Going from XSI to learning 3DS max

ZacD · May 2010

I haven't messed around with max too much, and most of the tutorials I'm finding seem for people completely new to 3D, so if anyone has any suggestions for decent tutorials that would be really appreciated.

So far I have a few questions,

is there a way to show wireframe once you select a polymesh?

Is there a quicker way to mess with values of operations (like extrude), without typing in a value or clicking the up and down arrows?

is there a quick way to change the moving/scaling and rotating between world and local axises?

Piflik · May 2010

!.: F2, F3 and F4 toggle between different Viowport Settings...F2: toggle between shading selected faces and only outlining selected faces, F3 toggles between Wireframe and Shaded, F4 turns Wireframe for Shaded Display on and off.

2.: When you just press the button for e.g. Extrude , you can click on a face and extrde it by hand, although I don't know how much this has been changed in 2011 with the caddies and all...still using 2008

3.: You can put the different modes on Hotkeys or in Quad Menus (one of them already has them in by default I think...)...I have a script on my Website to toggle between View and Screen with only one Button, it would be very simple to modify it to work with World and Local...

Edit: Here it is

macroscript Toggle_WL
Category: "Piflik's Tools"

(
Coord_Sys = getRefCoordSys()
if Coord_Sys == #world then
	(
	toolMode.coordsys #local
	)
else
	(
	toolMode.coordsys #world
	)
)

r_fletch_r · May 2010

To change your coord space there is a dropdown on top bar next to the scale button.
Alt-Right Click also gives you the list

when your extruding just hold down left click and drag. that will give you direct feedback

danshewan · May 2010

ZacD wrote: »

I haven't messed around with max too much, and most of the tutorials I'm finding seem for people completely new to 3D, so if anyone has any suggestions for decent tutorials that would be really appreciated.

I made the transition from Maya to Max about a year ago, and I found Eat3D's 3DS Max 101 DVD invaluable. Great value, and it covers just about all the Max functionality you could need, from modeling to lighting, some rigging and animation and even some of the cloth tools.

I'd highly recommend it.

McGreed · May 2010

I feel your pain, I went from XSI and back to 3DS Max, and there is just some things that works better in XSI like extruding. But its an adjustment, just need to get used to Max and stop pressing S all the time.

PolyHertz · May 2010

For your first question, if you just want to see the selected with wires instead of the whole scene, I'd recommend setting a hotkey to "Display Selected with Edged Faces". When enabled this will make it so only the selected mesh will show with wires.

Ark · Jun 2010

Figured id ask some questions aswell, since i haven't touched Max since like version 7 and would like to get more familar with it.

1. Is there a way to stop the Select Tool from cycling the selection types when hitting Q.

2. Is there any racast selection tools like the one in XSI. Paint selection is abit inaccurate.

3. Are Max's default hotkeys pretty decent, or will i be playing finger twister?

Going from XSI to learning 3DS max

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