9

378 Chapter 5: Creating Geometry
See also
ProBoolean Compound Object (page 1–378)
ProCutter Compound Object (page 1–388)
Quad Meshing and Smoothing (page 1–392)
Pr oB ool ean Compound Obj ect
Select an object. > Create panel > Geometry > Compound
Objects > Ob ject Type rollout > ProBoolean
A Boolean object combines two or more other
objectsbyperformingaBooleanoperationor
operations on them. ProBoolean adds a range of
functionality to the traditional 3ds Max Boolean
object, such as the ability to combine multiple
objects at once, each using a different Boolean
operation. ProBoolean can also automatically
subdivide the B oolean result into quadrilateral
faces, which lends itself well to smoothing edges
with MeshSmooth (page 1–722) and TurboSmo oth
(page 1–868).
Ma ter i al s, Tex t ures, Vertex Color s
ProBoolean and ProCutter transfer texture
coordinates, vertex colors, optionally ma terials,
and maps f rom the operands to the final results.
You c an choose to apply the operand material to
the resulting faces, or you can retain the orig inal
material. If one of the original operands had
mater ial maps or vertex colors, the resulting
faces derived from that operand maintain those
graphical attr ibutes. However, when texture
coordinates or vertex colors are present, it is
impossible to remove coplanar faces, so the
resulting mesh quality will be lower. We suggest
that you apply textures after the ProBoolean
operations.
ProBoolean provides two options for applying
mate rials. You can see t hese two options in the
Apply Material group on the Parameters panel
(see above illustration). The default choice is
Apply Operand Material. This option applies the
operand material to the resulting faces. Choosing
Retain Original Material causes the resulting faces
to use the material of the first selected object in
the Boolean operation.
You can see the difference in the following
illustration. The Boolean operation starts w ith
a red box and a blue sphere. The box is used as
thebaseobjectandthesphereisthesubtracted
operand. Using the default Apply Operand
Material option gives the result shown in the center
of the i llustration. Choosing Retain Original
Material yields the result shown on the right side
of the illustration.