8

Identifying the Basic Building Blocks 151
create the object. The creation m ethod has no
effect on a finished object; the options are for your
convenience during creation.
Keyboard Entry—This rollout lets you enter
creation parameters from the keyboard for
geometric primitive and shape objects.
Par ameter s—This rollout shows creation
parameters: the defining values for an object.
Someparameterscanbepreset,whileothers
are only for adjustment after an object has been
created.
Other rollouts—Additional rollouts can appear
on the Create panel, depending on what kind of
object you create.
Identify ing the Basic B uilding
Blocks
On the Create panel, the categories for G eometry
and Shapes supply the "building blocks" to
combine and modify into more sophisticated
objects. These
parametric (page 3–1083) objects
are ready to use. By adjusting values and turning
some buttons on or off, you can create dozens of
"new" building blocks f rom the ones listed here.
You can choose these types from the sub-categories
list on the Create panel.
Geometry Types
Standard Primitives—Relatively simple 3D objects
such as Box, Sphere, and Cylinder, as well as
Torus, Plane, Cone, GeoSphere, Tube, Teapot, and
Pyramid.
Extended Primitives—More complex 3D objects
such as Capsule, OilTank, Spindle, Hedra, Torus
Knot, and Prism.
Co mpound Objects—Compound objects include
Scatter, Connect, ShapeMerge, Bo oleans, Morph,
BlobMesh,Terrain,andLoft.Booleanscombine
the geometry of two objects u sing union,
intersection, and difference operations. Morphs
are animated objects that change one geometric
shape into other shapes over time. ShapeMerge
lets you embed a spline shape into a geometric
mesh.
Loft (p age 1–347) uses shapes as cross
sections along a p ath to produce a 3D object.
Particle Systems—Animated objects that simulate
spray, snow, blizzard, and similar collections of
small objects.
Pat ch Gri d s —Simple 2D surfaces ready for
modeling or repairing existing meshes .
NUR B S S urf a ces—Analy tically generated surfaces
especially suited for modeling surfaces with
complicated curves.
AEC E x tended—Elements useful for AEC de si gn,
including Terrain, Foliage (plants and trees),
Railing, for creating custom railings, and Wall, for
the production of Wall objects.
Stairs—Four ty pes of stairs: Spiral, L-Type,
Straight, and U-Type.
Doors—Parametric door styles include Pivot,
BiFold, and Sliding.
Windows—Parametric window styles include
Awning, Fixed, Projected, Casement, Pivoted, and
Sliding.
Note: Default materials are automatically applied
to Foliage, as well as to the following object types:
Railing, Stairs, Doors, and Windows.
Dynamics Objects—Objects designed for use in
dynamics simulat ions.
Shape Types
Splines—Common 2D shapes such as a Line,
Rectangle,Circle,Ellipse,Arc,Donut,NGon,and
Star. Text shapes suppor t Tr ueType fonts. Sect ion
creates a spline from the cross-sect ion of an object.
Helix is a 3D shape.