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220 Chapter 5: Creating Geometry
Railing rollout
Pick R ailing Path—Click this, and then click a spline
intheviewporttouseastherailingpath.3dsMax
uses the spline as the p ath along which to apply
the r ailing object.
If you edit the spline you’ve used as a railing
path, the railing adjusts to the changes you make.
3ds Max doesn’t immediately recognize 2D Shapes
from a linked AutoCAD drawing. To recognize
Shapes from a linked AutoCAD dra wing, edit the
Shape with Edit Spline (page 1–680) in the Modify
panel.
Tip: When you create a railing using a closed spline
for the rail path, open the PostSpacingdialog(page
1–455), turn off Start Offset and End Offset, and
lock E nd Offset. This will ensure that 3ds Max
properly creates the railing with any fill, pickets,
and posts you specify.
Note: Rai ling objects that use Pick Path do not stay
on the path when substituted using the Substitute
modifier. Substituted externally referenced
railings do not undo when rai lings are associated
with a path.
Segments—Sets the number of segments of the
railing object. Av ailable only w hen you’re using
arailingpath.
For a close approximation to a railing path,
increase the number of seg ments. Be aware t hat a
high number of segments increases file size and
slows down the rendering speed. You might use
fewer segments when the spline path has a low
curvature (or none) and fewer segments provide
an adequate approximation.
Respect Corners—Puts corners in the railing to
match the corners of the railing path.
Lengt h—Sets the leng th of the Railing object.
When you drag the mouse, the leng th displays i n
the edit box.
Top Rail group
The defaults produce a top rail component,
consisting of one segment by the length you
specify, a square profile, four units deep, three
units wide, and the height you spe c ify.
1. Width
2. Depth
3. Height
4. Profile for the square top rail
5. Profile for the round top rail
Profile—Sets the cross-section shape of the top rail.
Depth—Sets the depth of the top rail.