3ds Max® 2008 Bible

Chapter 26. Working with Compound Objects

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Understanding compound objects

• Morphing objects

• Using the Conform and ShapeMerge compound objects

• Creating Terrain objects

• Using the Mesher object

• Using the Scatter and Connect compound objects

• Working with BlobMesh objects

• Lofting objects

• Deforming lofted objects

• Using ProBoolean and ProCutter objects

So far, we have covered a variety of modeling types, including shapes, meshes, and polys. The Compound Objects subcategory includes several additional modeling types that don't seem to fit anywhere else. As you will see in this chapter, these modeling types provide several new and unique ways to model objects, such as working with Boolean objects, scattering objects across the surface of another object, or lofting a cross section along a spline path.

Understanding Compound Object Types

The Compound Objects subcategory includes several unique object types. You can access these object types with the Create

• Morph: Consists of two or more objects with the same number of vertices. The vertices are interpolated from one object to the other over several frames.

• Scatter: Randomly scatters a source object about the scene. You can also select a Distribution object that defines the volume or surface where the objects scatter.

• Conform: Wraps the vertices of one object onto another. You can use this option to simulate a morph between objects with different ...