8
476 Chapter 7: Creating Copies and Arrays
Mirrored Arrays
You can combine the Mirror and Array tools by
usingtheminsuccession. Anentirearraycan
be mirrored, or you can set up mirrored objects
before creating an array.
Animating M irror
When you use Mirror with Auto K ey turned on,
youseethetransitionoccurasthemirroredobject
moves into place. For example, a cylinder mirrored
to the other side of an axis appears to flatten and
reshapeitself.Theobjectis,infact,scaledfrom
100% to 0% to –100%. This effect is not visible
unless the mirror operation is animated.
Mirror Modifier
The
Mirror modifier (page 1–720)
provides a
parametric method of mirroring an object or
sub-object selection within the modifier stack.
You can apply the Mirror modifier to any type of
geometry. You can animate the mirror effect by
animating the modifier’s gizmo.
UsingtheSpacingTool
The Spacing Tool distributes objects based on the
current selection along a path defined by a spline
or pair of points. The distributed objects can be
copies, instances, or references of the current
selected object. You define a path by picking a
spline or two points and by setting a number of
parameters. You can also specif y how the spacing
between objects is determined and whether the
insertion points of the objects align to the tangent
of the spline.
The Spacing Too l distributes the vases along the s id es of the
curved street. The vases are all at the same distance from
each other; fewer of them appear on the shorter side.
For details on the Spacing Tool parameters, see
Spacing Tool (page 1–440)
.
To distribute objects along a path:
1.
Selectoneormoreobjectstodistribute.
2. Choose Spacing tool from the Array
flyout or the Tools menu.
Note: The Ar r ay flyout is on the Extras toolbar,
which is off by default. You can toggle display of
this toolbar by right-clicking an empty area on
the main toolbar and choosing Axis C onstraints
from the
Customize Display right-click menu
(page 3–831)
.
3. On the Spacing Tool dialog, click Pick Path or
Pick Points to specify a pa th.
If you click Pick Path, select a spline from your
scene to use as the p ath.
If you click Pick Points, click a start point and
an end point to define a spline as the path.
When you’re finished with the Spacing Tool,
3dsMaxdeletesthisspline.
4. From the drop-down list at the bottom of the
Parameters group, choose a spacing option.