Create panel > Geometry button > Extended Primitives > Object Type rollout > RingWave button
Create menu > Extended Primitives > RingWave
Use the RingWave object to create a ring, optionally with irregular inner and outer edges.
Use these settings to change the ringwave's basic parameters.
Radius—Sets the outside radius of the ringwave.
Radial Segs—Sets the segment count between the inner and outer surfaces in the direction of the radius.
Ring Width—Sets the mean ring width as measured inward from the outer radius.
Sides—Sets the number of segments in the circumferential direction for both the inner, outer, and end (cap) surfaces.
Height—Sets the height of the ringwave along its major axis.
Tip: If you leave the Height at 0, you will want to apply a two-sided material so that the ring can be seen from both sides.
Height Segs—Sets the number of segments in the direction of the height.
Use these parameters to change the shape of the ringwave. The ringwave is evaluated as it would appear at frame 0 based on the parameter values.
No Growth—Creates a ringwave based on parameters in groups other than the Ringwave Timing group.
Grow and Stay—Evaluates the ringwave at frame 0 based on the Start Time and Grow Time values. This setting has an effect on the ringwave's shape only if Start Time is a negative frame number, and the Grow Time causes the ringwave to still be “growing” at frame 0. If Start Time is 0 or greater, turning on Grow and Stay will cause the ringwave to evaluate to nothing.
Cyclic Growth—Evaluates the ringwave at frame 0 based on cyclic growth. The ringwave is evaluated as if it were growing from the Start Time over the period of frames specified by Grow Time, then repeating the growth from until the End Time is reached.
Start Time—The frame number where the ringwave starts “growing” when Grow and Stay or Cyclic Growth is turned on. If this value is 0 or larger and Grow and Stay or Cyclic Growth is turned on, the ringwave will evaluate to nothing.
Grow Time—The number of frames after Start Time the ringwave takes to reach full size. Grow Time has an effect only if Grow and Stay or Cyclic Growth is chosen.
End Time—The frame number after which the ringwave disappears. When this value is a negative number, the ringwave evaluates to nothing.
Use these settings to change the shape of the ringwave's outer edge.
On—Turns on breakup of the outer edge. The remaining parameters in this group are active only when this is on. Default=off.
Major Cycles—Sets the number of major waves around the outer edge. This parameter has an effect only when Width Flux is greater than 0.
Width Flux—Sets the size of the major waves, expressed as a percentage of the unmodulated width.
Crawl Time—Sets the number of frames each major wave takes to move around the outer circumference of the RingWave. This parameter is used for animation of the ringwave, which is not available in Autodesk VIZ.
Minor Cycles—Sets the number of random-sized smaller waves in each major cycle. This parameter has an effect only when Width Flux is greater than 0.
Width Flux—Sets the average size of the smaller waves, expressed as a percentage of the unmodulated width.
Crawl Time—Sets the number of frames each minor wave takes to move across its respective major wave. This parameter is used for animation of the ringwave, which is not available in Autodesk VIZ.
Use these settings to change the shape of the ringwave's inner edge.
On—Turns on the breakup of the inner edge. The remaining parameters in this group are active only when this is on. Default=on.
Major Cycles—Sets the number of major waves around the inner edge. This parameter has an effect only when Width Flux is greater than 0.
Width Flux—Sets the size of the major waves, expressed as a percentage of the unmodulated width.
Crawl Time—Sets the number of frames each major wave takes to move around the inner circumference of the RingWave. This parameter is used for animation of the ringwave, which is not available in Autodesk VIZ.
Minor Cycles—Sets the number of random-sized smaller waves in each major cycle. This parameter has an effect only when Width Flux is greater than 0.
Width Flux—Sets the average size of the smaller waves, expressed as a percentage of the unmodulated width.
Crawl Time—Sets the number of frames each minor wave takes to move across its respective major wave. This parameter is used for animation of the ringwave, which is not available in Autodesk VIZ.
Tip: To produce the best "random" results, use prime numbers for major and minor cycles that differ by a multiple of two to four. For example, a major wave of 11 or 17 cycles using a width flux of 50 combined with a minor wave of 23 or 31 cycles with a width flux of 10 to 20 makes a nice random-appearing edge.