9

Shape Instance Operator 181
Selectinganopengroupwilladdonlythegroup
member you click, not the e ntire group.
Separate Particles For group
3ds Max provides a number of methods for
combining disparate objects into single entities,
including grouping, building hierarchies with
linking, and attaching. By default, when using
such a multi-shape object as particle geometry,
each particle comprises all member objects.
Alternatively, you can instruct Particle Flow to
treat each member object as a sep arate particle
with these options. When on, the s oftware
uses each member object as a single particle, in
left-to-right order according to its X-axis position,
by default. So, for example, if you create text in the
Front viewport, assign it as reference geometry,
andturnonObjectElements,theletterscomeout
in the proper order.
You can v ary the order randomly by tur ning on
Multi-Shape Random Order.
You can turn on any combination of Separate
Par ticles items. All are off by default.
Group Members—When on, group members are
treated as separate particles.
Object and Children—When on, linked objects are
treated as separate particles.
Object E lements —When on, element sub-objects
of a single mesh object are t reated as separate
particles.
Ver t ices/Faces—Show the number of vertices and
triangles per particle. If the reference geometry is
multi-shapeandtheappropriatecheckboxesin
theSeparateParticlesareon,thenthesedisplays
show an average vertex/face count.
Number of Sha pes—Shows number of different
particleshapes. Thisnumberisalways1unless
the reference geometry is multi-shape and the
appropriate check boxes in the Separate Particles
Forgroupareon,inwhichcasethisdisplaysthe
number of resulting different shapes.
Scale (%)—Specifies a uniform sca ling factor for all
particles. Range=0 to 100000. Default=on, 100.
Thecenterofscalingformulti-shapeobject
memberstreatedindividuallydependsonhowthe
objects are combined. For grouped and linked
objects, the scaling is done about the objec ts’ pivot
points. For object elements, the scaling center is
the geometric center of each object; that is, the
averaged location of all the vertices.
This value cannot be animated. To animate
particle size, use the Scale operator (page 1–441).
Variation (% )—Specifies a randomized percentage
of sca ling variation. Use the Uniqueness setting
to change the randomization. Range=0 to 100.
Default=0.
Thisvaluecannotbeanimated.Toanimatescaling
variation, use the Scale operator (page 2–156)
operator .
Acquire Ma pping—When on, all mapping da ta
from the reference object is transferred to particles.
Default=on.
Acquire Ma terial—When on, material data from
the reference object is t r ansferred to particles.
Default=on.
If the reference object is a group, with different
materials applied to the group members, the
software creates a new Multi/Sub-Object material
containing all of the materials and uses it as the
part icle material.
Tip: Becausematerialsare“sticky”inParticleFlow,
if you turn off Acquire Material after specify ing
a reference object with an attached material, the
material remains applied to the particles. To
avoid applying the instanced shape’s material to
theparticles,turnoffAcquireMaterialbefore
specifying the reference object.