Extend/Conform hotkeys for 3Ds max

Setes

Hi

I'm currently doing the lowpoly version of a model i've made and for that i'm using the 3ds max Graphite tools a lot. As many people knows, doing this is very tedious and repetitive work (relaxing nonetheless, its like meditation).

I'm currently trying to improve my speed, and for that i need a new set of hotkeys. The commands/tools in question are the Graphite Extend and Conform tools in the Freeform Tab:


I've tried doing some searches on google on how to make hotkeys for this, but i havnt been successful so far. The tools dont exist in "Customize User Interface", so i cant use that either.

Can anyone help me, or am i stuck with actually using my mouse for something else than modelling

Regards

Noors

They are under category "Polytools" in CUI

"PolyDrawConform"
"PolyDrawExtend"

You could enable the listener (F11)
Macrorecorder enabled
to check what function is used when you perform an action.

Mark Dygert

This is the problem with autodesk, they never really fully implement tools that they "acquire" from the community when they claim them as new features.

First there was editable mesh, then the community replaced it with editable poly and they integrated it poorly by duct taping it onto the side of max, leaving two methods of working with meshes...
Instead of Editable mesh (object type) and Edit mesh (modifier) we now have 4-5 different types of objects and modifiers all with their own way of doing the exact same operation. It's an organizational cluster fuck and a scripting nightmare.

Then the community came out with polyboost and they duct taped it onto the side of max, duplicating and in some cases only slightly improving existing tools that where already in two other workflows...

Booleans, PRO-Booleans.
Sound, PRO-Sound.
Bones, Biped, CAT.
Scanline, Mental Ray, iray, quickslilver, VUE V-Ray is probably next.
Basic max physics, Reactor, MassFX
Particles, Particle Flow, Particle Box1

All of this is tacked on top of the existing code base, with all of the wonky personalized ways that the non-autodesk authors code, warts, quirks and odd naming. All of the weird ways they had to work around and through other patch works of crazy code to pull off what they did, instead of interacting with one stable and rock solid base of code.

It makes for some great tools that really expand max but they should have been integrated properly. If they had taken the time to actually upgrade editable mesh and integrate the new tools into the existing tools cutting out the duplication they could have saved everyone from a lot of headaches and possibly make max much less buggy, easier to work with (especially when scripting) and possibly improved its speed at least on launch.

But here we sit 5-6... 10 years after some of the tools where first duct taped onto max and no one has bothered to fix the core usability issues. Instead we get ribbons, view cubes, menu shuffling, egg splines, and charcoal viewport shader views, and 18 different ways to do the exact same operation but with slightly different names.

WarrenM

Damn, Mark.

cptSwing

All of the above. Their yearly release cycle doesn't help, either.

Noors

Well, we all know Autodesk is not going to change so we have to rely on heavy customisation or wait for a new challenger...

But nice rant !

Sage

to add to the rant they have slowly but surely have made max worse than it was in say max 9... shift click screwed with, and omg that default uvw unwrap modifier... just adopt what renderhjs did and call it a day, but no, it can't be done... Caddies on the other hand, priceless.

cptSwing

Should just print out Mark's post a couple of thousand times and real-life mailbomb them. Sometimes I doubt whether the staff on the MAX team actually know what most users are looking for in the next releases.

Though progress could be faster here as well, I'd look to Mudbox for slowly integrating features the community wanted (tileable planes, possibly retopo upcoming).

Farfarer

Well said, Mark.

Autodesk need to stop being afraid of ripping out the legacy stuff and replacing it with a new system that's properly planned from the ground up. Sure, it'll piss off your customers for a year until they have to bite the bullet and upgrade, but it'll be worth it in the long run.

Setes

Thanks for the replies , helped me a lot.