9

ProBoolean/ProCutter Compound O bjec ts 377
PFlow Events g roup
When the Mesher object is applied to a Particle
Flow system, use these controls to create meshes
for specific events in the system. Mesher do es not
create meshes for the remaining events.
[list box]—Displays all Particle Flow events
currently affected by Mesher.
Add—Lets you specif y Particle Flow events to be
affected by Mesher.
If the Mesher object is applied to a Particle Flow
system, when you click Add, an Add PF Events
dialog opens listing all events in the system.
Highlight the events to add, and then click OK.
Theeventsnowappearinthelist.
Remove—Deletes highlig hted events from the list.
Pr oB ool ean/Pr oCut ter
Compound Objects
The ProBoolean and ProCutter compound objects
provide you with modeling tools for combining 2D
and3Dshapesinwaysthatwouldbedifficultor
impossible otherw ise. The ProBoolean compound
object (page 1–378) takesa3dsMaxmeshandadds
extra intelligence to it prior to performing Boolean
operations. First it combines the topologies, then
it determines coplanar triangles and removes
incident edges. The Booleans are then per formed
not on triangles but N-sided polygons. Once the
Boolean operations are completed, the result is
retriangulated and sent back into 3ds Max with
coplanar edges hidden. The result of this extra
work is twofold: The reliability of the B oolean
object is extremely high, and the resulting output
is much cleaner in terms of having fewer small
edges and t riangles.
Advant ages of ProBoolean over the legacy 3ds Max
Boolean compound object include:
• Better quality mesh - fewer sma ll edges, fewer
narrow triangles.
• Sm all e r me s h - fewer vertices and faces.
• Easier and faster to use - unlimited objects p er
Boolean operation.
• Clean er-look i ng m es h -coplanaredges
remain hidden.
• Integ r ated decim ation and qua d mesh ing
In addition, ProCutter (page 1–388) is an excellent
tool for exploding, breaking apart, assembling,
sectioning, or fitting together objec ts such as a
3D puzzle. See the following illustration for an
example of a goblet shattering.