8

Grid Helper 19
button to copy the MAX Script associated with the
value to the clipboard, which you can then paste
into a script.
Display Ex posed Values—When on, transform
values for the Expose Node object appear on this
rollout, and update as the values change. When
off, values don’t appear, but the M buttons still
function normally.
Local E ul er An gl es—Rotation values with respect to
theparentorLocalReferenceNodeobject.
World E uler Angl es—Rotation values in the world
coordinate system.
Local Position—Position values with respect to the
Expose Node object’s local coordinate system.
World Position—Position values in the world
coordinate system.
Bounding Box—The maximum dimensions of the
object.
Distance to Reference—Thedistancebetween
theExposeNodeobjectanditsparentorthe
designated Lo ca l Reference Node object. If neither
exists, this shows the distance to the world center
(0,0,0).
Angle—The angle between the Expose Node object
anditsparentorthedesignatedLocalReference
Node object.
Grid Helper
Create panel > Helpers > Standard > Object Type rollout
>Grid
Create menu > Helpers > Grid
The grid, also called User Grid or Custom Grid,
is a 2D paramet ric object with adjustments for
overall size and grid spacing. You can move and
orient user grids anywhere in world space.
You can create any number of g rid objects in your
scene. You name them when you create them and
save them with the scene. You can delete them at
any time.
Like other objects you create in the software,
grid objects are placed on the gr id of the current
viewport. By default, this is a plane of the home
grid, but it can also be another activated grid
object.
Note: Yo u c a n u s e AutoGrid (page 2–7) to create a
temporary or permanent user grid off the surface
of any object.
Using the Gr id Obj ect
You can use the gr id object as a constr uction plane
on all three orthographic planes in both directions.
Here’s how it works:
In the Parameters rollout of each grid object is a
Display group with three options: XY Plane, YZ
Plane, and ZX Plane. These determine w hich of
the three planes of the grid object is displayed in
the viewpor t.
When you activate a grid object, the displayed
plane is the construction plane for all v iewports.
When you create a grid v iewpor t, you can choose
from one of six orthographic views (Fron t, Top,
Left, and so on), or y ou can choose a special
Display Planes grid viewport. (When you press
theGkeytocreateagridviewport,theDisplay
Planes type becomes the default.) The Display
Planes type of grid view por t always displays the
plane chosen by the three option buttons under
Display. Thus, as you sw itch between XY Plane,
YZ Plane, and ZX Plane, the view through the grid
viewport switches accordingly, and objects created
in that v iewpor t are created on the displayed plane.
When you right-click a viewport label (or go to
the Layout tab of the V iewport Configuration
dialog), you can choose six additional t yp es of grid
viewports, based on the six ort hog r aphic views.