8

Railing 215
Railing rollout
Pick Ra iling Path—Click this, and then click a spline
intheviewporttouseastherailingpath.3dsMax
uses the spline as the path along which to apply
the railing object.
If you edit the spline you’ve used as a railing
path, the railing adjusts to the changes you ma ke.
3ds Max doesn’t im mediately recognize 2D Shapes
from a linked AutoCAD drawing. To recognize
Shapes from a linked AutoCAD drawing, edit the
Shape with
Edit Spline (page 1–671) in the Modify
panel.
Tip: When you create a railing using a closed spline
for the rail path, open the
Post Spacing dialog
(page 1–440)
, turn off Start Offset and End Offset,
and lock End Offset. This will ensure that 3ds Max
properly creates the railing with any fill, pickets,
and posts you specif y.
Note: Railing objects that use Pick Path do not stay
on the path when substituted using the Substitute
modifier. Subst ituted externally referenced
railings do not undo when railings are associated
with a path.
Segments—S ets the number of segments of the
railing object. Available only when you’re u sing
arailingpath.
For a close approximation to a railing path,
increase the number of segments. Be aware that a
high number of segments increases file size and
slows down the rendering speed. You might use
fewer segments when the spline path has a low
curvature (or none) and fewer segments provide
an adequate approximation.
Respect Corners—Puts corners in the railing to
match the corners of the railing path.
Lengt h—Sets the length of the Railing object.
When you d r ag the mouse, the length d isplays in
the edit box.
Top Rail group
The defaults produce a top rail component,
consisting of one segment by the length you
specify, a square profile, four units deep, three
units wide, and t he height you specify.
1. Width
2. Depth
3. Height
4.Profileforthesquaretoprail
5. Profile for the round top rail
Profile—Sets the cross-sect ion shape of the top rail.
Depth—Sets the depth of the top r ail.