Editable Mesh Modifier (Object)

Reference

Attach: Attaches the selected mesh to another mesh in the scene. The object you’re attaching to must also be a mesh.hen you attach an object, the materials of the two objects are combined in the following way:

• If the object being attached does not have a material assigned to it, it inherits the material of the object it is being attached to.
• Likewise if the object you're attaching to doesn't have a material, it inherits the material of the object being attached.
• If both objects have materials, the resulting new material is a multi/subobject material that encompasses the two input materials.

Attach Multiple: In 3DS Max 1.x, when you attached objects that had been assigned multi/subobject materials, you could get into situations in which the resultant multi/subobject material might have duplicate submaterials, or the face-level material assignments might even shift. Now, when you perform this type of attachment, a dialog appears offering three methods of combining the submaterials and the material IDs in the two objects.

The Attach Options dialog provides the following controls:

Match Material IDs to Material: The number of material IDs in the attached objects are modified so they’re no greater in number than the number of submaterials assigned those objects. For example, if you have a box with only two submaterials assigned to it, and you attach it to another object, the box will have only two material IDs, instead of the six it was assigned on creation. (See also the Condense Material ID’s checkbox, below.)

Match Material to Material IDs: Maintains the original ID assignment in the attached objects by adjusting the number of submaterials in the resultant multi/sub-object material. As an example, if you attach two boxes, both assigned single materials, but with their default assignment of 6 material IDs, the result would be a multi/sub-object material with 12 submaterialssix containing instances of one box’s material, and six containing instances of the other box’s material. Use this option when it’s important to maintain the original material ID assignments in your geometry.

Note: If you want to make the instanced submaterials unique, select them in the Track View, and click the Make Unique button in the Track View toolbar.

Do Not Modify Mat IDs or Material: This works as 3DS Max 1.x did. Note that, if the number of material IDs in an object are greater than the number of submaterials in its multi/subobject material, then the resultant face-material assignment might be different after the Attach.

Condense Material IDs: This only affects the Match Material IDs to Material option. When this is checked, duplicate submaterials or submaterials that aren’t used in the objects are removed from the multi/sub-object material that results from the Attach operation.

Warning: The warning message states that the Attach might not be completely undoable. This is because material and material ID assignment is not, generally, undoable. It depends on the material assignments to the objects, and the state of the Condense Material IDs checkbox.

• If no materials are assigned to the object (other than their default object colors), the Attach operation is completely undoable.
• If materials are assigned to the objects, but Condense is unchecked, you can partially undo the Attach. The attached object will be detached, but the original object will now have a Multi/Sub-Object material containing both its original material along with an instance of the previously attached object’s material.
• If materials are assigned to the objects and Condense is checked, you can partially undo the operation. In this case, the attachment remains between the two objects, but a copy is created of the attached object. For example, if you attach Object B to Object A, and then Undo, you’ll now have two objects. One will consist of the original Object A and Object B, and the other will be a copy of the Object B.

Generally, when using Attach, we recommend the following:

• In most cases, use the first option (Match Material IDs to Material) while keeping Condense Material IDs checked. This will maintain the appearance of the objects, and result in the fewest additional submaterials or IDs. Perhaps the only reason you would not use this option is if you needed to maintain the original ID assignments.
• Use the second option (Match Material to Material IDs) only when you need to maintain the original material ID assignments.
• Avoid using the third option, unless you need to repeat an R1 attachment for compatibility with a previous project.
• Leave Condense Material IDs checked, unless you have an, as yet, unassigned submaterial that you want to keep for future assignment.
• Perform an Edit/Hold before performing the Attach, and then you won’t have to worry about Undo.

Note: These options are not available when performing an Attach from the Edit Mesh modifier. In this case, the original R1 method is used.