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294 Chapter 5: Creating Geometry
Attach Mult.—
Click this button to display the
Attach M ultiple dialog, which contains a list of all
other shapes in the scene. Select the shapes you
want to attach to the current editable spline, then
click OK.
•
Reorient—When on, reorients attached splines
so that each spline’s creation local coordinate
system is alig ned with the creation local
coordinate system of the selected spline.
Cr o s s S e cti on —Creates a spline cage out of
cross-sectional shapes. Click Cross Sec tion,
select one shape then a second shape, splines are
created joining the first shape with the second.
Continue clicking shapes to add them to the cage.
This fu nctionality is simi lar to the Cross Sec tion
modifier, but here you can determine the order
of the c ross sect ions. Spline cage tangency can be
defined by choosing Linear, Bezier, Bezier Corner
or Smooth in New Vertex Type group.
Tip: When you edit the spline cage, use Area
Selection before selecting your vertices. This will
keep their positions together as you transform
them.
Refine group
The Refine group includes a number of functions
useful for building spline networks for use with the
Surface modifier (page 1–833) .
Refine—Lets you add vertices without altering the
curvature values of the spline. Click Refine, a nd
then selec t any number of spline segments to add
a vertex each time you click (the mouse cursor
changes to a "connect" symbol when over an
eligible segment). To finish adding vertices, click
Refine again, or right-click in the viewport .
Youcanalsoclickexistingverticesduringarefine
operation, in which case 3ds Max displays a dialog
asking if you want to Refin e or Conne c t Only to
thevertex.IfyouchooseConnectOnly,3dsMax
willnotcreateavertex:itsimplyconnectstothe
existing vertex.
The Refine operation creates a different ty pe of
vertex depending on the types of vertices on the
endpoints of the segment bein g refined.
• If the bordering vertices are both Smooth types,
theRefineoperationcreatesaSmoothtype
vertex.
• If the bordering vertices are b oth Corner types,
theRefineoperationcreatesaCornertype
vertex.
• If either of the bordering vertices is a C orner
or Bezier Corner, the Refine operation creates
aBezierCornertype.
• Otherwise, the operation creates a Bezier type
vertex.
Co nnect—When on, creates a n ew spline
sub-object by connecting the new vertices. When
you finish adding vert ices with Refine, Connect
mak es a separate copy of each new vertex and then
connects a l l of the copies with a new spline.
Note: For Connect to work, you must turn it on
before you click Refine.
After turning on Connect and before beg inning
the refinement process, turn on any combination
of these options:
•
Linear—When on, makes all segments in the
new spline straig ht lines by using Corner
ver tices. When Linear is off, the vertices used
to create the new spline are of the Smooth type.
•
Bind First—Causes the first vertex created in a
refinement operation to be b ound to the center
of the selected segment. See
Bound Ver tex
(page 3–1013)
.