I broke my max 2012s UI

Jesse Moody

So not sure what I did but I was working on some modular stuff and then I noticed. Where the hells my toolbar?

I've tried everything. Reverting to start up settings, switching max ui.

How do I get it back?

Here is what my screen looks like.

martinszeme

Customize -> Show UI -> Show Track Bar

Jesse Moody

nope... martin.. thought that was it too but it's not

I have also deleted the max.ini that usually fixes everything. But nope. Didn't do shit.

Mark Dygert

Maxscript > New Script
Copy and paste the following then hit Ctrl-E to run it.

(
trackbar.visible = true
timeSlider.setVisible (true)
statusPanel.visible = true
cui.commandPanelOpen = true
)

That will turn on everything that is missing from the bottom.


You could also write a simple toggle and assign it to a keyboard shortcut if you need to pop it on and off while doing different things.

Mine looks like this:

macroScript BottomToggle
category:" VigTools"
toolTip:"TogBottomBars (H)*"

(-- Toggles on and off the bottom toolbar
fn togglebotoff = (
trackbar.visible = false --Removes the Key Bar
timeSlider.setVisible (false) --Turns off the Time Slider
statusPanel.visible = false --Turns off the bottom-most row of buttons
cui.commandPanelOpen = false --Turns off the side command panel
)

fn toggleboton = (
trackbar.visible = true
timeSlider.setVisible (true)
statusPanel.visible = true
cui.commandPanelOpen = true
)

if statusPanel.visible == false and trackbar.visible == false then (
toggleboton()
)

else (
togglebotoff()
)
)

I have another one that also calls up the ribbon and several custom toolbars that I've written to help with modeling or animation, its too complicated and too specific to be of any good to anyone else, so I won't bother posting it. But this can be a good start to creating and calling separate UI's for different tasks. I'm constantly bouncing between modeling, skinning/rigging and animation.

Jesse Moody

thanks mark that fixed it... how the heck did this shit just up and vanish?

Mark Dygert

It's like you entered into some kind of alternate expert mode... Dunno buddy that's some crazy hoodoo... Glad its fixed!

Adam L. Gray

Alternate expert mode, or an expert mode within an expert mode?





And cheers Mark, this one might come in handy

cptSwing

Mark Dygert wrote: »

Maxscript > New Script
Copy and paste the following then hit Ctrl-E to run it.
That will turn on everything that is missing from the bottom.


You could also write a simple toggle and assign it to a keyboard shortcut if you need to pop it on and off while doing different things.

Mine looks like this:


I have another one that also calls up the ribbon and several custom toolbars that I've written to help with modeling or animation, its too complicated and too specific to be of any good to anyone else, so I won't bother posting it. But this can be a good start to creating and calling separate UI's for different tasks. I'm constantly bouncing between modeling, skinning/rigging and animation.

Mine looks a little different, but I've finally seem to have located the reason for some viewport stuttering on my end: whenever all lower panels are toggled off, i get stutters. Pop 'em up again, and the viewport is all smooth. Does this happen for anybody else?

My own hacky code:

local allToggled
 
 if (trackbar.visible == true or StatusPanel.visible == true or timeSlider.isVisible()) then
 (
  allToggled = false
 )
 
 
 if (allToggled == false) then
 (
  local val = timeSlider.isVisible()
  timeSlider.setVisible(false)
  StatusPanel.visible = false
  trackbar.visible = false
  allToggled = true
 )
 else 
 (
  timeSlider.setVisible(true)
  StatusPanel.visible = true
  trackbar.visible = true
  allToggled = false
 )

Max2013, 64bit, btw

Mark Dygert

NICE! I like what you did, it checks a few more elements other than just one which can be handy, but I do like having them as separate functions because I call them at different times from other tools that I've written.

I changed this to toggle off the bottom bars and dock the ribbon at the bottom of the screen where it doesn't screw with the command panel.

It's kind of a "animation mode/modeling mode" switch.

macroScript ToggleRibbon
category:" VigTools"
toolTip:"Toggle Ribbon/AnimBar"
icon:#("ribbon",1) 
(-- Toggles on and off the bottom toolbar
    fn togglebotoff = (
        trackbar.visible = false 
        timeSlider.setVisible (false) 
        statusPanel.visible = false 
        MaxRibbon.SetRibbonDockState #bottomDock
        MaxRibbon.ShowRibbon true
    )
        
    fn toggleboton = (
        trackbar.visible = true 
        timeSlider.setVisible (true) 
        statusPanel.visible = true 
        MaxRibbon.ShowRibbon false
    )
        
    if trackbar.visible == false then    (
        toggleboton()
    )
    else (
        togglebotoff()
    )
)

(I stripped out the extra toolbars and tools that I also call when modeling or animating so it works for people without that stuff)

Mark Dygert

Yea its pretty nice having to fix their UI fuck ups... wee...

If you like the ribbon at the top but want it to respect the command panel and keep from moving it down (throwing off years of muscle memory), you can force the command panel to order on top of everything else, keeping the ribbon contained like it is when it's docked at the bottom.

BUT you have to edit your 3dsmax.ini file, find the section called [WindowState] and add the line "WindowOrder=8". It will pop it up onto of the main toolbar which also throws off muscle memory... so I just leave the ribbon docked at the bottom where it doesn't screw with the command panel.

Stromberg90

Mark: Thanks a lot, one of the things I would like to have for a long time.
Now max feels like the way it should for me, also makes the graphite tools much more distraction to use

cptSwing

Ooh, that's an elegant idea as well. I tend to keep my graphite bar minimized to the side, though, that allows me to use more of my 16:10 screen.

I'll just have to check each bar I toggle away to see which one not being displayed causes viewport lag, bah.

Ace-Angel

Heya Mark, this is really awesome, much kudos to you mate!

Quick question, does the script put up empty space in which you can put anything on it, or does it limit you to the ribbon tools?

Mark Dygert

It just hides the three panels on the bottom (the track bar, time slider and status panel) and then calls the ribbon and tells it to dock at the bottom.

You can prevent the ribbon from launching by commenting out those lines. Just put -- in front of any line that has "MaxRibbon"

You can dock any toolbar that you want on the bottom, top left or right. Go main menu > Customize > Customize UI > toolbar Tab > New and then right click the boarder (or name) and choose dock > Bottom. Then you can drag buttons and code into it.

You can also tear off toolbars and drag them to the edges of the screen to re-dock them. Or right click the toolbar and choose float, doing this lets you also remove it from view without deleting it. To get it back right click an empty spot in the toolbar to bring up a list of available toolbars.

Mark Dygert

cptSwing wrote: »

Ooh, that's an elegant idea as well. I tend to keep my graphite bar minimized to the side, though, that allows me to use more of my 16:10 screen.

I'll just have to check each bar I toggle away to see which one not being displayed causes viewport lag, bah.

I was docking it on the side too but it always felt like an afterthought and seemed more cluttered and chaotic than when it was docked horizontal. I switched back to horizontal when I started using outliner, now I can't work without outliner, I'm a layer nesting freak.

It's a shame the max scene explore hasn't adopted docking and layer nesting, and probably wont... just like so many max features that languish in a perceptual state of "almost complete".

Ace-Angel

Just gave it a try on Max 2009 all the way to 2012, all works fine! Cheers Mark

cptSwing

Hah yes, I recently had to use max's default layer explorer. nightmare.