8

692 Chapter 8: Modifiers
Stretch Str.—
Determines the strength of the edge
springs; the higher the strength, the less the
distance between them can vary.
Stretch Sway—Determines the sway of the edge
springs; the h igher the strength, the less t he angle
between them can vary.
Shape Str.—Determines the strength of the shape
springs; the higher the strength, the less the
distance between them can vary.
Shape Sway—Determines the sway of the shape
springs; the h igher the strength, the less t he angle
between them can vary.
Spring Count—Displays the number of edge
springs, followed by the number of shape springs
in parentheses.
Hold Length—Maintains the length of edge springs
within the specified percentage.
Note: This setting, which is applied after the Flex
simulation, can affect the object shape, and thus
cause collision detection to fail.
Show Springs—Displays edge springs as blue lines
andshapespringsasredlines.Springsarevisible
only when a Flex sub-object mode is activ e.
You can change the spring colors using MAXScript.
Sp ri ng Opt ion Di al og
Select a Mesh, Patch, or NURBS object. > Modify panel >
Modifier List > Animation Modifiers > Flex > Advanced
Springs rollout > Options button
Use the Spring Opt ion dialog to determi ne how
springs are added in the Flex modifier when you
click the Advanced Springs rollout > Add Spring
button.
Interf ace
Single Edge Spr ing—Creates one edge spring
between two selec ted ver tices. If any number of
vertices is selected other than two, no springs are
created.
Hold E dge Length S pr ings—Creates edge springs
along the edges of the objects between any vertex
selection and neighboring vertices.
Hold Edge Length Springs Apply Only To
Selected—
Creates edge springs along the edges of
the objects between all selected vert ices.
Hold Shape S prings—Createsshapespringsfrom
the selected vertex or vertices to all other vertices
within the Hold Shape Radius.
Hold Shape Spr ings Apply Only To Selected—Creates
shape springs between all selected vert ices within
the Hold Shape Radius.
Hold Shape Radius—The radius within which shape
springs are created. No shape springs are created
between vertices farther apart than this distance.
At the bottom of the dialog is an inform at ional
display showing the object’s average edge length,
maximum edge length, and minimum edge length.
This information can help in determining an
appropriate Hold Shape Radius setting.