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22 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids
Only one grid can be active for construction at a
time, whether it’s the home grid or a grid object.
Activating a user grid "deac tivates" the home grid.
Activatin g a grid object enables options to
reactivatethehomegridontheViewsmenu>
Grids submenu and the Quad menu.
Ifyouhavemorethanonegridobjectinyour
scene, you have to activate each one separately.
Select the grid object you want to make active and
followthesameprocedure. Activatinganother
grid object deactivates the current one.
1. Select a gr id object.
2. Do one of the following:
• From the Views menu, choose Gr ids >
Activate Grid Object.
• Right-clicktheselectedgridobjectand
chooseActivateGridfromthequadmenu.
The grid object changes to show its internal
grid struct ure. Except for its main axes, the
home grid disappears in all viewports.
To return to the home grid, do one of the following:
• From the Views menu, choose Grids > Activate
Home Grid.
• Right-clicktheselectedgridobjectandchoose
Activate Home Grid from the quad menu.
This deactivates the grid object and retur ns the
home grid in all views.
If you delete an activated grid object, the home
grid also reactivates.
You can assig n a keyboard shortcut to Activate
Home Grid in the Ke yboard panel (page 3–793)
of the Customize User Interface dialog. This
is useful if you need to move b ack and forth
between different grids.
To use a gr id object as construction plane:
When activated, a grid object replaces the home
grid as the frame of reference for creating objects.
Anactivatedgridobjectcreatesatrueplanein
3D space. No matter how small an activated gr id
object appears on screen, its XY plane is effectively
infinite, just as if it were the XY plane of t he home
grid.
1. Activate the grid object.
2. Create any category of object.
3ds Max creates the object directly on the plane
of the gr id object, with the object’s Z axis
perp endicular to the plane.
See Align (page 1–462) for details on aligning
objects and grids.
Like other objects in the software, you can move
androtategridobjectsfreelyusingstandard
transformation methods. These transforms, along
w ith alignment, are essentia l in positioning a
construction plane in 3D space.
To nudge a grid object up or down:
1.
Activate the grid object.
2. Press the + or keys on the numeric keypad
to move the grid object up or down.
The Grid Nudge Distance is controlled in the
View por ts panel (page 3–821) of the Preferences
dialog.