9

Links 963
is used to negate and basic move, rotate or scale
transforms.
Link s
Links are the segments of the Physique deformation
spline (page 3–927).Linksfollowthehierarchyof
the skeleton, such as a biped, that has been attached
to the mesh (page 3–972). L in k p arameters in
Physique allow you to bend, twist, change sliding
behavior, and radially scale the mesh.
Listener Window
In MAXScript, the Listener Window is a
command-line window that lets you type in and
execute MAXScript commands interactively. In
other words, you run the script as you go along,
rather than running a pre-saved text file.
You open the listener window us ing the MAXScript
Listener command on the MAXScript menu or
from the Utilities > MAXScript > M AXScript
rollout > Open Listener command.
Local Coordi nate S ystem
A book in object space rests on a table in world space. The book
has its own local coordinate system.
The lo ca l coordinate system is the coordinate
system t hat relates specifically to the selected
object.
Each object has its own local center and coordinate
system as defined by the location and or ientation
of the object ’s pivot point. The local center and
coordinate system of an object combine to define
its object space.
Thedirectionoftheobject’sX,Y,andZaxes
depend on the current transforms of the object.
Contrast with the world coordinate system.
You can see the difference between the two
coordinate systems w hen you unintent ionally
rotate an object, such as a wheel on a car model,
around the world axis instead of the object’s local
axis. The wheel immediately flies off in a large arc
because the center of the rotation is at the origin of
the world coordinates.
To rotate the wheel correctly, first change the
coordinate system to Local, using the pop-up list
on the toolbar. T he wheel t hen rotates around
its own hub , which is the origin of its local
coordinates.
Local Event
Particle Flow uses two types of events (page
3–935): global (page 3–949) and local. All events
in a flow (page 3–942) except the first are called
local events, because the actions (page 3–903) they
contain take effect only while par t icles are in that
event. The birth e vent (page 3–916) is a special
type of local event that always comes immediately
after a global event.