Page 377 - Kitab3DsMax

Chapter 12: Drawing and Editing 2D Splines and Shapes

The Connect option adds a new segment that connects each two successive points added with the Refine
tool. These segments don’t actually appear until the Refine button is disabled. This provides a method for
copying part of an existing spline. When the Connect option is enabled, then the Linear, Closed, Bind First,
and Bind Last options become enabled. The Linear option creates Corner type vertices, resulting in linear
segments. The Closed option closes the spline by connecting the first and last vertices. The Bind First and
Bind Last options bind the first and last vertices to the center of the selected segment. Refine is available
only for Vertex and Segment subobject modes.
Weld and Fuse
When two end point vertices are selected and are within the specified Weld Threshold, they can be welded
into one vertex and moved to a position that is the average of the welded points using the Weld button.
Several vertices can be welded simultaneously. Another way to weld vertices is to move one vertex on top of
another. If they are within the threshold distance, a dialog box asks whether you want them to be welded.
Click the Yes button to weld them.

Caution
The Weld button can be used only to weld spline end points. n
The Fuse button is similar to the Weld command, except that it doesn’t delete any vertices. It just positions
the two vertices on top of one another at a position that is the average of the selected vertices.

In Figure 12.21, the left image shows a star shape with all its lower vertices selected. The middle image is the
same star shape after the selected vertices have been welded together, and the right image shows the star
shape with the selected vertices fused. The Selection rollout shows five selected vertices for the fused version.

FIGURE 12.21
Using the Fuse and Weld buttons, several vertices in the star shape have been combined.

You can use the Fuse button to move the selected vertices to a single location. This is accomplished by
selecting all the vertices to relocate and clicking the Fuse button. The average point between all the selected
vertices becomes the new location. You can combine these vertices into one after they’ve been fused by
clicking the Weld button.

Connect
The Connect button lets you connect end vertices to one another to create a new line. This works only on
end vertices, not on connected points within a spline. To connect the ends, click the Connect button and
drag the cursor from one end point to another (the cursor changes to a plus sign when it is over a valid end
point) and release it. The first image in Figure 12.22 shows an incomplete star drawn with the Line primi-
tive, the middle image shows a line being drawn between the end points (notice the cursor), and the third
image is the resulting star.

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