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138 Chapter 4: Obj ect Properties
Label group
Label above tex t box—When off, the label
(parameter name) appears to the lef t of the text
box. When on, t he label appears above the text
box.
EditTextDefaultTextgroup
Default Tex t—Enteranydefaulttextthatshould
appear in the box before t he user edits it.
Te sting Attr ibute rollout
This rollout displays the UI layout for the custom
attribute that you are working on. It updates
continuously so that you can see how different
settings in the various rollouts affect the UI display
of the attribute.
The UI element is operational in this rollout in
the sense that it can be moved, clicked, toggled,
and s o on.
Par a meter Col lector
Animation men u > Parameter Collector
Keyboard > Alt+2
Parameter Collector lets you sort and present
animatable parameters so that you can access and
key selected parameter sets with a click or two. It
takes the form of a resizable dialog that regenerates
dynamically as parameters change. The dialog
supports drag-and-drop rollout reordering.
Collections are saved with their scenes and can b e
merged into other scenes.
One of Parameter Collector’s most powerful
features is the ability to change a ll parameters
in a collection simultaneously, in an absolute or
relative mode. For example, if you’re animating a
character’s hand, you can use Parameter C ollector
to easily ma ke a ll t he fingers curl up together to
form a fist.
Note: Parameter Collector does not support
parameters of externally referenced objects (page
3–394) or objects in externally referenced scenes
(page 3–407).
See also
Custom Attributes (page 1–129)
Attribute Holder Modifier (page 1–559)
Procedure
Example: To use Parameter Collector:
This exercise demonstrates some basic Parameter
Collector funct ions.
In general, st art with a scene containing one or
more objects whose parameters you’ll collect.
Ideally, they should be animated, but it’s not
absolutely necessary.
1. For this example, reset 3ds Max and then add a
sphere.
2. Open Parameter Collector from the Animation
menu, or press
Alt+2 .
3. On the Parameter Collector toolbar, click
the Add To New Rollout button.
The Track View Pick dialog opens. This lets you
specify p ar ameters to collect.
4. On the Track View Pick dialog, expan d
Objects > Sphere01 > Transform:
Position/Rotation/Scale > Position:
Position XYZ.
5. Click X Position: Bezier Float.
The parameter hig hlights.