Primitive Objects

Max has a big list of default geometric objects called primitives. You can create primitives in the scene by simply selecting the correct option and click-dragging in the viewport.

Create Menu

The Create menu offers quick access to the buttons in the Create panel. All the objects that you create using the Create panel can be accessed using the Create menu.

Selecting an object from the Create menu automatically opens the Create panel. After selecting the menu option, you simply need to click in one of the viewports to create the object.

Create Panel

The creation of all default Max objects, such as primitive spheres, shapes, lights, and cameras, starts with the Create panel (or the Create menu, which leads to the Create panel). This panel is the first in the Command Panel, indicated by an icon of an arrow pointing to a star.

Figure 3-1: Create Panel

The Create panel includes both categories and subcategories. After you click on the Create tab in the Command Panel, seven category icons are displayed. They are Geometry, Shapes, Lights, Cameras, Helpers, Space Warps, and Systems from left to right.

The Create panel is the place you go to create objects for the scene. These objects could be geometric objects like spheres, cones, and boxes or other objects like lights, cameras, or Space Warps.

The Create panel contains a large variety of objects. To create an object, you simply need to find the button for the object that you want to create, click it, click on one of the viewports and the object is created.

After you select the Geometry button (which has an icon of a sphere on it), a dropdown list with several subcategories appears directly below the category icons. The first available subcategory is Standard Primitives. After you select this subcategory, several text buttons appear that enable you to create some simple primitive objects.

Creating a Sphere Primitive

To create a Sphere Primitive, click on the Button labeled Sphere. Several rollouts appear at the bottom of the Command Panel. These rollouts for the Sphere primitive object include: Name and Color, Creation Method, Keyboard Entry, and Parameters. The rollouts for each primitive are slightly different, as well as the parameters within each rollout.

Do not change the settings in the rollouts to draw the sphere with default settings. Click and drag anywhere in one of the viewports and the sphere object is created.

When an object button, such as the Sphere button, is selected, it turns dark yellow. This color change reminds you that you are in creation mode. Clicking and dragging within any viewport creates an additional sphere.

While in the creation mode, you can create many spheres by clicking and dragging several times in one of the viewports. To get out of creation mode, rightclick on the active viewport and click the Select Object button or one of the transform buttons on the main toolbar.

After you select a button, several additional rollouts appear. These new rollouts hold the parameters for the selected object and are displayed in the Create panel below the Name and Color rollout. Altering these parameters changes the object. The button remains selected, allowing you to create more objects until you select a different button, click on a toolbar button, or right-click on the active viewport.

Figure 3-2: Creating a Sphere primitive

Renaming Objects

Each object in the scene is given a default name when first created. The default name is the type of object followed by a number. For example, when you create a sphere object, Max labels it “Sphere01.”

Object’s name can be changed anytime by modifying the Name field in the Command Panel.

If you want to re-name several objects at once, you can do so by choosing

“Tools>Rename” menu command. This opens a dialog box that lets you change the object name of several objects at once.

The Rename Objects dialog box lets you set the Base Name along with a Prefix, a Suffix, or a number. These new names can be applied to the selected objects or to the specific objects that you pick from the Select Objects dialog box.

Figure 3-3: Rename Objects Dialog box

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