Share your max Custom Keyboard UI's

Junkie_XL

This is just an idea I had, maybe it has been tried already. I was just curious about max keyboard setups and if anyone wanted to share their own setup. Wondering what is most efficient for all of you.

I myself just use the old max4Dark UI, nothing fancy. Looking for something that might help speed up my workflow.

Mark Dygert

Shift-C = Walk thru mode
S = Stitch in UV Editor
R = Relax in UV editor

Everything else is standard. I think Per said once he has a crazy keyboard scheme that's great for his work flow. Personally I like being able to sit down with any copy of 3dsmax anywhere and use it.

Farfarer

As I use modo, I've been trying to hammer Max into something approaching it's keyboard shortcuts.. but I've not done a whole lot on that front, yet - just the really easy to do stuff that I miss.

So, I've got quickslice bound to Shift+C. Cycle vert/edge/poly subselection modes in a custom script bound to Spacebar. Connect bound to Alt+C.

Everything else is standard, I think.

Psyk0

Alt+Q = select edge loops
Alt+W = select ring loops
Ctrl+T = Target weld
Ctrl+B = Bridge (selecting 1 edge then ctrl+b to bridge to other edge)
Ctrl+C = Chamfer
Alt+C = Cut tool
Ctrl+Alt+C = Connect
Ctrl+W = Weld selected
` = Stitch selected in unwrap

The rest is pretty much standard and some maxscript shortcuts.

Japhir

v=connect
c=champfer
b=bridge mode (don't know how to "bridge selection" :P)
ctrl+w=select ring
ctrl+e=select edge
ctrl+u=psd path unwrapper
shift+r=relax in uvw editor

most are copied over from someone else though . they are really good for my workflow.

kio

just lay your most important functions in the asdf area and keep optimizing till you dont know anymore which key does exactly what.

i tried to match similiar stuff to similar keys - 4 = faces // shift 4 = convert to face selection, r = ring // shift r= loop etc.

Kovac

Do it up per!

After 5 years I'm still a button clicker with max and photoshop and don't know why.... every other app I don't use as much like zbrush I try to learn hotkeys right away, so what gives???

IronHawk

I'd be interested in seeing that Per.

For me I use a silo style setup.

viewports are 1-7 perspective, front, right, left, top, back, bottom
transforms are stock
subobjects are a,s,d,f vert,edge,poly,element
alt+e, alt+r , alt+c for loop/ring/connect , added split loop slide to x now

few other as well but for the most part i try to keep my most used tools on the left hand.

Frankie

two most useful hotkeys changes in any 3d package is moving delete away from the delete key and a hotkey to the make new hotkey window

Junkie_XL

perna wrote: »

Japhir: $.EditablePoly.Bridge ()

Quicktip, Vig: I have a label in gmail containing all necessary scripts for max, PS, etc in case I need them on another computer. Try that instead of optimizing your system for least-likely scenarios.

I have a new keyboard system now, which isn't a traditional shortcut system at all - max will dump whatever key is pressed into extensive scripts that enables customization far beyond what's possible with regular shortcuts.

However the old system is still pretty damn useful, and simple. I'll post a tutorial and lay it all out for you guys soon.

I think everyone realizes that a good shortcut system will speed up their workflow immensely, but just never get around to making one. Using the standard max setup is shooting yourself in the foot, as it were.

I'd appreciate that immensely. Thank you.

Nauh

hi people from polycount, about 2 weeks to learn all of these, but now im a lot faster. problem is using other persons max, i feel very slow and fat. i basicaly maped all the editable poly shortcuts to the left side of the keyboard, in that way i dont have to move too much my left hand, that adds to the speed also.

EDITABLE POLY

Attach List Alt+Shift+Ctrl+A
Attach Alt+Shift+A
Bevel Settings Shift+Ctrl+D
Border Level 3
Bridge Settings Shift+Ctrl+A
Bridge A
Cap C
Chamfer Settings Shift+Ctrl+S
Collapse Space
Connect Edge Settings Shift+Ctrl+C
Connect Ctrl+C
Constrain to Edges Shift+X
Constrain to Faces Alt+Shift+X
Create Shift+C
Cut Alt+C
Detach Alt+Shift+D
Edge Level 2
Element Level 5
Extrude Settings Shift+E
Face Level 4
Flip Normals Shift+F
Grow Selection Alt+Q
Hide Unselected U
Hide H
Ignore Backfacing in Selections Shift+A
Insert Vertex Mode Alt+Shift+Q
Inset Settings Ctrl+D
Make Planar Alt+Shift+E
Object Level 6
Quickslice Mode Shift+Ctrl+Q
Remove Isolated Vertices Alt+Ctrl+0
Select Edge Loop Down Add Alt+Shift+Ctrl+S
Select Edge Loop Up Add Alt+Ctrl+S
Select Edge Loop Ctrl+S
Shrink Selection Alt+S
Slice Plane Mode NumPad /
Slice NumPad *
Split Edges Alt+Shift+B
Tessellate Settings Shift+T
Unhide All Alt+\, Alt+`
Use Soft Selection Alt+Z
Vertex Level 1
Weld Mode Shift+Ctrl+W
Weld Settings Ctrl+F

UVW UNWRAP

Detach Edge Verts D
Mirror Horizontal Alt+Q
Mirror Vertical Alt+A
Snap To Grid/Vertex/Edge Ctrl+S
Stitch S
Texture Vertex Weld Selected Space
Texture VertexTarget Weld Shift+Ctrl+W
TV Edge Sub-object Mode 2
TV Element Mode 5
TV Face Sub-object Mode 3
TV Vertex Sub-object Mode 1
Zoom Extents Selected Z

OTHER

Box NumPad 1
Sphere NumPad 2
Cylinder NumPad 3
Plane NumPad .
Spline NumPad 4
LayerManager NumPad 9
UvwUnwrap Modifier NumPad +
Convert To EditablePoly NumPad 5

Indecom

I'll definitely have to come back to this thread when i'm on my actual computer again. Looks like a lot of useful hotkeys. Does anyone have any suggestions for people who'd mostly be doing low poly character modeling?

Japhir

thanks per!
what you describe sounds very tasty, kindof like the action thingies in photoshop .
does anybody know what i can set up as connect, so that i can connect edges when selecting edges, and verts when selecting verts? (right now i can only do edges or only verts, not both with the same hotkey).

butt_sahib

Heres MINE:-

Ctrl + 1 Converts selection to verts
Ctrl + 2 Converts to edges
Ctrl + 4 Converts to polies
Q Loop
Ctrl +Q Ring
Ctrl +W Shrink selection
Ctrl +E Expand selection
D Connect edges
F Cut tool
T Target weld
< Previous modifier
> Next Modifier
/ Show end result

For the views i hit V> F/L/T/R (the defaults are F and T but i use them elsewhere)
Other shit is default max.


japhir:
Yeah,You cant have both on the same key. hmm might have to look into my scripting powers to see if thats possible.Seems possible.Ill see if i can let u know by tonight.

BradMyers82

I basically did what kio does, just keep mapping in new ones all in convient places untill all you use is hotkeys.

With my current setup, I have a game pad (n52 te) which I can map specific keys of my keyboard to.
So now I have custom shortcuts, on top of custom keys for my game pad. In any event, with my setup the controler is far more confortable then the standard keyboard, it's the size of my hand so easy to move around the desk (out of the way of my cintiqu 12" in front of me; and I litterally can do everything on the keyboard with just my left hand stationary (except type, but if it was really necessary it can be done).

Anways, I took the time to get this all setup a month ago and its really paying off now. I'm probably about twice as fast as I used to be. My advice would be to simply play around with different shortcuts and such, one at a time. Eventually it will really change the way you work.

fr0gg1e

Japhir wrote: »

does anybody know what i can set up as connect, so that i can connect edges when selecting edges, and verts when selecting verts? (right now i can only do edges or only verts, not both with the same hotkey).

You can still use that good old meshtools (if you want a free script) that do exactly that + bridge polygons (unfortunatly IIRC it doent bridge edges.) with one key called Connect.

Mark Dygert

perna wrote: »

Japhir: $.EditablePoly.Bridge ()

Quicktip, Vig: I have a label in gmail containing all necessary scripts for max, PS, etc in case I need them on another computer. Try that instead of optimizing your system for least-likely scenarios.

I have a new keyboard system now, which isn't a traditional shortcut system at all - max will dump whatever key is pressed into extensive scripts that enables customization far beyond what's possible with regular shortcuts.

However the old system is still pretty damn useful, and simple. I'll post a tutorial and lay it all out for you guys soon.

I think everyone realizes that a good shortcut system will speed up their workflow immensely, but just never get around to making one. Using the standard max setup is shooting yourself in the foot, as it were.

I agree, and it will help quite a bit. It is pretty important for modeling/unwrapping. I should have mentioned I do more animation these days and aside from the standard keyboard layout (with a handful more hotkeys) I use a bunch of scripts, none of which are useful to modeling/unwrapping. If I was modeling full time in 3ds I'd probably expand on the custom keyboard set up I started to cook up.

When I was modeling, it was in Silo. Which has a great UI, that I also customized.

Cool idea about the label I'll have to check that out. For keeping track of scripts I have an installer with all my animation scripts which makes it easy to port them around. The label might be easier to update...

butt_sahib

japhir:
I really wanted this for me too,but i guess i got lazy.

macroscript Connect_Always
Category: "Whatever" buttonText: "Connect Always"
(
    $.EditablePoly.ConnectVertices ()
    $.EditablePoly.ConnectEdges ()
)

Youre going to need that category(put whatever you want) and buttontext if your going to put it into a quadmenu or a toolbar.
Anyways,im compelled to thank Vig for al the scripts i make. If it werent for him, i wouldve left scripting where i was

kthnkzbai

Mark Dygert

Please make checks payable to Vigco Industries.
Also don't worry about the payroll automatic deduction you'll see on your paycheck after the first of the year... that's umm normal...:poly142:

But seriously everyone hits that brick wall with scripting, I'm glad I could help you over it. There is still a lot to learn and I'm still learning, so there are going to be quite a few people that nudge you along in the right direction.

butt_sahib

haha!
Yeah definitely there is a SHIT load to learn. Probably too much i'd say. Still kinda arousing though.

bounchfx

damn I really gotta set myself up some shortcuts to save on menu time. My problem is I'm always afraid to overwrite stuff that's already shortcutted! and I like to have the shortcuts make as much sense as then can relating to what the key will do.

I guess I could just make myself a little cheat sheet, but it's time to get them shits goin.

pior

per - do you mean that you use something like autohotkey to trigger complex macros at the press of a button?

I just started to mess with my logitech g11 as it makes macro recording extremely easy. Maybe that's what you use?

Funky Bunnies

wut, so how is that different from the normal connect action? My main beef with edge connect is it can't work on just one selected edge. I really need to get into maxscript when I get some time.

also: yes, Per I think we're all very interested in more detailed explanation of how you go about that.


anyway, so I'm a little more on subject although I probably wouldn't recommend other people using my weird key setup,

I usually try to use ctrl+__ for a tool and ctrl+shift+__ for the options of that tool if possible.

I have a lot of the standard hotkeys that most people are using here, but I have:

most of the poly tools/selections i find important, although I use bevel because it's extrude+inset/outline in one tool ` =========== edit poly subdivision alt+~ ======== show end result alt+1/alt+2 ==== ring/loop ctrl+shift+alt+a = import ctrl+shift+alt+s = export ctrl+shift+alt+e = convert to poly shift+a ======== quick align ctrl+shift+a ===== align (+/-) ========= grow/shrink shift+s ======= softselect toggle shift+ (+/-) ===== increase/decrease softselect falloff

and I try to keep a consistent hotkey setup for maya or whatever other package, if I can.

Thefirston

mine are more for saving purposes

ctrl+shft+s= save as
ctrl+shft+n= save incremental
ctrl+alt+i= import
ctrl+alt+e= export

Japhir

hey butt, i just checked yours out. it was what i had come up with myself aswell, but it isn't working the way i want it to: when i select some edges and hit connect it connects them, good. when i select some verts it works as well. but if i first select some edges, then go to vertex mode, select some verts that i want to connect and hit the shortcut, it also connects the edge selection i had earlier.
so i figured i'd need something like:

macroscript Connectify
Category: "blabla" buttonText: "Connectify"
(
if $.EditablePoly.mode = vertices then $.EditablePoly.ConnectVertices () 
if $.EditablePoly.mode = edges then $.EditablePoly.ConnectEdges ()
)

but i don't know if i have the "check if selection is vertexmode" is correct .

EDIT: whooow never mind, per just saved the day that is one überusefull script there! thanks a ton perna! oh, and there still is some reference to a script of yours in there, if you simply put: $.EditablePoly.ConnectEdges () in there in stead of that line it works like a charm. also with show end result turned on.
would still be nice to know the proper way to do it though

Japhir

whaha i was able to read your script! and actually see what does what so thanks for that! (i didn't know there where so many default scripts to which you could point, that's pretty usefull!)

Microneezia

Hi!,

i find that during exhaustive UV sessions I am scaling and zooming an awful lot because of UV mapping with Normalize map checkbox off. As you know when the island selection is originally cast into the UV window, its entirely humongous compared to the 0-1 square i need to fit it into. Then im scrolling and zooming like mad for each island piece.

Now I can hardly use my middle finger for what god intended. Last time someone cut me off in traffic, I actually restrained myself and thought... dont waste it..., tonight you are UVing...

Is anybody using a script or something that has the selected face appear in a relative scale to the 0-1 box however not "normalized" into the border of the 0-1 square?

If you help me I'd be happy to show you how well my finger is healing!

fr0gg1e

perna wrote: »

um, yeah so I accidentally deleted the text here. Can you tell I'm in a hurry?

Anyway read the script comments below.

some badass thinking

that s pretty badass

Microneezia

Is this correct syntax for the uvw island scaling I was talking about?

$.modifiers[#unwrap_uvw].unwrap2.ScaleSelectedCenter (Value?) 0

I know there is supposed to be a value in those brackets.. what I want it to do is scale to the 0-1 square and keep the aspect. Is this possible with this script?

butt_sahib

YYAY PER!
Thank you VERY much for the script me likey

Also, i couldnt find anything on the netz when i googled "multiple if conditions". Now i have that answer!

Japhir:-
Oh.Hmm.didnt check it for myself that way. But actually, i had written a script like perna posted, i.e.
if subobjectlevel = 1 then
connectvertices blah blah
but i couldnt get it (as it had multiple if conditions. i.e. if level=1mconnect verts,if level=2 connect edges,etc)

Thank you per! it makes some fucking sense now

btw,micron, have you tried running that script through the listener? if it does what you want it to, save that bitch

butt_sahib

oh btw, funkyB,
Max by default has two commands for connecting verts and connecting edges. So you cant have that on the same hotkey.
This is mostly useful if someone has customized keyboard setup i'd say.

Microneezia

hey butt thanks for the suggestion, I guess what I really need to know is, how do I refer to the 0-1 square as a value? with the script I wrote I can scale it 5.2% ect, but how do I scale it to the value of "the size of the 0-1 area" if I can get that value I can then put that into the script I guess...

Funky Bunnies

Butt: ohhh, you're talking about the mainUI's hotkeys. I gotcha :poly136:

Per: Oh nice, I was pretty confused what you meant before. That'll definitely be handy

Joshua Stubbles

I'll refrain from showing mine, because you are all cheap right handed bastards!

Microneezia

I found that Chuggnutts tools has a Scale to 0-1 and it asks you if you wish to maintain aspect ratio. Its under the chugg-tab "more tools"...

Edit: I have planar mapping and the align buttons mapped to shortcut keys. I choose a face and use shortcuts to get selection mapped, aligned and edit window open - Chugg 0-1 scale button brings the selection into the square. If someone knows even a faster way to go from selected face > inside the square, I'd love it.

Eric Chadwick

Microneezia, not sure if this is what you're after, but the planar map gizmo within the Unwrap modifier automatically maps to the 0-1 square.

scourgewarper

Frankie wrote: »

two most useful hotkeys changes in any 3d package is moving delete away from the delete key and a hotkey to the make new hotkey window

Not noticed that before how do I make a new hotkey window?

Mark Dygert

I think he means toolbar? On the toolbar tab you click new...

scourgewarper

Does anyone here assign ctrl/shift/alt to extra mouse buttons? I'm gonna try this as I don't use the forward and back buttons and I often find it difficult to achieve the desired hotkey combo sometimes, I find myself spending a lot of time actually looking where to put my fingers in order to hold down the key combo.

Just curious if anyone else has assigned the modifier keys to the mouse. Would you have to use your custom mouse software or could you do that in max?

Also is there any free apps that can re-assign your keyboard layout? Ive got a wireless keyboard with its own custom hotkey software but the only options it gives for the hotkey buttons is for browsing the internet.