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Parameter/Parametric 1083
Par ameter /Par ametr ic
Atubeisoneexampleofaparametricobject.Varyingits
parameters creates varying geom etry.
A parameter is a setting or value that you can
change. Many objects in 3ds Max have parameters
that you can change to alter the size or shape of
the object. This type of object can be described
as
parametric .
Unlike physical building blocks, which have a fixed
shape and size, the geometric primitives (box,
sphere,torus,andsoon)areparametric;youcan
change their dimensions, segment setti ngs, and
other features after you create them. Parametric
objects respond to changes in their parameters by
dynamically updating their properties.
Changing a parameter can dramatically alter
the structure and appearance of an object. For
example, you c an turn a c ylinder into a prism
by reducing the number of sides and turning the
Smooth option off. Alternately, you can turn a
cone into a four-sided pyramid using the sa me
technique.
Objects that you merge from other scenes or from
Autodesk VIZ allow you to access parametric
values. Objects in drawings that you link from
Autodesk Architectural Desktop should be edited
in Architectural Desktop, then relinked to 3ds Max
w ith the
File Link Manager (page 3–431) .
You can animate almost all creation parameters
for geometric primitives, and interactively change
their settings during animation playback.
Pa re nt Part icle
A parent particle is an existing particle from which
the part icle system generates
spawn particles
(page 3–1108)
.Youcanusethe Spawn test (page
2–226)
to create spawn particles arbitrarily, or
the
Collision Spawn test (page 2–211) to create
spawn particles as the result of physical interaction
between a p arent par ticle and a deflector.
Pa rti cle Di a gr a m
The particle diagram is the graphical depiction
of the
par t icle system (page 3–1084) in Particle
View (page 2–121)
.Ituses events (page 3–1029)
and w ires (page 3–1127) to represent the system’s