Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
button changes what shape you're drawing to select your
objects. Most of the time, you will end up using the trusty old
rectangle. The other selection types are very similar to Adobe
Photoshop's lasso and polygon lasso. Another interesting
selection type is like a paintbrush that as you drag will select
anything you “paint” over.
After that we have the Window Crossing tool, which can
be infuriating if you forget it is turned on. This button makes
you fully encase the object you want to select. If it's not fully
inside of your selection area, it will not be selected. Most of
the time, you'll want this button to be off. It's quite annoying
if you forget it's on and you can't figure out why Max won't
select the objects.
Note:
A little notch in the lower right-hand corner of any 3ds
Max button indicates that you can click and pull down or
to the right. This allows you to change the type of button it
is. Keep this in mind with all sections of 3ds Max.
Moving, Rotating, and Scaling Using Gizmos
Moving on down the main toolbar we have Move, Rotate, and
Scale tools and a very cute little drop-down box. Selecting an
object and clicking on a tool such as Move places an axis
gizmo at the pivot of your object.
The axis gizmo is a wonderful thing! This gizmo is what
you will use to move, rotate, and scale everything in three
dimensions. Unless you turn it off, the axis gizmo is always
displayed when using the move, rotate, or scale functions.
Of course you must have something to move before you
can use the Move tool, so let's create a box in the Perspective
viewport. After creating the box, click the Move tool to acti-
vate it.
Figure 2-22:
The Move tool
