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Object Color Dialog 155
Object Color Dialog
Click the color swatch by the object’s name in any
command panel.
The Object Color dialog con tains two preset
palettes of colors that you use to set an object’s
wireframe color. This is also the surface color you
see in a shaded viewport.
Using R a ndom Color As signment
Bydefault,3dsMaxassignscolorsrandomlyas
objects are created. The colors are chosen from the
current palette in the Object Color dia log. If you
turn on Customize > Preferences >
General p anel
(page 3–859)
> Default to By L ayer for New Nodes,
new objects are assigned the color set by the layer.
For individual objects, you can click the By Layer
/ByObjectbuttonontheObjectColordialogto
change the method u sed to set the object color.
Defining Custom Co lors
When using t he Default pa lette, the Object Color
dialog contains a palette of 16 custom color
swatches. You can define any color for each of the
16 color swatches by selecting a swatch from the
Custom Colors group, then clicking Add Custom
Colors.
Swit ching Between Pal ettes
You can a lternate between two versions of the
Object Color dialog at any time by clicking the
appropriate Basic Colors toggle:
• Default pa lette: Contains a fixed palette of 64
colors, plus a custom palette of 16 user-defined
custom colors.
Use this version when you want to work with a
smaller palette of colors or when you want to
define custom object wireframe colors.
• AutoCAD-compatible version: Contains a
fixed palette of 256 colors matching the colors
in the AutoCAD Color Index (ACI).
Use this version when you want to assign object
colors that match the AutoCAD Color Index.
Using ACI colors is useful if you plan to export
objects to AutoCAD and want to organize
them by object color, or when you want a wide
selection of colors to choose f rom.
Procedures
Tosetobjectcolor:
This is the general procedure for selecting objec t
color.
1. Selectoneormoreobjects.
2. In any command panel, click the color s watch
totherightoftheObjectNamefieldtodisplay
the Object Color dialog.
3. Click a color swatch f rom the palette, and click
OK to apply the color to the selection.
To create objects of the same color:
• Choose the color you want to us e and turn off
Use Random Colors.
Newly c reated objects appear in this color until
you change the setting.
To define a custom color:
1.
OntheDefaultpaletteoftheObjectColor
dialog, click one of the 16 custom color
swatches.
2. Click Add Custom Colors to display the Color
Selector (page 1–157)
.
3. DefineacustomcolorandclickAddColor.
The custom color is stored in the selected color
swatch of the Object Color dialog and is set as
the current color.