Cylinder Primitive

Cylinder produces a cylinder, which you can "slice" around its major axis.

• Create panel > (Geometry) > Standard Primitives > Object Type rollout > Cylinder button
• Standard menu: Create menu > Standard Primitives > Cylinder
• Enhanced menu: Objects menu > Primitives > Cylinder

Examples of cylinders

Procedures

To create a cylinder:

1. On the Create panel, choose Standard Primitives Cylinder.
2. In any viewport, drag to define the radius of the base, then release to set the radius.
3. Move up or down to define a height, either positive or negative.
4. Click to set the height and create the cylinder.

Interface

Creation Method rollout

Edge

Draws a cylinder from edge to edge. You can change the center location by moving the mouse.

Center

Draws a cylinder from the center out.

Parameters rollout

The defaults produce a smooth cylinder of 18 sides with the pivot point at the center of the base. There are five height segments and one cap segment. If you don't plan to modify the cylinder's shape, such as with a Bend modifier, set Height Segments to 1 to reduce scene complexity. If you plan to modify the ends of the cylinder, consider increasing the Cap Segments setting.

Radius

Sets the radius of the cylinder.

Height

Sets the dimension along the central axis. Negative values create the cylinder below the construction plane.

Height Segments

Sets the number of divisions along the cylinder's major axis.

Cap Segments

Sets the number of concentric divisions around the center of the cylinder's top and bottom.

Sides

Sets the number of sides around the cylinder. With Smooth on, higher numbers shade and render as true circles. With Smooth off, lower numbers create regular polygonal objects.

Smooth

The faces of the cylinder are blended together, creating a smooth appearance in rendered views.

Slice On

Enables the Slice function. Default=off.

When you create a slice and then turn off Slice On, the complete cylinder reappears. You can use this checkbox to switch between the two topologies.

Slice From, Slice To

Sets the number of degrees around the local Z axis from a zero point at the local X axis.

For both settings, positive values move the end of the slice counterclockwise; negative values move it clockwise. Either setting can be made first. When the ends meet, the whole cylinder reappears.

Generate Mapping Coords

Generates coordinates for applying mapped materials to the cylinder. Default=on.

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.