Now you will use many
of the techniques from the previous lesson to create an upper cabinet.
Set up the lesson:
- Continue working from the previous section,
or open kitcab_1.max.
Create the upper left cabinet board:
- In the viewport, select the base cabinet
and on the Modify panel, rename the
object LoCab_18.
- On the Create panel, click (Geometry), then on the
Object Type rollout, click Box.
- In a viewport, drag out a box of any
size.
Referring to our diagram,
you can see that the length of the board you will specify in the
next step should be 11 3/4”.
The height for upper
cabinets of this design is variable, to account for the presence
of appliances, sinks, windows, and so on. In this case, the upper
cabinet will be installed on a wall with nothing between it and
the base cabinet, so you will give it a height of 39”. You will
specify this height as a negative value, so you can better position
the cabinet as part of the total 93” allowable space.
- Go to the Modify panel, and on the
Parameters rollout, set Length to 11.75, Width
to 0.75, and Height to –39.0.
Keep in mind that as
soon as you type in the values, 3ds Max Design converts the decimal
portions to multiples of 1/32”.
NoteIt might seem odd
to use a negative height for the board. The top of kitchen cabinets
is always a fixed height of 84 inches or 93 inches (93 inches in
the case of this model). The lower portion can vary in increments
of 3 inches, as we mentioned before, so it makes sense to measure
the upper cabinet from the top down.
- On the main toolbar, click (Select And Move), then set
the Z transform value to 93.0.
The top of the box is
now above the base cabinet at the proper height.
- Click (Zoom Extents).
Now you need to align
the box with the left side of the lower cabinet.
- On the main toolbar, click (Align), then in the viewport,
click the lower cabinet.
- In the Align Selection dialog Align Position (World)
group, make sure X Position is on and Y Position and Z Position
are off. In the Current Object group, choose Minimum and in the
Target Object choose Minimum, then click Apply.
- Turn on Y Position and in the Current
Object group and Target Object group, choose Maximum, then click
OK.
Add polygon edges:
- In the viewport, right-click the box
and from the Transform (lower-right) quadrant choose Convert To Convert To Editable
Poly.
- On the ribbon Polygon Modeling panel, turn on (Edge).
- On the ribbon Edit panel, click (Swift Loop) to turn it
on.
A green virtual loop
will now display as you position your cursor near an edge, to help
you visualize loop placement.
- In the viewport, click a vertical polygon
edge.
3ds Max Design creates an
edge loop that is perpendicular to the edge you clicked.
- On the main toolbar, click (Select And Move), then set
the Z transform spinner to 92.25.
- On the Edit panel, click (Swift Loop) again.
- Click a vertical edge to place another
horizontal loop, using the green virtual loop as a guide.
- On the main toolbar, click (Select And Move), then set
the Z transform spinner to 54.75.
This value represents
the distance from the floor to the top of the board, (93”), less
the height of the board itself (39”), plus the width of the board
cut line you want to create (–0.75”).
- On the Edit panel, click (Swift Loop) again.
- Click a horizontal edge.
- On the main toolbar, click (Select And Move), then set
the Y transform spinner to –0.75.
This value represents
the cut line for the 0.75-inch back board you will soon create.
You now have all the
divisions required to build upon this cabinet component.
- On the ribbon Polygon Modeling panel, turn off (Edge) to exit sub-object
selection.
Create a second cabinet board:
- On the Edit menu, choose Clone. In the
Clone Options dialog Object
group, choose Copy, and then click OK.
- Move the cloned board on
its X axis slightly to the right.
- On the main toolbar, click (Align).
- In the viewport, click the lower cabinet.
In the Align Selection dialog Align
Position (World) group, make sure X Position is on and Y Position
and Z Position are off. In the Current Object group, choose Maximum,
and in the Target Object group, choose Maximum, then click OK.
- Select the upper left-hand
cabinet board (the original board), and on the ribbon Geometry panel, click (Attach), then click the
cloned board.
Create the top, bottom, and back boards:
- On the ribbon Polygon Modeling panel, click (Polygon).
- Click and Ctrl+click to select the polygons
that form the attachment points for the right-hand board.
- Orbit the view, then Ctrl+click
to select the corresponding polygons on the left panel.
- On the ribbon Polygons panel, click (Bridge).
3ds Max Design connects the
selected polygons.
- Press Shift+Z to
undo the orbit.
- Orbit a little more to get
a better view of the side of the cabinet.
- On the ribbon Polygon Modeling panel, click (Edge).
- On the ribbon Modify Selection panel, click (Loop Mode).
- One by one, select the loops shown in
the following illustrations, and on the ribbon Loops panel, Ctrl+click (Remove Loop) to remove
the loops and their vertices.
- Repeat the preceding step for the other
side of the cabinet.
- Click (Edge) again to exit the
Vertex sub-object level.
Create shelves:
- Orbit the scene until you
can see the front of the cabinet.
- On the Create panel, click (Geometry), then on the
Object Type rollout, click Box.
- In the viewport, drag out a box of any
size.
- In the Parameters rollout, set Width
to 16 3/8.
Like the shelf you created
for the base cabinet, this value represents the full width of the
cabinet (18 inches), less a 3/4 inch width of each side board, less
another 1/8 inch space to provide room to remove the shelf, if needed.
Set Length to 10.5,
which will be the depth of the shelf, and Height to 0.75, which
is the thickness of the cabinet boards.
- On the main toolbar, click (Align), then in the viewport,
click the upper cabinet.
- In the Align Selection dialog Align Position (World)
group, turn on X Position, Y Position, and Z Position, and in the
Current Object and Target Object groups, choose Center, then click OK.
- Move the shelf on its Y
axis until it touches the backboard. This adjustment is easiest
in the Top viewport.
- Shift+move
the shelf upward on its Z axis, and in the Clone Options dialog Objects group, make
sure Copy is on, then click OK.
- Adjust the height of the
two shelves until they are spaced apart equally.
- Select the cabinet.
- On the ribbon Polygon Modeling panel, click Modify Mode
to turn it on. On the Geometry panel, click (Attach), then click the
two shelves.
- Right-click to turn off the Attach tool.
Next, you will assign
material IDs to the polygons so they can receive different sub-materials.
Assign Material IDs:
- On the main toolbar, click (Material Editor) to open the
Compact Material Editor.
- Click the top-left sample slot to make
it active. The material in this slot is named Cabinets.
- Drag from the Cabinets sample
slot and release the mouse over the upper cabinet to apply this
material.
Dragging and dropping
is an alternative way of applying materials.
- Close the Compact Material
Editor.
- On the ribbon Polygon Selection panel, activate (Polygon).
- Press Ctrl+A to
select all the polygons in the upper cabinet.
- On the ribbon Properties panel drop-down portion, click (MatIDs).
- On the Set ID dialog, type 1 in
the Set ID field, then press Enter.
- Close the Set ID dialog.
- In the viewport, click and Ctrl+click to select the polygons
that face forward, as shown in the next illustration.
- On the Properties panel drop-down portion, click (MatIDs) once more, and
on the Set ID dialog, type 2 in the Set
ID field, then press Enter.
- Close the Set ID dialog.
- Click an empty part of the viewport to
deselect the polygons.
- On the ribbon Polygon Selection panel, click (Polygon) to exit the Polygon
sub-object level.
Adjust the pivot:
Finally, modify the upper
cabinet so that its local coordinates, represented by its pivot
point, are the same as those of the lower cabinet. This way, the
next time you want to place the upper cabinet in the scene, it will be
positioned at the correct height in relation to the floor and in
line with the lower cabinet.
- Go to the Hierarchy panel, and in
the Adjust Pivot rollout Move/Rotate/Scale
group, click to turn on Affect Pivot Only.
- On the main toolbar, click (Align), then click the lower
cabinet.
- In the Align Selection dialog Align Position (World)
group, turn on X Position, Y Position, and Z Position and in the
Current Object and Target Object groups, choose Pivot Point, then click
OK.
- On the Hierarchy panel Adjust Pivot rollout Move/Rotate/Scale group,
click to turn off Affect Pivot Only.
- Select the upper cabinet
and on the Modify panel, rename the
object HiCab_18_39.
Save your work:
- Save your scene as my_kitcab_2.max.