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350 Chapter 5: Creating Geometry
bed is described with contours; the resulting
form may look more like a series of cascades at
each elevational contour, rather than a smoothly
descending r avine. When Retriangulate is
checked, a somewhat slower algorithm is used
thatfollowscontourlinesmoreclosely. This
maybeparticularlyevidentintheLayeredSolid
display mode. For additional precision, t ry using
Retriangulate in conjunction with horizontal
interpolation.
Display group
•
Terrain—Displays only the triangulated mesh
over the contour line data.
•
Co ntours—Displays only the contour line data
of the terrain object.
•
Both—Displays both the triangulated mesh
and the contour line data of the terrain object.
Yo u c a n s e l e c t t h e t e r r a i n o b j e c t b y c l i c k i n g
itssurface,butnotbyclickingacontourline.
When Both is selected, contour lines may not
be apparent in Wireframe displa y modes or
when Edged Faces are displayed.
Update group
The items in this group box determine when
3ds Max recalculates the projection for the terrain
object. Because complex terrain objects can slow
performance, you can use these options to avoid
constant calculation.
•
Always—Updates the terrain object immediately
when you change an operand, including the
original object of an instanced or referenced
operand.
•
When R ender ing—Updates the terrain object
when you render the scene or when you click
Update. With this option, viewports won’t
show current geometry un less you click Update.
•
Manually—Updates the terrain object when you
click Update.
Update—Updates the terrain object. This button is
not enabled only when Always is the ac tive option.
Simplification rollout
Horizontal group
•
No Simplification—Uses all the operands’
ver t ices to create a complex mesh. This results
in greater detail and a larger file size than the
two fractional options.
•
Use 1 /2 of Poi nts —Uses half the set of vertices
intheoperandstocreatealesscomplexmesh.
This results in less detail and a smaller fi le size
than using No Simplification.
•
Use 1 /4 of Point s—Uses a quarter of the of
vertices in the operands to cr eate a less complex
mesh. This results in the least detail and
smallest file size of these options.
•
Inter polate Points * 2—Doubles the set of
vertices in the operands to create a more refined
but more complex mesh. This is most effective
in terrain forms that use constructive curves
such as circles and ellipses. This results in
more detail and a larger file size than using No
Simplification.
•
Inter polate Points * 4—Quadruples the set
ofverticesintheoperandstocreateamore