LAB 3

3. Under the Object Type rollout, click the Text button. It highlights in green to indicate that you are in text creation mode. Several rollouts appear in the Create panel. Look at the Parameters section _ at the bottom is a box labeled Text. The default text is already entered: "MAX Text." Select this with the mouse, then type in your own name.


4. Right-click the Front viewport to activate it. Then left-click near the world origin to create the text object.

5. Select the Modify panel. Here you can change the name of your text object, which is called Text01 by default.

6. In the Parameters rollout, you can change the font of your text object by selecting an installed TrueType font from the drop-down list. (The default font is Arial.) You can also change other parameters, such as the size of the letters and their kerning (space between letters). Adjust these parameters until you are happy with the appearance of your name. You can even edit the text after the object has been created.

It helps to click the Zoom Extents All button in the Viewport Controls Toolbox, located in the lower right of your screen. Now you can see the complete text object in all viewports.

7. At the top of the Modify panel is the list of Modifier buttons. Click the one labeled Extrude. Immediately, the 2D text is converted into a 3D solid. The text appears solid in any shaded viewports -- those which are not displaying wireframes. The Perspective viewport is shaded by default.

8. Look at the Parameters rollout for the Extrude modifier. The first parameter is the Amount of extrusion. This is the depth of the 3D object. Increase the Amount by dragging the spinner. Note that you can define a negative value for the amount.

9. If you wish to make further changes to the logo, simply click on the Modifier Stack drop-down list and select the Text object.

Now you can edit the text once again. If the Show End Result button is pushed in, you can see the object after all modifiers have been applied -- in this case, after the Extrude modifer.

Extra credit:

The Extrude modifier works with any closed spline shape, not just text objects. For extra credit, you can create a personal signature from an extruded spline. The thing to keep in mind is that all splines must be part of the same object, and these splines must not intersect with each other. Use the Attach button in the Editable Spline (Line) Modify panel to attach several splines together into one object.

LEGAL for extrusion ILLEGAL for extrusion

MAX3 also supports paths imported from Adobe Illustrator. You can bring .AI files directly into max using the File Import command. However, MAX3 doesn't understand anything newer than Illustrator 7. I have had better results using Illustrator's ability to save to an AutoCAD .DWG file. That way, you can specify how MAX parameterizes the spline on import.

Posted by MAX WELL at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments

8. Click Select and Rotate in the Main Toolbar. Select the Transform Gizmo of the teapot in the Perspective viewport. Attempt to rotate the teapot as if you were to pour tea into the cylinder. Using the default View coordinate system (which, in the Perspective viewport, is actually the World coordinate system), it is impossible to rotate the teapot to get the desired effect. The teapot's spout always misses the target. You might be able to get it into a static position by making several rotations in various axes, but you can't simulate a pouring motion. This means that you will have problems trying to animate a pouring movement by rotating the teapot in the world axes. Undo the rotations to restore the teapot to the upright position seen in step 7.

9. With the teapot still selected, choose Local from the Reference Coordinate System drop-down list in the Main Toolbar. Observe how the Transform Gizmo changes to indicate a different orientation of the teapot's XYZ axes. Position your cursor over the Y axis of the Transform Gizmo so it turns yellow. Click and drag to rotate the teapot around its local Y axis. Pouring into the cylinder is easily accomplished. See the illustration on the following page.

10. As you interactively rotate the teapot, notice how unnatural the movement seems. This is because the Pivot Point is at the bottom of the teapot. In the real world, the point of rotation might be near the object's center of gravity, or at a joint or connection. For the teapot, the handle is an appropriate point of rotation.

11. With the teapot still selected, and hovering in the pouring position, go to the Hierarchy panel. Select Affect Pivot Only _ it turns blue to indicate that it is active. The Pivot Point tripod instantly appears, superimposed over the Transform Gizmo.

12. Click Select and Move, and choose the Local coordinate system from the drop-down list in the Main Toolbar. In the Perspective viewport, select the ZX plane of the Transform Gizmo by hovering your cursor over the blue and red corner icon. The Z and X axes of the Gizmo turn yellow. Click on the corner icon and drag the Transform Gizmo until it is located in the loop of the teapot's handle. Observe the movement of the Gizmo and Pivot Point in the other viewports. Click Min/Max Toggle to maximize the Perspective viewport. Your screen now looks like this:

13. In the Hierarchy panel, click Affect Pivot Only again to turn off Pivot Point Transforms. The Pivot Point icon disappears, leaving only the Transform Gizmo. Click Select and Rotate, select the local Y axis of the teapot once more, and rotate. With the Pivot Point in its new position, the teapot now spins around its handle for a more convincing tea party.
If you wish, you can make a short animation, but it is not required. The point of this exercise is to illustrate the local coordinate system and placement of pivot points.

14. Experiment with coordinate systems and Pivot Points. Try moving the Pivot Point of the teapot outside the object. Find out what happens when you rotate an object's Pivot Point, then move and rotate the object in its local axes.…

Posted by MAX WELL at 2:33 PM | Permalink | Comments