaving this
option unchecked lets you create compound shapes, which consist of several shapes used to create one
object. Because compound shapes consist of several shapes, the shapes are automatically converted to be an
Editable Spline object and you cannot edit them using the Parameters rollout. For example, if you want to
create a target from several concentric circles, keep the Start New Shape option unselected to make all the
circles part of the same object.
Just as with the Geometric primitives, every shape that is created is given a name and a color. You can
change either of these in the Name and Color rollout.
Most of the shape primitives have several common rollouts: Rendering, Interpolation, Creation Method,
Keyboard Entry, and Parameters, as shown in Figure 12.3. I cover these rollouts initially and then present
the individual shape primitives.

FIGURE 12.3
These rollouts are common for most of the shape primitives.

Rendering rollout
The Rendering rollout includes options for making a spline a renderable object. Making a spline a render-
able object converts the spline into a 3D object that is visible when you render the scene. For renderable
objects, you can choose to make the spline Radial or Rectangular. For the Radial option, you can specify a

309

6/30/10 4:20 PM
19_617779-ch12.indd 309
19_617779-ch12.indd 309 6/30/10 4:20 PM