3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [79]
Be aware when creating doors that Doors have two different Creation Methods—Width/Depth/Height and Width/Height/Depth. The first is the default, and it requires that the first click sets the Width, the second click sets the Depth, and the third click sets the Height. The Parameters rollout includes options to flip the direction in which the door opens. This is very handy if you position your door incorrectly.
Stairs
The Stairs category includes four types of stairs: LType, Spiral, Straight, and UType. For each type, you can select Open (single slats with no vertical backing behind the stairs), Closed (each stair includes a horizontal and vertical portion), or Box (the entire staircase is one solid object). For each type, you also can control the parameters for the Carriage (the center support that holds the stairs together), Stringers (the base boards that run along the sides of the stairs), and Railings.
The Rise section determines the overall height of the staircase. It can be set by an Overall height value, a Riser Height value (the height of each individual stair), or by a Riser Count (the total number of stairs). You also can specify the Thickness and Depth of the stairs.
Windows
The Windows category includes six types of windows: Awning, Casement, Fixed, Pivoted, Projected, and Sliding. As with doors, you can choose from two different Creation Methods. The default Creation Method creates windows with Width, then Depth, and then Height. Parameters include the Window and Frame dimensions, the Thickness of the Glazing, and Rails and Panels. You can also open all windows, except for the Fixed Window type.
Tutorial: Adding stairs to a clock tower building
I'll leave the architectural design to the architects, but for this example, you'll create a simple staircase and add it to the front of a clock tower building.
To add stairs to a building, follow these steps.
1. Open the Clock tower building.max file from the Chap 05 directory on the CD. This file includes a building with a clock tower extending from its center, but the main entrance is empty.
2. Select Create⇒AEC Objects⇒Straight Stair. Click and drag in the Top viewport from the location where the lower-left corner of the stair is located and drag to the upper-left corner of the stairs where the stairs meet the entryway into the building to set the stair's length. Then drag across to set the stairs' width and click at the opposite side of the entryway. Then drag downward in the Left viewport to set the stairs' height and click. Then right-click in the Top viewport to exit Stairs creation mode.
3. With the stairs selected, click the Select and Move (W) button in the main toolbar and drag the stairs in the Front viewport until they align with the front of one side of the entryway.
4. Open the Modify panel, and select the Box option in the Parameters rollout. Then adjust the Overall Rise value so it matches the entryway.
5. Select Tools⇒Mirror, and select the Copy option with an Offset of around –140 about the X-Axis. Click OK.
Figure 5.30 shows the clock tower building with stairs.
FIGURE 5.30
The AEC Objects category makes adding structural objects like stairs easy.
Summary
Primitives are the most basic shapes and often provide a starting point for more ambitious modeling projects. The two classes of primitives—Standard and Extended—provide a host of possible objects. This chapter covered the following topics:
• The basics of creating primitives by both dragging and entering keyboard values
• How to name objects and set and change the object color
• The various creation methods for all the primitive objects
• The various primitives in both the Standard and Extended subcategories
• The possible parameters for each of the primitive objects
• Creating AEC Objects, including plants, railings, doors, and windows