3DS clean

perna

UPDATED JULY 15TH(thrice...)

Note - more 3ds max modifications found in this thread:

• Standard Materials Override
• Toolbar mod
• Menu mod
• CreateClean
• 3Point Max Plugin Toggler
• maxstart.max
• Automatrix
• PerTools_Public
• Subdivision Buddy

3DSclean - Sensible 3ds max modifications
dev.3pointstudios.com
dev.3pointstudios.com/pub/3DSclean.zip

From the readme:

3DSclean v0.166

3DSclean will reconfigure a fresh 3ds max 2009 install to use more sensible default values, in addition to moving all user files to one central location, as opposed to spread around various directories on your harddrives.

Unsupported and provided without any warranty.


INSTRUCTIONS:

• Install 3ds Max 2009. Do NOT run the program.
• Copy the files in the 3DSclean archive into the root directory of the program.
• Run 3DSclean.bat
• Start the program like usual and enjoy the new default setup

CHANGES

MAIN UI

Disable the welcome screen
Disable the viewcube
Zoom Extents works on selected object
Zoom All Extents works on selected object
Orbit works on Subobject (i.e viewport rotation will work the way it should)
Small UI buttons
Object lister now uses the old dialog instead of scene explorer
Select By Name now uses the old dialog instead of scene explorer

TOOLBAR

Close infocenter floater
Remove undo/redo buttons

D3D SETTINGS

Set highest rez viewport textures
Set Anisotropic filtering
Set 'Nearest' mipmap lookup

MATERIAL EDITOR

Raised ambient color
Default materials changed
"Propagate Materials to Instances" disabled
Shows 6x4 materials by default

SYSTEM SETTINGS

Unit setup to centimeters
Undo level 80
Autobackup every 2.5 minutes
16 autobackup files
16 Recent Files listed
All transform gizmo appearances altered
Reference Coordinate System Constant
Supress collapse stack warning
Supress topology dependence warning
Supress missing UVs rendering warning
Disable backface culling on create
Enable keyboard shortcut override toggle
Enable vertex snaps
Set default render sizes to sensible values from 640x480 to 1600x1200
Do not zoom extents following file import
Do not propagate unhide/unfreeze commands to layers

OTHER

Removed the annoying multi-click bug error report dialog when max crashes

CONFIGURATION DIRECTORIES

Max no longer lives in "my documents"
Max no longer lives in "Documents and settings\user\local settings\application data\autodesk\"
All relevant max files are in one user-chosen location

USER FILES

All user files will reside in a directory of your choosing
you can now keep your own max changes and overrides separate from the max installation files.
To transfer your setup to another machine, do the following:

• Copy the setup directory (chosen by you), 3dsmax.ini, d3dgfx.ini and InstallSettings.ini into the other install. Some extensions may have dropped plugin files in <max_root>\stdplugs, which you will have to move over manually for them to work. I suggest moving all 3rd party plugins into the "userplugins" directory below your 3DSclean directory.
• Make sure to edit the ini files to contain the correct paths for the new location

USER DIRECTORIES

Listed with getDir values for maxscript:

• icons\ - #userIcons: icon files you put in here will override the default max ones
• scripts\ - #userScripts: typical script install path, though untouched by max until evaluated
• scripts_evaluated\ - #userMacros: Evaluated scripts. To permanently remove a script, delete it from this location
• scripts_startup\ - #userStartupScripts & #startupScripts:
• maps\ - "global" bitmap, fx and photometric files
• plugcfg\ - #plugcfg: plugin configuration files
• proj\ - #scene default project directory
• renderpresets\ - #renderPresets

MAXSTART.MAX

Default max scene. Found in the 3DSclean install directory. You can replace this with your own setup.
Configuration:

Grids disabled
3 small, 1 large viewport, ideally sized for 1:333 renderoutput on widescreen monitors
Viewport statistics toggled off by default. When enabled, shows currently selected and total number of triangles only.
Disabled selection brackets
Show edges for selected objects
Area filter set to 1.0. This is the correct way to fix blurry renders in max, not by changing the filter type.
Increased loading speed by removing dependency on acadblocks.dlu and reactor.dlc

PROJECT DIRECTORIES

It's strongly suggested that you start using the project directory feature of 3ds (found in the file menu). The advantage is that files will be grouped on a per-project basis. For example your export/import files and autobackup files. This means you can, among other things, go back to a 6-month old project and still have the autobackup files intact.

Once you have defined a project, by picking a directory, max will make a number of subdirectories and use those for various tasks. The default directory is set to "<max_root>\usr\proj". You can set it to any location on your machine. The 3DSclean custom subdirectories are listed below:

• \ - root dir, holds scene(.max), sound, animation and material files
• \tmp - temporary files, not used in production. Typically import/export and map bakes. Drop anything in this dir
• \img - bitmap files used in production. Normal, diffuse, specular, etc
• \out - optional. Used at 3Point for WIP screenshots and renders plus overpaints, sequentially numbered images
• \bak - autobackup files for the project

TROUBLESHOOTING

Some scripts write to hard-coded locations instead of using the correct getDir values. Many also want to be placed in stdplugs/stdscripts, which is reserved for standard max scripts. Well-written scripts will behave properly, while some others may require you to move files around manually.
Max 8,9,2008 and 2010 are untested with 3DSclean and unsupported, but may well work fine.

CHANGELOG

071509 v0.166

• Removed the "choice" and "my documents" references, increasing OS compatibility. Please note that you can still manually enter the path to your "My Documents" directory
• Removed 3DSclean_noprompt.bat

071509 v0.165

• Now contains alternative installer: 3DSclean_noprompt.bat, which will work on installs that do not support the "choice" command (some flavors of vista I assume)

071509 v0.164

• maxstart.max: Viewport layout optimized for 1:333 render ratio.
• maxstart.max: Removed file dependency on acadblocks.dlu and reactor.dlc. Increased loading speed.

070809 v0.163

• maxstart.max: Viewport brackets off. Changed zooms.

062909 v0.162

• Lights created default to having shadows enabled

062809 v0.161

• Fixed bug where userplugins directory is not created. To fix this problem simply create a userplugins directory under your install destination

062709 v0.16

• Added install path choice menu in installer
• Added errorchecking in installer
• Added default material override
• Added userplugins directory
• Added help file to Help->Additional Help in Max
• Show 6x4 materials in the material editor
• Select By Name now uses old (fast) dialog instead of scene explorer
• Disabled "Propagate Materials to Instances"

CREDITS

3DSclean by Per Abrahamsen - [email protected]
rss.exe by Ross MacGregor - http://www.programmersheaven.com/user/Ross+MacGregor/
Testing by Joao Joshua - [email protected]

Download (60kb): dev.3pointstudios.com/pub/3DSclean.zip

renderhjs

nice nice,

Autodesk should hire you to fix their painful mistakes


what about material instancing when applying to new objects that are instance - I hated that in max2009. Its in the Material Editor > Settings > propagate Instances (or something like that)

GoSsS

This sounds really cool ! I'll definitely test that on my next 3ds installation.

perna

We'll provide you with some better presentation. For now, the important thing is just getting the stuff out there.

Since the Main Toolbar can't be edited via normal drag-n-drop, here is a properly formatted manual edit that removes unnecessary buttons.

Buttons were either removed as the functionality is so important you use keyboard shortcuts for it anyway (undo, move tool, render, etc), or because modelers don't use it often enough to justify a button on the main toolbar (bind to space warp, select and manipulate, schematic view, etc)

In order to copy only the Main Toolbar section into your own cui setup, replace your "[Main Toolbar]" section with the one in this file.

http://dev.3pointstudios.com/pub/3PS_toolbar_01.cui

bottom: Old layout. Top: New layout

edit:
I forgot to mention: In the main toolbar replacement file, there's a hidden toolbar included which contains the buttons which were removed from the main toolbar. So if you ever find yourself stuck without a button and can't find the function anywhere else, just enable that toolbar.

edit2: Max has poor custom toolbar handling. The easiest way to get this toolbar to work may be to save it as <max_root>\ui\maxstartui.cui

Yozora

I just tried installing this thing, it gives me this error when I load UIs (doesnt matter whether its a custom UI or one of the default ones)



However, the UI succesfully loads anyway so its not really a big problem.

Can I delete this folder path? This bin64\max09 thing seems to be created by 3DSclean. Theres a maxscrpt.dsk and MXS_SciTE.recent file inside this folder and nothing else.

sampson

interesting... will consider after i see more feedback

perna

Good catch Yozora, there was one instance of original path left in the config.
I've updated the archive.
To fix the error message if you already have 3DSclean installed, replace the bin64.. path in 3dsmax.ini with your max program path. Alternatively use this patch (extract to max root and run 3DSclean_patch012to014.bat):

dev.3pointstudios.com/pub/3DSclean_patch012to014.zip


renderhjs: I haven't run in to that - must be a different workflow. Can you describe how the option works and what it improves?

Yozora

Thanks, the fix worked fine.

I had most of these settings like this setup by default anyway but I like the look of the new transform gizmos.

The best thing is now everything is in one directory! I really hate going to that AppData folder, all programs should keep settings in one place Now if only someone made a Photoshop version...

Thanks again for posting this!

renderhjs

regarding the material propagate to instances thing, this is what I mean:


it would be also nice to have the max2009 (design release at least) fixed the default material types to non mental ray because they slow down the system each time I open the material editor:

Also (but perhaps already covered) the world UV setting in the general settings perhaps disabled because thats only usefull for UV noobs and haters (like many architecture guys).

Mark Dygert

Thanks for sharing Per.

After installing it, we are free to change any of the settings using the standard way, like change autoback from 2.5 to 10min? These settings won't be strictly enforced every time 3dsmax starts up, will they?

perna

renderhjs: It's not something I do, drag-drop, but will keep it in mind for future updates. Be aware that different materials on instances in max can cause significant viewport rendering slowdown.

Try to use the following to change away from the default mental ray materials:
Customize->Custom UI and defaults switcher

Alternatively you can dump the following medit.mat in <max_root>\defaults\[your_cud_dir]

[your_cud_dir] will be the choice listed in the "Custom UI and defaults switcher" list

http://dev.3pointstudios.com/pub/medit.mat

conte

thank you a lot, Bro.

perna

Vig: Absolutely. These customizations provide you with a better base to work from than default max. You are still free to further personalize to your heart's content.

Default settings in max are very poor. You can't even export a non-buggy OBJ file without changing them. A lot of people get a bad impression of the software because of this. As an example I frequently see people who suggest rendering with catmull-rom to give sharper results, in effect applying an edge sharpen filter to a blurred image. The real solution is to change the "make renders blurry and ugly" parameter. Yes, they actually have that parameter, it's just called something else. I don't know why autodesk are sabotaging the user experience with such absurd default values. What is certain is that you'll have a significantly better time with a properly configured max.

There's a large number of problems like that with max, and the customizations you find and will find in this thread address many of those things. They won't cater to individual preferences and will not give you user options, but they'll certainly provide a far better base to work off of than default max does.

perna

I forgot to mention: In the "main toolbar" replacement provided above, there's a hidden toolbar included which contains the buttons which were removed. So if you ever find yourself stuck without a button and can't find the function anywhere else, just enable that toolbar.

NP conte, let me know how it works for you!

perna

Menu file.

UPDATED JULY 8TH

Drop this in your usr directory, then load it from customize -> customize user interface -> menus.

It de-bloats the menus for modelers. You'll find them significantly simplified. The old menus are found, intact, under "Advanced". Recently opened files are now listed directly under the file menu, like in old versions of max, for faster access.

edit: Max has poor custom menu handling. To get it to load the mnu file at startup, the easiest way would be to save it as <max_root>\ui\maxstartui.mnu (your file MAY be different. In that case check the [CustomMenus] section of your 3dsmax.ini)

Download:
http://dev.3pointstudios.com/pub/per128_3dsmenu.mnu

Screenshot:


CHANGELOG

070809

• "max" entry is now called "customize" and contains grid & snap settings
• "perSeparator" spaces menu elements
• a large number of entries are renamed for improved clarity

Yozora

oh wow, very nice menu thanks!

One thing, in the file menu it says " Missing: Reset Scene" in grey
Is that some kinda custom script to reset the scene that is different from the default reset?

Edit: Oh crap, the .mnu includes the quad menus... Lucky I backed up

perna

Yozora: Ah yeah. I released that earlier, but can't find the original thread.

Download:
http://dev.3pointstudios.com/pub/pertools_public.zip

extract into your <max_root>\usr directory.
Open the .mcr file in script editor and evaluate

The new "Reset Scene" script will remove the annoying "are you sure you want to reset". Please note it will still notify you if you haven't saved your file.

conte

works really well, Per. i had some "problems" with changed axis thing, but now i think that its very comfortable to work with!

Xenobond

Delicious.

Thanks!

System

perna wrote: »

Menu file.

Drop this in your usr directory, then load it from customize -> customize user interface -> menus.

It de-bloats the menus for modelers. You'll find them significantly simplified. The old menus are found, intact, under "Advanced". Recently opened files are now listed directly under the file menu, like in old versions of max, for faster access.

edit: Max has poor custom menu handling. To get it to load the mnu file at startup, the easiest way would be to save it as <max_root>uimaxstartui.mnu (your file MAY be different. In that case check the [CustomMenus] section of your 3dsmax.ini)

Download:
http://dev.3pointstudios.com/pub/per128_3dsmenu.mnu

Screenshot:

That's great and all but how about reducing the text size for making the edit poly workflow a single 'window' instead of a double spread across the single monitor setup. Quite frankly I'm sick of doubling the pane size which in turn reduces viewport size just to get to all of those required modelling features.

perna

GCMP: I hear ya. Ideally someone should replace the command panel entirely, rewrite it from ground up. Streamline it, clean it up, get rid of all the clutter. Add new functionality to optimize workflow.

I suppose that could look something like.... this

http://dev.3pointstudios.com/pub/cp3p_01.png

renderhjs

uh yeah I like that mockup, especially that xtra less space that blows usually each interface so much and gone all the buttons that are dated or no one uses anymore.

what could be done though is a custom or additional minimal modeling panel (not like the graphite modeling GUI) with the basics of the editPoly and modifier controls

[HP]

So, anyone tried this on 2010 already?

Joshua Stubbles

Does this work for max 2008?

perna

All the customizations it should work just fine on any version of max from 9 and up. Getting it to run on v8 might require a couple of changes. If anyone can run some tests, that would be appreciated.

I'll be spending my time getting you guys new stuff, rather than testing old stuff.

Oh, and renderhjs... which mockup?

cw

perna this is awesome.

i'm going to try it at home on my already worn in 2010 installand see if it holds up. cheers for all the effort, looks really nice and decluttered.

perna

Small update to 3DSclean uploaded. Will now disable the annoying multi-click error report when max crashes. Also updated the documentation:

• Replaced the new(slow) object lister with the older(max8?) one

t4paN

Man, this mod is helping me to make the decision to buy a new hd and format sometime soon. Good shit.

perna

important - Remember to install the latest official 3ds update.
For max2009, just download the newest hotfix, it also contains SP2.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/index?siteID=123112&id=2334435&linkID=9241178#section2

Yozora

perna wrote: »

important - Remember to install the latest official 3ds update.
For max2009, just download the newest hotfix, it also contains SP2.

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/index?siteID=123112&id=2334435&linkID=9241178#section2

er you mean SP1 I hope? I dont see any SP2 for max2009~

perna

yup. Anyway, the newest hotfix will contain everything you need (not immediately apparent from the mainpage)

Kessler

Thanks Perna and Friends for being awesome. I love 3ds max but there are somethings about her personality that I don't enjoy. I have not spoken to her about it yet but I am sure it will come up soon. We have been fighting a lot lately and I slept on the couch last night. I had to change all her navigation keys and colors cause she was burning my eyes out... ok back to work.

EarthQuake

Can you make me a layout that looks more like lightwave 5.6?

LEViATHAN

You are such a nice person for doing this.

Muzzoid

Looks awesome. Im going to try it tomorrow morning.

Yozora

EDIT: Nevermind, fixed. Problem was shaderFX install was getting messed up due to new paths, solution was to drag the "load_shaderfx.ms" into user\scripts\startup instead of scripts\startup, and helium.dlx from \plugins to \stdplugs


new question; I dont like the new duplicating-without-material setting, how do I revert back to the original way where if you duplicate something, the material sticks with it?

perna

New version.

http://dev.3pointstudios.com/pub/3DSclean.zip

CHANGELOG 062709 v0.151

• Added install path choice menu in installer
• Added errorchecking in installer
• Added default material override
• Added userplugins directory
• Added help file to Help->Additional Help in Max
• Show 6x4 materials in the material editor
• Select By Name now uses old (fast) dialog instead of scene explorer
• Disabled "Propagate Materials to Instances"

This update should improve customization possibilities a lot, especially if you place plugins under userplugins.

Thanks for testing the releases, guys. For internal testing I backup the 3ds max directory after installing. Whenever 3ds needs resetting back to install defaults, I just copy the files out of the backup and use those. It's a good tip if you're not certain 3DSclean is for you (no need to reinstall if you change your mind, just move over the files).

perna

Yozora: Do you mean that when you duplicate an object, it loses its material?

It would be a good help if everyone would tell me the menu entry to change the settings that you want, as it's not always that I use and am familiar with those settings.


Unless something ends up breaking bigtime, this version should not become obsolete. All future updates should be able to work on top of existing installs, not requiring a fresh install.


Keep in mind that the very first time you set up 3DSclean, you should always have a clean max install, as it keeps max from placing lots of garbage files on your computer.

You can now set the user config directory to a location of your choice. To move your older 3DSclean config files to a new install, remember that all you have to do is move the files from <max_root>\USR to your new location.

Yozora

Yup when you duplicate a object, the clone loses the original material and is replaced by the default grey material.

I dont see why anyone would want this option enabled? And I still cant find where to disable this...

Heres a video (because screentoaster is cool); http://www.screentoaster.com/watch/stVUpSR01IR11ZQVhcX1JdUldW

Edit; seems like its not actually replaced with default grey material... its replaced with a new material that has the same properties as the old material, but loses the diffuse map?? I say this because the current texture on the tree has 100% self illumination atm, and a 100% self illum grey material ends up looking white.

If I clone the object while it has a 100% self illum material, the clone will also have a 100% self illum grey texture, but if I clone the object while it has 0% self illum, then the cloned texture is the default grey one.


I'm sure I could have typed this in much fewer words but whatever, its done

perna

Yozora, I've never come across that before. How do you duplicate? Shift-dragging?

Yozora

perna wrote: »

Yozora, I've never come across that before. How do you duplicate? Shift-dragging?

In the video I demonstrated both ways, shift drag and ctrl+v - but to answer the question yes I mostly shift drag. And the problem only started happening when I installed this 3ds clean setup

btw I edited my other post with further findings!

perna

Yozora: Which max version are you running and have you installed Service packs/hotfixes? Have you tried reinstalling max?

Yozora

3d max 2009, latest hotfix, havent reinstalled yet... was hoping the solution was just a simple toggle oh well, I'll try reinstalling tommorow, time to sleep.


Edit; Reinstall fixed the problem, still no idea what was the cause though.
Installed latest 3DSclean, there is no userplugins folder~ I did a search in the whole 3d max directory, are you meant to create it yourself? Not too important anyway, I prefer to just dump all the custom plugins into the standard plugin folder

Everything else seems to work fine so far thanks

perna

Yozora, thanks for the bug report, updated and reuploaded with fix. Userplugins is now correctly created.

To manually fix the problem simply create a userplugins directory in your install location.

You can usually tell autodesk plugins in stdplugs apart from 3rd party ones by the date, letting them be easily moved to Userplugins.

A good tip is to make a copy of the max and 3DSclean directory after you've installed your favourite setups so you can always easily revert back to them in the future should you install something that screws up.


If anyone has tested 3DSclean on versions other than max2009 I'll be very happy to hear how it went.


You'll find that I've killed the multi-user support in max. It was never a good implementation from Autodesk. For multi-user support, what I suggest you do is make multiple copies of the program.

renderhjs

You'll find that I've killed the multi-user support in max. It was never a good implementation from Autodesk. For multi-user support, what I suggest you do is make multiple copies of the program.

and each running as a admin?
I agree that the multi user support of max is not good at all but not everywhere you can work as a admin.
Or did I misunderstood something?

perna

I don't know what relevance it has whether or not you run as admin, so I'll leave that for users to figure out.

hyrumark

Is there any way to make "standard" lights the default instead of photometric lights. It would save me one annoying click every time I start max.

Yozora

speaking of annoying defaults, do you know which file you need to edit to change the default parameters for primitives? For example I want my plane to be 2 tris, not 32 -.- and my cylinders to have 1 height segment and 8 sided by default

I'm actually surprised that a box creates a regular box with 12 tris Whats up with the inconsistency

perna

Hyrumark: No straightforward way that I know of. However, you can do something like adding toolbar buttons for creating the lights you use most often, which will save you even more clicks.

You'll find objects and light types under Customize User Interface, for use for keyboard shortcuts, quad menus, pulldown menus or toolbars. Omni is called "omni" under "Lights and Cameras"

OR

Drag-drop this to your toolbar:

startObjectCreation Omnilight

Yozora: Aye, I agree. We have a script for those things. It needs cleaning up before release.

perna

CreateClean
dev.3pointstudios.com
http://dev.3pointstudios.com/pub/PerToolsCreateClean.zip

Create primitives, booleans & lights with sensible parameters

Screenshot:

• CreateCleanPlane1x1
• CreateCleanBox1x1x1
• CreateCleanCylinder08seg (1 height segment)
• CreateCleanCylinder16seg (1 height segment)
• CreateCleanSphere16seg
• CreateCleanSplineHard
• CreateCleanSplineSmooth
• CreateCleanTeapot
• CreateCleanBooleanUnion
• CreateCleanBooleanIntersection
• CreateCleanBooleanSubtraction
• CreateCleanBooleanCut
• CreateCleanOmni
• CreateCleanTargetSpotlight

The boolean ones are especially useful as they let you apply the changes without ever touching the boolean panel.
-If given one selection, they will immediately prompt for the second.
-If given two selections, the operation will be performed between them.

Yozora

thanks for the scripts, cant believe there is no .ini that can be edited

btw the icon #s for the box and the plane are switched.