3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [180]
5. Select the Vertex subobject mode in the Selection rollout, press and hold the Ctrl key, and select the vertices at the center of each quadrant. Then move these vertices downward in the Left viewport a distance about equal to the height of the Box.
6. Select the Bottom viewport again, and press T to change it back to the Top viewport. Select the single vertex in the center of the polygon with the Ignore Backfacing option enabled in the Selection rollout, and drag it slightly downward in the Left viewport.
7. Disable the Ignore Backfacing option in the Selection rollout, and select the entire second row of vertices in the Left viewport. With the Select and Scale tool, scale these vertices toward the center in the polygon in the Top viewport.
8. In the Subdivision Surface rollout, enable the Use NURMS Subdivision option and set the Iterations value to 2.
Figure 13.32 shows the completed tooth.
FIGURE 13.32
The organic look for this tooth is accomplished with NURMS.
Summary
Meshes are probably the most common 3D modeling types. You can create them by converting objects to Editable Meshes or Editable Poly objects or by collapsing the Stack. Editable Poly objects in Max have a host of features for editing meshes, as you learned in this chapter. More specifically, this chapter covered the following topics:
• Creating Editable Poly objects by converting other objects or applying the Edit Poly modifier
• The features for editing Editable Poly objects
• How to select and use the various mesh subobject modes
• Editing mesh objects using the various features found in the Edit Geometry rollout
• Changing surface properties using features like NURMS
This chapter provided an introduction to mesh, polygon, and path objects, but the next chapter steps it up with coverage of the Graphite Modeling tools, which work with Editable Poly objects.
Chapter 14: Using the Graphite Modeling Tools and Painting with Objects
IN THIS CHAPTER
Working with the Graphite Modeling tools
Using the Freeform tools
Selecting specific subobjects
Painting with objects
The previous chapter covered everything you need to know about modeling with polygons, but the problem with the polygon workflow is the ping-pong effect of moving back and forth between the current model and the Command Panel. Although you can float the Command Panel or even use the quad menus to access most of these commands, the Max developers have presented an entirely new workflow based on the new Ribbon interface.
The Ribbon sits conveniently above the viewports, but you can pull off and float any of the individual panels as needed. The Ribbon panels are dynamic, so only those tools that work with the current selection are presented. This places the tools you need right in front of you when you need them.
The Ribbon is populated with all the features for working with Editable Poly objects that are found in the Command Panel. It also includes a large number of brand-new tools for selecting and working with polygon objects. These tools collectively are called the Graphite Modeling tools.
The Ribbon also is home to several additional panels of tools that allow you to paint deformations into your models, make unique selections, and select and paint with objects using brushes. The best part of these new tools is that they all eliminate the ping-pong effect. Our necks thank you, Autodesk.
Working with the Graphite Modeling Tools
The Ribbon interface, shown in Figure 14.1, can be turned on and off using a button on the main toolbar or using the Customize⇒Show UI⇒Show Ribbon menu. When enabled, the button turns yellow and the Ribbon appears in the same state it was in the last time it was opened. By double-clicking the Ribbon title bar, you can switch among displaying just the top tabs; just the tabs and panel titles; just the tabs, panel titles, and panel buttons; or the entire panel. This is great if you want to keep the Ribbon around but hide most of the buttons.
Cross-Reference
You can learn more details on working with the Ribbon