Primitive Objects

Max has a big list of default geometric objects called primitives. You can create primitives in the scene by simply selecting the correct option and click-dragging in the viewport.

Create Menu

The Create menu offers quick access to the buttons in the Create panel. All the objects that you create using the Create panel can be accessed using the Create menu.

Selecting an object from the Create menu automatically opens the Create panel. After selecting the menu option, you simply need to click in one of the viewports to create the object.

Create Panel

The creation of all default Max objects, such as primitive spheres, shapes, lights, and cameras, starts with the Create panel (or the Create menu, which leads to the Create panel). This panel is the first in the Command Panel, indicated by an icon of an arrow pointing to a star.

Figure 3-1: Create Panel

The Create panel includes both categories and subcategories. After you click on the Create tab in the Command Panel, seven category icons are displayed. They are Geometry, Shapes, Lights, Cameras, Helpers, Space Warps, and Systems from left to right.

The Create panel is the place you go to create objects for the scene. These objects could be geometric objects like spheres, cones, and boxes or other objects like lights, cameras, or Space Warps.

The Create panel contains a large variety of objects. To create an object, you simply need to find the button for the object that you want to create, click it, click on one of the viewports and the object is created.

After you select the Geometry button (which has an icon of a sphere on it), a dropdown list with several subcategories appears directly below the category icons. The first available subcategory is Standard Primitives. After you select this subcategory, several text buttons appear that enable you to create some simple primitive objects.

Creating a Sphere Primitive

To create a Sphere Primitive, click on the Button labeled Sphere. Several rollouts appear at the bottom of the Command Panel. These rollouts for the Sphere primitive object include: Name and Color, Creation Method, Keyboard Entry, and Parameters. The rollouts for each primitive are slightly different, as well as the parameters within each rollout.

Do not change the settings in the rollouts to draw the sphere with default settings. Click and drag anywhere in one of the viewports and the sphere object is created.

When an object button, such as the Sphere button, is selected, it turns dark yellow. This color change reminds you that you are in creation mode. Clicking and dragging within any viewport creates an additional sphere.

While in the creation mode, you can create many spheres by clicking and dragging several times in one of the viewports. To get out of creation mode, rightclick on the active viewport and click the Select Object button or one of the transform buttons on the main toolbar.

After you select a button, several additional rollouts appear. These new rollouts hold the parameters for the selected object and are displayed in the Create panel below the Name and Color rollout. Altering these parameters changes the object. The button remains selected, allowing you to create more objects until you select a different button, click on a toolbar button, or right-click on the active viewport.

Figure 3-2: Creating a Sphere primitive

Renaming Objects

Each object in the scene is given a default name when first created. The default name is the type of object followed by a number. For example, when you create a sphere object, Max labels it “Sphere01.”

Object’s name can be changed anytime by modifying the Name field in the Command Panel.

If you want to re-name several objects at once, you can do so by choosing

“Tools>Rename” menu command. This opens a dialog box that lets you change the object name of several objects at once.

The Rename Objects dialog box lets you set the Base Name along with a Prefix, a Suffix, or a number. These new names can be applied to the selected objects or to the specific objects that you pick from the Select Objects dialog box.

Figure 3-3: Rename Objects Dialog box

Keyword Entry Rollout

Keyboard entry rollout can be used for creating a primitive by entering precise values for the location and dimensions of the object.

When all the dimension fields are set, click the Create button to create the actual primitive.

You can create multiple objects by clicking the Create button several times.

After a primitive is created, altering the fields in the Keyboard Entry rollout has no effect on the current object, but you can always use the Undo feature to try again.

Modifying Object's Parameters

The parameter rollout holds all the various settings for the object. Compared to the Keyboard Entry rollout, which you can use only when creating the primitive, you can use the Parameters rollout to alter the primitive’s parameters before or after the creation of the object.

The parameters are different for each primitive object, but you can generally use them to

control the dimensions, the number of segments that make up the object, and whether the object is sliced into sections.

You can also select the Generate Mapping Coordinates option, which automatically creates material mapping coordinates that are used to position maps.

After you deselect an object, the Parameters rollout disappears from the Create tab and

moves to the Modify tab. You can make future parameter adjustments by selecting an object and clicking the Modify tab.

Tranforming Objects

The three different forms of transformations are translation, rotation, and scaling. These actions are called transformations because they transform the object to a different state.

Transformations are different from modifications. Modifications change the object’s geometry, but transformations do not affect the object’s geometry at all.

The three transform buttons located on the main toolbar are

Using these buttons, you can select objects and transform them by dragging in one of the viewports with the mouse. You can access these buttons using three of the big four keyboard shortcuts— Q for Select Objects, W for Select and Move, E for Select and Rotate, and R for Select and Scale.

Figure 3-4: Transformation buttons

Translation

Translation of moving objects is the first kind of transformation. An object can be in any of the three directions i.e. x, y, or z.. To move objects, you have to click on the Select and Move button on the main toolbar, or press the W key. Then you select the object to move, and drag the object in the viewport to the desired location. Translations are measured in the defined system units for the scene, which may be inches, centimeters, meters, and so on.

Rotation

Rotation is the process of spinning the object about its Transform Center point. To rotate

objects, click the Select and Rotate button on the main toolbar, or press the E key, select an object to rotate, and drag it in a viewport. Rotations are measured in degrees, where 360 degrees is a full rotation.

Scaling

Scaling increases or decreases the overall size of an object. Most scaling operations are uniform, or equal in all directions. All scaling is done about the Transform Center point.

To scale objects uniformly, click the Select and Uniform Scale button on the main toolbar, or press the R key, select an object to scale, and drag it in a viewport. Scalings are measured as a percentage of the original. For example, a cube scaled to a value of 200 percent is twice as big as the original.

Transform Gizmos

The Transform gizmos are viewport icons that let you quickly choose one or two axes when transforming a selection with the mouse. You choose an axis by placing the mouse over any axis of the icon, then drag the mouse to transform the selection along that axis. In addition, when moving or scaling an object, you can use other areas of the gizmo to perform transforms along any two axes simultaneously.

Move Gizmo

In each corner of the Move Gizmo are two perpendicular lines for each plane. These lines let you transform along two axes simultaneously. The colors of these lines match the various colors used for the axes. Selecting one of these lines highlights it. At the center of the Move Gizmo is a Center Box that marks the pivot point’s origin.
 
 

Figure 3-5: Move Gizmo

Rotate Gizmo

The Rotate Gizmo surrounds the selected object in a sphere. A colored line for each axis circles the surrounding sphere. As you select an axis and drag, an arc is highlighted that shows the distance of the rotation along that axis and the offset value is displayed in text above the object. Clicking on the sphere away from the axes lets you rotate the selected object in all directions.

Figure 3-6: Rotate Gizmo

Scale Gizmo

The Scale Gizmo consists of two triangles and a line for each axis. Selecting and dragging the center triangle uniformly scales the entire object. Selecting a slice of the outer triangle scales the object along the adjacent two axes, and dragging on the axis lines scales the object in a non-uniform manner along a single axis.
 
 

Figure 3-7: Scale Gizmo

Transform Type-In Dialog Box

You can specify precise values for moving, scaling or rotating the objects through Transform Type-In dialog box. This command provides more exact control over the placement of objects than dragging with the mouse.

You can enter numerical values or offsets in the Transform Type-In dialog box. You can open this dialog box by choosing “Tools>Transform Type-In” menu command or by pressing the F12 key.

Right-clicking any of the transform buttons opens the Transform Type-In dialog box, but the dialog box opens for whichever button is enabled, regardless of which button you right-click.

Figure 3-8: Move Transform Type-In Dialog box

The Transform Type-In dialog box is modeless and allows you to select new objects as needed or to switch between the various transforms. When the dialog box appears, it displays the coordinate locations for the pivot point of the current selection in the Absolute: World column.

Status Bar Type-In Fields

The status bar Type-In fields shows the position of the cursor or the status of a transform, and allows entry of new transform values.

When you move, rotate, or scale an object, the X, Y, and Z offset values appear in these fields.

The values depend on the type of transformation taking place. Translation shows the unit distances, rotation displays the angle in degrees, and scaling shows a percentage value of the original size.

Figure 3-9: Status bar type-in fields
You can also use these fields to enter values, like with the Transform Type-In dialog box. The type of transform depends on which transform button you select. The values that you enter can be either absolute coordinates or offset values, depending on the setting of the Transform Type-In toggle button that appears to the left of the transform fields. This toggle button lets you switch between Absolute and Offset modes.
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