GeoSphere

Create panel > Geometry button > Standard Primitives > Object Type rollout > GeoSphere button

Create menu > Standard Primitives > GeoSphere

Tab panels > Objects tab > GeoSphere Object

Use GeoSphere to make spheres and hemispheres based on three classes of regular polyhedrons.

Examples of geospheres

Geospheres produce a more regular surface than standard spheres. They also render with a slightly smoother profile than a standard sphere given the same number of faces. Unlike a standard sphere, a geosphere has no poles, which can be an advantage when you apply certain modifiers such as Free Form Deformation (FFD) modifiers.

Procedures

To create a geosphere:

On the Create menu choose Standard Primitives > Geosphere.
In any viewport, drag to set the center and radius of the geosphere.
Set parameters such as Geodesic Base Type and Segments.

To create a geo-hemisphere:

Create a geosphere.
In the Parameters rollout, turn on the Hemisphere check box. The geosphere is converted to a hemisphere.

Interface

Creation Method rollout

Diameter—Draws a geosphere from edge to edge. You can change the center location by moving the mouse.

Center—Draws a geosphere from the center out.

Keyboard Entry rollout

See Creating Primitives from the Keyboard.

Parameters rollout

Radius—Sets the size of the geosphere.

Segments—Sets the total number of faces in the geosphere. The number of faces in a geosphere is equal to the sides of the base polyhedron times the segments squared.

Lower segment values work best. Using the maximum segment value of 200 can generate up to 800,000 faces, impairing performance.

Geodesic Base Type group

Lets you choose one of three types of regular polyhedrons for the geosphere's basic geometry.

Tetra—Based on a four-sided tetrahedron. The triangular facets can vary in shape and size. The sphere can be divided into four equal segments.
Octa—Based on an eight-sided octahedron. The triangular facets can vary in shape and size. The sphere can be divided into eight equal segments.
Icosa—Based on a 20-sided icosahedron. The facets are all equally sized equilateral triangles. The sphere can be divided into any number of equal segments, based on multiples and divisions of 20 faces.

Smooth—Applies smoothing groups to the surface of the sphere.

Hemisphere—Creates a half-sphere.

Base To Pivot—Sets the pivot point location. When on, the pivot is at the bottom of the sphere. When off, the pivot is at the center of the sphere. This option has no effect when Hemisphere is on.

Generate Mapping Coords—Applies default mapping coordinates to the geosphere.

Note: If a visible viewport is set to a non-wireframe or non-bounding-box display, Generate Mapping Coordinates is on for all primitives to which you apply a material containing a map with Show Map In Viewport on. If all viewports are set to wireframe or bounding box, 3ds max turns on Generate Mapping Coordinates for primitives containing mapped materials at render time.

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