Spiral Stair

Open—Creates an open riser stair, as shown on the left of the illustration above.

Closed—Creates a closed riser stair, as shown in the center of the illustration above.

Box—Creates a stair with closed risers and closed stringers on both sides, as shown on the right of the illustration above.

Stringers—Creates stringers along the ends of the treads of the stairs. To modify the stringers’ depth, width, offset and spring from the floor, see Stringers rollout.

Carriage—Creates an inclined, notched beam under the treads which supports the steps or adds support between the stringers of the stairs. You might also know this as a carriage piece, a horse, or a rough string. See Carriage rollout to modify the parameters.

Center Pole—Creates a pole at the center of the spiral. See Center Pole rollout to modify the parameters of the pole.

Handrail—Creates inside and outside handrails. See Railings rollout to modify the handrails’ height, offset, number of segments, and radius.

Rail Path—Creates inside and outside paths which you can use to install railings on the stairs. See Stairs for the instructions on how to do this.

CCW—Orients the spiral stairs to be a right-hand flight of stairs.

CW—Orients the spiral stairs to be a left-hand flight of stairs.

Radius—Controls the size of the radius of the spiral.

Revs—Controls the number of revolutions in the spiral.

Width—Controls the width of the spiral stairs.

3ds Max keeps one Rise option locked while you adjust the other two. To lock an option, click a pushpin button. To unlock an option, click a raised pushpin. 3ds Max locks the spinner value of the parameter with the depressed pushpin and allows the spinner values of the parameter with the raised pushpins to change.

Overall—Controls the height of the flight of stairs.

Riser Ht—Controls the height of the risers.

Riser Ct—Controls the number of risers. There will always be one more riser than steps. This implied riser is between the top step of the stair and the upper floor.

Thickness—Controls the thickness of the steps.

Depth—Controls the depth of the steps.

Segs—Controls the number of segments 3ds Max uses to construct the steps.

Generate Mapping Coords—Applies default mapping coordinates to the stairs.

Note: If a visible viewport is set to a non-wireframe or non-bounding-box display, Generate Mapping Coordinates is on for all primitives to which you apply a material containing a map with Show Map In Viewport on. If all viewports are set to wireframe or bounding box, 3ds Max turns on Generate Mapping Coordinates for primitives containing mapped materials at render time.

Real-World Map Size—Controls the scaling method used for texture mapped materials that are applied to the object. The scaling values are controlled by the Use Real-World Scale settings found in the applied material's Coordinates rollout. Default=off.

These controls are available only when you turn on Stringers on the Parameters rollout > Generate Geometry group.

Depth—Controls how far down the stringers reach toward the floor.

Width—Controls the width of the stringers.

Offset—Controls the vertical distance of the stringers from the floor.

Spring from Floor—Controls whether the stringer starts at the floor, flush with the start of the first riser, or if the stringer extends below the floor. You control the amount the stringer extends below the floor with the Offset option.

These controls are available only when you turn on Carriage on the Parameters rollout > Generate Geometry group.

Depth—Controls how far down the carriage reaches toward the floor.

Width—Controls the width of the carriage.

Carriage Spacing—Sets the spacing of the carriage. When you pick this button, the Carriage Spacing dialog displays. Specify the number of carriages you want using the Count option. For more information on spacing options in this dialog, see Spacing Tool.

Spring from Floor—Controls whether the carriage starts at the floor, flush with the start of the first riser, or if the carriage extends below the floor. You control the amount the carriage extends below the floor with the Offset option.

These controls are available only when you turn on Center Pole on the Parameters rollout > Generate Geometry group.

Radius—Controls the radius size of the center pole.

Segments—Controls the number of segments in the center pole. Higher values display a smoother pole.

Height—The spinner controls the height of the center pole. Turning on Height lets you adjust the height of the pole independently of the stairs. Turning off Height makes the spinner unavailable and locks the top of the pole to the top of the implied last riser. Typically, this riser would attach to the fascia of a landing.

These controls are available only when you turn on one or more of the Handrail or Rail Path options on the Parameters rollout > Generate Geometry group. Also, Segments and Radius aren't available if neither of the Handrail options is on.

Height—Controls the height of the railings from the steps.

Offset—Controls the offset of the railings from the ends of the steps.

Segments—Controls the number of segments in the railings. Higher values display smoother railings.

Radius—Controls the thickness of the railings.