Understanding the 3ds Max Interface reactor toolbars — are visible within the 3ds Max window. The Main toolbar docks at the top of the window, and the reactor toolbar docks on the left side of the window. However, you can dock or move any toolbar to any location within the window. If you prefer, you can also allow the toolbars to float within the window. Y TE RI A L ou can use the 3ds Max interface to access all of the features that create and modify objects and animations.
Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment chapter 1 PART I A Animation Playback Controls Allow you to review an animation in the viewports. You can play the entire animation, view individual frames, or jump to a specific frame. B Track Bar Displays keyframes for the selected object or objects. C Time Slider Indicates the current frame displayed in the viewports. You can move the Time Slider to change the current frame.
Navigate within the Interface Y needs. For example, you can create a custom toolbar with the commands and tools that you use most frequently and dock it where it is most convenient for your workflow. ou can customize the four different 3ds Max interface elements — toolbars, menus, panels, and viewports — to create a layout that matches your Viewports Viewports, located in the center of the 3ds Max window, help you construct your scenes by creating and animating objects.
Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment chapter 1 PART I 3ds Max Button Types 3ds Max has five basic button types: standard buttons, modal buttons, toggle buttons, flyout buttons, and drop-down lists that display on toolbars. You can create new toolbars and customize A Standard Button existing toolbars by adding and removing buttons through the Customize User Interface dialog box. See the section “Create a Custom Toolbar” for more information on working with toolbars.
Navigate within the Interface (Continued) T in both locations. Each has a tree structure for locating the appropriate tools. he Command panels and Menu bar contain the tools to create, animate, and display all possible objects in 3ds Max. You find most commands Command Panel You use the Command panel to create objects and specify parameters and settings for modeling and animation. The Command panel actually contains six separate panels: Create, Modify, Hierarchy, Motion, Display, and Utilities.
Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment A Pop-up Menu Contains options for customizing a feature’s appearance. For example, when you right-click a toolbar, a menu appears, displaying information such as a list of all visible toolbars, as well as whether the toolbar is docked or floating. A 1 3ds Max has two other types of menus: the pop-up menu and the quad menu. Pop-up menus appear when you right-click the toolbars, rollouts, and viewport titles.
Create a New Keyboard Shortcut want to perform and then specify the keyboard shortcut sequence. Y ou can create new keyboard shortcuts for commands and tools that you use often within 3ds Max. Keyboard shortcuts help you to save time when your projects require a lot of repetitive command combinations. You can make a keyboard shortcut active for the Main user interface (UI), or for a specific program context, such as the Material Editor.
chapter Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment In the Action list, click the command or tool for which you want to assign a keyboard shortcut. • 6 7 Press the keyboard sequence that you want. • 6 Click in the Hotkey field. • 8 • You can select a specific category in the Category field to display only a specific group of actions. 5 Extrude [Poly] The keys that you press appear in the Hotkey field. Click Assign.
Create a Custom Toolbar Y ou can create a new toolbar that contains a custom set of buttons for specific commands and tools that you often use in 3ds Max. This can streamline your work flow by reducing the time it takes to access tools that you may have buried in a flyout menu. You can also add any of the 3ds Max tools and commands to your toolbars and create buttons for custom MAXScript scripts.
Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment chapter 1 PART I The New Toolbar dialog box appears. 5 6 5 Type a name for your new toolbar. Click OK. 6 Add Buttons to a Toolbar • 7 In the Action list, click the tool or command that you want to add to your toolbar. • 8 9 3ds Max creates a toolbar with the name you specified. Drag the selection to the toolbar. Repeat steps 7 and 8 to add more buttons to the toolbar. 3ds Max adds the selected buttons to the toolbar.
Create a Custom Quad Menu Y ou can create custom quad menus that contain specific commands, tools, and menus that you frequently use in 3ds Max. Quad menus display when you right-click in a viewport or on an object, or when you press a specific keyboard shortcut. Quad menus are so named because they are menus that can contain up to four smaller menus, or quadrants. Each quadrant menu can have a separate label to identify the options in that menu.
chapter Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment 1 7 8 9 0 ! @ # 7 Click here and select the quad set menu. Click the quadrant where you want to place the command. 8 Type the quadrant name that you want in the Label field. Click an option from the Action list or a menu from the Menus list and drag it to the Quad Menu list above the End of Menu entry. 0 # Click in the Quad Shortcut field. Press the keyboard sequence that you want. @ Click the Show All Quads option ( changes to ).
Create a Custom Menu Y ou can create new custom menus that contain your preferred tools and commands. After creating a custom menu, you can add the menu to any of the system Menu bars, or to a specific quad menu. For example, you can create a custom menu that appears in the Main Menu bar. You can create new menus through the Menus panel of the Customize User Interface dialog box.
Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment chapter 1 7 8 9 Click here and select the menu that you just created. 7 -- End of Menu -- 8 Click and drag an option from the Action, Separator, or Menus list to the menu that you want to customize. Repeat steps 7 and 8 to add more menu items. • 3ds Max adds the selected options to the menu. How do I place my custom menu on the Main Menu bar? When you create a new menu, it appears in the Menus list in the Menus tab of the Customize User Interface dialog box.
Customize the Interface Colors Y ou can customize the appearance of your 3ds Max interface by customizing the colors of the different elements through the Colors panel of the Customize User Interface dialog box. This panel has two different lists: the Elements list and the Scheme list. The Elements list contains all of the elements within a specified user category, such as Viewports. You can select the user interface category in the Elements list.
chapter Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment 1 7 8 Click a new color in the Color Spectrum field. Click and drag the slider ( ) in the Whiteness field to adjust the amount of white in the color selection. • 8 Click Close. • 0 9 • 9 You can also click the spinners ( ) for the Red, Green, Blue, Hue, Sat, and Value fields to specify the color that you want. • 7 The new color for the selection displays in the corresponding Color field. Camera Object Click Apply Colors Now.
Save a New User Interface Y ou can save all of the customizations that you make to your user interface so that you can reload them at any time or transfer them to another computer. When you save your user interface, you can specify the items that you want, including the toolbar and panel layouts, color settings, menus, quad menus, keyboard shortcuts, and icon schemes. When you save a custom user interface, you specify the name of the UI file that contains all of the user interface settings.
chapter Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment 1 Y ou can load a previously created custom user interface file. When you do so, 3ds Max loads all related user interface files. For example, if you saved toolbar and panel layouts, color settings, and keyboard schemes as part of your user interface, 3ds Max loads these settings. You use the Load Custom UI Scheme dialog box to select the type of customizations to load.
Understanding Viewports he 3ds Max viewports act as windows into your virtual environment. You can use each of the four visible viewports to display the scene from a different point of view, such as through a camera, through a light, and in axonometric and perspective modes. viewport is also axonometric, but its origin is not restricted to remaining parallel to the main axes of the scene.
Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment chapter 1 PART I C Viewport Label This label displays the name of the viewport in its upper-left corner. Right-clicking the label opens a menu. C D Viewport Border D F These are resizable boundaries that define the size and shape of the viewports. A yellow border defines the current viewport, and a red border indicates that 3ds Max is in Auto Key mode. D E User Viewport E This is an axonometric viewport with an artist-defined point of view.
Understanding Viewport Rendering Options ou can display eight different visibility modes in each viewport, and you can decide which viewport mode fits your needs, depending on your workflow. Each mode shows the contents of the viewports at a distinct level of quality from best, using the Smooth + Highlights option, to worst, using the Bounding Box option. cause the viewport to jump from point to point, rather than resulting in a smooth transition.
Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment chapter 1 PART I E Lit Wireframes E F This is similar to Wireframe mode, but with the edge color derived from the diffuse color of the object’s material. F Bounding Box Objects display as six-sided, wireframe boxes. This is the fastest viewport rendering option. H G G Flat Each polygon displays, ignoring the effect of lights in the scene. H Facets I Each face appears as a flat surface, with no shading between adjacent faces and no highlights.
Set the Viewport Rendering Option Y ou can easily customize the viewport rendering option to meet your needs. You can do this by selecting an option from a pop-up menu or from the nested Other menu. How do I stop my viewport from temporarily changing to Bounding Box mode when I zoom or pan? The viewport rendering option is assigned to a specific viewport, regardless of the viewport type.
Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment chapter 1 PART I Resize the Viewports T How do I display more viewport area on my screen? he viewports are restricted in number — you can display up to four at a time — but not in size. You can resize them vertically and horizontally by moving the borders that adjacent viewports share. The viewports must remain rectangular in shape, and they must remain in equally wide columns, equally high rows, or both.
Alter a Viewport View V iewports can display the contents of your 3ds Max scene from any viewpoint imaginable. For example, you can set one viewport to view the scene from overhead, with a second viewport from the front, and a third viewport that shows the current composition and relative locations of the objects in the scene. You can also use viewports that display your scene through a light or camera to position the light or camera for optimum effect.
Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment chapter 1 PART I Customize the Viewport Layout T he default 3ds Max viewport layout, four equally sized viewports in a quadrant pattern, is not the best layout for every situation. You can use tools to customize your viewport layout, determining how many viewports display on your screen and which viewport rendering methods they are configured to display. You can also set the current view type for each viewport.
Zoom in a Viewport D uring the modeling and animation process, you must see your objects clearly. You cannot modify or accurately transform objects that appear too small on the screen, and objects that are off the screen are extremely difficult to modify. 3ds Max contains several tools that enable you to zoom in and out of your viewports. They are located in the Viewport Controls area in the bottom-right corner of the user interface.
Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment 6 Click the Select Object button ( the Main toolbar. ) in Click an object in the scene. The object highlights to indicate that it is selected. 7 1 PART I 5 chapter 5 6 Click the Zoom Extents Selected button ( ). 7 The current viewport zooms to show the limits of the selected object. Can I select a specific area to zoom into? Yes. The Zoom Region tool ( ) allows you to designate a rectangular area that can fit into the viewport.
Rotate a Viewport W hen you look at an object from the top or side, you may not see its true shape or configuration. For example, when seen from the top, a 2D circle and a 3D cylinder both appear as multi-sided polygons. You can fix this problem by rotating the viewport. The Arc Rotate tools, located in the Viewport Controls area, provide a Trackball gizmo to specify how the tool operates when you orient the viewport to best reflect the scene.
Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment 6 Click the Select Object button ( Main toolbar. ) in the Click an object in the Perspective viewport. A bounding box appears around the object to indicate that it is selected. 7 8 1 PART I 5 chapter Click the Arc Rotate Selected button ( 5 ). Click and drag inside the Trackball. The viewport rotates with the selected object as the center point. 9 Right-click to end the command.
Using the Field-of-View Tool I n a Perspective viewport, you can use the Field-of-View tool to establish what you can view by setting the width extents of the viewport. Similarly, in a camera viewport, the Field-of-View tool determines the angle of the camera’s viewing cone. You can also adjust a camera’s field of view by selecting it, opening the Modify tab in the Command panel, and changing the FOV field in the Parameters rollout.
chapter Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment 1 S creen space is always at a premium in computer graphics, and with toolbars, menus, and panels crowding the screen, the leftover space is dedicated to viewports. Subdividing that remaining space can often leave you three or four small viewports that are difficult to use in some situations.
Navigate with the Pan View and Walk Through Tools 3 ds Max scenes tend to be linear and spread out across the virtual landscape. Therefore, you may find navigating your scene using only the Zoom and Arc Rotate tools time consuming, and replicating zoom factors, when viewing similar objects for comparison, difficult at best.
Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment chapter 1 PART I Using the Walk Through Tool 5 6 Right-click in a Camera or Perspective viewport. Click and hold , and then select the Walk Through button ( ) from the flyout menu. The cursor changes from 7 to 7 and the Press and hold the Left arrow or A key. The cursor changes from to viewport rotates to the left. 9 . Hold down the Up arrow or W key. The cursor changes from viewport zooms forward. 8 to 5 6 and the Right-click to exit the command.
Add a Viewport Background Image It is a common practice to place a front and side image of the object to be created in the corresponding viewports to help model it in all dimensions. Viewport background image files can be from almost any digital image format, including JPG, TIF, and TGA and can also be animated file formats such as AVI or MOV files. Each viewport in 3ds Max can contain a different background image. Y ou can easily add background images to any or all of your 3ds Max viewports.
Optimizing the 3ds Max Environment chapter 1 PART I The filename appears in the Background Source section of the Viewport Background dialog box. 7 8 Click the Display Background option ( changes to ). Click OK. 7 The image appears in the viewport. 8 Why does the background image appear in my viewport but not in my rendered scene? The viewport background image is a different object than the environment background image.
