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42 Chapter 10: Precision and Drawing Aids
home grid or grid objects, since grids don’t have
aZaxis.
Settings are stored in the 3dsmax.ini (page 1–18)
file. The st ate of the snap settings persists from
session to session.
Snaps a nd Ax is Constrai nts
Snaps take precedence over axis constraints. If you
highlig ht an axis constraint, such as Restrict to X,
you can move the object only in X. But if you then
turn on snaps, Restr ict to X is suspended and not
used.
The S na ps Tool bar
The most common Snaps sett ings are available
from an optional toolbar. To toggle display of
the Snaps toolbar, right-click an empty area of
the main toolbar, such as the sect ion under the
ReferenceCoordinateSystemdrop-down,and
chooseSnaps.Thetoolbarbuttonsareshownnext
to the relevant commands, belo w and in the Snap
Options topic (page 2–46).
The same settings are also available from the snap
quad menu, available with
Shi f t +right-click.
Snaps: Relative and Absolute
3ds Max offers two different types of snap
behavior. You can use snaps to move a selection
to a snap point, an absolute snap. You can also
usesnapstomoveaselectionarelativedistance
from a snap point. This is called a relative snap.
For further information, see To use relative snaps:
(page 2–42).
Procedures
To set grid and snap settings:
1.
Tur n on the 3D Snap Toggle button to activate
snaps.
2. Choose Customize > Grid And Snap S ettings
to display the Grid and Snap Settings dialog.
3. IntheSnapstab,selectoneormoreofthetypes
of snaps you want active.
4. Create an object or transform an object.
Snap markers appear when the mouse cursor is
over existing geometry or on a grid, depending
on the active snap types. Each snap type
has a different display; clicking when the
snap-specific display is visible snaps to that
spot.
To di splay the S na ps shor tcut menu:
•HoldShi f t and rig ht-click anywhere in any
viewport. The quad menu that opens gives
yo u access to various snap settings including
Snaps Use Axis Constraints and Snap To Frozen
Objects.
Touseabsolutesnaps:
• Click the object with Snaps on.
To use relative snaps:
1.
Lock the selection set.
2. Click in the viewport.
Thedistancefromyourcursortotheselection
set is used as the relative snap distance. The
object snaps that relative distance away from
the s nap point.
To use both constra int a nd s naps, do one of the
following:
• In the Grid and Snap Settings dialog > Options
tab>Translationgroup,turnonUseAxis
Constraints.