3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [70]
4. Click and drag again in the Top viewport to create another Hedra object. In the Parameters rollout, select the Cube/Octa option, and enter a value of 1.0 in the Family Parameter's P field and a value of 50 in the Radius field. Name this object Octagon.
5. Drag in the Top viewport to create another object. The Cube/Octa option is still selected. Enter a value of 1.0 in the Family Parameter's Q field this time, and set the Radius to 50. Name this object Cube.
6. Drag in the Top viewport again to create the fourth Hedra object. In the Parameters rollout, select the Dodec/Icos option, enter a value of 1.0 in the P field, and set the Radius value to 50. Name the object Icosahedron.
7. Drag in the Top viewport to create the final object. With the Dodec/Icos option set, enter 1.0 for the Q value, and set the Radius to 50. Name this object Dodecahedron.
8. To get a good look at the objects, click the Perspective viewport, press the Zoom Extents button, and maximize the viewport by clicking the Min/Max Toggle (or press Alt+W) in the lower-right corner of the window.
Figure 5.8 shows the five perfect solid primitive objects. Using the Modify panel, you can return to these objects and change their parameters to learn the relationships among them. Later in this chapter, you can read about the Hedra primitive in greater detail.
FIGURE 5.8
The octagon, cube, tetrahedron, icosahedron, and dodecahedron objects; Plato would be amazed.
Exploring the Primitive Object Types
In the Create panel are actually two different subcategories of geometric primitives: Standard Primitives and Extended Primitives. These primitives include a diverse range of objects, from simple boxes and spheres to complex torus knots. You can create all these primitives from the Create panel.
Starting with the Standard Primitives
The Standard Primitives include many of the most basic and most used objects, including boxes, spheres, and cylinders. Figure 5.9 shows all the Standard Primitives.
FIGURE 5.9
The Standard Primitives: Box, Sphere, Cylinder, Torus, Teapot, Cone, GeoSphere, Tube, Pyramid, and Plane
Box
You can use the Box primitive to create regular cubes and boxes of any width, length, and height. Holding down the Ctrl key while dragging the box base creates a perfect square for the base. To create a cube, select the Cube option in the Creation Method rollout. A single click and drag completes the cube.
The Length, Width, and Height Segment values indicate how many polygons make up each dimension. The default is only one segment.
Sphere
Spheres appear everywhere from sports balls to planets in space. Spheres are also among the easiest primitives to create. After clicking the Sphere button, simply click and drag in a viewport.
In the Parameters rollout, the Segments value specifies the number of polygons that make up the sphere. The higher the number of segments, the smoother the sphere is. The default value of 32 produces a smooth sphere, and a value of 4 actually produces a diamond-shaped object. The Smooth option lets you make the sphere smooth or faceted. Faceted spheres are useful for identifying faces for modifications. Figure 5.10 shows five spheres. The one on the left has 32 Segments and the Smooth option turned on. The remaining spheres have the Smooth option disabled with Segment values of 32, 16, 8, and 4.
The Parameters rollout also lets you create hemispheres. The hemisphere shape is set by the Hemisphere value, which can range from 0.0 to 1.0, with 0 being a full sphere and 1 being nothing at all. (A value of 0.5 would be a perfect hemisphere.) With the Hemisphere value specified, you now have two options with which to deal with the unused polygons that make up the originating sphere: the Chop option, which removes the unused polygons, and the Squash option, which retains the polygons but “squashes