Shapes

Create panel > Shapes

Create menu > Shapes

3ds max includes the following shape types:

includes the spline shape type. In addition to the Create menu, six shapes are available from two flyouts on the Toolbox.

Using Shapes

Shapes are 2D and 3D lines and groups of lines that you typically use as components of other objects. Most of the default shapes are made from splines. You use these spline shapes to do the following:

Generate planar and thin 3D surfaces
Define loft components such as paths, shapes, and fit curves
Generate surfaces of revolution
Generate extrusions
Define motion paths

The program supplies 11 basic spline shape objects, plus two types of NURBS curves. You can quickly create these shapes using mouse or keyboard entry and combine them to form compound shapes. See Splines for information about the methods and parameters used to create these shapes.

Renderable Shapes

You can render shapes without lofting them first. There are three basic steps to rendering a shape:

Turn on the Renderable check box in the Rendering rollout of the shape's creation parameters.
Specify the thickness for the spline using the Thickness spinner in the Rendering rollout.
Turn on Generate Mapping Coords if you plan on assigning a mapped material to the spline.

When Renderable is on, the shape is rendered using a circle as a cross section. Mapping coordinates are generated with U mapped once around the perimeter, and V mapped once along the length.

3ds max provides more control over renderable shapes; viewports, including wireframe viewports, can display the geometry of renderable shapes. The rendering parameters for shapes appear in their own rollout.

The Steps settings affect the number of cross sections in the renderable shape.

Please observe the following:

When you apply a modifier that converts a shape into a mesh (such as Extrude or Lathe), the object automatically becomes renderable, regardless of the state of the Renderable check box. You need to turn on the Renderable check box only when you want to render an unmodified spline shape in the scene.
The Object Properties dialog also has a Renderable check box, which is turned on by default. Both this check box and the General rollout > Renderable check box must be turned on in order to render a shape. The check box in the Object Properties dialog takes precedence: If the Object Properties > Renderable check box is turned off and the General rollout > Renderable check box is turned on, the shape doesn't render.

Shapes as Planar Objects

A straightforward usage for shapes is 2D cutouts or planar objects. Examples include ground planes, text for signs, and cutout billboards. You create a planar object by applying an Edit Mesh modifier to a closed shape, or by converting it to an editable mesh object.

2D objects

You can also apply an Edit Mesh modifier to a 3D shape (for example, a shape whose vertices have been moved vertically away from the construction plane by different amounts) to create a curved surface. The resulting 3D surface often requires manual editing of faces and edges to smooth surface ridges.

Extruded and Lathed Shapes

You can apply modifiers to a shape to create a 3D object. Two of these modifiers are Extrude and Lathe. Extrude creates a 3D object by adding height to a shape. Lathe creates a 3D object by rotating a shape about an axis.

Initial text shape with extruded shape below

Lathed object with initial shape on right

Lofting Shapes

You create Lofts by combining two or more splines in special ways. Shapes form the lofting path, loft cross-sections, and loft fit curves.

Shapes as Animation Paths

You can use shapes to define the position of an animated object. You create a shape and use it to define a path that some other object follows.

Some possible ways for a shape to control animated position are:

You can use a Path constraint to use a shape to control object motion.
You can convert a shape into position keys using the Motion panel > Trajectories > Convert From function (see Trajectories).
A sphere follows a shape.

Creating Shapes

As you add plug-ins, other shape categories might appear in this list.

The Object Type rollout contains the spline creation buttons. You can combine one or more of these spline types into a single shape.

Create Shape from Edges

You can create shapes from edge selections in mesh objects. In Edit/Editable Mesh objects, at the Edge selection level, in the Edit Geometry rollout, is a button called Create Shape from Edges that creates a spline shape based on selected edges. See Editable Mesh (Edge). Similarly, with Editable Poly objects, you can use the Create Shape button at the Edge selection level. See Editable Poly (Edge)

Editable Splines

You can convert a basic spline to an editable spline object. The editable spline has a variety of controls that let you directly manipulate it and its sub-objects. For example, at the Vertex sub-object level you can move vertices or adjust their Bezier handles. Editable splines let you create shapes that are less regular, more free-form than the basic spline options.

When you convert a spline to an editable spline, you lose the ability to adjust or animate its creation parameters.