9

672 Chapter 8: Modifiers
Polygon Properties rollout
These controls let you work with material IDs and
smoothing groups.
Material group
Set ID—Lets you assign a par ticular material ID
(page 3–969) number to selected sub-objects for
use with multi/sub-object materials (page 2–1594)
and other applications. Use the spinner or enter
the number from the keyboard. The total number
of available IDs is 65,535.
Select ID—Selects sub-objects corresponding to
the Material ID specified in the adjacent ID field.
Type or us e the spinner to specify an ID, then click
the Select ID button.
[Sel ect By Name]—This drop-down list shows
the names of sub-materials if an object has a
multi/sub-object material assigned to it. Click the
drop arrow and choose a sub-material from the list.
This selects any sub-objects assigned that material.
If an object does not have a multi/sub-object
material assigned, the name list is unavailable.
Likewise, if multiple selected objects have an Edit
Patch, Edit Spline, or Edit Mesh modifier applied,
thenamelistisinactive.
Note: Sub-material names are those specified in the
Name column on the m aterial’s multi/sub-object
Basic Parameters rollout. By default, 3ds Max
assigns the material name “No Name” followed by
a sequence number in parentheses. These names
don’t appear in the Material Editor, but they do
show up in t he drop-down list.
Clear S electi on—When on, choosing a new ID or
material name unselects any previously selected
sub-objects. When off, selections are cumulative,
so new ID or sub-material name selections add to
the existing selection set of patches or elements.
Default=off.
Smoothing Group s grou p
Use these controls to assign selected polygons to
different smoothing groups (page 3–1013),andto
select polygons by smoothing group.
To assign polygons to one or more smoothing
groups, select the polygons, and then click the
number(s) of the smoothing group(s) to assign
them to.
Select B y SG (S moothing G roup)—Displays a dialog
that shows the current smoothing groups. Select
a group by clicking the corresponding numbered
button and clicking OK. If Clear Selection is
on, any previously selected polygons are first
unselected. If Clear Selection is off, the new
selection is added to any previous selec tion set.
Clea r All—Removesanysmoothinggroup
assignments from selected polygons.
Auto S mooth—Sets smoothing groups based on
the a ngle b e tween p olygons. Any two adjacent
polygonsareputinthesamesmoothinggroupif
theanglebetweentheirnormalsislessthanthe
threshold angle, set by the spinner to the right of
this button.