3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [125]
Note
Actually, NURBS objects are a different beast altogether. When created using the Create menu, they are parametric objects, but after you select the Modify panel, they are editable objects with a host of subobject modes and editing functions. •
Editable objects aren't created; instead, they are converted or modified from another object. When a primitive object is converted to a different object type like an Editable Mesh or a NURBS object, it loses its parametric nature and can no longer be changed by altering its base parameters. Editable objects do have their advantages, though. You can edit subobjects such as vertices, edges, and faces of meshes—all things that you cannot edit for a parametric object. Each editable object type has a host of functions that are specific to its type. These functions are discussed in the coming chapters.
Note
Several modifiers enable you to edit subobjects while maintaining the parametric nature of an object. These include Edit Patch, Edit Mesh, Edit Poly, and Edit Spline. •
Max includes the following model types:
• Primitives: Basic parametric objects such as cubes, spheres, and pyramids. The primitives are divided into two groups consisting of Standard and Extended Primitives. The AEC Objects are also considered primitive objects. A complete list of primitives is covered in Chapter 5, “Creating and Editing Primitive Objects.”
• Shapes and splines: Simple vector shapes such as circles, stars, arcs, and text, and splines such as the Helix. These objects are fully renderable. The Create menu includes many parametric shapes and splines. These parametric objects can be converted to Editable Spline objects for more editing. These are covered in Chapter 12, “Drawing and Editing 2D Splines and Shapes.”
• Meshes: Complex models created from many polygon faces that are smoothed together when the object is rendered. These objects are available only as Editable Mesh objects. Meshes are covered in Chapter 13, “Modeling with Polygons.”
• Polys: Objects composed of polygon faces, similar to mesh objects, but with unique features. These objects also are available only as Editable Poly objects. Poly objects are covered in Chapter 13, “Modeling with Polygons.” The Graphite Modeling Tools are designed to work on Editable Poly objects. These tools are covered in Chapter 14, “Using the Graphite Modeling Tools and Painting with Objects.”
• Patches: Based on spline curves; patches can be modified using control points. The Create menu includes two parametric Patch objects, but most objects can also be converted to Editable Patch objects. Bonus Chapter 5 on the CD, “Working with NURBS,” covers patches in detail.
• NURBS: Stands for Non-Uniform Rational B-Splines. NURBS are similar to patches in that they also have control points. These control points define how a surface spreads over curves. NURBS are covered in Bonus Chapter 5 on the CD, “Working with NURBS.”
• Compound objects: A miscellaneous group of model types, including Booleans, loft objects, and scatter objects. Other compound objects are good at modeling one specialized type of object such as Terrain or BlobMesh objects. All the Compound objects are covered in Chapter 27, “Working with Compound Objects.”
• Body objects: Solid objects that are imported from an SAT file produced by a solid modeling application like Revit have the concept of volume. Max mesh objects typically only deal with surfaces but can be converted to a Body object. All the information on Body objects is covered in Chapter 28, “Working with Solids and Body Objects.”
• Particle systems: Systems of small objects