INSIDE 3DS MAX® 7 [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Interface: Same Overall Look

If you''''''''ve used an earlier version of 3ds max, you''''''''ll be happy to know that you will not have to learn a new set of interface functions and keyboard shortcuts for 3ds max 7. The interface for 3ds max 7 provides the same basic layout and functionality as 3ds max 4, 5, and 6. There are only two visible changes: The home grid has been cleaned up and some minor items have been added to the menus. These additions make it easier for you to access common functions. The interface has become slightly more intuitive and some functions are more available in the menus and quads. The overall look, however, is the same.

The home grid now appears in a lighter, less prominent color. It is now slightly harder to see, but it is less distracting and less likely to interfere with your viewport when you are modeling.

Flat Shaded Mode

3ds max 7 does not accurately render the true effects and complicated calculations of lighting in a scene within the viewport. This is a deliberate performance tradeoff so that the viewport can maintain fast screen redraw. Therefore, shading and textures that display in the viewport may be over-lit or under-lit, with inaccurate highlights and shadows that make it harder to visualize and work with a scene (Figure 1.1). The problem can be particularly severe when modeling a glossy object, and sub-object level selections can be difficult to see. As the view is rotated, the highlight from this glossiness can cause distracting light and dark shifts on the polygons.

3ds max 7''''''''s new Flat Shaded mode addresses this problem, making it easier to view objects when lighting is too light or dark (Figure 1.2).

In Flat Shaded mode, you are viewing geometry as though on an overcast day. The lighting is even all around, with no distracting contrast, and you can see surface maps more easily. An evenly lit viewport makes it easier for you to perform such standard modeling operations as aligning geometry, moving vertices, and manipulating a camera. Likewise, Flat Shaded mode aids precise positioning when walking a camera through a scene that has bitmaps on the walls; if the walls are too dark from the shading mode, it can be difficult to judge where the camera is located.

To access the Flat Shaded mode, right-click on the top left corner of the viewport, and choose it from within the Other submenu. It is easy to turn on and off, so that you can opt to use it only when working with geometry that needs flat shading. Unfortunately, there is no keyboard shortcut for this control. As with the other shaded modes, actual rendering is not affected by this choice.

Tip

When modeling in sub-object levels with Flat Shaded mode on, you should activate the toggle for Edged Faces.

Walkthrough Mode

Controlling the viewport is probably one of the most common and repetitive tasks in 3ds max. The processes of navigating a camera through a scene have been simplified with a Camera or Perspective view in walkthrough mode.

Using Walkthrough mode is much like traveling through many video games. It allows you to use keyboard shortcuts in combination with the mouse to fly through scenes in real time. The quickest way to access Walkthrough mode is to press the Up arrow while the Perspective or Camera viewport is active. Alternatively, go to the viewport controls, click the Pan View or Truck Camera button, and choose Walkthrough mode from the flyout menu.

Here''''''''s a quick list of the Walkthrough mode controls:

• To travel forward, hold down either the W key or the Up arrow.

• To travel backward, hold down either the S key or the Down arrow.

• To travel left, hold down the A key or the Left arrow.

• To travel right, hold down the D key or the Right arrow.

• To travel up, hold down the E key or hold down Shift plus the Up arrow key.

• To travel down, hold down the C key or hold down Shift plus the Down arrow key.

• Holding down both the Up and Left arrow keys while dragging with the mouse in Walkthrough mode moves you both forward and to the left. The same will happen if you hold down the A and W keys. You can move along other diagonal vectors by holding down the appropriate combinations of keys.

• The spacebar toggles between two different modes: the Camera constrained to looking left and right only, or unconstrained and able to freely look all around. The spacebar only works with mouse movement, not key constraints, and does not affect vertical movement using the keys.

• To change the acceleration for Walkthrough mode, use the [ key (left square bracket) to go slower and the ] key (right square bracket) to go faster. Hold these keys down or press them repeatedly to effectively adjust acceleration. Pressing the Q key will toggle between a fast mode and a normal mode, and pressing the Z key will toggle between a slow mode and a normal mode.

There are a few idiosyncrasies to be aware of when navigating in Walkthrough mode with a camera that has its Orthographic Projection option checked. Traveling forward and backward will appear to have no effect. And objects that are close to the camera will appear to be the same size as the same object further away. This is because an orthographic view has no perspective. In fact, the Camera is still physically moving forward or backward through the scene.

Note

Unfortunately, Walkthrough mode will not work with any of the Light viewports, even though a Light viewport is similar to the Perspective and Camera views.

Taking a Walk with Walkthrough

You should practice working with the Walkthrough mode commands before using them on your scene files. Also, while Walkthrough mode is active, all actions will be recorded for one undo. So if you make several movements, then choose Undo, all of the movements will be undone instead of just one.

Note

If you drag the cursor up or down but the camera only pans to the right or left, it means that the Walkthrough mode is locked from any vertical rotation. You can toggle this restriction off and on by hitting the Space bar.

Let''''''''s practice using Walkthrough mode in the following prepared scene:

1.

Open the file entitled Walkthrough mode start.max from the DVD (Figure 1.3).

2.

Select the camera, activate, and maximize the Camera viewport. Use the Select By Name dialog if the camera accidentally becomes deselected.

3.

Turn Auto Key to On, and change to frame 20.

4.

Activate the Walkthrough mode button by pressing the Up arrow. You may need to drag on the Truck Camera button flyout to access this feature.

5.

Within the Camera viewport, drag the mouse until the triangle is in the middle of the viewport (Figure 1.4). You may need to toggle the spacebar to allow vertical movement.

Keys will be produced on frames 0 and 20, but you''''''''re not done. The camera needs to travel forward in the next step to its destination. This process will be repeated for each sequence.

6.

Hold down the W or Up arrow key to travel forward until the triangle is covering the entire camera view (Figure 1.5). Holding the S or Down arrow key will move the camera backward. Dragging the cursor will also help adjust the view.

7.

Change to frame 40. Drag the cursor until the circle is in the middle of the camera view (Figure 1.6).

8.

Travel forward until the circle is covering the entire camera view (Figure 1.7).

For each following step, we''''''''ll continue to repeat this process of first centering the destination in the Camera viewport and then traveling forward until we reach the new location. In each sequence, this process is performed after the Time Slider is changed every 20 frames.

9.

Use the Next Key button to step through each key until you get to frame 60. You will see the star filling the Camera viewport. Drag the cursor until the star is in the center of the Camera viewport. Use the techniques you learned in the previous steps to continue on.

10.

At frame 80, walk through to the donut.

11.

At frame 100, walk through to the square.

12.

At frame 120, walk through to the five-sided NGon.

13.

At frame 140, walk through to the six-pointed star.

14.

And finally, go to frame 160, and walk through to the helix.

15.

Play the animation. The camera should accurately walk through each shape.

Tweaking the Walkthrough

Let''''''''s assume that you made a few positional mistakes when walking through some of the destinations and that you also made errors in setting the animation keys on those frames. If the camera failed to accurately go through some of the shapes, you can go to those keyframes and, using the Walkthrough tools, make the appropriate changes. Here''''''''s how:

1.

Activate the Key Mode toggle when editing keyframes, to make changing the Time Slider to the keyframes easier, and perform the necessary adjustments to the camera. The Key Mode toggle is within the viewport controls on the bottom right of the interface, and to the left of the frame number.

2.

With Auto Key still active, also activate the Key Mode Toggle button and use the Next Key button to step through each key until you get to frame 60. You will see the star filling the camera view. Drag the cursor until the star is in the center of the camera view.

3.

Make similar adjustments to the keyframes as needed, and make sure that the shapes on those frames are centered.

4.

Turn the Auto Key off and deactivate the Walkthrough mode when you''''''''ve completed your changes, so that no animation will be accidentally created.

Toggling Dialogs and Editors

A new feature of 3ds max 7 is the ability to close some of the dialogs and editors using keyboard shortcutsthe same shortcuts that open them. For example, in previous versions of 3ds max, you''''''''ve been able to open the Material Editor by pressing the M key. Now you can also close the Material Editor by pressing the M key.

Here''''''''s a complete list of dialogs and editors that now close with the same keyboard shortcuts that are used to open them:

• ActiveShade Floater

• Asset Browser

• Bone Tools

• Channel Info Editor

• Clone and Align Tool

• Display Floater

• Environment and Effects dialog (keyboard shortcut 8)

• Grid and Snap Settings dialog

• Layer Manager

• Light Lister

• Material Editor (keyboard shortcut M)

• Material/Map Browser

• MAXScript Listener (keyboard shortcut F11)

• mental ray Messages Window

• Parameter Collector (keyboard shortcut Alt-2)

• Parameter Editor (keyboard shortcut Alt-1)

• RAM Player

• Rename Objects

• Render Scene dialog (keyboard shortcut F10)

• Render To Texture (keyboard shortcut 0)

• Rigid Body Property Editor

• Selection Floater

• Spacing Tool (keyboard shortcut Shift I)

• Transform Type-In (keyboard shortcut F12)

• Video Post

Tip

If a keyboard shortcut is not used to open a dialog, or you can''''''''t remember the keyboard shortcut, pressing Control-~ (tilde) should close these as well.

New Toolbar Items

The Main toolbar has a couple of new items: Paint Selection Region and Render Shortcuts (Figure 1.8).

Press Q multiple times to watch 3ds max 7 cycle through the Region Selection options: Rectangular Selection Region, Circular Selection Region, Fence Selection Region, Lasso Selection Region, and the new Paint Selection Region. The Paint Selection Region allows you to make a selection by dragging the mouse over an area, instead of by creating a marquee window.

Render Shortcuts are presets that make it easier and more convenient to change multiple settings in the Render Scene dialog. They can also define how you want the Quick Render to respond. Define a few Render Shortcut settings and Quick Render will automatically use those settings. Render Shortcuts are accessed by right-clicking in any gray portion of the Main toolbar and choosing Render Shortcuts from the menu.

Here are a few other new toolbar items:

• The Snaps Use Axis Constraints toggle in the Axis Constraints toolbar

• The Clone and Align tool in the Extras toolbar

• The Snaps toolbar

Menu Changes

A number of changes and additions have been made to the 3ds max 7 menus. Some menu items are now more logically placed; others have been renamed; a few are brand new. There''''''''s nothing revolutionary here, but the new and revised menu items will certainly speed and streamline your workflow.

File Menu

3ds max 7 now includes a File Link Manager utility, which ensures that drawings (.dwg files) created in AutoCAD, Mechanical Desktop, and Architectural Desktop will be updated in 3ds max 7 when they are modified in the original program. Access the File Link Manager from the File menu.

Note

You must install the appropriate Object Enablers (available from the Autodesk website) for the Autodesk products mentioned above to see the objects in the .dwg files after they''''''''ve been linked.

Tools Menu

Also new are the Quick Align and the Clone and Align tools. Both of these new features are used to accurately place objects in the scene and are accessed from the Tools menu. Shift A is the keyboard shortcut for Quick Align. The Clone and Align tool has an extra function that creates a copy of the source object in multiple target locations.

Views Menu

Object Display Culling has been added to the Views menu and its keyboard shortcut is Alt-O. Its settings can be adjusted from the Utilities panel. Use Object Display Culling to make the viewport display large scenes faster. Distant objects will be hidden or displayed as a bounding box. You define how fast the viewport will respond, and Object Display Culling decides how many objects will be culled in order to achieve the desired speed. Object Display Culling does not have any effect on a single object that contains a lot of polygons.

Animation Menu

Parameter Editor, Parameter Collector, Reaction Manager, and Delete Selected Animation have been added to the Animation menu. The Parameter Editor is not a new feature; it used to be called Add Custom Attribute, and Alt-1 is its keyboard shortcut. The Parameter Collector is used to combine useful parameters into a single interface to be animated, and Alt-2 is its keyboard shortcut. The Reaction Manager manages the Reaction Controller features and is used to allow one object to control the animation of other objects. Delete Selected Animation will delete all animation keys of a selected object.

Help Menu

License Borrowing has been added to the Help menu. It is only available in 3ds max 7 network installations and its submenu will be grayed out for stand-alone installs. License Borrowing makes it much easier to manage a pool of authorized copies of 3ds max 7 on a network when those copies also need to be available for borrowing by computers not on the network. You can now borrow a license from the pool to put on your laptop for offline work, such as a business presentation or telecommuting arrangement. Then, when you''''''''re done, you simply return the license to the network pool. Normally, you would need to purchase an extra copy of 3ds max for that laptop, so License Borrowing is definitely a money-saver.

The Quads: Right-Click Menus

Right-clicking brings up one of the Quad menus; these menus are used to quickly access functions that would normally be buried within the interface. By holding down combinations of Control, Shift, and Alt, right-clicking will bring up additional Quad menus.

Select and Dope Sheet have been added to the standard Quad menu.

In the Alt-right-click Quad menu, the new Reaction Manager and Delete Selected Animation have been added. Delete Selected Animation will remove all the animation keys assigned to the selected objects. Dope Sheet provides another way of editing animation keys that lets you see all of the animation ranges of multiple objects and how they relate.

In the Shift-right-click Quad menu, 3ds max 7 adds the Grid and Snap Settings and the following Snap toggles: Grid Points, Pivot, Vertex, Midpoint, Edge/Segment, and Face.