INSIDE 3DS MAX® 7 [Electronic resources]

Adobe Creative Team

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  • Bridge

    The Bridge feature, available from the Edit Borders rollout, allows you to create a joined extrusion from two border selections. Bridge will create a smoother transition if the two border selections share the same edge count and have a similar shape, even if the number of edges on each border is not the same. Make a bridge between two borders that do not share the same number of edges, however, and Bridge creates three-sided polygons to make up the difference; the results can be unpredictable.

    How can you use Bridge? Here's an example: You can model a hand separate from the upper arm and extrude a bridge to form the forearm. Add segments to the length to taper the bridge (Figures 2.5 and 2.6). The Taper function sets the degree to which the bridge cross-section becomes narrower or wider.

    Figure 2.5. The gap between the forearm and upper arm is an ideal place to use Bridge.

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    Figure 2.6. Three segments are created on the polygon bridge between the selected borders. Taper controls the width of the bridge.

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    Tip

    Unfortunately, the Smooth control for the bridge will not automatically blend with the original model on the border. To manually smooth the border with the bridge, make an Edge selection, convert it to a Polygon selection, and smooth those polygons. Holding the Control key and clicking the Polygon button within the Selection rollout will convert the Edge selection to a Polygon selection.

    Building a Bridge

    Let's explore how to construct a bridge. In this example, we'll create a bridge through the interior of a box.

    1.

    Open the file named Bridge interior start.max from this book's companion DVD. The scene opens with an object with two holes in it. Since a border is a selection of open edges, this object has two borders, which you will bridge through the middle.

    Note

    When you open a tutorial file, you might get a warning if the Unit Scale does not match. You should always choose to adopt the file's Unit Scale just in case the units are an important factor within any particular tutorial.

    2.

    Select the object, then access the Modify panel.

    3.

    Press Control-A to select all borders.

    4.

    Within the Edit Borders rollout, click the Settings box for Bridge. Within the Bridge dialog, select Use Border Selection, and set Segments to 4 and Taper to 2.0 (Figure 2.7).

    Figure 2.7. An interior bridge is created between the two borders.

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    The more segments used for the bridge, the more round the curve of the taper will be. The negative Taper value causes the bridge to form a convex curve as it extrudes into the hole.

    Open the file Bridge interior finish.max to check the result.