max 2008 unwrap uvw
polycounter lvl 17
for some reason everytime i use unwrap uvw, it shows a checkerboard in the window instead of the texture that is applied to the model. so now i must go to the texture pulldown and choose the texture instead of the checkerboard.
i guess this isn't a huge deal, but its annoying and i can't even imagine why someone would want to look at a checkerboard in the uv edit window. is there a way to make max stop doing this? does this happen to other people?
i guess this isn't a huge deal, but its annoying and i can't even imagine why someone would want to look at a checkerboard in the uv edit window. is there a way to make max stop doing this? does this happen to other people?
Replies
I know the checkerboard bugged me but I set it to default gray instead.
there is one good aspect of this that tumerboy was talking about. if you click on the checkerboard in the dropdown list it will temporarily show a checkerboard on you model. i just wish the checkerboard was last on the dropdown texture list instead of first.
the checkerboard is very useful to show on the model in the viewport to see how stretchy it is, etc. I don't know how to make it default to the texture, especially because you can have one object with multiple textures. . .
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Now if the checkerboard had some indication for direction it would be useful. I've found using a custom made checker pattern with letters in the boxes, much more useful for finding flipped/inverted pieces and because it isn't procedural like the max default checkerboard you can actually snap to pixels.
If you create the custom checkerboard material and save the file as maxstart.max in \My Documents\3dsmax\scenes\ or in \3dsmax\scenes\ then that material will always load when max does.
For an even easier time toggling it on and off I use a layer script written by Davis Humperys called "The Onion" it lets you assign alternate materials to a model and with the click of a button switch them. Much easier then any drop down selection list, especially when working with multi-materials. Add in the fact that The Onion does a handful of other great things and its a big win over the standard 3dsmax layer manager, which The Onion keeps updated for you in case you pass the file onto someone else that doesn't have the script.
Here's how I did it in Max 8 with Chuggnut's tools:
1. Open up 3dsmax/UI/Macroscripts/Macro_UnwrapUI.mcr
2. Look for the line where it says "macroScript OpenUnwrapUI" ... again dunno if this is just Chuggnut's tools or Max default, I'll try to check when I have access to 2008.
3. After this line, check that it's saying something like "local uv = modpanel.getcurrentobject()"
4. Add this code immediately after that:
<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>if uv.texMapList.count > 1 then (
uv.setCurrentMap 2
)</pre><hr />
If it's not already defining the local variable "uv" as mentioned on step 3, add this code yourself.
Basically all it does is, every time Unwrap UV window is opened, checks how many textures are in the map list, and if it's more than just one (the first being the default checker texture), it switches it to the 2nd map ... obviously this won't necessarily be right if you have more than one extra texture in the list, but it'll be better than the default checker, and it should automatically re-size the UV window if it's a non-square texture.
It's really simple but it should do what you want the majority of the time.
You will need to close and re-open Max after changing this script to make sure it's all updated properly.
Based on your instructions I changed...
Default 3dsmax 2008 <font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>
macroScript OpenUnwrapUI
enabledIn:#("max", "viz") --pfb: 2003.12.12 added product switch
category:"UVW Unwrap"
internalCategory: "UVW Unwrap" --do not localize
toolTip:"OpenUnwrapUI"
silentErrors:TRUE
(
unwrapModPKW = modpanel.getcurrentobject()
xPKW = unwrapModPKW.GetWindowX()
yPKW = unwrapModPKW.GetWindowY()
hPKW = unwrapModPKW.GetWindowH()
if (hPKW==0) then
</pre><hr />
To this:
Loads 2nd Texture in the Texture Map List <font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>
macroScript OpenUnwrapUI
enabledIn:#("max", "viz") --pfb: 2003.12.12 added product switch
category:"UVW Unwrap"
internalCategory: "UVW Unwrap" --do not localize
toolTip:"OpenUnwrapUI"
silentErrors:TRUE
(
(
local uv = modpanel.getcurrentobject()
if uv.texMapList.count > 1 then (uv.setCurrentMap 2)
)
unwrapModPKW = modpanel.getcurrentobject()
xPKW = unwrapModPKW.GetWindowX()
yPKW = unwrapModPKW.GetWindowY()
hPKW = unwrapModPKW.GetWindowH()
if (hPKW==0) then
</pre><hr />
The following was added between the start of the MacroScript "(" but before "unwrapModPKW..." At line 31.
<font class="small">Code:</font><hr /><pre>
(
local uv = modpanel.getcurrentobject()
if uv.texMapList.count > 1 then (uv.setCurrentMap 2)
)
</pre><hr />
Or if you really don't have a clue what MoP is talking about just back up your Macro_UnwrapUI.mcr file and overwrite it with this one. http://www.vigville.com/forum_images/Macro_UnwrapUI.mcr
I am using Chuggnut's tool as well, but I noticed that it doesnt refresh when pressing 1,2 and 3 for the different sub-object modes.
Any clue how to solve this?
What doesn't refresh, the Unwrap UVW window?
http://boards.polycount.net/showthread.php?p=969184
I mean that when I change the selection mode, it doesn't update like the regular selection mode buttons.
Thanks for the link!
I just tested the updated one, but it still has that tiny problem I mentioned before. And I downloaded Textools quite recently. Nice to know that the author is reachable here.
I will continue posting there in the other thread then.