9

160 Chapter 5: Creating Geometry
Swit ching Bet ween Pa let tes
You can a lternate between two versions of the
Object Color dialog at any time by clicking the
appropriate Basic Colors toggle:
• 3ds Max p alet te: Contains a fixed palette of 64
colors, plus a custo m palette of 16 user-defined
custom colors.
Use this version when you want to work with a
smaller palette of colors or when you want to
define custom object wireframe colors.
• AutoCAD-compatible version: Contains a
fixed palette of 256 colors matching the colors
in the AutoCAD Color Index (ACI).
Use t his version when you want to assign object
colors that match the AutoCAD Color Index.
Using ACI colors is useful if you plan to export
objects to AutoCAD and want to organize
them by object color, or when you want a wide
selection of colors to choose from.
Pr ocedur es
Tosetobjectcolor:
This is the general procedure for selecting object
color.
1. Select one or more objects.
2. On any command panel, click the color swatch
totherightoftheObjectNamefieldtodisplay
the Object Color dialog.
3. Click a color swatch from the palette, and then
click OK to apply the color to the selection.
To create objects of the same color:
• Choose the color you want to use and turn off
Assign Random Colors.
Newlycreatedobjectsappearinthiscoloruntil
you change the setting.
To define a custom color:
1.
With the 3ds Max palette option active, click
one of the 16 custom color swatches.
2. Click Add Custom Colors to display the Color
Selector (page 1–161).
3. DefineacustomcolorandclickAddColor.
The custom color is stored in the selected color
swatch of the Object Color dialog and is set as
the current color.
To copy a custom color f rom an obj ect in your scene
to one of your custom color swatches:
•DragtheActiveColorswatchuptooneofthe
custom color swatches.
The Active Color swatch is in the Object Color
dialog, to the left of the OK button.
To s elect objects by color:
• Click Select By Color. This displays the
Select O b jects dialog (page 1–78).Allobjects
that have the same color as the current object
are highlighted in the list. Click S elect.
Interfa ce
Palette—Choose one of these:
•
3ds M ax palette—When chosen, the dialog
displays Basic Colors and Custom Colors
groups, and you have the option to add custom
colors.