Autodesk smarts
mod
Ctrl+S Save File
Ctrl+S Toggle Shrink
Ctrl+S Add Scene Event
Ctrl+S Soft Selection
Ctrl+S Snap
Those are Max shortcuts.
Only some of those are limited to working in a specific window. Soft Selection for instance? Yeah, that shit toggles everytime you save.
Interesting, right?
Ctrl+S Toggle Shrink
Ctrl+S Add Scene Event
Ctrl+S Soft Selection
Ctrl+S Snap
Those are Max shortcuts.
Only some of those are limited to working in a specific window. Soft Selection for instance? Yeah, that shit toggles everytime you save.
Interesting, right?
Replies
I also like shift+c when you are working with camera keys, what were they thinking?
And the setup with all the specific windows is also non sense to me, did they do that so you can make shortcuts for all the 10000 functions in max with haveing enough key combinations?
Soft Selection and Snap are two that I would use often. I learned the hard way never to use snap in the 3D viewport. Nice work Autodesk.
1) I agree they are pretty shit.
2) They are customizable and portable so do it once and complain no more. For something you probably use every day....
3) This is a big one and gets most people, they are contextually sensitive and keyboard shortcut override changes the context.
If you want CTRL-S (when you're in sub-object mode) to save instead of toggle soft select, turn off Keyboard Shortcut Override. Or if you really do want your sub-object shortcuts to override the main 3ds max shortcuts, leave it on either way I suggest you take the really easy way out, and bind CTRL-Shift-S to save as.
[rant]
If you really do want separate shortcuts for everything go ahead and make it convoluted. They give you the power to make smart shortcuts just as much as back assward ones. Personally I like having one command that cuts in whatever mode I'm in.
[/rant]
As for snap in the 3D viewport, I use it all the time. It's important to turn on 3D snap AND what you want to snap to, pivot, vert, edge center ect. (It's part of the same menu) I think it defaults to pivot which would explain most frustration people have with it.
yeah thats insanely poor UI design.
then there's all those useful functions that are hidden behind thick iron curtains somewhere deep in the help files.
for example, i found a very handy renaming utility that i constantly use deep inside the 3ds max maxscript documentation.
and those modifier buttons.. they're gold. i constantly use them. yet they're not part of the default UI? retarded.
whoever is running the operation of mangling the 3ds max UI should be tied up, stuffed into a bag, driven out at the middle of sea, and thrown off the boat. preferably attached to something heavy.
dunno, thrown into a pool of starving piranhas and chewed to the bones would also be a suitable fate.
haha. Nice.
yeah, they hide all sorts of tools, and make broken tools very visible.
that old mirror tool is completely broken, and yet its STILL at the main UI bar, which is completely ridicolous. its messed up the rotation axis of countless objects i've made, along with destroying the Xform. nowadays i only use the mirror modifier, or the symmetry modifier, and have deleted the mirror tool from the main UI bar, and the menu.
here's my current UI layout:
http://www.dejawolf.com/polycount/dejasmaxUI.jpg
i've probably removed half of the main upper toolbars buttons, and have done some pretty heavy fat-trimming off of the menus as well:
http://www.dejawolf.com/polycount/menus.jpg
there's still some stuff in there that i thought might be useful, but that i've simply never used.
oh well, bbl, just rediscovered patch modeling. gonna see what i can do with that stuff heh.
I know users are asking a lot from Autodesk, it's not easy owning the entire 3D animation industry. They could create an updated and efficient hotkey set and release it as an install option? Or just a complete rewrite. Or, continue with their plan and place more support and attention on the other more up-to-date apps they've recently purchased.
true. so why the hell are they owning the entire 3d animation industry?
my alternatives:
1. they're a bunch of evil greedy megalomaniacs.
2.... uhm...
2nd q: I use this script, I believe it`s from scriptspot
Also dont forget dark ui theme, and CTRL+X, when you dont need the command panel.
Do you also know if it's possible to remove buttons from the main toolbar? Like the render button and that kinda stuff, since i never use them.
The dark UI theme is cool but i personally like working with the bright one more, i find it easier on the eyes
edit: if right click doesnt work, just alt+drag the sucker to the viewport
CTRL-Drag = Copy button
ALT-Drag = Move button
If you need to delete buttons that are part of the core max UI (like if you copy one instead of move it) you can create a new tool bar (I call it delete), move the unwanted buttons, then delete the toolbar through the Customize UI menu.
Per, I like it. I like it a lot. You've inspired me to cut out more fluff and do up some custom icons. Good stuff.
I push the simplicity as far as I can but there are a lot of animation tools I'll have to leave out.
you also need to save 3dsmax.ini and reconfigure the file paths for your new computer.
with is script you can turn it on and off, just bind it to a button or so
Very useful shit in here. Thanks guys!
haha, nevermind then! I figured it only worked at startup
macroScript ExpertMode category:"PerisTools" toolTip:"Expert Mode" ( fn togglebotoff = ( trackbar.visible = false timeSlider.setVisible (false) statusPanel.visible = false ) fn toggleboton = ( trackbar.visible = true timeSlider.setVisible (true) statusPanel.visible = true ) if cui.commandPanelOpen == false and trackbar.visible == false then ( toggleboton() cui.commandPanelOpen = true ) else ( togglebotoff() cui.commandPanelOpen = false ) )Now slum needs to come up with a catchy name =pomg so you can move those damn buttons!
Now a problem has arised! I moved the "Reference coordinate system" pull down into my own toolbar and then it stopped working (the pulldown goes blank). So I dragged it back to the main toolbar and its still blank... This happens to all the pulldowns in the main toolbar, once you drag it to a new toolbar it messes up.
Anyone know how to fix?
On another note, is there any way to put my main toolbar in the modifier panel? Like this (in the top right corner);
Another question, is there a way to drag the bottom "absolute mode type-in" thingy onto my main toolbar? Since I've hidden the status bar I want that thing back...
And if there is, and the answer to my 2nd question is doable, then is there any way to make 2 rows for the main toolbar so the transform type in goes above the modifier panel along with my missing reference coordinate system pull down?
:poly115:
Excellent!
Now there is an extremely ghetto way to get your custom toolbar over above the modify panel, and that's to create one button that does nothing. If you turn off fixed width text buttons, you can name that button a long string of spaces. Like I said very ghetto, but would "work". This is one part of the 3dsmax interface that needs a rewrite...
How to create a blank button:
macroScript blank category:"blank" buttonText:" " ( )- Open the maxscript editor, copy paste the above code into the window.- On the "ButtonText" line add spaces between the quotes, normally this is the name displayed on the button.
- When you're done, hit ctrl-e. It will look like nothing happens.
- Close the window and go into Customize > Customize UI > Toolbars > Change the catagory to blank.
- Create a new toolbar, and drag blank into it.
- If you need more spaces you can right click the button and choose "edit macro script". Save it, evaluate it (Ctrl-E) and it should update. If not restart 3dsmax.
I knew about the docking stuff but I was just wanting a better solution, because side docking still creates a lot of wasted UI space. Also side docking kills the pull down menus like the ref coord system.
I guess I'll just stick with a floating main toolbar then.
The whole point of wanting to put the toolbar above the modifiers isnt for clicking purposes, I want the viewport to take up that wasted space above so the ghetto solution really doesnt fix anything
I'm cleaning up the menu bar aswel but everytime i remove that tentacles tab it reappears on startups. Anyone know how i can get rid of it? I'm not interested in buying turbosquid models >:(
To get rid of tentacles you can uninstall it using add/remove programs in the windows control panel. Yea super annoying when it doesn't go away...
thx, i did it another way, found a tentacles folder in /plugins that i deleted, that also did the job
EDIT: haha some guy asked turbosquid how to do it, and got this back: Such bullshit
I'm thinking now of moving the command panel and my toolbar to the left.. but that will probably be weird to my brain for a while.
The one that always gets me is CTRL+I - it seems to work when it feels like it, almost at random. Still, most things can still be got through the menus.
Another program I use all the time, probably more than max, is Imageline's FLStudio - they recently introduced a new version ( 8 ), which changes shortcut cut keys that have been in place since at least version 5, and with no option to customise them, so now you're busy pressing the left shift,left ctrl or left and left alt , and all has been remapped to the right buttons, so you need to relearn half your ingrained shortcuts all over again.
gg.
Well, yes, max, but WHY would you not just put it where the fuck I told you to put it instead!?
Anyone know how to make max understand?
ok so ive been getting or trying to get back into max for the purpose of learning it more thoroughly and trying to setup my keyboard shortcuts and some dont work?
For instance: Im in Editable Poly mode and I set my shortcut for "Collapse" in the Editable Poly section. Go back to the viewport, select some verts and hit the key - nothing happens. When I hit the Collapse button though, everything collapses like its supposed to, wtf? This happens for a number of things too. Also why are some action/shortcuts in the customize window bolded?
*** end nub alert ***
Problem is it confuses beginners.
Just hit the keyboard shortcut override toggle if you want one set of hotkeys, or go into the "editable poly" GROUP, not "category" and put your editable poly hotkeys in there.