PDA

View Full Version : Help With 3Dsmax snap toggle

nedgin
02-05-2009, 02:03 AM
HI,
I am begainner user for 3D studio max,
before i start asking question, I would like to say thank you for all the people who is reading this Thread,

ok, my question ,

well I was watching few DVD tutorials from The Gnomon workshop, about building enviorment in 3D studio max, which is really great tutorial, but forgot to explain one thing (well least I think he forgot lol) about the snap tool.

Well usually when I think about the snap tool, It moving one vertex to the same postion as other vertex,

but in this tutorial,

http://i276.photobucket.com/albums/kk20/aswexran/snap.jpg
the instructor was able to make a polygon A to C

usually I thought without process of B, you cant go to C

So can anybody help me to answer this question,

once again thank you so much for taking time to read my thread,
Mr. D
02-05-2009, 11:35 PM
Hello

Snapping just means snapping what you've got selected to the location of something else. Does not just imply snapping vertices.
To setup different items/properties you might wish to snap to goto the top menu bar> right click Angle Snap Toggle icon> be sure Snaps tab is selected to see a list of items you can snap to.

Mr. D
gruhn
02-06-2009, 06:23 AM
The idea behind what was done was "snap vertex P to vertex Q, but only use the y value from Q". This kind of... partial snapping can be quite handy for making "this thing be even with that thing"

Turn on snaps. (magnet with 3)

Turn on Axis Constraints. (magnet with XY). You may need to turn on the axis constraints toolbar; right click in blank area of toolbars to get menu of available toolbars. Click "Axis Constraints." New toolbar shows up, has MagnetXY button.)

For the example you showed, you want the vertex to move in the Y direction, so turn on the Y button on the constraints toolbar.

Select move tool.

Click and drag the vertex you want from where it is to the vertex you want to snap it to. It should move along only the Y even though you move the mouse over to the side as well. When you get to the destination vertex, let go.

Sometimes if you click the vertex to select it then click again to move it you hit the yellow move gizmo and change the constraint to something you don't want. You can hit X on the keyboard to toggle the gizmo out of your way if it's bugging you.
Seraph135
02-06-2009, 05:52 PM
gruhn is correct. That is how I was using snaps on that dvd.

I always use 3d snap. I also have keyboard shortcuts to toggle snapping on/off, toggle axis constraints on/off, and also keys for constraining only to X, Y or Z.

One tip that I use all the time is before you move a vert (or anything) turn snapping off. Start moving the vert/object and then turn snapping back on with your keyboard shortcut while moving it. This will force max to use the exact pivot of your selection so that when you snap it to something else you can be totally sure its perfectly lined up. If you have snap turned on the whole time you run the risk of max thinking your snapped to something else close by and then the accuracy of the end result gets messed up.

Tim J
nedgin
03-08-2009, 12:43 AM
Thank you so much for the all the great replys,
it really helped me understand about the snap tool :)
CGTalk Moderation
03-08-2009, 12:44 AM
This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.