Help Moron achieve higher quality of life

[Fnkymnky]

Can't help you with the second item, but to get into sub-object mode without using the Modify tab, just right click the object. In the "Tools 1" section of the menu, hold the mouse over "Sub-Objects", and when the nested menu pops up, click the one you want to be in.

I'm not sure that's what you're looking for; lemme know how it works.

[xynaria]

Problem is that you can't get into Tools 1 sub object mode unless you are already in sub object mode if you have mesh smooth on top.. which I more often than not have..you can only get into sub object of the mesh smooth modifier. Considering most work this way it is rather ludicrous that there doesn't appear a command already for this.. but then what do you expect from a company whose main clients are game manufacturers yet the polygon counter is hidden away. :)

[Fnkymnky]

What about turning on the 'Show End Result' button for the editable mesh/poly, and working from there? You can see the resulting smoothed object, and still get to the sub-objects. Even if what you're looking for isn't possible, is it really a problem to go to the Modify panel to edit an object? Are you working in 'Expert' mode?

And you just hit the Q key to turn the triangle counter on or off. I wouldn't exactly call that "hidden". :p

[LFShade]

Thought I'd try to make things a bit easier on you, Xynaria!

Save the attached to your UI/macroscripts directory, renaming the extension to .mcr of course. To install, simply restart Max (or open the script from the MAXScript menu and hit File->Evaluate All). You'll find a new category in the drop-down list on the Customize User Interface dialog called "XynariaTools", and within it you'll find a few handy new commands.

The ones called "base object ..." can be thrown on the quad menu - they'll take you to the corresponding SO level of your EMesh and EPoly objects regardless of what's above them in the stack, or even whether you're currently on the modify panel or not:)

The one called "NumSelectedElements" is probably best assigned to a keyboard shortcut, and will display the number of selected sub-objects in the upper-left corner of the active viewport. Unfortunately, it goes away as soon as you click on anything, but at least you don't need to scrub up/down the modpanel looking for the goods; you can just pop-em up when you get curious:thumbsup:

Of course, you can post a follow-up if you have any problems or questions:buttrock:

[Numloch]

When using Mesh smooth on a model I find it easier to make a referenced copy of the mesh object then apply the mesh smooth to the copy, this way you get to see both the basic mesh and the smoothed version at the same time enabling you to make modifications more easily.

Hope that makes sense?:wip:

[xynaria]

Wow .. thanks LF Shade.. Base object seems to be having a hard time on my machine for some reason.. it causes a delay of some kind and won't appear until I have already gone into sub object mode same as the default sub object options, but the Numb selected elements is pretty useful, though as you say it won't automatically update. :)

FnkyMnky: I have had a script via someone else for show end result since before it was introduced into Mesh Tools and its very handy indeed but the problem with it is the same as sub object selections.. they won't appear on a quad until you have already gone into sub object mode which you only appear to be able to do via the command panel. I tend to not work in 'Expert' mode but if possible..without the command panel...... which to my mind for most opertaions shouldn't be neccessary. I've never been a fan of the scrolling and their answer in R4 was to make it resizable as if taking up more screen space was a better solution than a rethink of how to simplify what to my mind is a very messy solution.
Q shows the command panel.. not the polygon counter, or at least it did on my machine until I re assigned it to Zoom Extents. I had put the poly counter onto a Quad but the fact that it was always 'hidden' away in Utilities does make one think ever so slightly. :)

Numloch: A lot of people use that method but I find it cumbersome especially when you start getting into large models, but thanks for the thought. :)

[Equinoxx]

Xynaria, a coworker of min wrote a script that can be linked to a hotkey.

basically, what it does is when you press the corresponding hotkey, you get a popup with all the modifiers which you can click and the lower half shows the corresponding subobject level . . .

here's an example

say for instance you have an e-poly with a uvw map on it and a bend

bend
uvw
e-poly <--selected
______
verts
edge
border
face
element


bend
uvw <--selected
e-poly
______
gizmo


lemme know if that's what you want

[LFShade]

Xynaria - the base object SO level scripts worked fine on my system. Keep in mind that I wrote them to only show on the quad when the base object is an editable poly or editable mesh. If that's not usually the case for you, then let me know what your average modifier stack looks like and I'll edit the script to suit your specific need.

I'd be thrilled if NumSelectedElements could be made to update automatically, but I don't think it's possible with MaxScript since there doesn't appear to be an event callback for changes in SO selections. Hotkey is the best I can do for now.

[Jed]

I often work on editable polys with meshsmooth on top and the best solution I found was a script that Blur made called StackBottom. It's actually part of their BlurPack ( I think they're on the 30th version or so), and it comes along with stackTop, stackUp and StackDown. These scripts only do what they say, but if you assign them on quad, you can get to the base object sublevel with only 2 clicks, and no mouse move !
You probably know where to find these scripts but in case others might be interested they can be found at www.scriptSpot.com, www.tdp.nu or www.blur.com/blurbeta/

Hope that helps

[xynaria]

Thanks again folks :)

Jed .. just tried the Blur scripts which I had tucked away mostly untried.. and so far seem to be doing the trick .. thanks for the heads up. :)

Equinoxx.. thanks .. if it wasn't for the Blur scripts I would indeed be pestering you to pass them on. :p

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