9

548 Chapter 20: Managing Scenes and Projects
•Abilitytoskipfrozenlayers,ortoselectspecific
layers to import (or exclude) f rom a list.
• Ability to set shape rendering parameters
before importing to 3ds Max.
• Ability to maintain layer assignments from the
drawing file.
Features Unique to the Legacy DWG Import
System
• AutoCAD primitives are translated into
3ds Max primitives.
•SupportforText(thoughnotMText).
• Imported blocks are represented as groups.
Inter face
Derive Objects By group
Layer—Names each 3ds Max object based on the
object layers specified in t he drawing file. The
layer name is followed by a number for each object
from that layer. For example, an object on the layer
BASE becomes BASE.01. If Convert To Single
Objects is turned on, objects on the same layer
become a single 3ds Max object.
Co lor—Derives the name of each 3ds Max object
based on the object’s layer color in the drawi ng.
The A utoCAD color number is followed by a
number for each object using that layer color. For
example, objects on a layer that is set to the color
red (Color number 001) become COLOR001.01.
Colors assigned by object are ignored in favor
of colors assigned by layer. If Convert To Single
Objectsisturnedon,objectsassignedthesame
layer color become a single 3ds Max object.
Entity—Names each 3ds Max object based on the
object type. The object type name is followed by a
number for each object converted. For example,
a Line object becomes Line.01. Drawings can
contain thousands of entities, so der iv ing objects
by entity can create many 3ds Maxobjects.
General Options group
Conver t to Si ngle Obj ects—Combines multiple
objectsinthedrawingfileintoasingle3dsMax
object. Objects are combined according to the
current Derive Objects By sett ing and their
3ds Max object type. Explicit mesh objects are
combined. Shapes with no Z axis extrusion are
combined, as are shapes with the same Z axis
extrusion amount. Shapes with differing amounts
of Z axis ext rusion are assigned an Extrude
modifier and are not combined.
Convert Blocks to Groups— Places a l l objects in a
block entity into a 3ds Max group that uses the
name of the block entit y and the number .01. For
example, a block entity named CHAIR becomes
a collection of 3ds Max objects inside a group
named [CHAIR.01].
Multiple insertions of the block entity are
converted to instances of the 3ds Max group. For
example, a second insertion of the block, CHAIR,