3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [170]
4. For the eyes, select Create⇒Standard Primitives⇒Sphere and enable the AutoGrid option. Then drag in the Front viewport to create two eyes above the nose.
This clown head is just a simple example of what is possible by editing subobjects. Figure 13.5 shows the clown head in a shaded view.
FIGURE 13.5
A clown head created from an editable poly by selecting and moving vertices
Editing geometry
Much of the power of editing meshes is contained within the Edit Geometry rollout, shown in Figure 13.6. Features contained here include, among many others, the ability to create new subobjects, attach subobjects to the mesh, weld vertices, chamfer vertices, slice, explode, and align. Some Edit Geometry buttons are disabled depending on the subobject mode that you select. The features detailed in this section are enabled for the Editable Poly object before you enter a subobject mode.
Many of the buttons for the Editable Poly include a small icon to the right of the button that opens a settings caddy. These caddy interfaces appear around the selected subobject and allow you to change the settings and immediately see the results in the viewports. The OK button (a check mark icon) applies the settings and closes the dialog box, and the Apply button (a plus sign icon) applies the settings and leaves the dialog box open. These caddy interfaces are included next to the buttons such as Extrude, Bevel, Outline, and Inset.
Editable Poly objects include all their common buttons in the Edit Geometry rollout and all subobject-specific buttons is a separate rollout named after the subobject mode, such as Edit Vertices or Edit Edges.
Repeat Last
The first button in the Edit Geometry rollout is the Repeat Last button. This button repeats the last subobject command. This button does not work on all features, but it's very convenient for certain actions.
FIGURE 13.6
The Edit Geometry rollout includes many general-purpose editing features.
Tip
The tooltip for this button displays the last repeatable command. •
Enabling constraints
The Constraints options limit the movement of subobjects to a specified subobject. The available constraints are None, Edge, Face, and Normal. For example, if you select and move a vertex with the Edge constraint enabled, then the movement is constrained to the adjacent edges.
Tutorial: Creating a roof truss
When creating houses, modeling the roof can be tricky, but using an edge constraint makes it much easier.
To create a triangular roof truss, follow these steps:
1. Select Create⇒Standard Primitives⇒Box, and drag in the Top viewport to create a Box object centered over the Y-axis.
2. Right-click the box object and select Convert To⇒Editable Poly in the pop-up quadmenu.
3. Open the Modify panel, and choose the Vertex subobject mode. In the Constraints drop-down list of the Edit Geometry panel, select the Edge option.
4. With the Select and Move tool, drag over the top-left corners and drag them to the Y-axis; then repeat for the top-right corners.
Notice that the points are constrained to the top edge as they are dragged. Moving both sets of points results in a simple perfect triangle.
Tip
An even easier way to create such a triangle would be to use the Gengon primitive found among the Extended Primitives. •
Preserve UVs
UV coordinates define how a texture map is applied to an object's surface. These UV coordinates are tied closely to the surface subobject positions, so moving a subobject after a texture is applied moves the texture also. This could cause discontinuities to the texture map. The Preserve UVs option lets you make subobject changes without altering the UV coordinates for an existing texture.
The Settings dialog box for the Preserve UVs option