most important 3ds shortcuts ?
polycounter lvl 9
I guess this is a pretty lazy question but i thought i save some time.
I do alot of lowpoly modelling in 3dsmax, the problem is that it goes way to slow. I was wondering if anyone know the shortcuts for the most common commands, like extrude,cut,weld and so on.
Also i have tryed the rappatools plugin. Seems to have alot of useful shortcuts but what a mess !. tutorials ?
Anyone have a good lowpoly custom ribbon config save that i could use ?
thanks // Jimmy
I do alot of lowpoly modelling in 3dsmax, the problem is that it goes way to slow. I was wondering if anyone know the shortcuts for the most common commands, like extrude,cut,weld and so on.
Also i have tryed the rappatools plugin. Seems to have alot of useful shortcuts but what a mess !. tutorials ?
Anyone have a good lowpoly custom ribbon config save that i could use ?
thanks // Jimmy
Replies
at least get the numbers 1 to 5 for the different selection modes
and for instant undo (like, you are moving one vert, but see t hat you didnt want to do that, just immediatly, while still holding the left mouse bottun, click right)
for everything else why dont you google the shortcut list?
basics like the numbers for sub objects, q,w,e,r for select and transforms, ctrl-v for duplicate, h for select by name/outliner, that stuff can be read from the keylist as suggested.
Have fun!
To change quads, go to customize user interface, and look in the quads tab. You can set your own keys from the keyboard tab, and also dump out the current key list as a text file if you want a reference sheet.
Good luck!
p.s. you can probably set a keyboard shortcut to open the customize menu, have a look in there.
shift-x is one of my favourite hotkeys. it enables/disables edge snapping in editable poly objects. Really damn handy.
Seriously, take some time set it up how it makes sense for you and save out the .kbd file and stick it some place accessible, like your dropbox that way you can always access it from wherever you are.
I have Shift-C bound to walk through mode
] increases step size (camera speed)
[ decreases step size (camera speed)
WASD for camera movement while its on.
A for angle snap toggle
F for focus (I think default for max is z?)
Q toggle move between local and view
W toggle rotation between local and view
E toggle scale between local and view
alt-a for align
shift-a quick align
Alt-X Display as see-through toggle
Ctrl-X Expert Mode Toggle (I have this teamed up with another script I wrote that toggle off the bottom bar too, it also calls up a custom floating toolbar I made, mostly for modeling)
Ctrl-Shift-S Save incremental (scene00.max, scene01.max, scene02.max ect)
Unwrapping;
(These are custom scripts a I wrote that flatten everything not just joined edges)
Ctrl-1 flatten horiz
Ctrl-2 flatten vert
Ctrl-3 is flatten horiz and vert, for snapping points together.
Ctrl-B break, unbound it everywhere else so it works even with KBSO is turned off.
Edit Poly;
hitting any mode select key (1, 2, 3, ect) will toggle edit sub-object mode on/off.
There are more I can't think of them.
I keep my most frequently used hotkeys together, so I stay in one corner of the keyboard. Think about the easiest way to frequently switch between the regular tools.
For me I made it a goal about a year or so ago to be able to work completely independant of the UI (in fullscreen/expert mode) while modeling. Have about 60 custom hotkeys, as well as several scripts that made to combine different actions into single hotkeys based on context too.
On that note, wish max could save hotkeys for plugins/scripts :-/
Some of my favs as defaults are 1 thur 5 (selection keys), q,w,e,r (switching between move, rotate, etc.)
Alt W (maximize viewport toggle) I use this a lot, and since I used to use Maya, I set it to space bar.
Holding Ctrl is something I use a lot, like Ctrl + Backspace, or ctrl and clicking one of the selection changes.
Here's a couple I still use a lot.
[ and ] Open and Close Group
Ctrl [ and ] Group and Ungroup
Ctrl F3 to toggle flatshade in viewport
Alt M - Mirror Modifier
Alt N - Noise Modifier
Alt B - Bend Modifier
I should also set some up for Bridge, Quickslice, Insert Vert
Okay so where can i fin the "edit poly" in the meny for changing shortcuts ?, I want to set bevel to "b" , front,side,top to "1,3,7 like blender, and add a shortcut for swift loop. i cant find any of theese.
Question though: I added the turbosmooth modifier to my quad menu, but I'd like it to be applied with some default settings (namely isoline display and 3 iterations). I'm guessing I change this with edit maxscript, but I have no ides what I'm doing. any ideas?
As for swift loop its found under Group:Main UI, Category: PolyTools
You'll also want to read up on the "Keyboard Shortcut Override Toggle" (F1 Search) that trips up a lot of people.
This is fairly easy to script by turning on the Maxscript Listener then doing the actions and combining it with a header.
macroScript CustomTurbo Category:" fearian Tools" toolTip:"Customized TurboSmooth" buttonText:"Customized TurboSmooth" (--This applies turbosmooth, turns on isoline display and sets the iterations to 3 modPanel.addModToSelection (TurboSmooth ()) ui:on $.modifiers[#TurboSmooth].isolineDisplay = on $.modifiers[#TurboSmooth].iterations = 3 )Copy the code, go MaxScript > New Script, paste it. Hit Ctrl-E and it will show up in Customize User Interface Category " ferian Tools" (Note the space before ferian so it shows up at the top of the category list.Ok, I'm getting into this now! :P is there a neat way to move around the modifier stack in expert mode? mainly just say, switch back down the the edit poly modifier while turbosmooth or bend or whatever is active.
1,3,7 Front,Side,Top
A: Attach
Shift A Angle snap Toggle.
C Cut
SHIFT+ E Extrude
I : Inset
L: Swift loop
M Material editor
T Targer Weld
SHIFT + M Make planar
SHIFT + W weld
Remember you get different quad menus if you hold Ctrl+right click, Alt+right click, and shift+right click.
I added a bunch of additional primitives, lights and propitiatory tool creation to the Alt+right click quad... I use that thing 30 times a day. Good luck
Oh actually i didnt know that
Which reminds me: Vig, what was it you said a while back, something about always keeping the keyboard override thing on to never have to use it and still get to UV shortcuts, or am I getting it wrong? I would love to have a shortcut for Select by Element in the UV Unwrap (preferby as a modifier key instead of as a switch), and I'm guessing the override needs to be on to get access to it.
I have been searching on the internet for the last few days (many hours and hundred of pages), in hopes of finding a solution to 3dsmax configuration... I found out about draster but its not exactly what i wanted... What i'd want is something similar to game engines availlable out there... right click to rotate, wasd movement, etc...
my question is the following, Mark Dygert wrote that he made custom config to use "WASD" for camera movement... I really need that, but after searching in the customize menu for a while, i was not even able to find out where to add it... IF anyone can figure it out and write back it would be extremely appreciated!
Thank you and sorry again for necro-rising this old thread but its the only one i found out that talked about WASD movement for 3ds camera!
Have a nice day!
You can do that by going Main Menu > Customize > Customize UI > Keyboard tab > Group: WalkThrough
Keep in mind this is a sub-mode to max and the main mode of max will have things also bound to these keys so when you turn on WalkThrough mode you should also turn on the "Keyboard Shortcut Override" (In the main toolbar, looks like a key with an up arrow on it) so these sub-mode shortcuts override the main max shortcuts when this mode is active.
If toggling on two things to activate one mode is a bit chaotic (and I think it is) You could just unbind the main max commands that conflict so the only shortcuts that exist are the sub-mode ones. That way they will work no matter what KBSO is set to.
It wouldn't be too hard to write a script that toggles them both on, if you really wanted to get fancy it would issue a callback waiting for the mode to exit and then return the state of KBSO to whatever it was before the mode was triggered. I'm tempted to write it but short on time so I'll add it to the list of things I want to write but don't have time for =P
Also I don't use the button, instead I bound Shift-C to Toggle on Walk Through Mode.
You find it in the Customize UI menu > Category: All commands > Walk Through Mode.
Thanks a lot! I will definitely be using thoses settings!
Ctrl + L will toggle viewport lighting.
Shift + L Will hide the lights in the scene (doesn't affect lighting)
Similarly, Shift + G will hide geometry, Shift + H will hide helpers.
Oh, and in perspective mode... hit Ctrl + C to setup a camera for the view you're in. Pretty handy.
Even more handy, with a camera selected... hitting Ctrl + C will move that camera to the new view. Very handy for doing animations.
As for ctrl+L and Shift+L those would be prefect candidates for a double tap script, where you use the same key but a single tap does one function and a quick double tap does the other.
Single tap L = toggle viewport lighting.
Double tap L = hides the lights.
macroscript Doubletap01 Category:" MyTools" toolTip:"Double Tap 01" ( fn checklastClicked = ( local thisClicked = timeStamp() if lastClicked != undefined then ( if (thisClicked - lastClicked) < 500 do (--adjust this value to shorten or lengthen wait time (in milliseconds) [COLOR=DarkOrange]--insert double tap function here[/COLOR] ) lastClicked = thisClicked ) else ( [COLOR=DarkOrange]--insert single tap function here[/COLOR] ) OK ) checklastClicked() )After adding whatever you want to the double and single tap, run the script once and you can then bind it to a key in Main Menu > Customize > Customize UI > Keyboard tab.Create as many as these scripts as you need. Don't forget that you can stack multiple macroscripts in the same .ms file so you only have to run one script the next time you need to install your scripts.
A decent way to figure out what functions you need is to turn on the "maxscript listener recorder" then do whatever it is that you wish to record and check the listener. Not all functions are reported to the listener and some functions show up as "Actionman: 2345", which there is an actual maxscript command for it, with a lot more options so it pays to dig through the maxscript help file and find the actual command.
W : select loop
E : select ring
X : edge constraint toggle
shift X : normal constraint toggle
I lightly modify the default quad menu and use that for almost everything else.
for rigging etc. I have a huge stack of macros and scripts hanging off a toolbar