Ex Maya user swiching to max problem with snapping

[mef]

When you click on the snap button, you'll see that there's a number there. I think the default is three. That means that it's going to use all three axis to place that node you want to control. If you click and hold on that button you'll see a flyout with two other options. One has a number two and the other is a 2.5. If you choose two, it will snap using a 2D plane similar to how Adobe Illustrator works.

1)You can snap to vertecies but can you contrain to an axis while doing so?



You can grab the camera in the viewport and control it directly using the tranform tools

2) can u navigate the camera without going to buttons for zooming and trucking?


I hope this helps you out. I know there are other things that I can tell you about this, but I can't remember them right now.

BTW
Just wondering why you made the switch? I'm always interested as to why someone chooses different software.

[eshiu]

thanks for that....very informational! I made the switch because of Brazil renderer. I'm still going to model in Maya(until) I get more comfortable in Max. The Brazil endereris very good and fast and it will help me in completeing my project!


E

[eshiu]

Originally posted by mef
When you click on the snap button, you'll see that there's a number there. I think the default is three. That means that it's going to use all three axis to place that node you want to control. If you click and hold on that button you'll see a flyout with two other options. One has a number two and the other is a 2.5. If you choose two, it will snap using a 2D plane similar to how Adobe Illustrator works.

1)You can snap to vertecies but can you contrain to an axis while doing so?



You can grab the camera in the viewport and control it directly using the tranform tools

2) can u navigate the camera without going to buttons for zooming and trucking?

.

I tired the ways that you were talking abot and while it knida worked, it doesn't really work enough..!!The snapping and the UI control in Maya is really alot better than Max. For example, when I have a bunch of vertecies that aren't even or aligned. All I have to do is choose them and snap them to a reference verteci and voila, it's all lines up....still can't seem to do that with Max. The work flow in term of camera movement is horrible in max. Constantly going to the buttons for everything.....I can't even find my object without going to my ortho views....any got any more helpfull comments!!??Thanks!


E

[Dave Black]

Remember that max is utterly customizable. If you don't like the default controls, you can change them any way you want.

Place the camera controls in the right-click quad menu, or assign them to keys on your keyboard. Heck, you can even DL a max version of that spiffy sunburst menu you guys have when you hit the space bar.

There are many things you can do to streamline and customize your workflow. It's a matter of what you are used to. If you are a maya user, then customize it to your liking.

I used to model in Nendo and Mirai, and so I customized the camera controls to mirror them. Keyboard shortcuts and all.

As for aligning verts to an axis, there is a set of script tools that you really should have. They are called CSPolytools, and are available here:

www.scriptspot.com

Do a search.

Just run the script and it will install it for you.

You will then have tools that will allow you to align a selection of verts to an axis with a single click.

I know this is a difficult transition, and if you have been modeling in maya for awhile, it will take some time to get used to the workflow. Really, you are truely correct that max's workflow lacks elegance out of the box, but with a bit of customization, it can be just as powerfull(if not more) than maya in so many ways. Not that maya is any slouch...(mad maya props here).

Give it time, and remember that we are here to help if you run into more snags.

Believe me, we feel your pain.

-3DZ

:D

[Dave Black]

Just noticed that you are having problems finding your objects.

There are tools such as "zoom extents". This will zoom to the ouside extreme of the selected object.

Also, you can click the setting that snaps the camera's target to whatever you are currently working on, be it an object, an edge, a vert, etc, etc. This is really handy, as the camera will just orbit around that point, allowing you to constantly be looking at what you are working on. And, it does it automatically until you turn it off.

These controls are available by the cameral controls. Click and let 'em roll out.

Consult the F1 key to better understand how the camera system works in max.

Hope that made some degree of sense.

-3DZ

:D

[LFShade]

If you're just referring to orbiting a perspective view, you can do this with Alt+middle mouse. You can pan the view with just the middle mouse button, and you can zoom with your scroll wheel if you've got one. If you don't have a scroll wheel, you can zoom with Ctrl+Alt+middle mouse.

RH

[eshiu]

thanks for that I will research what you said.....I'm not the most technical minded but I'm gonna try real hard to make things work for me in Max!thanks for the hel guys!


E

[eshiu]

Originally posted by LFShade
If you're just referring to orbiting a perspective view, you can do this with Alt+middle mouse. You can pan the view with just the middle mouse button, and you can zoom with your scroll wheel if you've got one. If you don't have a scroll wheel, you can zoom with Ctrl+Alt+middle mouse.

RH

it works with a perspective view but not in the camera view....

[eshiu]

Originally posted by 3DZealot
Just noticed that you are having problems finding your objects.

There are tools such as "zoom extents". This will zoom to the ouside extreme of the selected object.

Also, you can click the setting that snaps the camera's target to whatever you are currently working on, be it an object, an edge, a vert, etc, etc. This is really handy, as the camera will just orbit around that point, allowing you to constantly be looking at what you are working on. And, it does it automatically until you turn it off.

These controls are available by the cameral controls. Click and let 'em roll out.

Consult the F1 key to better understand how the camera system works in max.

Hope that made some degree of sense.

-3DZ

:D


Checked the help countless times .....doesn't realy help! The zoom extents only work with perspective cameras.....ah the frustration!Thanks though!

[Dave Black]

I'm confused, why are you using a camera to do modeling?

In the "views" menu(i think, sorry, not in front of me), there is an option called "match camera to view". You can use perspective to get the shot right, and then match the camera to the perspective view. Just a thought, as I don't know exactly what you are up to...

-3DZ

:D

[eshiu]

well....ultimately I will HAVE to use Max for rendering ths the camera control question. As for the modelling tips, just wanted to know if I could get used to Max enough to model in it thats all.Thanks!

E

[gaggle]

Jezus I hate that you asked these questions and it took so long for someone to answer them properly. Doesn't sound like the most pleasent introduction to the MAX environment.

I still like MAX's snapping-toolset much moreso than I do Maya's fr what it's worth. It's a matter of preference I guess?

Anyway, I align verticies like you mentioned by rightclicking on either of the transformation icons (move, rotate, scale) to bring up the Transformation Type-In dialog box. Set gizmo to Scale, select your verts, and rightclick in the appropriate spinner. You can collapse the selection on either one of the axis' that way.
This can be used in combination with how the axis' are aligned. You know of World and Local from Maya, but in MAX you can utilize "Screen" mode, or the axis of any object in the scene (all found in a dropdown menu just to the left of the transformation icons). I think it's good stuff anyway.

For moving the camera around I say 3DZ got it very much so right: hit P, for perspective mode, then fool around with that. Then select the camera, and hit .. uh.. CTRL-C? .. SHIFT-C perhaps, I .. don't remember right now. Look it up in the Customize User Interface if nothing else. This will align the camera to the perspective viewport, thus restoring balance in the universe.

Oh hey if you're modeling with MAX do look in the Customize User Interface dialogbox to check out the available ePoly commands. There's a Repeat Last Operation for instance, that's vaguely similar to hitting G in Maya. Infact I set the one in MAX up on G. Works nicely :) ..although of course it's horrible lacking if the two features are ever directly compared, but that's how it is with many things.

oh, here's a thought: you can import things from Maya to MAX? Should be doable to get a workflow going that implements MAX only as a rendering-platform..

[polygun]

hold alt, then click your 3rd (scroll wheel) mouse button and drag in the viewport. this will rotate the camera and any view port you do it in.

[gaggle]

No it won't.

That will pan the camera viewport. God bless the discreet engineers.

Or, well, to be exact it pans because the ALT key doesn't do anything in a camera viewport, so you only get the middle-mouse effect. Which is panning.

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