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Mastering 3D Studio MAX R3

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CHAPTER 3
The MAX Interface

Featuring

  Accessing Commands in the Menu Bar
  Accessing Features in the Shelf Area
  Expanding the Command Panel
  Navigating in Viewports
  Using the Time Control Area
  Using the Material Editor
  Using the Track View

This chapter will familiarize you with the 3D Studio MAX R3 interface. Here you will learn where the modeling tools are, where to modify objects, where to navigate your scene, where to apply textures and render, and where to adjust your animation and customize the interface.

Accessing Commands in the Menu Bar

Those of you who have used Microsoft Word or almost any other type of software will feel very comfortable using the MAX pull-down menus. At the top of the screen, running from left to right, is the menu bar with 11 pull-down menus, as shown in Figure 3.1. In the sections that follow we’ll take a look at these menus and many of the options found in them.


FIGURE 3.1  The menu bar


TIP Many of the commands in the menus also can be found elsewhere throughout the program. As we go through the interface, you will see corresponding icons and tabs.

File Menu

The File menu contains some of the more common features for managing your files. Some of the commands and options under this menu are described in Table 3.1.

Table 3.1: KEY COMMANDS ON THE FILE MENU
Command Use
New Clears the information of the current scene without changing the system settings (such as viewport configuration, snap settings, and Material Editor)
Reset Clears the information of the current scene and changes the system settings. (Using Reset is like exiting the program and then opening it again.)
Save As Saves your current MAX scene as a new file
Save Selected Saves the selected objects in your current scene to a new file
Xref Objects Xref objects allow you to use objects to stand-in or substitute for geometry; these are also called proxy objects. With this feature you can manage the complexity of your scene easier.
Xref Scenes Enables you to externally reference a whole MAX file into your current scene. Xref scenes are very useful with a large project with many people working on it. They can allow other people access to files without disrupting the workflow and without changing the files.
Import Loads other types of files that are not MAX scene files. 3DS, DXF, and DWG are common file types that you may import.
Export Converts the current MAX file to other types of files
Summary Info Displays information about your current scene, such as mesh totals, memory usage, and rendering time
Properties Allows you to enter information about your current scene that is saved with the file. This information can be used to locate 3D Studio MAX files with the MAX File Finder utility.

Edit Menu

The Edit menu contains commands that are used to select and edit your current MAX scene. Some of the options are summarized in Table 3.2.

Table 3.2: KEY COMMANDS ON THE EDIT MENU
Command Use
Undo/Redo Undo reverses the last command in MAX; Redo recommits the last Undone command.
Hold Stores your current MAX scene in a temporary state. Use Hold before you do something that may give you unexpected results.
Fetch Restores your scene to the temporary state set by Hold
Edit Named Selection Lets you edit Selection Sets that you have created. See the section “Main Toolbar” later in this chapter for more information on Selection Sets.
Properties Displays the properties of the selected object

Tools Menu

The Tools menu holds commands that assist you in changing or managing objects, especially collections of objects, in your scene (Table 3.3). Many of the commands in the Tools menu can be found in other areas of the interface. These commands use a modeless dialog box called a Floater, which allows easy access to the commands as you continue to work on your scene.

Table 3.3: KEY COMMANDS ON THE TOOLS MENU
Command Use
Transform Type In Allows you to type in exact values for moving, rotating, and scaling your objects. The term Transform refers to either Move, Rotate, or Scale on the Main Toolbar, whichever is selected at the time.
Display Floater Contains commands for viewing, hiding, and freezing objects in your scene. Holds the most common features that are also found in the Display tab of the Command Panel.


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