Slice your polygons.

Or adjust the clipping plane on the camera.

The former will allow you to cap the edges, the latter will require some photoshop work as it's not actually an operation on the geometry, just a camera effect.

.mm

select the polygons then open the modifier list menu, find the word "slice" ,adjust the slicing plane then remove the ttop or the bottom of the plane
voila..........

i tried using the slice command, but it seems to cut only in plan, how do i get it to cut a section?
thanks

i tried using the slice command, but it seems to cut only in plan, how do i get it to cut a section?
thanks

Go to the sub-object of the slice plan modifier, which I believe to be titled "slice plane" once you right click in the viewport. This will allow you to be able to rotate the slice plane at whatever angle you would like. Another alternative would be to go to the modify tab and click the plus sign next to "slice", which will allow you to do the same thing.

in order for the slice thing to work, i would recomend grouping your whole model.

clipping planes with cameras seem to work the best in my experience.

i would also recomend using the 'section' tool
you can cut a section with that and it creates an outline of all things being cut, you can then extrude that and cut right through with slice or cameras... you can get some beautiful sections with that tool

3ds max really needs a sketch-up style section tool.
slice command is close

thanks for the responses.. but how do i highlight the cut section? ie, the slabs which are cut, like a hatch in autocad or the solid red which indicates the cut section in sketch up. Also, i can't find this section tool.

magpie,
in the primatives where you can draw lines or rectangles, there is a selection called section

pick it, then line it up where you cut your section with slice or camera clipping planes

it will create a line that you can then add thickness
you can pick whatever color you want ( i always like yellow or red)
also, the section tool creates an independent form, so its great for diagraming and what not

lletdowl,
sorry to sound like such an idiot, but after using the section command and getting that red line on the object, do i use the slice command? will it automatically align with the section line or do i have to align it? ie, is the section command used before or after the slice command? and what do you mean by independent form?

thanks

To close or hatch the polygons of an object:
use "cap holes" or for a more accurate approach, I usually will just draw a new face on using the sub object of the polygon, thus creating the new face. You can then apply another material or hatch pattern upon the surface. I have had very poor sucess with grouping the model and then slicing everything at once. 3ds usually seems to prefer it when I convert all objects to editable polygons, select the objects that I wish to slice, and apply the modifier.

what if i dont use polygons... i use surfaces which have been given thickness by the shell command

I would probably, at the point where you are ready to create a section, save the geometry that is "shelled" and create a new file called "aaaaaaaa_section cut" or something to that degree so that the original geometry is still in tact. Convert your geometry to an editable poly and section away.