Share your 3dsmax Secrets

xissburg · 2010-04-21 06:28:24 UTC

I press the Remove button in the Command Panel while holding Ctrl to achieve this. It removes all vertices which would have 2 or less neighbors after deletion, or something.

MAXNib · 2010-05-12 01:47:22 UTC

Isnt that already in the new 3DSM10? It’s called Graphite Modeling Tools.

msCookie · 2010-05-17 09:29:23 UTC

there where some workflow issues that drove me crazy so here is what i did.

for starters, custom hotkeys! here’s my setup
~(tilda) = show end result toggle
shift+space = expert mode toggle
8 = env settings
9 = render settings
ctrl+t = transform toolbox (hotkey is from PS, had to make macroscript to do this one)
1 2 and 3 on numpad do planar align x y and z
4-9 are for top, front, left, right, and perspective (kinda copied from blender)
ctrl + 1-9 on numpad are for viewport settings like toggle defualt lighting and such

i have a mouse with + and - buttons next to my left click normaly used to change mouse sensitivity but i never use them for that. i set them up to to do keysrokes ‘[’ for - and ‘]’ for +
[ ] = grow/shrink selection

alt = swift loop/connect edges
ctrl = loop and ring select
ctrl + shift = loop grow and shrink
alt + shift = weld and collapse
Shift = cut and target weld

i can do some pretty fast modeling now that i’m used to it like “select edge > ctrl + [ then alt + [” just did ring select and connect

i’m working in 2011 so i customized my ribbon in a few ways. i typically like to work in expert mode so a lot of it is because of that.

bigquix · 2010-07-28 01:16:19 UTC

When you want to reduce keys for a lot of objects with a lot of tracks, cover the Track View window with another window (like an internet browser or any other thing)! it works 20 times faster!
yea I know it sounds strange; I guess its a bug in 3Ds Max. because the Track View floater needs to update itself constantly when reducing keys, but when you cover it, there’s no need for that!

SmallPoly · 2010-08-09 12:16:49 UTC

The furthest distance out that the pivot of an object can be on any axis is 1,000,000,000 generic units.

Veleran · 2010-09-24 11:21:35 UTC

Booleans are helpful,specially in hard surfaces like mech and buildings,as far as
1.There are no holes (apply stl check,and if needed create by hand faces to close any holes).

2.No flipped normals (You must have unified the normals)

3.And not always necessary:
After the Create/pick boolean Paste Vertex weld and STL Check on top of the stack.

Note:Vertex weld might optimize details and weld together unwanted parts so,
if necessary reduce the threshold or use it only on selected vertices.

4.If you have only one Material Id,cleared smoothing groups (none) and one material applied to all boolean operands you will use,
the result may have much less possible errors.

So,Select all booleans and Edit mesh or edit poly and set the material id to 1 and clear all smoothing groups for all elements.

Boolean is better used to objects you can see from all around.Now,if you cut holes with zig zag shapes in the inside of a model,and cant see it well i do not guarantee you will fix it easily.

lucpet · 2010-09-25 05:03:44 UTC

Paste this in the listener or a new maxscript file and then drag to make a button.
I use it all the time


 try($.pos = [0,0,0])catch()

or save all this then load any or all of the scripts through Customize - Customize user interface


macroScript randomMaterialGen
Category: "Lukes' Tools"
internalCategory:"Lukes' Tools"
buttontext: "Rand Mats"
Tooltip:"Creates Random materials"

/*
Script: LukesScripts.ms
Author:  Luke Pettit
e-mail:  petluke@gmail.com
Date:   19/08/2010  v 1.0
*/

(
	-- a for loop through all 24 editor slots, from 1 to 24
	for i = 1 to 24 do 
	(
		meditMaterials[i].Diffuse = random black white
	)
)

macroScript MaterialEditorCleaner
Category: "Lukes' Tools"
internalCategory:"Lukes' Tools"
buttontext: "Mat Cleaner"
Tooltip:"Cleaning the material editor"
(
	-- We use a for-cycle to loop through all 24 editor slots, from 1 to 24
	--for i = 1 to 24 do
	(	
		macros.run "Medit Tools" "clear_medit_slots" 
		--setMEditMaterial i (standard()) --use this instead if you want
	)
)

macroScript ClrMaterialObj
Category: "Lukes' Tools"
internalCategory:"Lukes' Tools"
buttontext: "Clear Obj Mat"
Tooltip:"Cleaning the material from objs"
--clear materials from selected objects 
for m in selection do
	
( 
	try(m.material = Null)catch()
)

macroScript Pos0 --positions the selected object to 0,0,0
buttontext: "0,0,0_Pos" 
Category: "Lukes' Tools" 
internalCategory:"Lukes' Tools" 
Tooltip:"Positions the selected object to 0,0,0" 
(
	try ($.pos = [0,0,0])catch() --used the try catch just in case you forget to select anything first
)

macroScript x_Pos --positions the selected object to X,0,0
buttontext: "x_Pos" 
Category: "Lukes' Tools" 
internalCategory:"Lukes' Tools" 
Tooltip:"Positions the selected object to x,0,0" 
(
	try($.pos.x = 0)catch() --used the try catch just in case you forget to select anything first
)

macroScript y_Pos --positions the selected object to 0,Y,0
buttontext: "y_Pos" 
Category: "Lukes' Tools" 
internalCategory:"Lukes' Tools" 
Tooltip:"Positions the selected object to 0,y,0" 
(
	try($.pos.y = 0)catch() --used the try catch just in case you forget to select anything first
)

macroScript z_Pos --positions the selected object to 0,0,Z
buttontext: "z_Pos" 
Category: "Lukes' Tools" 
internalCategory:"Lukes' Tools" 
Tooltip:"Positions the selected object to 0,0,z" 
(
	try($.pos.z = 0)catch() --used the try catch just in case you forget to select anything first
)

Cadedra · 2010-09-28 13:17:58 UTC

For animators who often deal with the need to focus on a certain time segment, but also need often to change the segment they are working on… change the active time segment (trackbar) often. But not via the time configuration dialog, it would be very bothersome and slow. Try this:

Ctrl+Alt+Left click drag horizontally on the track bar: …slides the start frame.
Ctrl+Alt+Right click drag horizontally on the track bar: …slides the end frame.
Ctrl+Alt+Middle click drag horizontally on the track bar: …slides the active time segment thus changing both the start and end frames.

If you animate you will find this useful to quickly narrow your time segment to some part of the animation you want to focus on. I do this all the time, about 1000 times a day.

OmarO · 2010-10-23 10:31:43 UTC

Does anyone know if its possible to remove the orange wireframe when you have fe.x symmetry applied while doing poly editing?

praksly · 2010-11-11 22:35:14 UTC

i am new to 3ds max, :wavey:
i am looking for good render passes tutorial for 3ds max 2010…

which options should i turned on and turned off to get basic passes like diffuse,shadow, specular etc?

i saw some images where people use render passes for final compositing.
but they also used this thing for texturing like creating diffrent maps like bump,displacment,alpha and creating diffuce map etc…how they create these maps?..please help me or suggest any good tutorial for this…

sorry for my bad english :rolleyes:

regards
waiting for reply

Miniminer · 2010-11-16 13:25:13 UTC

How to (really) lock / freeze your camera :

Nothing is more annoying than rendering a sequences of frames and where the autokey button was one and you by accident move your viewport, and so your camera.

The function “freeze selection” on your camera (& maybe camera target) only lock the movements you want to achieve with the move / rotate / scale tool. But if you are in the “camera view” and you use your middle mouse button it will affect your camera.

So to help this problem you have to:

select your camera (& maybe your camera target if it’s not a free cam)
go to the hierarchy panel
hit the “link info” button
select all the checkboxes (especially the 3 move check boxes)

Now your camera can’t move by accident.

It’s basic I know but it looks like a few persons I’ve worked with didn’t know this trick.

Peace

heavyness · 2010-11-19 20:28:30 UTC

This works for a lot more applications then just 3ds max…

Put your custom ui/layout/keyboard shortcuts in a online shared folder program (like Dropbox). This way, no matter where you are or what computer you are on, you can have your custom ui/layout/keyboard shortcuts with you. I’ve used it for 3ds max, Photoshop, and Flash and it works great. If I assign a new keyboard shortcut at work, it updates at home.

hirendodiya · 2010-12-17 11:51:33 UTC

take a look some basic but effective tips

http://blog.hirendodiya.com/2010/11/useful-tips-for-3dsmax.html

http://blog.hirendodiya.com/
Hiren Dodiya
Creative Head,
Do Done VFX Studio

blake_spector · 2011-01-10 13:55:37 UTC

Here’s what I did to make proper use of the arrow keys on my keyboard:

Up Arrow - Next/Previous Key Mode Toggle
Down Arrow - View Selected Curves
Left Arrow - Backup Time One Unit
Right Arrow - Forward Time One Unit

Makes animating a tad easier (even more beneficial if you are a lefty!!)

darkstryder360 · 2011-01-31 14:47:27 UTC

Legend.

I would select edges, shift click on verts, go back and remove edges, and then remove verts.

This will save alot of time, although putting those verts/edges that need removing in the first place would have saved more time ha.

SmallPoly · 2011-01-31 15:04:43 UTC

Ctrl+backspace is even faster.

Fele · 2011-02-09 11:59:13 UTC

I am not sure if somebody already posted this, but I really recommend this little script: ActiveType
It’s a really cool and fast way to create all kinds of objects or to add modifiers.

Hope you like it!

jedie · 2011-05-02 06:50:26 UTC

When using a Spinner value: Press ALT for lower and STRG for higher “snapping” values.

vfxTD · 2011-05-04 20:18:42 UTC

Once a Mentor of mine taught me how nice ffd modifier works, not sure if you use as often as i do but i think its very nice.

julcab · 2011-05-05 06:06:50 UTC

Resource collector is one of the great tool for compiling files in max.