First you click on the create panel in 3D Studio MAX ( 3ds max ). Within the create panel clicked on the tab shapes. Click on the button Line. Now the line tool is active. You need to draw a curve, having the shape of the figure shown to the right. Begin by clicking inside the top viewport. You'll see that clicking inside the top viewport in 3D Studio MAX ( 3ds max ) has started the line, with an initial points set. Now when you move the mouse, you will see that the line continues and bends to catch up with the mouse. Now you make a second click at a point shown in the figure to the right. But don't release the mouse after the click. And while clicking and holding, when you move the mouse, you will see that the line, bends at that point.

When you are satisfied with the curve, proceed by clicking the next points in the sequence as shown in the figures. During each click, don't forget to hold the mouse, and move it slightly so that instead of a straight line, a smooth curve is obtained in 3D Studio MAX ( 3ds max ). Don't worry about the shape of the figure, since we have the provision for editing it at any later time. After clicking all the intermediate points, when you reach back at the point where you started, click on that initial point again to close the figure. A dialog box appears asking you whether you want to close the spline. Click yes.

Now that you have viewed the video, let us performed a few corrections to the shape of the line through the modify panel. With the line selected in the viewport in 3D Studio MAX ( 3ds max ), go to the modify panel. Click on the modifier list, and from the list, choose Edit Spline. This applies a new modifier called Edit Spline to our line. This modifier, in fact, helps us to edit the line in a vertex level.

You can add in a number of modifier to a selected object, and all of them gets stacked up in the modifier list. Just have a look at the modifier list, and you'll see that the modifier Edit spline is listed along with the line in the modifier stack. Now click on the small plus symbol to the left of Edit spline in the list. Now you see the sub components of our line that can be edited by using the modifier. Click on Vertex.

Now, when you look at the viewpor in 3D Studio MAX ( 3ds max ), you will see that, all the vertices of our line are displayed. Now you can click on any of the vertices and move it using the move tool. Click on any one of the vertices. You will see that the selected vertex will have a tangent, extending from it. You can change the shape of the curve at that point, by simply changing the direction of the tangent using its handles. You can also reposition the points, if you need, by using the move tool.

Tip: Instead of expanding the Edit Spline in the Modifier List, and clicking on the Vertex from it to activate vertex-level editing, you can click on the Vertex icon from the Modify Panel itself while the Edit Spline is selected from the stack, as shown in the figure on the right.