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Autodesk 3ds Max 3ds Max - 2009 User Manual

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Autodesk
®
3ds Max
Help: Volume 1
®
2009
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©
2008 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved. Except as otherwise permitted by Autodesk, Inc., this publication, or parts thereof, may not be
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Portions Copyright © 1999, 2000 NVIDIA Corporation. This file is provided without support, instructions or implied warranty of any kind. NVIDIA makes no guarantee of its fitness for a particular purpose and is not liable under any circumstances for any damages or loss whatsoever arising from the use or inability to use this file or items derived from it. Portions Copyright © 2006 NVIDIA Corporation. Portions Copyright 1990-1991 by Thomas Knoll. Copyright 1992-1995 by Adobe Systems, Inc. Portions Copyright 1993-1996, Adobe Systems, Incorporated. All rights reserved worldwide. This software contains source code provided by mental images GmbH. Portions Copyright Guruware OBJio © 2007 http://www.guruware.at Portions Copyright Orbaz Technologies © 2007 Portions Copyright Mathew Kaustinen © 2007
Trademarks
The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., in the USA and other countries: 3DEC (design/logo), 3December, 3December.com, 3ds Max, ActiveShapes, Actrix, ADI, Alias, Alias (swirl design/logo), AliasStudio, Alias|Wavefront (design/logo), ATC, AUGI, AutoCAD, AutoCAD Learning Assistance, AutoCAD LT, AutoCAD Simulator, AutoCAD SQL Extension, AutoCAD SQL Interface, Autodesk, Autodesk Envision, Autodesk Insight, Autodesk Intent, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Map, Autodesk MapGuide, Autodesk Streamline, AutoLISP, AutoSnap, AutoSketch, AutoTrack, Backdraft, Built with ObjectARX (logo), Burn, Buzzsaw, CAiCE, Can You Imagine, Character Studio, Cinestream, Civil 3D, Cleaner, Cleaner Central, ClearScale, Colour Warper, Combustion, Communication Specification, Constructware, Content Explorer, Create>what's>Next> (design/logo), Dancing Baby (image), DesignCenter, Design Doctor, Designer's Toolkit, DesignKids, DesignProf, DesignServer, DesignStudio, Design|Studio (design/logo), Design Your World, Design Your World (design/logo), DWF, DWG, DWG (logo), DWG TrueConvert, DWG TrueView, DXF, EditDV, Education by Design, Exposure, Extending the Design Team, FBX, Filmbox, FMDesktop, Freewheel, GDX Driver, Gmax, Heads-up Design, Heidi, HOOPS, HumanIK, i-drop, iMOUT, Incinerator, IntroDV, Inventor, Inventor LT, Kaydara, Kaydara (design/logo), LocationLogic, Lustre, Maya, Mechanical Desktop, MotionBuilder, Mudbox, NavisWorks, ObjectARX, ObjectDBX, Open Reality, Opticore, Opticore Opus, PolarSnap, PortfolioWall, Powered with Autodesk Technology, Productstream, ProjectPoint, ProMaterials, Reactor, RealDWG, Real-time Roto, Recognize, Render Queue, Reveal, Revit, Showcase, ShowMotion, SketchBook, SteeringWheels, StudioTools, Topobase, Toxik, ViewCube, Visual, Visual Bridge, Visual Construction, Visual Drainage, Visual Hydro, Visual Landscape, Visual Roads, Visual Survey, Visual Syllabus, Visual Toolbox, Visual Tugboat, Visual LISP, Voice Reality, Volo, Wiretap, and WiretapCentral. The following are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk Canada Co. in the USA and/or Canada and other countries: Backburner, Discreet, Fire, Flame, Flint, Frost, Inferno, Multi-Master Editing, River, Smoke, Sparks, Stone, and Wire. All other brand names, product names or trademarks belong to their respective holders.
Disclaimer
THIS PUBLICATION AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS MADE AVAILABLE BY AUTODESK, INC. "AS IS." AUTODESK, INC. DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE REGARDING THESE MATERIALS.
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Introduction
What's New in Autodesk 3ds Max 2009
Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 software introduces time-saving new animation and mapping workflow tools, groundbreaking new rendering technologies, and improved 3ds Max interoperability and compatibility with such industry-standard products as Autodesk® Revit™, Autodesk® Mudbox™, Autodesk® Maya® and Autodesk® MotionBuilder™ software.
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New rendering technologies include the Reveal™ rendering toolset for both iterative workflows and faster, finished renderings, and the ProMaterials material library for simulating real-world surfaces. The release also delivers numerous biped enhancements, new UV editing tools, along with improved OBJ and FBX® import and export, which enhance interoperability with Autodesk Mudbox, Maya, MotionBuilder, and other third-party applications.
NOTE This topic doesn't comprehensively list all the changes in 3ds Max. As you
proceed through the documentation, keep an eye out for the icon, which designates a new feature. You can also use the index in this reference to identify topics that contain information about new features in the program. For topics that describe new program features, check the index entry "new feature". For changes in existing features, check the index entry "changed feature". Also, a few features have changed names, such as “Render Scene dialog” to “Render Setup dialog.” To find these, check the index entry “changed name.”
Following is a list of major new features with brief descriptions and links to the relevant reference topic:
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Help Movies
The help now contains links to a number of videos that introduce features and show how to accomplish certain tasks. To find the videos, search for "Watch a movie".
NOTE When you click a link, the movie opens in a Web browser. You will need to click once to activate the window and then, to watch the movie, click the Play button.
General Improvements
■ InfoCenter Capability In Autodesk 3ds Max 2009, you can access help
via Autodesk InfoCenter. InfoCenter lets you search for information through key words (or by entering a phrase), display the Communication Center panel for product updates and announcements, or display the Favorites panel to access saved topics. In 3ds Max, InfoCenter appears on a toolbar. See Find the Information You Need on page 13 for how to use InfoCenter; see also InfoCenter Toolbar on page 7503
■ ViewCube
makes it easy to use the mouse to orbit viewports and jump quickly to a standard view orientation such as Left or Top. And the SteeringWheels on page 114 give you handy mouse-tip controls for zooming, panning, orbiting, and rewinding through a series of view changes. Both of these features will become standard across Autodesk's 3D products, providing users with a consistent navigation experience even as they move among applications.
™
and SteeringWheels™The new ViewCube™ on page 107
™
Revit Interoperability and FBX Support
Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 provides enhanced support for Autodesk Revit Architecture users.
■ In imported FBX files you can browse the Revit user-defined tags category,
family, level, and type in the Scene Explorer; see Scene Explorer Columns on page 7385.
■ ProMaterials on page 5647 directly correspond to Revit materials, which can
simplify exchanging information between the products.
■ Photometric lights on page 5005 now correspond more closely to their Revit
counterparts, making it easier to share scenes.
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■ Additional improvements are described in the 3ds Max FBX Plug-in Guide
that you can access from the FBX Importer/Exporter dialog.
Photometric Lights
There are now only two types of photometric lights on page 5005 (aside from the sun and sky lighting options): Target and Free. The user interface for photometric lights has been improved, and you choose the distribution and shape properties of a photometric light on the General Parameters rollout on page 5019 and the Shape/Area Shadows rollout on page 5040, respectively.
Other photometric light improvements include:
■ Three new shadow-casting shapes: disc, sphere, and cylinder.
■ Far Attenuation controls that let you limit the range of a photometric light.
Using this option can dramatically improve rendering time, especially in scenes that contain a large number of light objects.
■ A new option, Incandescent Lamp Color Shift When Dimming, that
simulates the way an incandescent light becomes more yellow in color as it is dimmed.
■ Display of web diagrams when you browse for or choose a photometric
web file.
■ New sky models for the mr Sky light: Perez All-Weather on page 5179 and
CIE on page 5180.
The new interface for photometric lights is closer to the photometric light interface in Revit, which is a convenience if you use Revit as well as 3ds Max.
Materials and Mapping
■ mental ray ProMaterials ProMaterials
materials that provide a convenient way of creating realistic textures. These materials correspond to Autodesk Revit materials, so users of both Revit and 3ds Max can share surface and material information between the two applications. Also included are presets based on manufacturer-supplied data and professional images.
■ mental ray Utility Materials The new Utility Bump Combiner on page
5695 and Utility Displace Combiner on page 5697 materials let you combine a base material with multiple bump or displacement maps.
™
on page 5647 are mental ray
What's New in Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 | 3
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■ Spline Mapping The Unwrap UVW modifier now lets you define custom
mapping with a spline on page 1915. This is useful for quickly mapping such objects as snakes, tentacles, and winding roads.
■ Pelt Map Redesign The Pelt Map command interface on page 1897 in
Unwrap UVW has been redesigned for easier workflow and enhanced functionality.
■ Composite Map The Composite map on page 5918 is completely revamped.
Additional functionality includes the ability to apply masks and use color correction on both maps and masks, and to use blend modes for different methods of combining the layers.
■ Color Correction Map The Color Correction map on page 5933 provides
tools for modifying the colors of an incorporated, underlying map, using a stack-based method. Tools include monochrome, inversion, custom rewiring of color channels, hue shift, and adjustment of saturation and lightness. Color-adjustment controls in many cases mirror those found in Autodesk Toxik and Autodesk Combustion.
■ Enhanced Accessibility of Production Shaders The mental ray production
shaders on page 6017 are now more accessible. For example: A new lens
shader enables mental ray to evaluate only those rays that intersect specified objects; a matte/shadow material is now available that can capture indirect illumination; and the new chrome ball shader lets the artist incorporate accurate scene environments (including lighting) from HDR photos.
Rendering
■ Rendered Frame Window Enhancements As the command center of the
Reveal workflow, the Rendered Frame Window on page 6073 offers a significantly expanded feature set for a streamlined rendering workflow, including the ability to render images, set rendering regions, change rendering parameters, and a new Iterative rendering mode on page 6101 for quickly testing scene changes.
■ mr Proxy Object The new mr Proxy object on page 597 offers faster
throughput and huge render-time memory savings with large scenes and high-resolution geometry. It lets you convert any object to a disk-based mental ray-format file that supports vertex-level animation as well as topology changes between frames.
■ mr A&D Render Elements New mr A&D render elements on page 6358
support output of Arch & Design material components in HDR format to compositing applications such as Autodesk Toxik™.
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■ mr Labeled Render Element The mr Labeled render element on page 6363
enables output of one or more branches of a material tree to a custom render element.
■ mr Shader Render Element The mr Shader render elements on page 6365
enables output of the raw contribution of any mental ray shader in the scene.
■ Geometry Caching Geometry caching on page 6321 in mental ray stores
the translated scene in a temporary file for reuse in subsequent renders. This saves time by omitting the translation step, especially with geometry-heavy scenes. Two levels of caching are available.
■ Pre-render Photon Maps and Final Gather Maps To reduce flicker when
rendering animations on a network, you can pre-generate photon maps on page 6312 and final gather solutions on page 6301.
■ New mental ray Object Properties New mental ray object properties on
page 322 allow more-flexible interaction between scene contents and indirect lighting.
■ New BSP2 Raytrace Acceleration The implementation of a new, faster
BSP on page 6280 (binary space partitioning) acceleration in mental ray 3.6
improves large-scene rendering performance and object instantiation. Unlike the traditional BSP acceleration, which is still available, the new technique automatically tunes for BSP performance and memory-consumption improvements.
Scene and Project Management
■ Enhanced Scene Explorer Scene Explorer adds new advanced filtering
on page 7397 functionality that lets the dialog list only items that meet specific criteria based on object name, type, and so on. Plus there are now more options for how groups are displayed.
■ Autodesk Mudbox Interoperability Improved support for the OBJ file
format on page 7280, including more export options, facilitates importing
and exporting of model data between Mudbox and 3ds Max software products as well as other third-party 3D digital sculpting applications. Users can now take advantage of new export presets, additional geometry options, including hidden splines/lines and new optimize options, to reduce file sizes and improve performance. There is also improved texture map handling and more import information with regards to face counts per object.
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■ FBX Import/Export Improved FBX on page 7222 memory management,
data translation fidelity and new import options support interoperability between 3ds Max and other Autodesk products such as Maya and MotionBuilder.
■ OpenFlight Import/Export Artists in the visual-simulation arena can take
advantage of new import and export support for the OpenFlight® (FLT) on page 7223 file format.
General Animation Improvements
■ Walkthrough Assistant The Walkthrough Assistant on page 5239 lets you
easily create a predefined walkthrough animation of your scene by placing a camera on a path and setting the height, turning the camera and viewing a preview.
Hair Improvements
Enhancements to Hair on page 1119 functionality include:
■ The buffer render is multithreaded.
■ Hair antialiasing is improved (needs less oversampling).
■ There are no longer memory consequences for lots of hair (buffer only,
not tracing).
■ Tiles display as they render.
■ Tile memory limit is settable (in the Hair and Fur render effect).
■ Transparency depth is settable (in the render effect).
■ Skylights are supported (toggle available in the render effect and controlled
with a blend slider).
■ Hair display is multithreaded (faster interaction on multi-core machines).
■ Fast optimization on very thin hairs.
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Character-Animation Improvements
New features improve the ease of animating and skinning a Biped.
■ Alternative Rotation Center You can rotate a biped about a pivot point
that is not its center of mass, which is useful if you want the biped to fall over, swing from a tree, and so on. See Track Selection Rollout on page 4348.
■ Mirror In Place The new Mirror In Place option lets you mirror biped
animation without changing the biped’s orientation. See Keyframing Tools
Rollout on page 4380.
■ Triangle Neck The new Triangle Neck option, similar to Triangle Pelvis,
attaches the clavicles to the top of the spine instead of to the neck. For some character meshes, this can improve mesh deformation when you use Physique to apply the mesh.
■ ForeFeet The new ForeFeet (“Four Feet”) option lets you treat hands as
feet. When you choose ForeFeet, you can set planted keys for fingers, as if the fingers were toes. You apply both the Triangle Neck and the ForeFeet options in Figure Mode. These options are on the Structure rollout on page 4424.
Modeling Improvements
■ Adjusting a soft selection is now more interactive with the new Edit Soft
Selection Mode on page 2013 custom user interface action for changing the
Falloff, Pinch, and Bubble values without leaving the viewport.
3ds Max Documentation Set
The documentation set for 3ds Max® comprises online material only. Most documents are available from the Start menu > Programs > Autodesk > [program folder] > Help folder, as well as from the Help menu within 3ds Max or the Additional Help dialog.
■ Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 and Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009 Installation
Guide: Contains complete installation, configuration, and troubleshooting instructions, including system requirements. Also includes information on uninstalling and maintaining the software, as well as descriptions of the full install documentation set. View the Installation Guide in the Installation Wizard.
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NOTE The complete installation documentation set is found on your install DVD in the \Docs folder at the root of the DVD. If you are deploying 3ds Max over a network, refer to the Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 and Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009 Network Administrator’s Guide instead of the Installation Guide.
■ Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 Readme (3ds_Max_Readme.rtf): Contains the
latest information about 3ds Max. You can access this file by clicking View Readme in the Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 Installation Wizard.
■ Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 Help: This document covers fundamental concepts
and strategies for using the product, as well as details about the features of 3ds Max. Access the reference by choosing Help > Autodesk 3ds Max Help.
■ Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 Tutorials: Contains tutorial information and
detailed procedures to walk you through increasingly complex operations. This is the best source for learning 3ds Max. Access the tutorials by choosing Help > Tutorials.
NOTE All the sample files required to do the tutorials are found on DVD 1 of 2: Software in a folder called \tutorials at the root of the DVD. These files are not installed automatically.
■ MAXScript Reference: Describes the MAXScript scripting language on page
11. Check out the “Learning MAXScript” chapter there if you're new to MAXScript. Access the MAXScript Reference by choosing Help > MAXScript Help.
■ Additional mental ray
®
Help Files: Documentation from mental images
is available from Help menu > Additional Help. There, you'll find the mental ray Reference, comprising the mental ray Manual, mental ray Shader Reference,
and LumeTools Collection. You’ll also find PDF files documentating various mental ray shader libraries.
®
NOTE The Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 Help documents most mental ray components available in the 3ds Max user interface. This includes documentation for lights for mental ray and specific shadow types, controls for adding mental ray shaders to lights and cameras, mental ray materials, custom shaders for 3ds Max, and the mental ray renderer controls.
■ Additional Backburner Files: Procedures for using Backburner from inside
3ds Max are documented in this Autodesk 3ds Max Help File. For further information on using and configuring Backburner, refer to the additional
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Backburner documentation available from Additional Help as well as from the Start menu location described in the introduction of this topic. The two documents related to Autodesk Backburner are called:
■ Backburner Installation Guide
■ Backburner User’s Guide
NOTE For information on installing Autodesk Backburner, see the Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 and Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009 Installation Guide.
■ FBX Plug-in Help: Access the FBX Plug-in Help from the Additional Help
menu. You can also click the ? (Help) button on the FBX Importer/Exporter dialog. The FBX plug-in changes often, with the result that Autodesk updates it more frequently than it does this program. Be sure to check regularly for updated versions by clicking the Web Updates button on the dialog.
■ Flight Studio 2009 Reference: Find reference and tutorial information for
the Flight Studio 2009 Plug-in in the Flight Studio 2009 Reference available in the Additional Help menu. The Flight Studio 2009 Plug-in is selected for install by default when you install Autodesk 3ds Max or Autodesk 3ds Max Design. You can also review the Flight Studio Readme (Flight Studio
2.0.0.1 documentation.doc) available in the \\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2009\help directory.
How to Print from the Online Help
If your computer is connected to a printer, you can print single help topics or entire chapters.
To print a topic or chapter, highlight the topic or chapter title and click the Print button at the top of the help display. A dialog opens.
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Choose to print only the selected topic, or to print all topics in that chapter. After you make your selection, another dialog appears where you can choose your printer and other options.
The tabs available at the top of the dialog depend on the selected printer. Choose options for the print job, and click OK to begin printing.
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How to Contact Us
We are also interested in hearing your views about 3ds Max. We’d like to hear ways you think we can improve our program, features you’re interested in, as well as your views on the documentation set.
Please send us email about the documentation set at:
me.documentation@autodesk.com
About MAXScript
MAXScript is the built-in scripting language for 3ds Max. It provides users with the ability to:
■ Script all aspects of 3ds Max use, such as modeling, animation, materials,
rendering, and so on.
■ Control 3ds Max interactively through a command-line shell window.
■ Package scripts within custom utility panel rollouts or modeless windows,
giving them a standard 3ds Max user interface.
■ Build custom import/export tools using the built-in file I/O.
■ Write procedural controllers that can access the entire state of the scene.
Build batch-processing tools, such as batch-rendering scripts.
■ Set up live interfaces to external system using OLE Automation.
The MAXScript language is specifically designed to complement 3ds Max. It is object-oriented, and has several special features and constructs that mirror high-level concepts in the 3ds Max user interface. These include coordinate-system contexts, an animation mode with automatic keyframing, and access to scene objects using hierarchical path names that match the 3ds Max object hierarchy.
The syntax is simple enough for non-programmers to use, with minimal punctuation and formatting rules.
Visual MAXScript
Visual MAXScript is a powerful addition to MAXScript, making the MAXScript feature easier to learn and use. With Visual MAXScript, you can quickly create UI elements and layouts for scripting.
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For detailed information about Visual MAXScript, open the MAXScript Reference, available from Help menu > MAXScript Reference.
See also:
■ MAXScript Interface on page 7496
Procedures
To access MAXScript, do one of the following:
1 On the menu bar, choose MAXScript. The MAXScript menu appears.
2 Choose Utilities panel > MAXScript.
From here, you can either write new scripts, edit or run existing scripts, open the MAXScript Listener, or use the Macro Recorder.
To access the MAXScript Listener, you can also right-click in the Mini Listener and choose Open Listener Window from the right-click menu.
For detailed information about the MAXScript utility, open the MAXScript Reference, available from Help menu > MAXScript Reference.
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Find the Information You Need
There are various ways to find information about how to use this program, and multiple resources are available.
This program is a powerful application with tools that help you work with a high level of efficiency and productivity. You install this software with the Installation wizard that starts automatically when you insert the product C D.
This application is often intuitive, but when you do need to look something up, you can save time and avoid frustration if you use the Help system to find information. The Help system is organized in a structured design that makes information easy to locate.
2
Search For and Receive Information
On the InfoCenter toolbar, you can use InfoCenter to search a variety of information sources with one query. You can also easily access product updates and announcements.
Overview of Searching for and Receiving Information
On the InfoCenter toolbar, you can use InfoCenter to search for information through key words (or by entering a phrase), display the Communication Center panel for product updates and announcements, or display the Favorites panel to access saved topics.
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Left: Search field
Next: Search button
Next: Communication Center button
Right: Favorites button
When you enter key words or a phrase and then press ENTER or click the
InfoCenter button , you search multiple Help resources in addition to any files that have been specified in the InfoCenter Settings dialog box. The results are displayed as links on a panel. You can click any of these links to display the Help topic, article, or document.
NOTE It is recommended that you use key words to search for information, as key words often produce better results. In case of a misspelled word, spelling suggestions are displayed.
Get Information through InfoCenter
When you click the Communication Center button , the Communication Center panel is displayed. It displays links to information about product updates and product announcements, and may include links to Subscription Center, CAD Manager specified files, and RSS feeds.
When you click the Favorites button, a panel displays saved links to topics or web locations.
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Use the Next and Previous buttons to browse search results.
Click and drag categories or groups to rearrange them.
See also:
■ Using the 3ds Max Help on page 33
■ What's New in Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 on page 1
To rearrange the topics displayed on a panel
1 Display a panel by doing one of the following:
■ In the InfoCenter toolbar, enter a keyword or phrase. Then press
ENTER or click the InfoCenter button .
■ In the InfoCenter toolbar, click the Communication Center button
.
■ In the InfoCenter toolbar, click the Favorites button .
2 Click and drag a category or group header to the desired position.
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3 Release the mouse button.
NOTE Categories can be rearranged only within a group and cannot be moved
into other groups.
To browse search results displayed on a panel
1 On the InfoCenter Search Results, Communication Center, or Favorites
panel, on the right side of the category header, do one of the following:
■ Click the Next button .
■ Click the Previous button .
Search for Information
You can use InfoCenter to search multiple sources (for example, Help, the New Features Workshop, web locations, and specified files) at one time, or search a single file or location.
When you enter key words or a phrase in the InfoCenter box, and then press ENTER or click the InfoCenter button, you search the contents of multiple Help resources as well as any additional documents and web locations that have been specified in the InfoCenter Settings dialog box or through the CAD Manager Control Utility. The results are displayed as links on the InfoCenter Search Results panel. You can click any of these links to display the topic, article, or document.
NOTE It is recommended that you use key words to search for information, as key words often produce better results. In case of a misspelled word, spelling suggestions are displayed.
Get Information through InfoCenter
Click the Play arrow to start the animation.
You can also search a single location by clicking the arrow next to the InfoCenter button, and selecting a location or file from the list.
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In addition, you can add a location (file or document) to search by clicking the arrow next to the InfoCenter button, and selecting Add Search Location from the list.
When you use InfoCenter to search for information, you can use the following special symbols (wild cards) in your query to refine or expand it. These symbols can be used alone or can be combined.
DescriptionSymbol
*
?
~
Replaces one or more characters when used at the begin­ning, middle, or end of a word. For example, “*lish”, “p*lish”, and “pub*” will all find “publish”. Also, “anno*” will find “annotative”, “annotation”, “annoupdate”, “annore­set”, and so on.
Replaces a single character. For example, “cop?” will find “copy”, but not “copybase”.
Expands the tense of the word at the beginning or end of a word. For example, “plotting~” will find “plots”, “plotted”, and so on. Also, “~plot” will find “preplot”, “replot”, and so on.
When searching for multiple words in topics, use double quotation marks (" ") to enclose words that must appear next to each other in the specified sequence. For example, enter "specifying units of measurement" to find only topics with all those words in that order. You can also use the previously mentioned symbols (wild cards) in a text string that is enclosed in double quotation marks.
See also:
■ Specify InfoCenter Settings on page 22
■ Using the 3ds Max Help on page 33
To search multiple sources for information
1 In the InfoCenter box, enter a keyword or phrase.
2 Press ENTER, click the InfoCenter button, or click the arrow next to the
InfoCenter button and select All Search Locations.
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The search results are displayed on the Search Results panel.
To search a single location for information
1 In the InfoCenter box, enter a keyword or phrase.
2 Click the arrow next to the InfoCenter button .
3 Select a location from the list to search.
4 The search results from that location are displayed on the Search Results
panel.
To add a location to search
1 In the InfoCenter box, click the arrow next to the InfoCenter button
.
2 Click Add Search Location.
3 In the Add Search Location dialog box, specify a document or a file
location to search.
4 Click Add.
Receive Product Updates and Announcements
Communication Center provides up-to-date product information, software updates, product support announcements, and other product-related announcements.
Overview of Communication Center
To open Communication Center, click the Communication Center button
on the InfoCenter toolbar.
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Access Communication Center
Communication Center provides the following kinds of announcements:
■ Product Support Information. Get breaking news from the Product Support
team at Autodesk, including when Live Update maintenance patches are released.
■ Subscription Announcements. Receive subscription announcements and
subscription program news, as well as links to e-Learning Lessons, if you are an Autodesk subscription member (available in countries/regions where Autodesk subscriptions are offered). For more information about Autodesk Subscription, see Access Subscription Center on page 28.
■ Articles and Tips. Be notified when new articles and tips are available on
Autodesk websites.
■ CAD Manager Channel. Receive information (RSS feeds) published by your
CAD manager.
■ RSS Feeds. Receive information from RSS feeds to which you subscribe.
(An RSS feed is information published by a website to which you subscribe. RSS feeds generally notify you when new content is posted.) Several default RSS feeds are automatically subscribed to when you install the program.
■ Live Update Maintenance Patches. Receive automatic notifications
whenever new maintenance patches are released from Autodesk.
■ Featured Technologies and Content. Learn more about third-party
developer applications and content.
You can customize the items that display on the Communication Center panel. For more information, see Specify InfoCenter Settings on page 22.
Communication Center Online Privacy
Communication Center is an interactive feature that must be connected to the Internet in order to deliver content and information. Each time Communication Center is connected, it sends your information to Autodesk so that you receive the correct information. All information is sent anonymously to Autodesk to maintain your privacy.
The following information is sent to Autodesk:
■ Product name (in which you are using Communication Center)
■ Product release number
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■ Product language
■ Country/region (specified in the Communication Center settings)
■ Your subscription contract number (if you’re a subscription customer)
Autodesk compiles statistics using the information sent from Communication Center to monitor how it is being used and how it can be improved. Autodesk maintains information provided by or collected from you in accordance with the company's published privacy policy, which is available on http://www.autodesk.com/privacy.
See also:
■ Specify InfoCenter Settings on page 22
■ Access Subscription Center on page 28
Receive New Information Notifications
Whenever new information is available, Communication Center notifies you by displaying a balloon message below the Communication Center button on the InfoCenter box.
Click the link in the balloon message to open the article or announcement. If you prefer not to be notified by Communication Center, you can turn off Balloon Notification in the InfoCenter Settings dialog box. You can also customize the transparency of balloon messages as well as the length of time they are displayed.
See also:
■ Specify InfoCenter Settings on page 22
Save and Access Favorite Topics
In InfoCenter, you can save links as favorites and easily access them later.
Any link that displays on the InfoCenter Search Results panel or Communication Center panel can be marked as a favorite. Links that are marked as favorites are displayed on the Favorites panel. You display the
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Favorites panel by clicking the Favorites button on the InfoCenter box on the InfoCenter toolbar.
Save and Access Favorite Topics through InfoCenter
A link that is marked as a favorite displays a star icon when the link is displayed on the Search Results panel or the Communication Center panel. You can click the star icon to remove the link’s “favorite” status, which removes it from the Favorites panel.
To display the InfoCenter Favorites panel
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Favorites button to display the
Favorites panel.
NOTE The links displayed on the Favorites panel are organized into the same groups or categories from which they were added.
To save a link in InfoCenter as a favorite
1 Display a panel by doing one of the following:
■ In the InfoCenter box, enter a keyword or phrase. Then press ENTER
or click the InfoCenter button.
■ In the InfoCenter box, click the Communication Center button.
2 Click the Star icon that appears next to the link that you want to
save as a favorite.
To remove a favorite link from the InfoCenter Favorites panel
1 In the InfoCenter box, click the Favorites button to display the
Favorites panel.
2 Click the Star icon that is displayed next to the link that you want
to remove from the Favorites panel.
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Specify InfoCenter Settings
You can specify InfoCenter Search and Communication Center settings in the InfoCenter Settings dialog box.
In the InfoCenter Settings dialog box, you can specify the following
settings:
■ General. Your current locations, how often to check for new online content,
animated transition effects for panels.
■ Search Locations. Locations (documents, web locations and files) to search
for information, as well as the name that displays for each location and the number of results to display for each. Also, you can add or remove search locations. The Web Locations checkbox provides access to important information on the Autodesk website, including the Knowledge Base and discussion groups. When you add document locations, you can specify files on your local drive or files on a network.
NOTE User-specified CHM files must be located on your local drive. InfoCenter can search CHM files located on network drives.
■ Communication Center. Maximum age of the articles displayed on the
Communication Center panel and the location and name of the CAD Manager Channel.
■ Autodesk Channels. Channels to display in the Communication Center
panel as well as the number of articles to display for each channel.
■ Balloon Notification. Notifications for new product information, software
updates, product support announcements, and Did You Know messages. Also, you can customize the transparency and the display time of the balloon.
NOTE Did You Know balloons displayed below the Communication Center button on the InfoCenter box provide knowledge base information and general instructional messages such as tips. You can click on the text or the Expand
icon to expand the balloon to view the detailed information.
■ RSS Feeds. RSS feed subscriptions. You can add or remove RSS feeds. (An
RSS feed is information published by a website to which you subscribe.
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RSS feeds generally notify you when new content is posted.) Several default RSS feeds are automatically subscribed to when you install the program.
To specify locations to search for information
1 In the InfoCenter box, click the arrow next to the InfoCenter button
.
2 Click Search Settings.
3 In the InfoCenter Settings dialog box, Search Locations panel, in the right
pane, select or clear the search locations you want to include or exclude when you search for information.
NOTE You can click directly on the search location name to change the name
in the right pane of the Settings dialog box.
4 Click OK.
NOTE The Search all available languages option allows you to specify whether to
search default language or all available languages. This option is deselected by default.
To add a new location to search for information
1 In the InfoCenter box, click the arrow next to the InfoCenter button
.
2 Click Search Settings.
3 In the InfoCenter Settings dialog box, do one of the following:
■ On the Search Locations panel, in the right pane, click Add.
■ On the Search Locations panel, in the right pane, right-click anywhere
in the pane. Click Add.
4 In the Add Search Location dialog box, specify a file location to search.
NOTE You can specify a file on your local drive or on a network.
5 Click Add.
6 Click OK.
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To remove a location to search for information
1 In the InfoCenter box, click the arrow next to the InfoCenter button
.
2 Click Search Settings.
3 In the InfoCenter Settings dialog box, do one of the following:
■ Select a location to remove, and then click Remove.
■ Right-click a search location. Click Remove.
4 In the Remove Search Location dialog box, click Yes to remove the selected
location.
5 Click OK.
To specify the channels to display in the Communication Center panel
1 In the InfoCenter box, click the arrow next to the InfoCenter button
.
2 Click Search Settings.
3 In the InfoCenter Settings dialog box, in the left pane, click Autodesk
Channels.
4 In the right pane, select or clear the channels you want to display in the
Communication Center panel.
5 Click OK.
To specify InfoCenter balloon notification settings
1 In the InfoCenter box, click the arrow next to the InfoCenter button
.
2 Click Search Settings.
3 In the InfoCenter Settings dialog box, in the left pane, click Balloon
Notification.
4 In the right pane, select or clear the options to turn balloon notification
on or off.
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NOTE You can turn off the balloon notification for Did You Know messages
in the InfoCenter Settings dialog box.
5 Enter the number of seconds to set the length of time for balloon
notifications to display.
NOTE The default value for the balloon display time is 5 seconds.
6 Enter the transparency value of the balloon or set the value using the
slider.
7 Click OK.
To turn on the display of Did You Know hidden messages
1 Click Tools menu ➤ Options .
2 In the Options dialog box, System tab, under General Options, click the
Hidden Message Settings button.
3 In the Hidden Message Settings dialog box, select the InfoCenter Did You
Know Balloons option to turn on the display of all hidden messages.
4 Click OK.
To add an RSS feed to Communication Center
1 In the InfoCenter box, click the arrow next to the InfoCenter button
.
2 Click Search Settings.
3 In the InfoCenter Settings dialog box, in the left pane, click RSS Feeds.
4 In the right pane, do one of the following:
■ Click Add.
■ Right-click anywhere in the right pane. Click Add.
5 In the Add RSS Feed dialog box, enter the location of the RSS feed you
want to add.
6 Click Add.
7 Click OK.
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To remove an RSS feed from Communication Center
1 In the InfoCenter box, click the arrow next to the InfoCenter button
.
2 Click Search Settings.
3 In the InfoCenter Settings dialog box, in the left pane, click RSS Feeds.
4 In the right pane, do one of the following:
■ Click Remove.
■ Right-click an RSS feed. Click Remove.
5 In the Remove RSS Subscription dialog box, click Yes to remove the
selected RSS feed.
6 Click OK.
Learn the Product
Training programs and products from Autodesk help you learn the key technical features and improve your productivity. For the latest information about Autodesk training, visit http://www.autodesk.com/training or contact your local Autodesk office.
Autodesk Authorized Training Centers
The Autodesk® Authorized Training Center (ATC®) network delivers Autodesk-authorized, instructor-led training to design professionals who use Autodesk software. Autodesk Authorized Training Centers use experienced and knowledgeable instructors. More than 1,200 ATC sites are available worldwide to meet your needs for discipline-specific, locally based training.
To find a training center near you, contact your local Autodesk office or visit http://www.autodesk.com/atc.
Autodesk Official Training Courseware
Autodesk Official Training Courseware (AOTC) is technical training material developed by Autodesk. Designed for traditional 1/2-day to 5-day, instructor-led classroom training and used by Authorized Training Centers and other Autodesk partners, AOTC is well-suited for self-paced, stand-alone learning.
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The manuals cover key concepts and software functionality with hands-on, step-by-step, real-world exercises. You can purchase AOTC from your local reseller or distributor, or you can order it online from the Autodesk Store at http://www.autodesk.com/aotc.
e-Learning
Autodesk e-Learning for Autodesk Subscription customers features interactive lessons organized into product catalogs. Each lesson is 20-40 minutes in length and features hands-on exercises, with an option to use a simulation of the product or the actual application. You can also use an online evaluation tool that identifies gaps in skills, determines what lessons will be most helpful, and gauges learning progress.
If you are a member of Autodesk subscription, you can access e-Learning and other subscription services from within your Autodesk product. For more information about how to access e-Learning in the product, see Access
Subscription Center on page 28. For more information about Autodesk
subscription resources, visit http://www.autodesk.com/subscriptioncenter.
Autodesk Developer Network
The Autodesk Developer (ADN) program for ADN members provides support for full-time, professional developers who want to build software based on Autodesk products. As an ADN member, you will receive the business, software, support, and training you need to be successful. If you are a developer, visit http://www.autodesk.com/adn.
Autodesk Consulting
Autodesk Consulting provides services that help set up processes and provide critical training that will help increase productivity so you can capitalize on the power of your products. For more information on general consulting, systems integration, or custom training services, visit http://www.autodesk.com/consulting.
Partner Products and Services
Autodesk works together with thousands of software partners around the world. These partners provide products and services that enhance Autodesk products for design professionals. Visit the Partner Products & Services page at http://www.autodesk.com/partnerproducts for a list of resources available for your Autodesk product and your industry.
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Access Subscription Center
The Subscription Center is available to subscription members from within the product. If you are a subscription member, you can access subscription services by clicking the Communication Center button on the InfoCenter toolbar, and then clicking a Subscription Center link. To learn more about Autodesk subscription membership, visit http://www.autodesk.com/subscriptioncenter.
Overview of Subscription Center
With Autodesk Subscription, you get the latest releases of Autodesk software, incremental product enhancements, personalized web support from Autodesk technical experts, and self paced e-Learning. Subscription services are available to subscription members only.
By clicking the Communication Center button on the InfoCenter toolbar, members have access to the following options (under Subscription Center):
■ Subscription status. Checks your subscription status.
■ Create support request. Provides direct one-to-one communication with
Autodesk support technicians. You receive fast, complete answers to your installation, configuration, and troubleshooting questions.
■ View support requests. Tracks and manage your questions and responses
through Autodesk's state-of-the-art support system.
■ Edit Subscription Center profile. Sets up and maintains your subscription
account.
■ View e-Learning catalog. Features interactive lessons organized into product
catalogs.
■ e-Learning Lessons. (For subscription members only.) Each lesson is 15–30
minutes and features hands-on exercises, with an option to use a simulation instead of the software application. You can use an online evaluation tool that identifies gaps in skills, determines what lessons will be most helpful, and gauges learning progress.
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Subscription Resources and Privacy
Subscription resources provide interactive product features over the Internet. Each time you access subscription resources (such as e-Learning or Create Support Request) from Communication Center in an Autodesk product, product information (such as the serial number, version, language, and the subscription contract ID) is sent to Autodesk for verification that your product is on subscription.
Autodesk compiles statistics using the information sent to subscription resources to monitor how they are being used and how they can be improved. Autodesk maintains the information provided by or collected from you in accordance with Autodesk's published privacy policy, which is available at
http://www.autodesk.com/privacy
To access the Subscription Center in the program
1 In the InfoCenter box, click the Communication Center button.
2 On the Communication Center panel, under Subscription Center, click
the subscription resource you want to access.
NOTE Subscription Center is not available to all product users. If subscription resources are not available in your product, your product is not entitled to subscription benefits.
Manage Files with Autodesk Vault
If you are a subscription customer, you have access to Autodesk Vault, a file management tool that provides a repository where documents and files are stored and managed. Autodesk Vault is also shipped with certain other Autodesk softwares. Autodesk Vault gives you more power to manage files and track changes. Versioned copies of master files are maintained, allowing you to easily revert to earlier versions of files. You can check files out for editing and later check them back in. The master copy is never directly edited. During the check-in process, you can add comments regarding the edits you've made to inform other designers of your changes. You are able to quickly understand a project’s developmental flow and history.
Autodesk Vault consists of three required components: the Vault Plug-in, the Autodesk Data Management Server, and the Vault Client. The Vault Plug-in is shipped with 3ds Max. The Autodesk Data Management Server and the Vault Client are available on the Autodesk Subscription site.
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For information about using the Vault, refer to the Vault Help system.
The Autodesk Data Management Server
The Autodesk Data Management Server stores the master copies of all your documents and designs. By storing all your data in a common, centralized location, you can easily share and manage information with your design team.
The Vault Client
The Vault Client software includes Autodesk Vault Explorer. The Vault Explorer is a stand-alone application that provides tools you use to access data stored on the Autodesk Data Management Server. From within , you can log in, log out, and open and attach files directly from the Vault. You can also access the Vault using the Vault Explorer. With the Vault Explorer you can
■ Manage the Vault
■ Manage Vault user accounts
■ Set working folders
■ Create folders in the Vault
■ Add, check in, and check out files (including non-Inventor and non-DWG
files; exception is AutoCAD Electrical files)
■ Move files in the Vault
■ Rename files in the Vault
■ View the history of design changes
■ Create file associations within the Vault by attaching two or more files
■ Check out the latest version of a file
■ Package files using Pack and Go
Join the Customer Involvement Program
You are invited to participate in helping guide the direction of Autodesk design software.
If you participate in the Customer Involvement Program, specific information about how you use is forwarded to Autodesk. This information includes what
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features you use the most, problems that you encounter, and other information helpful to the future direction of the product.
Here is a list of the information that is automatically sent to Autodesk:
■ Name and version of the Autodesk product
■ commands used, and amount of time spent in
■ Error conditions encountered, fatal, and non-fatal
■ File formats imported or exported with
■ Operating system name and version
■ System configuration information such as processor, amount of memory,
and graphics card
■ IP address, used to identify your country or region
What the Customer Involvement Program Cannot Do
The Customer Involvement Program is committed to protecting your privacy. It cannot do any of the following:
■ Collect any drawing or design data
■ Collect any identity information such as name, address, or phone number
■ Send you email or contact you in any other way
For additional information, click the links in the Customer Involvement Program dialog box.
Why You Should Consider Participating
The Customer Involvement Program involves you directly in telling Autodesk
■ The commands and features that Autodesk should focus on
■ The commands and features that are hardly ever used
■ The most common problem areas
■ The hardware typically used with
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NOTE You can start or stop your participation in this program at any time. Access to the controls is available from the Help menu. In network installations, your system administrator can choose whether to make the CIP program available or not.
To turn the CIP on or off
1 Click Help menu ➤ Customer Involvement Program.
2 In the Customer Involvement Program dialog box, click a level of
participation, and then click OK.
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Using the 3ds Max Help
3
The 3ds Max Help (this document) gives you information about every aspect of the software. Each topic contains an overview discussion, typically preceded by a path annotation showing how to access the feature in the program, and followed by a "Procedures" section with steps for using a command or feature, and an “Interface” section detailing controls and parameters for the user interface.
■ Path Annotation: Gives one or more sequences of steps indicating how to access the feature
in the user interface.
■ Topic Overview: Tells you the name of the feature, command, user-interface control, or
concept, and gives you a description.
■ Procedures: Contains steps for tasks that illustrate the typical use of the feature.
■ Interface: Describes the controls for this feature as they appear in the user interface, with
a description of their behaviors and settings.
Important Notes
New features are indicated in this help by the "New" icon shown at the beginning of this paragraph. This makes it easy to see what's new in the software as you use the reference. You can also identify topics containing information on new features in the program using the Index. Double-click the "new feature" entry to display a list of topics describing new program features. Double-click the entry "changed feature" to see which existing features have changed.
Keypresses, both individual and combination, are indicated in this document using a special text style. For example:
■ To open the Select From Scene dialog, press H.
■ To undo the most recent action, press Ctrl+Z.
When you click a “book” icon on the Contents tab, the Topic pane on the right side immediately displays the introductory or first topic in that section. This differs from previous
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behavior, in which the first topic was a separate entry in the table of contents and needed to be accessed separately from the “book” container.
The screen shots in this document show the default user interface colors. Other color sets for the user interface are available. You can choose them, or create your own, using the
Colors tab on page 7712 in the Customize User Interface dialog on page 7697.
See also:
■ Finding Information Fast on page 34
■ Using the HTML Help Viewer on page 36
■ Searching for Help Topics on page 38
■ Help Menu on page 7496
Finding Information Fast
Use the Navigation pane in the Help Window to get to information quickly. It contains tabs that let you use Contents, Index, or Search techniques to get to topics you need.
Contents Tab
The Contents tab displays the main sections of this online system as book icons. When you click a book, it expands to show the list of topics contained within it, like chapters in hardcopy books.
To go to a topic from the Contents tab:
1 Click the Contents tab to display the Table of Contents view.
2 Click the book icon representing the area for which you want information.
The Topic pane on the right displays the introductory topic for that section. In most cases, the topic contains an overview of the section contents plus a list of relevant links. In some cases, the topic consists exclusively of links to other topics in the section.
The page icons for the book expand below representing all the topics for the book’s feature area.
3 Click a link in the introductory topic to go to that topic.
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Alternatively, you can view a list of the section’s topics and sub-sections by clicking the + icon to the left of the book icon in the table of contents or double-clicking the book icon or section title. This expands the section and shows its contents.
4 Continue navigating through the table of contents until you find the
topic you want and then click its icon.
Index Panel
The index is an alphabetical listing of keywords found in the help. A single keyword might be linked to more than one topic. Scroll through the list, or to jump to an index entry that matches what you’re looking for, type the first few letters of the subject in the editable field above the list.
To go to a topic from the Index panel:
1 Click the Index tab to display the Help index.
2 In the form at the top of the Index, type the subject you want, or scroll
through the alphabetical list to find the term for which you need information.
3 Click the term, then click Display to see the topic for that term, or
double-click the term to see its topic.
The topic displays in the right pane and may show links to related topics.
Search Tab
The Search tab summons a full-text search engine that operates on a database of every word in the help system, created when the HTML Help system was compiled. You can use tools on the Search tab to find the help topics on page 38 containing any word or phrase.
Favorites Tab
Use tools on the Favorites tab to create and store a set of topics you use often; you can name them as you choose.
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Using the HTML Help Viewer
This online information system is a compiled HTML help (CHM) file; you view it using Microsoft's HTML Help Viewer, powered by Internet Explorer. The HTML Help Viewer is a three-pane window:
■ The Navigation pane on page 34 is on the left side of the window. It
contains five navigational tabs, for Contents on page 34, Index on page 34, Search on page 38, and Favorites on page 43.
■ The Topic pane is on the right side of the window. It displays the selected
help topic, or the default help topic. It's the window you're reading from right now.
■ The toolbar on page 44 is the third pane, located below the help window
title bar. Here are some tips on how to find more information when using the HTML Help Viewer:
■ To link to another topic or a list of other topics, click the colored,
underlined words in the Topic pane.
■ If you use a particular help topic often, you can add it to your favorites
list on page 43.
■ Right-click the Contents or Favorites tab or the Topic pane for shortcut
menu commands.
Comments
Each topic in the online version of this document ends with a Comments link. When you click Comments, the Help Viewer opens an electronic form you can use to send us comments or requests about that topic. We'll use that information when we revise the documentation set for a future release.
TIP Frequently check the downloads section on the 3ds Max support site for updated releases of our online references. Access it from Help menu > 3ds Max on the Web > Online Support.
See also:
■ Finding Information Fast on page 34
■ Searching for Help Topics on page 38
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■ Most of information about using the HTML Help Viewer has been supplied
directly by Microsoft. It has been made freely available for inclusion in HTML help projects such as this one. This information has been edited and reformatted to match that of the other online information systems shipping with the software.
Procedures
To find a help topic:
1 In the Navigation pane, click one of the following tabs:
■ To browse through a table of contents, click the Contents tab. The
table of contents is an expandable list of important topics.
■ To see a list of index entries, click the Index tab, and then type a word
or scroll through the list. Topics are often indexed under more than one entry.
■ To locate every occurrence of a word or phrase that may be contained
in a help file, click the Search tab, and then type the word. For details on searching, see Searching for Help Topics on page 38.
2 Double-click the contents entry, index entry, or search results entry to
display the corresponding topic.
To copy a help topic:
1 In the Topic pane, right-click the topic you want to copy, and then click
Select All.
2 Right-click again, and then click Copy. This copies the topic to the
Clipboard.
3 Open the document you want to copy the topic to.
4 Position your cursor where you want the information to appear.
5 On the Edit menu, click Paste.
To copy only part of a topic:
■ Select the text you want to copy, right-click, and then click Copy.
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To print the current help topic:
■ Right-click a topic, and then click Print.
If you print from the Contents tab (by right-clicking an entry, and then clicking Print) you will see options to print only the current topic, or the current topic and all subtopics.
To hide or show the Navigation pane:
■ On the toolbar, click Hide or Show to close or display the Navigation pane,
which contains the Contents, Index, Search, and Favorites tabs. If you close the Help Viewer with the Navigation pane hidden, it will appear that way when you open the Help Viewer again.
To see where the current topic fits in the information hierarchy (contents):
■ Press Alt+C.
The Contents pane displays, with the current topic highlighted.
Searching for Help Topics
A basic search consists of the word or phrase you want to find. You can use Boolean, wildcard, and nested expressions. You can also limit the search to previous results, match similar words, or search topic titles only to further define your search.
The basic rules for formulating queries are as follows:
■ Searches are not case-sensitive, so you can type your search in uppercase
or lowercase characters.
■ You may search for any combination of letters (a through z) and numbers
(0 through 9).
■ Punctuation marks such as the period, colon, semicolon, comma, and
hyphen are ignored during a search.
■ Group the elements of your search using double quotes on page 39 or
parentheses on page 41 to set apart each element. You cannot search for
quotation marks.
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NOTE If you are searching for a file name with an extension, you should group the entire string in double quotes, ("filename.ext"). Otherwise, the period will break the file name into two separate terms. The default operation between terms is AND, so you will create the logical equivalent to "filename AND ext."
Searching for Words or Phrases: Using Wildcards
You can search for words or phrases and use wildcard expressions. Wildcard expressions allow you to search for one or more characters using a question mark or asterisk. The table below describes the results of these different kinds of searches.
ResultsExampleSearch for
word
A phrase
Wildcard expressions
selectA single
"new oper­ator" or
or matical vari-
esc* or 80?86
Topics that contain the word "select." (You will also find its grammatical variations, such as "se­lector" and "selection.")
Topics that contain the literal phrase "new oper­ator" and all its gram-new operat-
ations.Without the quo­tation marks, the query is equivalent to specify­ing "new AND operat­or," which will find top­ics containing both of the individual words, instead of the phrase.
Topics that contain the terms "ESC," "escape," "escalation," and so on. The asterisk cannot be the only character in the term.Topics that contain the terms "80186," "80286,"
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ResultsExampleSearch for
"80386," and so on. The question mark cannot be the only character in the term.
Turn on Match Similar Words to include minor grammatical variations for the phrase you search.
Defining Search Terms: Using Boolean Expressions
The AND, OR, NOT, and NEAR operators enable you to precisely define your search by creating a relationship between search terms. The following table shows how you can use each of these operators. If no operator is specified, AND is used. For example, the query "spacing border printing" is equivalent to "spacing AND border AND printing."
ResultsExampleSearch for
Both terms in the same topic.
Either term in a topic.
The first term without the second term.
Both terms in the same topic, close together.
dib AND palette
raster OR vector
ole NOT dde
user NEAR kernel
Topics containing both the words "dib" and "palette."
Topics containing either the word "raster" or the word "vector" or both.
Topics containing the word "OLE," but not the word "DDE."
Topics containing the word "user" within eight words of the word "kernel."
NOTE The |, &, and ! characters don't work as Boolean operators (you must use OR, AND, and NOT).
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Using Nested Expressions When Searching
Nested expressions allow you to create complex searches for information. For example, "control AND ((active OR dde) NEAR window)" finds topics containing the word "control" along with the words "active" and "window" close together, or containing "control" along with the words "dde" and "window" close together.
The basic rules for searching help topics using nested expressions are as follows:
■ You can use parentheses to nest expressions within a query. The expressions
in parentheses are evaluated before the rest of the query.
■ If a query does not contain a nested expression, it is evaluated from left
to right. For example: "Control NOT active OR dde" finds topics containing the word "control" without the word "active," or topics containing the word "dde." On the other hand, "control NOT (active OR dde)" finds topics containing the word "control" without either of the words "active" or "dde."
■ You cannot nest expressions more than five levels deep.
Procedures
To go to a topic from the Search tab:
1 Click the Search tab, and then type the word or phrase you want to find.
2 To add Boolean operators to your search (not necessary if you're
searching for a single term), click the Boolean button to the right of the text field, and then one of the operator names.
3 Click List Topics, choose the topic you want, and then click Display.
4 To sort the topic list alphabetically, click the Title column heading.
You can precisely define a search by using wildcard expressions, nested expressions, and Boolean operators.
You can request similar word matches, search only the topic titles, or search the results of a previous search.
You can set the Help Viewer to highlight all instances of search terms that are found in topic files. Click the Options button, and then click Search Highlight On.
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To highlight words in searched topics:
When searching for words in help topics, you can have each occurrence of the word or phrase highlighted in the topics that are found.
■ To highlight all instances of a search word or phrase, click Options on the
toolbar, and then click Search Highlight On. To turn off this option, click Options on the toolbar, and then click Search Highlight Off. Another way to turn off highlighting without changing the Search Highlight ... setting is to go to the Contents tab, and then click the highlighted topic entry.
If you are viewing a long topic, only the first 500 instances of a search word or phrase will be highlighted.
To search for words in the titles of HTML files:
1 Click the Search tab, type the word or phrase you want to find, and then
turn on Search Titles Only.
2 Click List Topics, choose the topic you want, and then click Display.
If you use this option, all HTML topic files will be searched, including any that are not listed in the table of contents.
To find words similar to your search term:
This feature enables you to include minor grammatical variations for the phrase you search. For example, a search on the word "add" will find "add," "adds," and "added."
1 Click the Search tab, type the word or phrase you want to find, and then
turn on Match Similar Words.
2 Click List Topics, choose the topic you want, and then click Display.
This feature only locates variations of the word with common suffixes. For example, a search on the word "add" will find "added," but it will not find "additive."
To search only the last group of topics you searched:
This feature enables you to narrow a search that results in too many topics found. You can search through your results list from previous search by using this option.
1 On the Search tab, turn on Search Previous Results.
2 Click List Topics, choose the topic you want, and then click Display.
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If you want to search through all of the files in a help system, this check box must be off.
If you previously used this feature, the Search tab opens with this check box turned on.
To repeat an earlier search:
■ Click the down arrow on the text-entry field and choose a previously
used search string, and then click List Topics.
Favorites Tab
Use tools on the Favorites tab to create a set of topics you use often; you can name them as you choose.
Procedures
To create a list of favorite help topics:
1 Locate the help topic you want to make a favorite topic.
2 Click the Favorites tab, and then click Add.
To return to a favorite topic:
1 Click the Favorites tab.
2 Choose the topic, and then click Display.
To rename a topic in the Favorites list:
■ Choose the topic, and then enter a new name in the Current topic box.
To remove a favorite topic:
■ Choose the topic, and then click Remove.
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HTML Help Viewer Toolbar
The Help Viewer toolbar contains the following features.
Hide/Show Click this toggle to hide the Navigation pane when it is displaying, or show it when it's hidden.
Back/Forward Click to move to the previously viewed topic, or forward to the following previously viewed topic.
Print Prints the current topic (if the Topic pane is active). If the table of contents is active on the Navigation pane, you can choose to print the current topic, or the topic and its subtopics. This is a way of printing a collection of topics.
Options Displays the options menu:
Hide/Show Tabs Same as Hide/Show buttons, described above.
Back/Forward Same as Back/Forward buttons, described above.
Home Displays the main topic of this online system.
Stop Halts display of a topic.
Refresh Redraws the Help Viewer display.
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Internet Options Displays a dialog to change Internet Explorer (IE) settings. Changes you make here do not affect the online help or tutorials, but do affect your IE browser settings. We do not recommend you use this option.
Print Same as the Print button, described above.
Search Highlight On/Off Toggles highlighting of each instance of a word or
phrase found with a search.
HTML Help Viewer Right-Click Menus
There are several commands on the shortcut menu that you can use to display information.
DescriptionCommand
Right-click in the table of contents, and then click Open All.
Right-click in the table of contents, and then click Close All.
in the table of contents, and then click Print.
Right-click an entry in the Favorites tab.
Opens all books or folders in the table of contents. This command only works if the Contents tab is displayed.
Closes all books or folders. This command only works if the Contents tab is displayed.
Prints the topic.Right-click in the Topic pane, or an entry
Choose to display, add, remove, or rename a topic.
Keyboard Shortcuts in the Help Viewer
The following keyboard shortcuts can be used for navigation in the HTML Help Viewer, or the Contents on page 47, Index on page 47, Search on page 47, orFavorites on page 48 tabs on the Navigation pane.
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Help Viewer
open windows.
PressTo
Alt+F4Close the Help Viewer.
Alt+TabSwitch between the Help Viewer and other
Alt+ODisplay the Options menu.
Alt+O, and then press THide or show the Navigation pane.
Print a topic.
Move back to the previous topic.
Move forward to the next topic (provided you have viewed it just previously).
can specify a home page for a help sys­tem).
panes.
Scroll through a topic.
Alt+O, and then press P, or right-click in the Topic pane and choose Print.
Alt+Left Arrow, or Alt+O, and then press B. Or, if the Topic pane is active, press Backspace.
Alt+Right Arrow, or Alt+O, and then press F
Alt+O, and then press OTurn on or off search highlighting.
Alt+O, and then press HReturn to the home page (help authors
F6Switch between the Navigation and Topic
Up Arrow and Down Arrow, or Page Up and Page Down
TabScroll through all the links in a topic.
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Contents Tab
Tip: Use this shortcut to see where a topic fits in the information hierarchy.
PressTo
Alt+CDisplay the Contents tab.
Open and close a book or folder.
Index Tab
Search Tab
Click plus sign or minus sign next to book icon, or Left Arrow and Right Arrow
Down Arrow and Up ArrowChoose a topic.
EnterDisplay the selected topic.
PressTo
Alt+NDisplay the Index tab.
Alt+W, and then type the wordType a keyword to search for.
Up Arrow and Down ArrowChoose a keyword in the list.
Alt+DDisplay the associated topic.
PressTo
Alt+SDisplay the Search tab.
Alt+W, and then type the wordType a keyword to search for.
Alt+LStart a search.
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prior search.
For example, to find words like "running" and "runs" for the keyword "run."
Favorites Tab
Favorites list.
PressTo
Alt+T, and then Up Arrow and Down ArrowChoose a topic in the results list.
Alt+DDisplay the selected topic.
Alt+U and press EnterSearch for a keyword in the result list of a
Alt+M and press EnterSearch for words similar to the keyword.
Alt+R and press EnterSearch through topic titles only.
PressTo
Alt+IDisplay the Favorites tab.
Alt+AAdd the currently displayed topic to the
Notes
■ There are also shortcut menu commands on page 45 that can be accessed
through the keyboard.
■ The Match Similar Words check box, on the Search tab, will be turned on
if you used it for your last search.
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Alt+P, and then Up Arrow and Down ArrowChoose a topic in the Favorites list.
Alt+DDisplay the selected topic.
Alt+RRemove the selected topic from the list.
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Getting Started with 3ds Max
You use 3ds Max to quickly create professional-quality 3D models, photorealistic still images, and film-quality animation on your PC.
4
Image by Michael McCarthy
Before using this reference material, we highly recommend you get to know 3ds Max firsthand by following the included tutorials. You can access the tutorials using the Help menu > Tutorials command.
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This section presents these brief topics designed to help you quickly start using 3ds Max.
■ Project Workflow on page 50
■ Working with AutoCAD, AutoCAD Architecture, and Revit Files on page 7021
■ Setting Up Your Scene on page 57
■ Modeling Objects on page 58
■ Using Materials on page 59
■ Placing Lights and Cameras on page 62
■ Animating Your Scene on page 65
■ Rendering Your Scene on page 66
The 3ds Max Window on page 67
■ Special Controls on page 70
■ Quad Menu on page 7516
■ Customize Display Right-Click Menu on page 7687
Managing Files on page 76
■ Importing, Merging, and Replacing Scenes on page 78
■ Using the Asset Browser on page 81
■ Startup Files and Defaults on page 82
■ 3dsmax.ini File on page 83
■ Backing Up and Archiving Scenes on page 85
■ Crash Recovery System on page 85
Project Workflow
Once you've installed 3ds Max (see the Installation Guide included with your software package), you open it from the Start menu, or use any other Windows method. The figure below shows the application window with a scene file loaded.
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Main program window
NOTE If you open 3ds Max from a Command Prompt window or batch file, you
can add command-line switches. See Starting 3ds Max from the Command Line on page 7468.
NOTE 3ds Max is a single-document application, meaning you can work on only one scene at a time. However, you can open more than one copy of 3ds Max and open a different scene in each copy. Opening additional copies of 3ds Max requires a lot of RAM. For the best performance, you should plan to open one copy and work on one scene at a time.
Opening multiple copies of 3ds Max is not supported in Windows ME.
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Modeling Objects
You model and animate objects in the viewports, whose layout is configurable. You can start with a variety of 3D geometric primitives. You can also use 2D shapes as the basis for lofted or extruded objects. You can convert objects to a variety of editable surface types, which you can then model further by pulling vertices and using other tools.
Another modeling tool is to apply modifiers to objects. Modifiers can change object geometry. Bend and Twist are examples of modifiers.
Modeling, editing, and animation tools are available in the command panels and toolbar. See Modeling Objects on page 58. Also, you can learn a good deal about modeling from the tutorials available from Help menu > Tutorials.
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Material Design
You design materials using the Material Editor, which appears in its own window. You use the Material Editor to create realistic materials by defining hierarchies of surface characteristics. The surface characteristics can represent static materials, or be animated. See Material Editor on page 5284. Tutorials especially helpful for learning about materials include "Overview of Creating a Scene: Still Life" and "Using Materials."
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Lights and Cameras
You create lights with various properties to illuminate your scene. The lights can cast shadows, project images, and create volumetric effects for atmospheric lighting. Physically-based lights let you use real-world lighting data in your scenes and Radiosity on page 6168 provides incredibly accurate light simulation in renderings. See Lights on page 4970. You can learn more about lighting by following the Introduction to Lighting tutorial.
The cameras you create have real-world controls for lens length, field of view, and motion control such as truck, dolly, and pan. See Cameras on page 5194.
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Animation
You can begin animating your scene at any time by turning on the Auto Key button. Turn the button off to return to modeling. You can also perform animated modeling effects by animating the parameters of objects in your scene. You can learn more about animating in the Animating Your Scene topic on page 65 and from most of the tutorials.
When the Auto Key button is on, 3ds Max automatically records the movement, rotation, and scale changes you make, not as changes to a static scene, but as keys on certain frames that represent time. You can also animate many parameters to make lights and cameras change over time, and preview your animation directly in the 3ds Max viewports.
You use Track View on page 3503 to control animation. Track View is a floating window where you edit animation keys, set up animation controllers, or edit motion curves for your animated effects. The Lip Sync tutorial covers Track View usage.
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Rendering
Rendering adds color and shading to your scene. The renderers available with 3ds Max include features such as selective ray tracing, analytical antialiasing, motion blur, volumetric lighting, and environmental effects. See Rendering
Your Scene on page 66. The tutorials can help you learn about rendering.
When you use the default scanline renderer, a radiosity solution on page 6168 can provide accurate light simulation in renderings, including the ambient lighting that results from reflected light. When you use the mental ray renderer, a comparable effect is provided by global illumination on page 6261.
If your workstation is part of a network, network rendering can distribute rendering jobs over multiple workstations. See Network Rendering on page
6433.
With Video Post on page 6773, you can also composite the scene with animations stored on disk.
A Typical Project Workflow
These topics explain the basic procedures for creating scenes:
Setting Up Your Scene on page 57
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Modeling Objects on page 58
Using Materials on page 59
Placing Lights and Cameras on page 62
Animating Your Scene on page 65
Rendering Your Scene on page 66
Setting Up Your Scene
You start with a new unnamed scene when you open the program. You can also start a new scene at any time by choosing New or Reset from the File menu.
Choosing a Unit Display
You choose a system of unit display on the Units Setup dialog on page 7809. Choose from Metric, Standard US, and Generic methods, or design a custom measuring system. You can switch between different systems of unit display at any time.
NOTE For best results, use consistent units when you are going to:
■ Merge scenes and objects on page 7058.
■ Use XRef objects on page 6936 or XRef scenes on page 6959.
Setting the System Unit
The System Unit setting, in the Units Setup dialog on page 7809, determines how 3ds Max relates to distance information you input to your scene. The setting also determines the range for round-off error. Consider changing the system unit value only when you model very large or very small scenes.
Setting Grid Spacing
Set spacing for the visible grid in the Grid And Snap Settings dialog > Home
Grid panel on page 2675. You can change grid spacing at any time.
See Precision and Drawing Aids on page 2585 for information about the system unit, unit display, and grid spacing.
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Setting the Viewport Display
Viewport layout options
The default four viewports in 3ds Max represent an efficient and popular screen layout. Set options in the Viewport Configuration dialog on page 7817 to change viewport layout and display properties.
See Viewing and Navigating 3D Space on page 87 for more information.
Saving Scenes
Save your scene frequently to protect yourself from mistakes and loss of work. See Backing Up and Archiving Scenes on page 85.
Modeling Objects
1. Modify panel
2. Create panel
3. Object categories
You model objects in your scene by creating standard objects, such as 3D geometry and 2D shapes, and then applying modifiers to those objects. The program includes a wide range of standard objects and modifiers.
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Creating Objects
You create objects by clicking an object category and type on the Create panel and then clicking or dragging in a viewport to define the object's creation parameters. The program organizes the Create panel into these basic categories: Geometry, Shapes, Lights, Cameras, Helpers, Space Warps, and Systems. Each category contains multiple subcategories from which you can choose.
You can also create objects from the Create menu by choosing an object category and type and then clicking or dragging in a viewport to define the object's creation parameters. The program organizes the Create menu into these basic categories: Standard Primitives, Extended Primitives, AEC Objects, Compound, Particles, Patch Grids, NURBS, Dynamics, Shapes, Lights, Cameras, Helpers, Space Warps, and Systems.
See Basics of Creating and Modifying Objects on page 377.
Selecting and Positioning Objects
You select objects by clicking or dragging a region around them. You can also select objects by name or other properties such as color or object category.
After selecting objects, you position them in your scene using the transform tools Move, Rotate, and Scale. Use alignment tools to precisely position objects.
See Selecting Objects on page 191, Moving, Rotating, and Scaling Objects on page 929, and Precision and Drawing Aids on page 2585.
Modifying Objects
You sculpt and edit objects into their final form by applying modifiers from the Modify panel. The modifiers you apply to an object are stored in a stack. You can go back at any time and change the effect of the modifier, or remove it from the object.
See Basics of Creating and Modifying Objects on page 377.
Using Materials
You use the Material Editor to design materials and maps to control the appearance of object surfaces. Maps can also be used to control the appearance of environmental effects such as lighting, fog, and the background.
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A variety of materials in the Material Editor's sample slots
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House on left uses the default standard material.
House on right uses a compound material.
Basic Material Properties
You set basic material properties to control such surface characteristics as default color, shininess, and level of opacity. You can create realistic, single-color materials using just the basic properties.
Using Maps
You extend the realism of materials by applying maps to control surface properties such as texture, bumpiness, opacity, and reflection. Most of the basic properties can be enhanced with a map. Any image file, such as one you might create in a paint program, can be used as a map, or you can choose procedural maps that create patterns based on parameters you set.
The program also includes a raytrace material and map for creating accurate reflections and refraction.
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Viewing Materials in the Scene
You can view the effect of materials on objects in a shaded viewport, but the display is just an approximation of the final effect. Render your scene to view materials accurately.
See Designing Materials on page 5260.
Placing Lights and Cameras
You place lights and cameras to complete your scene in much the same way lights and cameras are placed on a movie set prior to filming.
Lights and cameras placed to compose a scene
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The resulting scene
Default Lighting
Default lighting evenly illuminates the entire scene. Such lighting is useful while modeling, but it is not especially artistic or realistic.
Placing Lights
You create and place lights from the Lights category of the Create panel or menu when you are ready to get more specific about the lighting in your scene.
The program includes the following standard light types: omni, spot, and directional lights. You can set a light to any color and even animate the color to simulate dimming or color-shifting lights. All of these lights can cast shadows, project maps, and use volumetric effects.
See Guidelines for Lighting on page 4986.
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Photometric Lights
Photometric lights on page 5005 provide you with the ability to work more
accurately and intuitively using real-world lighting units (lumens and candelas). Photometric lights also support industry-standard photometric file formats (IES on page 5034, CIBSE on page 7935, LTLI on page 8029) so that you can model the characteristics of real-world manufactured luminaires, or even drag ready-to-use luminaires from the Web. Used in conjunction with the 3ds Max
radiosity solution on page 6168, photometric lights let you evaluate more
accurately (both physically and quantitatively) the lighting performance of your scene.
Photometric lights are available from the Create panel > Lights drop-down list.
Daylight System
The Daylight system on page 5139 combines sunlight on page 8140 and skylight on page 8129 to create a unified system that follows the geographically correct angle and movement of the sun over the earth at a given location. You can choose location, date, time, and compass orientation. You can also animate the date and time. This system is suitable for shadow studies of proposed and existing structures.
Viewing Lighting Effects in the Scene
When you place lights in a scene, the default lighting turns off and the scene is illuminated only by the lights you create. The illumination you see in a viewport is just an approximation of the true lighting. Render your scene to view lighting accurately.
TIP If the Daylight system appears to wash out the scene, try using the Logarithmic
exposure control on page 6740.
Placing Cameras
You create and place cameras from the Cameras category of the Create panel. Cameras define viewpoints for rendering, and you can animate cameras to produce cinematic effects such as dollies and truck shots.
You can also create a camera automatically from a Perspective viewport by using the Create Camera from View command on page 168 found on the Views menu. Just adjust your Perspective viewport until you like it, and then choose
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Views > Create Camera From View. 3ds Max creates a camera and replaces the Perspective viewport with a Camera viewport showing the same perspective.
See Common Camera Parameters on page 5210.
Animating Your Scene
You can animate almost anything in your scene. Click the Auto Key button to enable automatic animation creation, drag the time slider, and make changes in your scene to create animated effects.
Controlling Time
The program starts each new scene with 100 frames for animation. Frames are a way of measuring time, and you move through time by dragging the
time slider on page 7528. You can also open the Time Configuration dialog on
page 7565 to set the number of frames used by your scene and the speed at which the frames are displayed.
Animating Transforms and Parameters
While the Auto Key button is on, the program creates an animation key on page 8020 whenever you transform an object or change a parameter. To animate a parameter over a range of frames, specify the values at the first and last frames of the range. The program calculates the values for all of the frames in between.
See Animation Concepts and Methods on page 3078.
Editing Animation
You edit your animation by opening the Track View window or by changing options on the Motion panel. Track View is like a spreadsheet that displays animation keys along a time line. You edit the animation by changing the keys.
Track View has two modes. You can display the animation as a series of function curves that graphically show how a value changes over time in the Curve Editor mode. Alternatively, you can display your animation as a sequence of keys or ranges on a grid in the Dope Sheet mode.
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See Track View on page 3503.
Rendering Your Scene
Rendering "fills in" geometry with color, shadow, lighting effects, and so on.
Use the rendering features to define an environment and to produce the final output from your scene.
Defining Environments and Backgrounds
Rarely do you want to render your scene against the default background color. Open the Environment And Effects dialog > Environment panel on page 6689 to define a background for your scene, or to set up effects such as fog.
Setting Rendering Options
To set the size and quality of your final output, you can choose from many options on the Render Setup dialog on page 6067. You have full control over professional grade film and video properties as well as effects such as reflection, antialiasing, shadow properties, and motion blur.
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Rendering Images and Animation
You render a single image by setting the renderer to render one frame of your animation. You specify what type of image file to produce and where the program stores the file.
Rendering an animation is the same as rendering a single image except that you set the renderer to render a sequence of frames. You can choose to render an animation to multiple single frame files or to popular animation formats such as AVI or MOV.
See Render Setup Dialog on page 6067.
The 3ds Max Window
1. Menu bar
2. Window/Crossing selection toggle
3. Snap tools
4. Command panels
5. Object categories
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6. Rollout
7. Active viewport
8. Viewport navigation controls
9. Animation playback controls
10. Animation keying controls
11. Absolute/Relative coordinate toggle and coordinate display
12. Prompt line and status bar
13. MAXScript mini-listener
14. Track bar
15. Time slider
16. Main toolbar
Most of the main window is occupied by the viewports, where you view and work with your scene. The remaining areas of the window hold controls and show status information.
One of the most important aspects of using 3ds Max is its versatility. Many program functions are available from multiple user-interface elements. For example, you can open Track View for animation control from the Main toolbar as well as the Graph Editors menu, but the easiest way to get to a specific object's track in Track View is to right-click the object, and then choose Track View Selected from the quad menu.
You can customize the user interface in a variety of ways: by adding keyboard shortcuts, moving toolbars and command panels around, creating new toolbars and tool buttons, and even recording scripts into toolbar buttons.
MAXScript lets you create and use custom commands in the built-in scripting language. For more information, access the MAXScript Reference from the Help menu.
Menu Bar
A standard Windows menu bar with typical File on page 7473, Edit on page 7474, and Help on page 7496 menus. Special menus include:
■ Tools on page 7475 contains duplicates of many of the Main toolbar
commands.
■ Tools on page 7475 contains many important program functions, including
precision functions.
■ Group on page 7477 contains commands for managing combined objects.
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■ Views on page 7477 contains commands for setting up and controlling the
viewports.
■ Create on page 7478 contains commands for creating objects.
■ Modifiers on page 7485 contains commands for modifying objects.
■ Animation on page 7490 contains commands for animating and constraining
objects, plus commands such as Bone Tools for setting up animated characters.
■ Graph Editors on page 7493 provides graphical access to editing objects and
animation: Track View lets you open and manage animation tracks in
Track View on page 3503 windows, and Schematic View on page 7411 gives
you an alternate way to work with the objects in your scene and navigate to them.
■ Rendering on page 7493 contains commands for rendering, Video Post,
radiosity, on page 6168and the environment.
■ Rendering on page 7493 contains commands for rendering, using radiosity
on page 6168, and changing the environment.
■ Customize on page 7494 gives you access to controls that let you customize
the user interface.
■ MAXScript on page 7496 has commands for working with MAXScript, the
built-in scripting language.
For more information about the 3ds Max menus, see Menu Bar on page 7471.
Time Controls
The Auto Key button on page 3083 turns on animation mode. The other controls navigate through time and play back an animation.
Command Panel
This collection of six panels provides handy access to most of the modeling and animation commands.
You can "tear off" the command panel and place it anywhere you like.
By default, the command panel is docked at the right of your screen. You can access a menu that lets you float on page 7957 or dismiss the command panel by right-clicking just above it. If it is not displayed, or you want to change its
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location and docking or floating status, right-click in a blank area of any toolbar, and choose from the shortcut menu.
■ Create on page 7631 holds all object creation tools.
■ Modify on page 7633 holds modifiers and editing tools.
■ Hierarchy on page 7661 holds linking and inverse kinematics parameters.
■ Motion on page 7663 holds animation controllers and trajectories.
■ Display on page 7665 holds object display controls.
■ Utilities on page 7671 holds miscellaneous utilities.
Status Bar and Prompt Line
These two lines display prompts and information about your scene and the active command. They also contain system toggles controlling selections, precision, and display properties. See Status Bar Controls on page 7524.
Viewports
You can display from one to four viewports. These can show multiple views of the same geometry, as well as the Track View, Schematic View, and other informational displays. See Viewports on page 7572.
Viewport Navigation Buttons
The button cluster at the lower-right corner of the main window contains controls for zooming, panning, and navigating within the viewports. See
Viewport Controls on page 7572.
Special Controls
3ds Max uses some special user interface controls, which are described in this topic.
■ Right-click menus on page 71
■ Flyouts on page 71
■ Rollouts on page 72
■ Scrolling panels and toolbars on page 72
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■ Spinners on page 73
■ Numerical Expression Evaluator on page 73
■ Entering numbers on page 74
■ Controls and color on page 74
■ Undoing actions on page 75
Right-Click Menus
The program uses several different types of right-click menus.
For object editing and ActiveShade control on page 6111, you use the quad menu on page 7516. Commands on the quad menu vary depending on the kind of object you are editing and the mode you are in.
Right-clicking a viewport label displays the viewport right-click menu on page 7576, which lets you change viewport display settings, choose which view appears in the viewport, and so on.
Also, the command panel and the Material Editor have right-click menus that let you manage rollouts and navigate the panel quickly. And most other windows, including Schematic View and Track View, have right-click menus that provide fast access to commonly used functions.
Flyouts
1. Flyout arrow
2. Flyout buttons
A flyout on page 7985 is similar to a menu, except that its items are buttons. A flyout button is indicated by a small arrow in the lower-right corner. To display the flyout, click and hold the button for a moment, then choose a button by dragging the cursor to it and then releasing the mouse button.
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NOTE You can define customized text annotations for flyouts by editing the
maxstart.cui file. See Customize Menu on page 7494.
Rollouts
Rollouts are areas in the command panels and dialogs that you can expand (roll out) or collapse (roll in) to manage screen space. In the illustration above, the Keyboard entry rollout is collapsed, as indicated by the + sign, and the Parameters rollout is expanded, as indicated by the − sign.
To open and close a rollout:
■ Click the rollout title bar to toggle between expanded and collapsed.
To move a rollout:
■ You can move a rollout in the expanded or collapsed state. To move the
rollout, drag the rollout title bar to another location on the command panel or dialog. As you drag, a semi-transparent image of the rollout title bar follows the mouse cursor. When the mouse is positioned over or near a qualifying position for the rollout, a blue, horizontal line appears at the position where the rollout will drop when you release the mouse button.
Scrolling Panels and Toolbars
Sometimes a command panel or dialog is not large enough to display all of its rollouts. In this case, a pan ("hand") cursor appears over the inactive parts of the panel. You can scroll command panels and dialogs vertically, and you can scroll a toolbar along its major axis.
To scroll a panel:
1 Place the pointer over an empty area of a panel to display the pan cursor.
2 When the pointer icon changes to a hand, drag the panel up or down.
A thin scroll bar also appears on the right side of the scrolling panel. You can use the pointer to drag the scroll bar as well.
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To scroll a toolbar:
You can scroll a toolbar only when some tool buttons are not visible. This typically occurs when the program window is smaller than full screen.
1 First, follow either of the procedures below:
■ Place the pointer over an empty area of a toolbar to display the pan
cursor.
■ Place the pointer over any part of a toolbar, then press and hold the
middle mouse button.
2 When the pointer icon changes to a hand, drag the toolbar horizontally.
Spinners
A spinner is a mouse-based control for numeric fields. You can click or drag the spinner arrows to change the value in the field.
To change a value using a spinner, do any of the following:
1 Click the spinner's up arrow to increment the value; click the down arrow
to decrement the value. Click and hold for continuous change.
2 Drag upward to increase the value, or drag downward to decrease it.
3 Press Ctrl while you drag to increase the rate at which the value changes.
4 Press Alt while you drag to decrease the rate at which the value changes.
5 Right-click a spinner to reset the field to its minimum value.
Numerical Expression Evaluator
While a numeric field is active, you can display a calculator called the Numerical Expression Evaluator. To display the calculator, press Ctrl+N.
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The expression you enter is evaluated, and its result is displayed in the Result field. Click Paste to replace the field value with the result of the calculation. Click Cancel to exit the Expression Evaluator.
The expressions you can enter are described in Expression Techniques on page
361. You can't use variables in the Expression Evaluator, but you can enter the constants pi (circular ratio), e (natural logarithm base), and TPS (ticks per second). These constants are case-sensitive: the Expression Evaluator does not recognize PI, E, or tps.
You can also enter a vector expression or an Expression Controller function call, but the result of the expression or function must be a scalar value. Otherwise, the Expression Evaluator won't evaluate it.
Entering Numbers
You can change a numeric value by a relative offset by highlighting the contents of a numeric field (not in the Numerical Expression Evaluator) and typing R or r followed by the offset amount.
For example, a Radius field shows 70 and you highlight it:
■ If you enter R30, 30 is added to the radius and the value changes to 100.
■ If you enter R-30, 30 is subtracted from the radius and the value changes
to 40.
Controls and Color
The user interface uses color cues to remind you what state the program is in.
NOTE You can customize most of these colors by using the Colors panel on page 7712 of the Customize User Interface dialog on page 7697.
■ Red for animation: The Auto Key button, the time slider background, and
the border of the active viewport turn red when you are in Animate mode.
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■ Yellow for modal function buttons: When you turn on a button that puts
you in a generic creation or editing mode, the button turns yellow.
■ Yellow for special action modes: When you turn on a button that alters
the normal behavior of other functions, the button is highlighted in yellow. Common examples of this behavior include sub-object selection and locking your current selection set.
You can exit a functional mode by clicking another modal button. Other exit methods supported by some buttons include right-clicking in a viewport, or clicking the modal button a second time.
Undoing Actions
You can easily undo changes you make to your scene and your viewports. There are separate Undo buffers for both the scene objects and each viewport.
Use the toolbar Undo and Redo buttons on page 262 or the Edit menu > Undo and Redo commands to reverse the effects of most scene operations. You can also use Ctrl+Z for Undo and Ctrl+Y for Redo. Most things you do in the program can be undone.
Use the Views menu > Undo and Redo commands on page 146 to reverse the effects of most viewport operations, such as zooming and panning. You can also use Shift+Z for Undo View Change and Shift+Y for Redo View Change.
You can also undo actions by using the Hold and Fetch commands on the Edit menu. Choose Edit menu > Hold to save a copy of your scene in a temporary file. Then choose Edit menu > Fetch to discard your current scene and revert to the held scene at any time.
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Managing Files
File-management dialogs
3ds Max supports many types of files for working with plug-ins, image maps, models from other programs, rendering images and animations, and of course saving and opening your scene files.
File dialogs (such as Open, Save, Save As) uniformly remember the previous path you used, and default to that location.
Configuring File Paths
The locations that 3ds Max searches to locate all file types are specified on the Customize menu > Configure Paths dialogs on page 7728.
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You can choose to open and save files in any path location. The Configure Paths dialog contains four panels for the general categories of support files.
Setting General File Paths
The File I/O panel on page 7733 contains paths for most of the standard support files. You can specify one path for each of file types 3ds Max uses.
Setting Plug-In File Paths
Many features of 3ds Max are implemented as plug-ins. This means you can change and extend 3ds Max functionality by adding new plug-ins from Autodesk Media and Entertainment or from third-party developers.
You tell 3ds Max where to find additional plug-in files by adding path entries on the 3rd Party Plug-Ins panel on page 7740. If you place all of your plug-ins in a single directory, plug-in file management can become messy. That's why the program supports multiple entries on the 3rd Party Plug-Ins panel.
Setting Bitmap, FX, and Download File Paths
The External Files panel on page 7735 contains multiple path entries that the program searches for image files on page 7324, downloaded files (via i-drop on
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page 7160), and FX files on page 7990. Image files are used for many purposes, such as material and map definition, light projections, and environment effects.
Setting XRefs File Paths
The XRefs panel on page 7738 contains multiple path entries that the program uses to search for externally referenced files. These are used for sharing files in a workgroup situation.
Importing, Merging, Replacing, and Externally Referencing Scenes
Gear model imported to become part of another scene
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You can realize great productivity gains when you reuse work by combining geometry from scenes or other programs. 3ds Max supports this technique with the Import, Merge, and Replace commands. You can also share scenes and objects with others working on the same project using XRef functionality.
Importing Geometry from Other Programs
Use File menu > Import on page 7096 to bring objects from other programs into a scene. The types of files that you can import are listed in the Files Of Type list in the Select File To Import dialog.
Depending on the file type you choose, you might have options available for that import plug-in.
Merging Scenes Together
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Pipe and ashtray models merged into one scene
Use Merge on page 7058 to combine multiple scenes into a single large scene. When you merge a file, you can select which objects to merge. If objects being merged have the same name as objects in your scene, you have the option to rename or skip over the merged objects.
Merging Animation into Scenes
Use Merge Animation on page 7063 to merge the animation from one scene into another with the same (or similar) geometry.
Replacing Scene Objects
Use Replace on page 7070 to replace objects in your scene with objects in another scene that have duplicate names. Replace is useful when you want to set up and animate your scene with simplified objects, and then replace the simple objects with detailed objects before rendering.
The Replace dialog looks and functions the same as Merge, except that it lists only objects that have the same name as objects in your current scene.
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Using External References
Use XRef Objects on page 6936 and XRef Scenes on page 6959 to use objects and scene setups in your scene that are actually referenced from external MAX files. These functions allow sharing files with others in your workgroup, with options for updating and protecting external files.
Using the Asset Browser
Left: Dragging geometry into the scene
Right: Dragging a bitmap onto the geometry
The Asset Browser provides access from your desktop to design content on the World Wide Web. From within 3ds Max you can browse the Internet for texture samples and product models. This includes bitmap textures (BMP, JPG, GIF, TIF, and TGA) and geometry files (MAX, 3DS, and so on).
You can drag these samples and models into your scene for immediate visualization and presentation. You can snap geometry into predefined locations, or drag and drop them interactively in your scene.
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You can also use the Asset Browser to browse thumbnail displays of bitmap textures and geometry files on your hard disk or shared network drives. Then you can either view them or drag and drop them into your scene or into valid map buttons or slots.
NOTE The thumbnail display of a geometry file is a bitmap representation of a view of the geometry. Since the thumbnail display is not a vector-based representation, you can't rotate it or perform zooms on it.
You can drag and drop most graphic images that are embedded in a Web page into your scene. The exception is images or regions of a Web page that are tagged as hyperlinks or other HTML controls (such as when a bitmap is tagged as a button).
IMPORTANT Downloaded content might be subject to use restrictions or the license of the site owner. You are responsible for obtaining all content license rights.
For complete details, see Asset Browser on page 7132.
Startup Files and Defaults
When you start 3ds Max, several auxiliary files load, setting things like program defaults and UI layout. You can even create a scene, named maxstart.max, that automatically loads when you start or reset the program. In some cases, the program updates files when you change settings and when you quit the program.
NOTE 3ds Max comes with several different market-specific defaults on page 7694. These set different program defaults on startup, based on the type of files you expect to work on most often. You can load the preset defaults that come with 3ds Max, or you can create your own.
In general, you don't need to work directly with the auxiliary files, but it's good to know about them. Among the auxiliary files the program uses are:
■ 3dsmax.ini on page 83 : This file gets updated when you start and exit 3ds
Max, as well as when you change most Preferences settings. It contains values relating to program defaults, including the graphics driver, directories used to access external files such as sounds and images, preset render sizes, dialog positions, snap settings, and other preferences and default settings. If you edit this file, be sure to make a copy first, so you can return to the original if anything goes wrong.
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NOTE Many program defaults are set in currentdefaults.ini, found within the \defaults directory. For more information on this file, see Market-Specific
Defaults on page 7694.
■ maxstart.max: At startup and when you reset the program, 3ds Max looks
for this file in the MaxStart folder specified in Configure User Paths > File
I/O panel on page 7733, and if found, loads it. This allows you to specify the
default state of the workspace whenever you start or reset the program. For example, if you always use a ground plane, you can make it the default setup by creating one, and then saving it as maxstart.max. If you save a different file over maxstart.max, you can return to program defaults by deleting the maxstart.max file, and then resetting the program.
■ maxstart.cui: This is the default custom user interface file. You can load
and save CUI files, and set the program to use a different default CUI file. See Customize Menu on page 7494.
■ plugin.ini: This file contains directory paths for plug-ins. Most other paths
are kept in the program INI file, but plugin.ini is maintained as a separate file because third-party plug-ins often add entries to the list at installation.
NOTE It is possible to use multiple plug-in configuration files by nesting additional paths in your plugin.ini file. This can be very useful for allowing an entire network of users to share one plugin.ini file, making the system easier to maintain for the network administrator. For more information, see Network
Plug-In Configuration on page 7742.
■ startup.ms: A MAXScript file that automatically executes at startup time.
For more information, see Startup Script on page 8136.
■ splash.bmp: To substitute a custom splash screen (startup screen) for the
default image, copy any Windows Bitmap (.bmp) file into the program root directory and rename it splash.bmp. The program will thereafter use this image at startup.
The Initialization File
The file 3ds Max uses to store settings between sessions is named 3dsmax.ini. By default, you can find it in the location indicated by the MaxData setting on the Configure System Paths dialog on page 7732.
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You can make changes to 3ds Max startup conditions by editing the 3dsmax.ini file in a text editor such as Notepad. If you do edit the file, be sure to maintain the structure and syntax of the original file.
TIP If you encounter unusual and unexplained user-interface problems using 3ds Max, try deleting the 3dsmax.ini file and restarting. 3ds Max writes a new INI file to replace the deleted one. Often this fixes problems related to the state of the user interface.
NOTE Startup scene conditions are defined by the maxstart.max file. To save a particular startup condition, such as a Plane object representing the ground, create a scene file with the condition present and then save it as maxstart.max. 3ds Max automatically opens this file when you start 3ds Max.
The 3dsmax.ini file includes the following categories of settings:
[Directories] Defines the default paths for various file operations.
[Performance] Controls that speed up viewport performance.
[PlugInKeys] Turns on or off the keyboard shortcuts for plug-ins.
[Renderer] Controls for rendering alpha and filter backgrounds.
[RenderPresets] Defines the paths for Rendering Preset files.
[BitmapDirs] Defines the default map paths for bitmaps used by materials.
[Modstack] Controls modifier stack button sets and icon display.
[WindowState] Settings for software display, OpenGL, or Direct3D drivers.
[CustomMenus] Defines path for the .mnu file.
[CustomColors] Defines the path for the .clr file.
[KeyboardFile] Defines the path for the .kbd file.
[Material Editor] Material Editor settings.
[ObjectSnapSettings] Settings associated with snaps.
[CommandPanel] Sets number of columns, and controls rollout display in
multiple columns.
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Backing Up and Archiving Scenes
You should regularly back up and archive your work. One convenient method is to save incremental copies of your scenes. This method creates a history of your work process.
Saving Incremental Files
If you turn on the Increment On Save option on the Files panel on page 7750 of the Preferences dialog, the current scene is renamed by appending a two-digit number to the end of the file and incrementing the number each time you save. For example, if you open a file named myfile.max and then save it, the saved file is named myfile01.max. Each time you save the file its name is incremented, producing the files myfile02.max, myfile03.max, and so on.
You can also use Save As on page 6928 to increment the file name manually with a two-digit number by clicking the increment button (+) on the Save As dialog.
Using Auto Backup
You can automatically save backup files at regular intervals by setting the Auto
Backup options on page 7752 on the Preferences dialog (see File Preferences on
page 7750). The backup files are named AutoBackupN.max, where N is a number from 1 to 99, and stored, by default, in the \autoback folder. You can load a backup file like any other scene file.
Archiving a Scene
3ds Max scenes can make use of many different files. When you want to exchange scenes with other users or store scenes for archival purposes, you often need to save more than just the scene file.
Use the File menu > Archive command on page 7121 to pass the scene file and any bitmap files used in the scene to an archiving program compatible with PKZIP® software.
Crash Recovery System
If 3ds Max encounters an unexpected crash, it attempts to recover and save the file currently in memory. This is fairly reliable, but it does not always work: the recovered scene could be damaged during the crash.
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The recovered file is stored in the configured Auto Backup path. It is saved as "<filename>_recover.max" in this path. It is also placed in the INI file as the most recently used file in the File menu. This makes it easy to return to the file, if you choose to do so.
The crash recovery system identifies when something in an object's modifier stack is corrupt. In these cases, the corrupt object is replaced with a red dummy object to maintain the object's position and any linked object hierarchy.
NOTE We recommend that you not rely on this file-recovery mechanism as an alternative to good data backup practices:
■ Save your work frequently.
■ Take advantage of automatic incremental file naming: Go to Customize
menu > Preferences > Files panel on page 7750 > File Handling group, and turn on Increment On Save.
■ Use File menu > Save As, and click the Increment button (+) to save
incremental copies of work in progress.
■ If you are forgetful about saving, use the Auto Backup feature. Go to
Customize menu > Preferences > Files tab > Auto Backup group, and turn on Enable.
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Viewing and Navigating 3D Space
Everything in 3ds Max is located in a three-dimensional world. You have a variety of options for viewing this enormous stage-like space, from the tiniest details to the full extent of your scene.
Using the view options discussed in this section you move from one view to another, as your work and imagination require. You can fill your screen with a single, large viewport, or set multiple viewports to track various aspects of your scene. For exact positioning, flat drawing views are available, as are 3D perspective on page 8087 and axonometric views on page 7918.
You navigate 3D space by adjusting the position, rotation and magnification of your views. You have full control over how objects are rendered and displayed on the screen.
You can also use the Grab Viewport command on page 145 to create snapshots of your work as you go.
This section presents these brief topics designed to help you quickly start learning how to organize viewports and navigate through 3D space:
General Viewport Concepts on page 88
Home Grid: Views Based on the World Coordinate Axes on page 90
Understanding Views on page 93
Setting Viewport Layout on page 97
Controlling Viewport Rendering on page 100
Controlling Display Performance on page 101
Using Standard View Navigation on page 103
Zooming, Panning, and Rotating Views on page 104
Navigating Camera and Light Views on page 139
Grab Viewport on page 145
For details about viewport commands, see Viewport Controls on page 7572.
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General Viewport Concepts
The 3ds Max main window, with a docked toolbar and viewport layout displaying multiple views.
Viewports are openings into the three-dimensional space of your scene, like windows looking into an enclosed garden or atrium. But viewports are more than passive observation points. While creating a scene, you can use them as dynamic and flexible tools to understand the 3D relationships among objects.
At times you might want to look at your scene through a large, undivided viewport, giving you a "picture-window" view of the world you’re creating. Often you use multiple viewports, each set to a different orientation.
If you want to move an object horizontally in the world space, you might do this in a top viewport, looking directly down on the object as you move it. At the same time, you could be watching a shaded perspective viewport to see
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when the object you’re moving slides behind another. Using the two windows together, you can get exactly the position and alignment you want.
You also have pan and zoom features available in either view, as well as grid alignment. With a few mouse clicks or keystrokes, you can reach any level of detail you need for the next step in your work.
Another way to use viewports is to place a camera in your scene and set a viewport to look through its lens. When you move the camera, the viewport tracks the change. You can do the same thing with spotlights.
In addition to geometry, viewports can display other views such as Track View and Schematic View, which display the structure of the scene and the animation. Viewports can be extended to display other tools such as the MAXScript Listener and the Asset Browser. For interactive rendering, the viewport can display the ActiveShade window.
Active Viewport
One viewport, marked with a highlighted border, is always active. The active viewport is where commands and other actions take effect. Only one viewport can be in the active state at a time. If other viewports are visible, they are set for observation only; unless disabled, they simultaneously track actions taken in the active viewport.
Saving the Active Viewport
You can save the view in any active viewport and later restore it with the Views menu's Save Active View on page 147 and Restore Active View on page 147 commands. One view can be saved for each of the following view types: Top, Bottom, Left, Right, Front, Back, Orthographic, Perspective.
For example, while in the Front view, you choose Save Active Front View, and then zoom and pan that view. You then activate the Top viewport, choose Save Active Top View, and then click Zoom Extents. You return to the Front view, and choose Restore Active Front View to return to its original zoom and pan. At any time, you can activate the Top viewport, and then choose Restore Active Top View to restore its saved view.
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Home Grid:Views Based on the World Coordinate Axes
The grid you see in each viewport represents one of three planes that intersect at right angles to one another at a common point called the origin. Intersection occurs along three lines (the world coordinate axes: X, Y, and Z) familiar from geometry as the basis of the Cartesian coordinate system.
Home Grid
Using the home grid to position houses
The three planes based on the world coordinate axes are called the home grid; this is the basic reference system of the 3D world.
To simplify the positioning of objects, only one plane of the home grid is visible in each viewport. The figure shows all three planes as they would appear if you could see them in a single perspective viewport.
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Axes, Planes, and Views
Home grid axes and planes
Two axes define each plane of the home grid. In the default Perspective viewport, you are looking across the XY plane (ground plane), with the X axis running left-to-right, and the Y axis running front-to-back. The third axis, Z, runs vertically through this plane at the origin.
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Home Grid and Grid Objects
Above: Inactive grid object in a scene
Below: Activated grid object
The home grid is aligned with the world coordinate axes. You can turn it on and off for any viewport, but you can’t change its orientation.
For flexibility, the home grid is supplemented by grid objects: independent grids you can place anywhere, at any angle, aligned with any object or surface. They function as "construction planes" you can use once and discard or save for reuse. See Precision and Drawing Aids on page 2585.
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AutoGrid
The AutoGrid feature lets you create and activate temporary grid objects on the fly. This lets you create geometry off the face of any object by first creating the temporary grid, then the object. You also have the option to make the temporary grids permanent. See AutoGrid on page 2597.
Understanding Views
Each viewport can be set to display either of two types of views:
■ Axonometric views on page 7918 show the scene without perspective. All
lines in the model are parallel to one another. The Top, Front, Left, and Orthographic viewports are axonometric views.
Axonometric view of a scene
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■ Perspective views on page 8087 show the scene with lines that converge at
the horizon. The Perspective and Camera viewports are examples of perspective views.
Perspective view of the same model
Perspective views most closely resemble human vision, where objects appear to recede into the distance, creating a sense of depth and space. Axonometric views provide an undistorted view of the scene for accurate scaling and placement. A common workflow is to use axonometric views to create the scene, then use a perspective view to render the final output.
Axonometric Views
There are two types of axonometric views you can use in viewports: head-on and rotated.
An orthographic view on page 8073 is often a head-on view of the scene, such as the view shown in the Top, Front, and Left viewports. You can set a viewport to a specific orthographic view using the viewport right-click menu on page 7576, keyboard shortcuts on page 7857, or the ViewCube on page 107. For example, to set an active viewport to Left view, press L.
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You can also rotate an orthographic view to see the scene from an angle while retaining parallel projection. However, when viewing the scene from an angle, it’s often more helpful to use a perspective view.
Perspective Views
A perspective viewport, labeled Perspective, is one of the startup viewports in 3ds Max. You can change any active viewport to this "eye-like" point of view by pressing P.
Camera View
Once you create a camera object in your scene, you can change the active viewport to a camera view by pressing C and then selecting from a list of cameras in your scene. You can also create a camera view directly from a perspective viewport, using the Create Camera from View on page 168 command.
A camera viewport tracks the view through the lens of the selected camera. As you move the camera (or target) in another viewport, you see the scene move accordingly. This is the advantage of the Camera view over the Perspective view, which can't be animated over time.
If you turn on Orthographic Projection on a camera’s Parameters rollout, that camera produces an axonometric view on page 7918. See Cameras on page 5194.
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The viewport on the right is seen through a camera in the scene.
Two and Three-Point Perspective and the Camera Correction Modifier
By default, camera views use three-point perspective, in which vertical lines appear to converge with height (in traditional photography this is known as keystoning). The Camera Correction modifier on page 5247 applies two-point perspective to a camera view. In two-point perspective, vertical lines remain vertical. A similar effect can be attained by putting a Skew modifier on a camera.
Light View
Light view works much like a targeted camera view. You first create a spotlight or directional light and then set the active viewport to that spotlight. The easiest way is to press the keyboard shortcut $. See Lights on page 4970.
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The viewport on the right looks through the lens of a spotlight in the scene.
Setting Viewport Layout
3ds Max defaults to a two-over-two arrangement of viewports. Thirteen other layouts are possible, but the maximum number of viewports on the screen remains four.
Using the Layout panel on page 7824 of the Viewport Configuration dialog, you can pick from the different layouts and customize the viewports in each. Your viewport configuration is saved with your work.
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