9

Sphere Primitive 175
Parameters rollout
The defaults produce a smooth sphere of 32
segments with the pivot point at its center.
Radius—Specifies the radius of the sphere.
Segments—Sets the number of polygonal divisions
for the sphere.
Smooth—Blends the faces of the sphere, creating a
smooth appearance in rendered views.
Hemispher e—Increasing values progressively will
"cut off " the sphere, starting at the base, to create a
partial sphere. Values range f rom 0.0 to 1.0. The
default is 0.0, producing a full sphere. A setting of
0.5 produces a hemisphere, and 1.0 reduces the
sphere to nothing. Default=0.0.
Chop and Squash togg le creation options for
Hemisphere.
Cho p—Reduces the number of vertices and faces
inthesphereby"chopping"themoutasthe
hemisphere is cut off. Default=on.
Squash—Maintains the number of vertices and
faces in the original sphere, "squashing" the
geometry into a smaller and smaller volume
toward the top of the sphere.
Effects of Chop and Squash during hemisphere creation
Slice On—Uses the From and To angles to create
a partial sphere. The effect is similar to lathing a
semicircular shape fewer than 3 60 degrees.
Slice From—Sets the st art angle.
Slice To—S ets the stop angle.
For both sett ings, positive values move the end of
the slice counterclockwise; negative values move it
clockwise. Either setting c an be made first. When
the ends meet, the whole sphere reappears.
Smoothing groups are assigned to sliced spheres
asfollows: Thesurfaceofthesphereisalways
assigned group 1; the bottom, when Smooth is on,
gets group 2. Facing the pie-slice surfaces, the cut
ontheleftgetsgroup3,andthecutontheright
gets group 4.
Material IDs are assig ned to sliced spheres as
follows: The bottom is 1 (when Hemisphere is
greate r than 0.0), the sur face is 2, and the slice
surfaces are 3 and 4.
Base To Pivot—Movesasphereupwardalongits
local Z axis so the pivot point is at its base. When
off, the pivot point is on the construction plane at
the center of the sphere. Default=off.
Turning on Bas e To Pivot lets you pl ace spheres so
they rest on the construction plane, like pool balls
on a table. It also lets you animate a hemisphere so
it appears to grow out of the construction plane
or sink into it.