3Ds Max user Interface

1. 3Ds Max user Interface

2. Main Menu. • File: Contains all the file actions that can be done using 3Ds max like. • new, open, open recent ,save , save as , save copy as , archive ( for making an archive file of the current scene.) • Rest: resets the current scene by removing all the objects in the scene and returning the scene to the default state.

3. File Menu continue. • Merge , Merge animation : to merge and object or animation from other scene file to the current scene. • Replace: to replace an object in the current scene with another one with the same name from other scene file. • Import & Export : for importing and Exporting the current scene to all the other file formats the max support like (3D max object , AutoCAD object ,VRML scene , etc …)

4. File Menu continue. • XRef:(3dsmax Externally Referenced File) an externally referenced file, allow multiple animators and modelers to work on one scene at the same time without interfering with each other's work.can be an object or scene. • Archive: creates a compressed archive file or a text file listing the scene bitmaps and their path names.

5. Edit Menu. • Edit menu contains the normal editing commands like Undo ,Redo ,Delete ,and selection options. • Hold: saves all the objects and settings of the current scene temporary . • Fetch: restores the scene stored and saved by the hold command .

6. Edit Menu Continue. • Clone: Creates a new instance of the object that instance can be one of three types. • Copy : normal copy of the object. • Instance: an instance of the object any change in one of them will immediately occurs in the other one. • Reference: will create a copy referenced to that object any change in the parent object will occur at the new one but u can’t change in the new one to change it u must change the reference from the modification menu which will do the change to both the objects the reference first then the new object too.

7. Tools Menu. • Transform Type-In: allows you to enter precise values for move, rotate, and scale objects. • Selection floater: opens a floater dialog Enables you to select objects in the scene. • Display Floater: contains most of the functions on the Display panel. You can leave the Display floater up while you work in your scene, making it easier to change viewport displays without changing the current command panel.

8. Tools Menu Continue. • Layer Floater: where you can create and delete layers. You can also view and edit the settings for all of the layers in your scene, as well as the objects associated with them. • Light Lister: Enables you to control and change a number of features for each lightin the scene. • Mirror: enables you to move one or more objects while mirroring their orientation.

9. Tools Menu Continue. • Array: enables you to create an array of objects based on the current selection. • Align: lets you align the current selection to a target selection. • Snapshot: enables you to clone an animated object over time.

10. Group Menu. • Enables users to deal with more than object as one object by grouping this objects. • And this menu contains all the commands related to grouping operation like • (Group, Ungroup, Close, Open, Attach, Detach)

11. Views Menu. • View Menu offers the user a collection of commands to deal with the viewports and how objects are viewed in it. • Undo: undo View Change cancels the last change made to the current viewport. • Redo: redo View Change cancels the last Undo in the current viewport. • Save Active view: saves the settings of the active view. • Restore Active View: restores a view setting to the active view. • Grids: Control the setting of the grids.

12. Views Menu continue. • Viewport Background :controls the display of the background image in the active viewport. • Update background: updates the background image displayed in the active viewport . • Reset Background Transform: rescales and recenters the current background to fit an orthographic or user viewport . • Show Transform Gizmo: toggles the display of the Transform gizmo axis tripod for all viewports when objects are selected and a transform is active.

13. Views Menu continue. • Ghosting : displaying wireframe "ghost copies" of an animated object at a number of frames before or after the current frame. • Key Times: shows the frame numbers along a displayed animation trajectory. Key times correspond to the settings in Time-configuration for Frame.

14. Views Menu continue. • Redraw All Views: refreshes the display in all viewports. • Activate All Maps: turns on the Show Map In Viewport flag for all materials assigned to the scene. • Deactivate All Maps: turns off the Show Map In Viewport flag for all materials assigned to the scene. • Viewport Configuration: displays the viewport configuration dialog, You use controls on this dialog to set options for viewport control.

15. Create Menu. • The most frequently and easy menu that you can user in 3Ds Max as well as the modify menu (later) we use it for creating any primitive object what ever it is simple ,complex ,3d , 2d(shapes) , dummies , helpers but all of these primitives and objects are predefined in the 3Ds Max libs. • Continents of this menu will be discussed in the modeling section.

16. Modify Menu. • Very Important menu, all the modeling process and operations will be done using commands in this menu for all kids and techniques of modeling (Ploy, patch, Mesh, NURBS ,etc..) • This menu deals also with modifying of all kind of objects that allow modifications (simple primitives, complex and extended , 2d shapes ,compound ,etc..) • Continents of this menu will be discussed in the modeling section.

17. Character Menu. • This Menu used for creating animated characters after modeling the character we use this menu to assign an animation for this character this menu is for character animations only other objects animation can be done using another animation methods.

18. Character Menu Continue • Boons tool: A Bones system is a jointed, hierarchical linkage of bone objects that can be used to animate other objects or hierarchies.

19. Character Menu Continue. • Creating bones Continue

20. Animation Menu. • Animation Menu contains commands that control and create animations in the scene. • IK solver: creates an inverse kinematic solution to rotate and position links in a chain. • Animation constraints : are used to help automate the animation process. They can be used to control an object’s position, rotation, or scale through a binding relationship with another object

21. Animation Menu. • Make Preview: makes a quickly simple render of the scene and save it as AVI file . In this mode there is no rendering features used at all , this method used to check the animations in huge scenes where watching animation in normal Viewports is difficult ad slow. • View preview: views a previously made preview. • Rename preview: renames a previously made preview.

22. Graph Editors. • This menu offers users a collection of commands to deal with track view and schematic view components. • (track view”to show the track view” ,new track view ,save track view ,delete track view) • (new schematic view ,save schematic view ,delete schematic view).

23. Render Menu. • This menu contains all the commands and components that the user will need in the rendering operation like (render engine, render settings, lighting technique, Environment, effects ,etc ..) • It also contains the Material Editor component that used for creating and editing the materials used in the scene.

24. Main Tool bar. • Undo • Redo • Select and Link • Unlink Selection. • Bind to space warp. • Selection Filter • Select • Select by name. • Selection Region • Window/cross selection • Select and move • Select and rotate

25. Main Tool bar. • Select and scale. • Reference coordinate system. • Use Center Flyout. • ٍselect and manipulate. • (2D,2.5D,3D) snap. • Angular snap. • Percent Snap. • Spinner snap. • Named Selection set • Named Selection set • Mirror • ٍAlien. • Layer Selection. • Curve Editor. • Schematic Editor. • Material Editor. • Render.

26. Create Panel . • Geometry : creates renderable 3D geometries ( standard ,extended , compound , etc…) • Shapes: create the 2D shapes used in the scene. • Lights : creates lights ( omnie , target spot, target direct , free spot , free target , ski light ,etc…). • Camera : creates the Cameras that will be used in the scene there’s two kinds of cameras ( target or Free camera). • Helpers : create the helpers objects that 3Ds Max offers ( dummies, Measurements , etc ..) • Space Wrapper : create space wrappers that can be applied to Geometry objects to effect it. • Systems: combine objects, controllers, and hierarchies to provide geometry associated with some kind of behavior

27. Modify Panel. • This panel contain the object that you want to modify and rollout for all its parameters. • Modifier list: to apply a modifier to that object. • Modification stack : contains all the modification that have been applied to the object ordered from old to latest modifiers applied. • Parameters rollout and any other rollout associated to the selected modifier from the modification stack. • This panel is used to modify and edit the objects it the main toll that will be used in objects modeling and designing.

28. Material Editor. • This component is used for creating and editing the materials that exist in the scene. • This component contains list of all the materials that exist in the scene with a collection of new materials (slandered materials) for creating new materials. • It contains list of rollout that enables the users to modify the parameters and characteristics of the materials to create new materials. • Like the color , texture , reflection , refraction (transparency), self lamination , etc.. • It offers the users a collection of predefined Materials saved in the material library files open from the material browser.

29. Track View. • Enables the users to deal with the objects parameters over the time as curves that can be edited to edit the movement or animation behavior of this parameter over the time.