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758 Chapter 21: User Interface
be several different subcategories of objects. A
drop-down list lets you choose among object
subcategories, and each kind of object has its ow n
button, which you click to begin creation.
These are the c ategories of objects that the Create
panel provides:
•
Geometry (page 1–153)
Geometry is the renderable ge ometry of the
scene. There are geometry primitives such
as Box, Sphere, Pyramid, and more advanced
geometr y such as Booleans, Lofts, and particle
systems.
•
Shapes (page 1–262)
Shapes are splines or NURBS curves. They have
only one local dimension, although they can
exist in 2D space, such as a Rectangle shape, or
3D space, such as a Helix.
You can give shapes a thickness so they
will render, but primarily you use them for
constructing other objects such as Lofts, or for
motion trajectories.
•
Lights (page 2–1272)
Lights il luminate the scene and improve its
realism. There are several kinds of lights, each
of which models different types of lighting in
the real world.
•
Cameras (page 2–1365)
Camera objects provide a view of the scene.
The advantages of cameras over the views in
the standard v iewports are that cameras have
controls similar to real-world cameras, and that
you can animate a camera’s posit ion.
•
Helpers (page 2–2)
Helper objects are aids to constructing a scene.
They help you position, measure, and animate
the scene’s renderable geometry.
•
Space Warps (page 2–55)
Space warps produce various kinds of
distortions in the space surrounding other
objects. Some space warps are meant especially
for use with par ticle systems.
•
Systems (page 1–404)
Systems combine objects, controllers, and
hierarchies to provide geometry associated
with some kind of behavior. Also contains
Sunlight and Daylight systems that simulate
sunlight in your scenes.
Modify Panel
Command panels > Modify panel
From the Create panel of 3ds Max, you place basic
objects in your scene, including 3D geometry,
2D shapes, lights and cameras, space warps, and
helpers. As you do this, you give each object its
own set of creation parameters, which define its
geometry and other characteristics depending on
the type of object. Once placed in a scene, objects
carry their creat ion parameters w ith them. You
can change these parameters on the Modify panel.
You also use the Modify panel to assign modifiers
(page 3–974). Modifiers are tools for reshaping an
object. While they mold the final appearance of
the object, modifiers do not change its underlying
creation parameters. See the list of available
modifiers (page 1–497).
Yo u u s e t h e M o d i f y p a n e l t o :
• Change the creation p arameters for existing
objects.
• Apply modifiers to adjust the geometry of an
object or a set of objects.