pbviz.com / Technical Exchange / 3D Applications & Techniques

Illeagal New Face

loydering — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 21:59:42 GMT

This is a new one for me. I'm modeling a rim for one of our cars and am working on a single "pie" section that will have a Symmetry modifier applied when done. However, I have two elements in and Edit Poly object that just don't want to be attached. I've tried welding, detaching and re-attaching, and recently deleting faces and trying to recreate. With the ladder I keep getting the error message "Illegal new face" at close. This only happens with certain adjacent faces to the two elements. Have any of you experienced this? Thoughts/solutions?

spline Drap

Antony — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:46:54 GMT

Hi Members,

I try to drap spline in a 3d surface using merge shapes, But it become a single object, can any posible to merge the spline on a surface and getting same properties of the spline?, Please advice,

thanks,

Antony

Gamma 2.2

TWhite — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:17:16 GMT

Greetings all,

Glen Loyd asked me to post a quick rundown on gamma settings in 3D Studio Max. Why? Well, it must be my way with words…the witty comments and clever phrases I use on a daily basis. Phrases like: “Good morning” or “Yeah, it’s Monday”.

Real clever.

Seriously, having the correct gamma settings in 3D Studio Max will help your workflow immensely. So, I did a little research (i.e. google) on the subject because my word-smithing is not that great. I can tell you how we set up our gamma settings, but the WHY is the important part…and I don’t use large words like “linear” and “calculations”. Over at http://www.aversis.be/tutorials/vray/essential_gamma_01.htm there’s a great write-up on gamma settings. I’ll run through the very basics (if you don’t feel like clicking the link and reading 3 pages.) By the way, this is geared toward working with VRay.

Firstly:

“The base problem is simple. VRay and 3ds Max do their calculations in 'linear space'. The VRay camera has a 'linear' response to light. This means that it is working in gamma 1.0 space. All this is no problem, but since max and VRay are setup to work in gamma 1.0 space, it also assumes that you view the output on a device that also has a linear curve or gamma 1.0...

However your computer monitor is not gamma 1.0 at all, in fact most CRT monitors are by default gamma 2.5! Since we didn't tell max and VRay about this, our images are actually displayed much darker!!! (Gamma changes the midtones of your images, it's not simply a brightness control.)

Max does have the tools to specify what gamma our monitor has, so it can counteract for this and display our images correctly - in other words 'brighter'”

Ok, so how do we set up 3D Studio Max and VRay to use the 2.2 gamma? Pretty simple. Let’s start with the 3DS Max settings. Under Customize->Preferences, select the Gamma and LUT tab. Make sure all the square check boxes are checked. Then we’re going to select Gamma in the display area and set that to 2.2

If your monitor is calibrated, the solid square in the middle of the hatched square should be the same value. If you squint your eyes, you shouldn’t be able to tell one from the other. Ok, we also set our Input Gamma (Bitmap Files) to 2.2

The VRay renderer has its own frame buffer by the way. So disable the default frame buffer in Max and enable the VRay frame buffer. Open the render dialogue (F10) and uncheck “Rendered Frame Window” in the Common tab’s Common Parameters rollout.

Next, select the V-Ray tab and check Enable built-in Frame Buffer” in the V-Ray: Frame buffer rollout. While you are in this tab, go ahead and set the Gamma to 2.2 in the V-Ray: Color Mapping rollout.

Now VRay should be set up to render and save images with the correct gamma setting. The other thing to look out for is the gamma setting when loading bitmaps in the material editor. Make sure “Use system default gamma” is selected in the Gamma area when loading a bitmap.

GI Lighting Study

loydering — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 19:06:27 GMT

I recently read a post on another forum where a user was asking about using Light Tracer. My response was based on my experience with Light Tracer several years ago. So out of curiosity I thought I'd run a little test to see if I really know what I was talking about. Using the same base model, I set up a max file using Scanline Light Tracer, Mental Ray, and V-ray using their own lights (just one per scene) and various settings. I do have my gamma set for V-ray, so some of these came out a little darker than what I had intended. Below are the results of the test:

Light Tracer

This test only required placing the Skylight, turning on Light Tracer, and setting one bounce.

Average render time: 00:01:23

Light Tracer Comments: The set up was really easy and only required eidting one setting (I added 1 bounce). All other settings are defaults.

Mental Ray:

This test required setting up the mrSky (and adjusting its angle), adding mr Physical Sky to the Environment, Setting Exposure controls to Logaristhmic, turning on Exterior daylight in Logarithmic settings, and enabling Final Gather.

Average Render Time: 00:00:06

This alternative requires a little more set up and has more variables. For a non-Mental Ray user, I was able to get in and figure it out fairly quick and would probably know exactly what to do if I was an avid MR user, so some of my setting could definitley use some tweaking. I don't like not being able to control the color of the Physical Sky other than moving the light. A lot of guess work and test renders involved.

V-Ray:

This test involved using a VRayLight and setting it to Dome (default settings), enabling GI Environment (default settings), enabling Indirect Illumination using only the Primary Bounce set to Irradiance map at medium.

Average render time: 00:00:35

I thought that V-ray might actually be a little faster than what it turned out to be. It has a similar look and feel to the Light Tracer test, but at half the render time. I also checked to see if using a V-ray material would affect the render time, but nothing noticable there.

As you can see, the results of each are pretty different. I've attached the test Max files below for those of you who would like to play. Since I'm not an expert on MR, I'd be curious to see some other optimizations that still produce a decent rendering.

How to make instances of multiple objects in Max...??

Jerlin — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 20:16:56 GMT

Hi,

I want to copy a group of objects at a number of places. later, if i remove or add objects to this group, it should reflect in all other copies (instances). how can I do this in max? (This is very simple in AutoCad with Blocks).

I tried group and made instances, but when I add a new object to the base group, the others are not updated.

the same result for xref-objects. If I make xref-scene, I am not able to make multiple copies..!!

Any ideas...??

Cheers,

CityEngine

Chris — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:21:03 GMT

[url]http://www.procedural.com/cityengine.html[/url]

This looks pretty sweet, lets buys some licenses!

VRay Brute Force?

Digitalputty — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 06:44:52 GMT

I have seen this "brute force" on the internet on various forums. I looked for it in my version of VRay ... however, it is not there. 0_O ... I have the most recent version but why isnt it there? Im just insane and I would like to try it on my kitchen/living room scene. :) *evil grin and laugh*

Modelling Earthworks

Andrew M — Mon, 26 May 2008 08:17:17 GMT

Hi all,

I am currently trying to model a 10km roadway completely in Max (as opposed to my usual methodology of MX --> AutoCAD --> Max).

I'm having success at lofting the roadways (thanks for the tut Glen!), but I seem to be getting stuck at the cut-fill earthworks / existing ground / bridge spill-through interface. I've attached an image of what I am trying to model.

From previous experience, I either export the interfacing triangles out of MX (this makes good texturing a bit difficult), or I create a series of rulesurfs through AutoCAD (more time consuming - but achieve's a neater 'Quad' effect when importing from AutoCAD)

How do you all go about modelling complex earthworks such as this? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

3dsmax Stability Tips and Tricks

Mark Kauffman — Wed, 21 May 2008 17:17:37 GMT

With the size of the scenes that we work with and the use of 3^rd party plugins like VRay and others, it is difficult to maintain absolute stability. Consequently, I have come up with a few techniques that seem to work in ensuring 3dsmax is fairly stable and that your files do not become corrupted.

The first technique is file saving. While the autobak feature can be a real life-saver, it can also be a serious pain the rear especially when you are working with a huge file. I set my autobak to about 45 minutes which keeps the saving to a minimum. Less pausing every few minutes particularly when you are performing a CPU intensive function.

The next technique is to save multiple iterations of your file to a local source. What I mean by this is to do incremental saves to your local hard drive. Save a small file over the network is usually a breeze, but as the file becomes larger, the potential for a corrupted file increase exponentially. Here’s the logic on this issue. Think of moving the breakable contents of your office from one room to the other. This usually is not too much of a problem because the distances between point A and point B are relatively short. Now imagine that you must move contents between your office and a building 5 miles away. You must now get in your car and drive to that location. Not only does it take a little longer, but there is always some dumb yahoo on the road who cannot drive properly and might crash into you and break everything. Statistically, this is not that high a probability, but it is much higher on the streets than in your office. Use the “+” button in your Save As dialog to auto save an incremental file.

Now, once you have completed your scene, you can copy the most current iteration back up to the network folder. At this point, if a yahoo hits you and breaks your stuff, you have a backup that you can push again. Saving using an application is a bit more delicate of a process compared to utilizing the file transfer functions of your OS. The OS transfer functions are significantly most simplistic compared to the process of saving data, then transferring it via a link initiated via the OS. Does this make sense?

Finally, running 3dsmax for an extended period of time can lead to a corrupted session of the application in memory. This is much more common when using 3^rd party applications like VRay or the Blur plugins and especially with very larger scene files; it’s inevitable. One way to get around this is to quit out of 3dsmax if you need to load a new scene. The process of closing the application and re-launching essentially wipes the memory slate clean. This can be a little time consuming particularly with a larger scene, but it significantly decreases the crashing and other various errors. In fact, on a really big scene, I will save, close and re-launch every now and then. As a result, I rarely have a corrupted scene.

While these tips are not full proof, they have worked very well for me. I hope they are helpful for you all as well. I wish 3dsmax could be rock solid all the time, but like a said, once you add a 3^rd party application, in this case plugins, you add a new variable to the equation that can trip up the program. This is the way it works for every application out there. Again, I hope this is helpful for you all.

Backburner Monitor Makeover

Mark Kauffman — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:13:11 GMT

Hello Gang,

I need some expert help from all of you in redesigning the Backburner Monitor. While the current version works, it would be nice to have something much more robust for controlling and monitoring render jobs. Just use this thread as a billboard to post your suggestions and comments. Afterward, I plan on assembling a “design document” that reflects a distillation of your best suggestions into a nice neat and concise document. In addition, I plan on creating a non-functional mockup which I will post for your comment.

My plan on submitting this completed document as a wish list item to Autodesk for a potential future version of Backburner. This is exclusively a labor of love with no guarantee of acceptance or implementation.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Vray Frame Buffer History

burtonr — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 19:56:08 GMT

This is super cool!

There is a hidden feature in vray that gives you the ability to have a thumbnail representation of all or some of your renderings (it's your choice) that you can recall by double clicking them. When you double click the thumbnail it loads the rendering back into the VFB for a really nice way to compare multiple renderings. To enable it you have to create an environment variable in windows:

Right click My Computer

>properties>Advanced>Environment Variables (user variables)>New

Name: VRAY_VFB_HISTORY

Variable value: 1

Now when you render you will have a new tab at the bottom that can open the VFB history, Once you enable it (check box), you can save the images (as raw .vrimg) to an external place of your choice and it allows you to open a window with thumnails of them to reload them in the VFB. It even saves the render elements if you have them active. Since it is a raw image you can save out in any format from the VFB.

VRay 1.5 SP2 is released

Mark Kauffman — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 16:25:19 GMT

Vlado and the gang release SP2 on Sunday and I have downloaded it to start testing. It has some really neat new features. Check it out:

Compatibility

· Compatibility with 3ds Max 2009;

· Support for the Lighting Analysis Overlay render effect in 3ds Max 2009;

· V-Ray specific Defaults switcher for 3ds Max;

VRayProxy

· Support for animated deforming VRayProxy objects;

Lights

· VRayLights in rectangle mode can now be texture-mapped;

· Texture-mapped dome lights use better sampling and have faster preparation phase;

· VRayIES light specifically optigrmized for rendering with V-Ray;

Render to texture

· HDR output for texture-baked render elements;

· VRay_SelfIlluminationMap texture baking element;

· VRay_BumpNormalsMap texture baking element to extract bump-mapped normals;

Render elements

· VRay_ExtraTex render element to store the result from the calculation of any extra texture map on shaded surfaces without the need to actually apply the map in their materials (can be used with VRayDirt for AO pass, or with Vertex Color map for UVW channels pass, or with Falloff map for custom z-depth pass or top/bottom etc);

· VRay_SampleRate render element to show the image sampling rate;

· VRay_BumpNormals render element and VRayBumpNormalsMap bake render element to extract bump-mapped normals;

· VRay_Illuminance render element for displaying the illuminance in the scene in physical units;

Shadows

· VRayShadowMap shadow generator that works with all V-Ray geometry objects (proxies, displacement, fur etc);

Materials

· VRaySimbiontMtl material specifically optimized for rendering procedural DarkTree shaders (requires installation of either DarkTree or SimbiontMAX from http://www.darksim.com);

I have played with the Simbiont materials and they are pretty cool. Darktree is normally a "pay for" application, but luckily they make a slew of shaders available for free here:

http://www.darksim.com/html/simbiont.html

Darktree just allows you to create new shaders. The VRay Proxy changes are pretty cool as well. One thing, I think I have hit a bug, but I need feedback from anyone out there. If you open the material editor, do you get a long pause? This happened in a previous build of VRay.

Anywho, good stuff Maynard!

Who said 3D isn't necessary for their project?

loydering — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:55:08 GMT

I've been updating this bridge model for a few internal purposes and ran across a design issue with the elevator tower. In the design, the plan doesn't include the roof line so it was an honest mistake. But once the two are put together, it's pretty obvious:

I little leverage next time the PM wants to cut the "fancy" 3D renderings...

Biped Problems

Chris — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 15:21:55 GMT

I'm having a hell of a time getting a biped with a walking mix file loaded to walk along a path that I created. It walks inplace just fine but I need it to follow a path it all got to sh*t.

I have a dummy that follows the path and I just want to link the biped to the dummy. I have done this before and it worked but now I can't get it to behave.

I use the move all mode to move the biped to the start of the path. Link the biped to the dummy and the biped moves back to it's original location and still follows the path but I can't get the biped to go to the line!?

Any help?
Maybe another approach?

Texture Maping Problem

Jerlin — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 11:46:58 GMT

I am trying to model a highway with the tools explained in the "Rules of the Road" Tutorial. (Thanks Glen, for the great tips!)
I've imported an existing 3D Triangulation model from AutoCAD. I traced the centerline of the road again for the Loft. It works fine and you can see the result in fig.1 (The checker Road)

But as you see the green coloured model, all the road surfaces are already there in Triangulation. If I can put my material directly onto it, there is no more modeling to be done! So in the second picture, I put my checker material directly to the triangles (see the trough area)!!

How can I fix this mapping error? I used real world map scale.

The Danger of V-Ray Planes

loydering — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 14:36:55 GMT

Okay, the beauty of this site is to help each other learn from experience and mistakes. We'll I have a doosey of the latter. Several times not I've seen deadlines jeapordized by a simple V-ray object: V-Ray Plane. Typically I see it used in files for objects like cars, semi-trucks, and other "prop" objects that are mergred into a scene.

What's the danger? A V-Ray plane object is not easy to see in a scene file, especially one that is cluttered with other objects. You can see in the render below the obvious problem:

So the solution is pretty obvious: don't merge in V-RAy planes from your library model files. Play it safe and don't select "All" from the merge file dialog but rather only what you are intending to merge in (lights included).

"H"

Chris — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 16:35:26 GMT

"Select from Scene" in 2008 is got to be the worst thing Autodesk has implement in a long time.

What's the point of having all those columns if you can't even make changes to them inside the dialog box? See-Thru, Color, Light on, Shadows, ignore extents, back face cull...etc...WOW....it's really great to be able to see those attributes and not be able to make change to them...really cool...(that was all sarcastic if you couldn't tell)

AND...it's slower to open...thanks Autodesk!

My interchange can beat up yours...

loydering — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 14:10:58 GMT

I thought you all would appreciate this screen grab:

All Ted and I had to work from was plan data, a few 3D CLs, and a boat load of sections that were missing a bunch of important things like whether the structures were box girder, steel beam concrete beam, etc. I'll be sure to post a render of this bad boy when it's completed.

AdvancedPainter updated for .net (i.e max9-x64 and later)

steveJ — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:23:11 GMT

If anybody has been missing that handy little script AdvancedPainter after switching to max9 or 2008 (I was, very handy for painting in trees (and works with vray proxies)), somebody has finally updated the script to work with dotNet. The older version had several listView functions written in ActiveX, which the 64-bit version of windows didn't support (namely the Randomizer and Scatterer, which were the most useful).

original scriptspot page:

http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/advanced-painter

link to updated script:

http://3dcenter.ru/forum/index.php?act=Attach&type=post&id=113561

which you can also find by reading through the last years worth of comments of people hoping for an update.

Beyond that, a few of my own little script tricks for advanced painter include adding random materials to the objects. I'll usually set up 4 or 5 tree materials (for example) that are the same except for a little variation in color, then throw this line into the postclone script area of the Randomizer tool:

npScatterObj.material = meditMaterials[random 1 4]

which will give you a random material from the first 4 material slots in the material editor.

Another trick is to randomize the scale of your objects (again, usually with trees for me)

x = (random 0.9 2.5); scale npScatterObj [x, x, (random 0.9 3.5)]

will give you an object that is between 90-250% of it's targets size in horizontal size, and 90-350% in height. Adjust values to suit. You can also separate as many commands as you want with a semi-colon, so it's easy to use the random material line with the random scale at the same time. To top it off I throw a value of 360 into the z-value of the max orientation to give everything a random rotation. With just a few different tree models and a few different materials, you can paint on many, many trees in a few seconds that are all unique (but still able to be instances of the originals, so fairly low overhead file-wise)

3ds max and Gepetto

Mark Kauffman — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 16:05:09 GMT

I found this on the Area a few weeks ago and thought you all might find it interesting. It's a new technology that Autodesk is working on for 3ds max called Gepetto. You can read more about it here:

http://area.autodesk.com/index.php/blogs_ken/blog_detail/3ds_max_in_games_and_gepetto/

Good stuff, Maynard!

9 Pages of AutoCAD Commands

bromleyfalco — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 17:27:58 GMT

All the AutoCAD commands you wanted to know but were affraid to ask...or something like that....

CAD commands are in CAPS followed by description...

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Commands with Description 3D Creates three-dimensional polygon mesh objects in common geometric shapes that can be hidden, shaded, or rendered 3DALIGN Aligns objects with other objects in 2D and3D 3DARRAY Creates a three-dimensional array 3DCLIP Starts an interactive3D view and opens the Adjust Clipping Planes window 3DCONFIG Provides3D graphics system configuration settings 3DCORBIT Starts an interactive3D view and sets the objects into continuous motion 3DDISTANCE Starts the interactive 3D view and makes objects appear closer or farther away 3DDWF Creates a 3D DWF file of your three-dimensional model and displays it in the DWF Viewer 3DDWFPUBLISH Obsolete 3DFACE Creates a three-sided or four-sided surface any where in 3D space 3DFLY Interactively changes your view of a 3D drawings so that you appear to be flying through the model 3DFORBIT Controls the interactive viewing of objects in 3D, using an unconstrained orbit 3DMESH Creates a free-form polygon mesh 3DMOVE Displays the move grip tool in a 3D view and moves objects a specified distance in a specified direction 3DORBIT Controls the interactive viewing of objects in 3D 3DORBITCTR Sets the center of rotation in 3D Orbit view 3DPAN When a drawing is in a Perspective view, starts the interactive 3D view and enables you to drag the view horizontally and vertically 3DPOLY Creates a polyline of line segments in 3Dspace 3DROTATE Displays the rotate grip tool in a 3D view and revolves objects around a base point 3DSIN Imports a 3D Studio (3DS) file 3DSOUT Obsolete 3DSWIVEL Changes the target of the view in the direction that you drag 3DWALK Interactively changes the view of a 3D drawing so that you appear to be walking through the model 3DZOOM Zooms in and out in a perspective view ABOUT Displays information about AutoCAD ACISIN Imports an ACIS file and creates a body object, solid, or region in the drawing ACISOUT Exports a body object, solid, or region to an ACIS file ADCCLOSE Closes DesignCenter ADCENTER Manages and inserts content such as blocks,xrefs, and hatch patterns ADCNAVIGATE Loads a specified Design Center drawing file, folder, or network path ALIGN Aligns objects with other objects in 2D and3D AMECONVERT Converts AME solid models to AutoCADsolid objects ANIPATH Saves an animation along a path ina 3D model ANNORESET Resets the location of all < > ANNOUPDATE Updatesexisting < > APERTURE Controls the size of the object snap target box APPLOAD Loads and unloads applications and defines which applications to load at startup ARC Creates an arc ARCHIVE Packages the current sheet set files to be archived AREA Calculates the area and perimeter of objects or of defined areas ARRAY Creates multiple copies of objects in a pattern ARX Loads,unloads, and provides information about ObjectARX applications ATTACHURL Attaches hyperlinks to objects or areas in a drawing ATTDEF Creates an attribute definition ATTDISP Globallycontrols visibility of block attributes in a drawing ATTEDIT Changes attribute information in a block ATTEXT Extracts attribute data, informational text associated with a block, into a file ATTIPEDIT Changes the textual content of an attribute within a block ATTREDEF Redefines a block and updates associated attributes ATTSYNC Updates all instances of a specified block with the current attributes defined for the block AUDIT Evaluates the integrity of a drawing and corrects some errors AUTOPUBLISH Publishes drawings to DWF files automatically BACKGROUND Obsolete. BACKGROUND functionality has been merged into the VIEW command. BACTION Adds an action to a dynamic block definition BACTIONSET Specifies the selectionset of objects associated with an action in a dynamic block definition BACTIONTOOL Adds an action to a dynamic block definition BASE Sets the insertion base point for the current drawing BASSOCIATE Associates an action with a parameter in a dynamic block definition BATTMAN Editsattribute properties of a block definition BATTORDER Specifies the order of attributes for a block BAUTHORPALETTE Opens the Block Authoring Palettes window in the Block Editor. BAUTHORPALETTECLOSE Closes the Block Authoring Palettes window in the Block Editor BCLOSE Closes the Block Editor BCYCLEORDER Changes the cycling order of grips for a dynamic block reference BEDIT Opens the Edit BlockDefinition dialog box and then the Block Editor BGRIPSET Creates, deletes, or resets grips associated with a parameter BHATCH Fillsan enclosed area or selected objects with a hatch pattern or gradientfill BLIPMODE Controlsthe display of marker blips BLOCK Creates a block definition from objectsyou select BLOCKICON Generatespreview images for blocks displayed in DesignCenter BLOOKUPTABLE Displaysor creates a lookup table for a dynamic block definition BMPOUT Saves selected objectsto a file in device-independent bitmap format BOUNDARY Creates a region or a polyline from anenclosed area BOX Createsa 3D solid box BPARAMETER Adds a parameter withgrips to a dynamic block definition BREAK Breaksthe selected object between two points BREP Removes the history from 3D solid primitives and composite solids BROWSER Launches the default web browserdefined in your system's registry BSAVE Saves the current blockdefinition BSAVEAS Saves a copy of the currentblock definition under a new name BVHIDE Makes objects invisiblein the current visibility state or all visibility states in a dynamicblock definition BVSHOW Makes objects visiblein the current visibility state or all visibility states in a dynamicblock definition BVSTATE Creates, sets, or deletesa visibility state in a dynamic block CAL Evaluates mathematical and geometric expressions CAMERA Sets a camera and target location to createand save a 3D perspective view of objects CHAMFER Bevels the edges of objects CHANGE Changes the propertiesof existing objects CHECKSTANDARDS Checksthe current drawing for standards violations CHPROP Changesthe properties of an object CHSPACE Movesobjects from model space to paper space, or vice versa CIRCLE Createsa circle CLEANSCREENOFF Restores display of toolbars and dockable windows(excluding the command line) CLEANSCREENON Clears the screen of toolbars and dockable windows(excluding the command line) CLOSE Closesthe current drawing CLOSEALL Closes all currently open drawings COLOR Sets the color for newobjects COMMANDLINE Displaysthe command line COMMANDLINEHIDE Hides the command line COMPILE Compiles shape files and PostScript font filesinto SHX files CONE Creates a 3D solid with a circular or ellipticalbase tapering symmetrically to a point or a circular or ellipticalplanar face CONVERT Optimizes 2Dpolylines and associative hatches created in AutoCAD Release 13or earlier CONVERTCTB Convertsa color-dependent plot style table (CTB) to a named plot style table(STB) CONVERTOLDLIGHTS Convertslights created in previous releases to lights in AutoCAD 2007 format CONVERTOLDMATERIALS Convertsmaterials created in previous releases to materials in AutoCAD 2007format CONVERTPSTYLES Convertsthe current drawing to either named or color-dependent plot styles CONVTOSOLID Converts polylines and circles with thicknessto 3D solids CONVTOSURFACE Convertsobjects to surfaces COPY Copiesobjects a specified distance in a specified direction COPYBASE Copiesobjects with a specified base point COPYCLIP Copies objectsor command prompt text to the Clipboard COPYHIST Copies the text in the command prompthistory to the Clipboard COPYLINK Copiesthe current view to the Clipboard for linking to other OLE applications COPYTOLAYER Copies one or more objects to another layer CUI Managescustomized user interface elements such as workspaces, toolbars, menus,shortcut menus and keyboard shortcuts CUIEXPORT Exports customized settingsto an enterprise or partial CUI file CUIIMPORT Imports customized settingsfrom an enterprise or partial CUI file to acad.cui CUILOAD Loads a CUI file CUIUNLOAD Unloadsa CUI file CUSTOMIZE Customizestool palettes and tool palette groups CUTCLIP Copiesobjects to the Clipboard and removes the objects from the drawing CYLINDER Creates a three-sided 3D solid with a circularor elliptical base and top DASHBOARD Opens the Dashboard window DASHBOARDCLOSE Closes the Dashboard window DATAEXTRACTION Exportsobject property, block attribute, and drawing information to a data extractiontable or to an external file and specified a data link to an Excel spreadsheet DATALINK The Data Link Manager is displayed. DATALINKUPDATE Updates data to or from an established externaldata link. DBCONNECT Providesan interface to external database tables DBLIST Lists database informationfor each object in the drawing DDEDIT Editssingle-line text, dimension text, attribute definitions, and feature controlframes DDPTYPE Specifies the display styleand size of point objects DDVPOINT Sets the three-dimensionalviewing direction DELAY Providesa timed pause within a script DETACHURL Removes hyperlinks in a drawing DGNADJUST Changes the display options of selected DGNunderlays DGNATTACH Attaches a DGN underlay to the currentdrawing DGNCLIP Defines a clipping boundary for a selectedDGN underlay DGNEXPORT Creates one or more V8 DGN files from the currentdrawing DGNIMPORT Imports the data from a V8 DGN file into a newDWG file DIMandDIM1 AccessesDimensioning mode DIMALIGNED Createsan aligned linear dimension DIMANGULAR Creates an angular dimension DIMARC Creates an arc lengthdimension DIMBASELINE Createsa linear, angular, or ordinate dimension from the baseline of the previousdimension or a selected dimension DIMBREAK Adds or removes a dimension break DIMCENTER Createsthe center mark or the centerlines of circles and arcs DIMCONTINUE Createsa linear, angular, or ordinate dimension from the second extension lineof the previous dimension or a selected dimension DIMDIAMETER Createsdiameter dimensions for circles and arcs DIMDISASSOCIATE Removes associativity fromselected dimensions DIMEDIT Editsdimension text and extension lines on dimension objects DIMINSPECT Createor remove inspection dimensions DIMJOGGED Creates jogged radiusdimensions DIMJOGLINE Adds or removes a jog line on a linear or aligneddimension DIMLINEAR Createsa linear dimensions DIMORDINATE Createsordinate point dimensions DIMOVERRIDE Overridesdimensioning system variables DIMRADIUS Createsradial dimensions for circles and arcs DIMREASSOCIATE Associatesselected dimensions to geometric objects DIMREGEN Updates the locationsof all associative dimensions DIMSPACE Adjusts the spacing equally between parallellinear and angular dimensions DIMSTYLE Creates and modifies dimension styles DIMTEDIT Moves and rotates dimension text DIST Measuresthe distance and angle between two points DISTANTLIGHT Creates adistant light DIVIDE Placesevenly spaced point objects or blocks along the length or perimeterof an object DONUT Drawsfilled circles and rings DRAGMODE Controlsthe way dragged objects are displayed DRAWINGRECOVERY Displaysa list of drawing files that can be recovered after a program or systemfailure DRAWINGRECOVERYHIDE Closes the Drawing Recovery Manager DRAWORDER Changes the draw orderof images and other objects DSETTINGS Sets grid and snap, polar and object snaptracking, object snap modes, and Dynamic Input DSVIEWER Opens the Aerial View window DVIEW Defines parallel projectionor perspective views by using a camera and target DWFADJUST Allows adjustment of a DWF underlay at the commandprompt DWFATTACH Attaches a DWF underlay to the currentdrawing DWFCLIP Uses clipping boundaries to define a subregionof a DWF underlay DWFLAYERS Controls the display of layers in a DWF underlay DWGPROPS Sets and displays the properties of the currentdrawing DXBIN Imports speciallycoded binary files EATTEDIT Editsattributes in a block reference EATTEXT Exports property data fromobjects, block attribute information, and drawing information toa table or to an external file EDGE Changesthe visibility of three-dimensional face edges EDGESURF Createsa three-dimensional polygon mesh ELEV Sets elevationand extrusion thickness of new objects ELLIPSE Createsan ellipse or an elliptical arc ERASE Removes objectsfrom a drawing ETRANSMIT Packages a set of files for Internet transmission EXPLODE Breaks a compound objectinto its component objects EXPORT Savesobjects to other file formats EXPORTTOAUTOCAD Creates a new DWG file with all AEC objectsexploded EXTEND Extends an object to meet another object EXTERNALREFERENCES Displaysthe External References palette EXTERNALREFERENCESCLOSE Closesthe External References palette EXTRUDE Createsa 3D solid or surface by extruding an object or planar face a specified distanceand direction FIELD Createsa multiline text object with a field that can be updated automatically asthe field value changes FILL Controlsthe filling of objects such as hatches, two-dimensional solids,and wide polylines FILLET Roundsand fillets the edges of objects FILTER Createsa list of requirements that an object must meet to be included ina selection set FIND Finds,replaces, selects, or zooms to specified text FLATSHOT Createsa 2D representation of all 3D objects in the current view FOG Obsolete FREESPOT Creates a free spotlight,which is similar to a spotlight but without a specified target FREEWEB Creates a free weblightwhich is similar to a weblight but without a specified target GEOGRAPHICLOCATION Specifiesthe latitude and longitude of a location GOTOURL Opens the file or web page associated with thehyperlink attached to an object GRADIENT Fillsan enclosed area or selected objects with a gradient fill GRAPHSCR Switches from the text windowto the drawing area GRID Displays a grid in the current viewport thatis not plotted GROUP Creates and manages saved sets of objectscalled groups HATCH Fills an enclosed area or selected objectswith a hatch pattern, solid fill, or gradient fill HATCHEDIT Modifies an existinghatch or fill HELIX Createsa 2D or 3D spiral HELP DisplaysHelp HIDE Regeneratesa three-dimensional wireframe model with hidden lines suppressed HLSETTINGS Controlsthe display properties of models HYPERLINK Attaches a hyperlink to an object or modifiesan existing hyperlink HYPERLINKOPTIONS Controlsthe display of the hyperlink cursor, tooltips, and shortcut menu ID Displaysthe coordinate of a location IMAGE Displays the External References palette IMAGEADJUST Controlsthe image display of the brightness, contrast, and fade values of images IMAGEATTACH Attachesa new image to the current drawing IMAGECLIP Usesclipping boundaries to define a subregion of an image object IMAGEFRAME Controls whether image frames aredisplayed and plotted IMAGEQUALITY Controls the display quality of images IMPORT Importsfiles in various formats IMPRINT Imprints an edge on a 3D solid INSERT Places a drawing or named block into thecurrent drawing INSERTOBJ Inserts a linked or embedded object INTERFERE Highlights3D solids that overlap INTERSECT Createscomposite solids or regions from the intersection of two or more solidsor regions and removes the areas outside of the intersection ISOPLANE Specifiesthe current isometric plane JOGSECTION Addsa jogged segment to a section object JOIN Joins objects to forma single, unbroken object JPGOUT Saves selected objectsto a file in JPEG file format JUSTIFYTEXT Changesthe justification point of selected text objects without changing theirlocations LAYCUR Changes the layer of selected objects to thecurrent layer LAYDEL Deletesthe layer of a selected object and all objects on the layer, andpurges the layer from the drawing LAYER Manages layers and layer properties LAYERP Undoesthe last change or set of changes made to layer settings LAYERPMODE Turns thetracking of changes made to layer settings on and off LAYERSTATE Saves, restores, and manages named layerstates LAYFRZ Freezes thelayer of selected objects LAYISO Hides orlocks all layers other than those of the selected objects LAYLCK Locksthe layers of selected objects LAYMCH Changesthe layer of a selected object to match the destination layer. LAYMCUR Makes the layer of a selected object current LAYMRG Mergesselected layers onto a destination layer LAYOFF Turns off the layer of the selected object LAYON Turns on all layers LAYOUT Creates and modifies drawing layout tabs LAYOUTWIZARD Createsa new layout tab and specifies page and plot settings LAYTHW Thawsall layers LAYTRANS Changesa drawing's layers to layer standards you specify LAYULK Unlocks the layer of a selected object LAYUNISO Turns on layers that were turned off with thelast LAYISO command LAYVPI Isolates an object's layer to the currentviewport LAYWALK Dynamically displays layers in a drawing LEADER Createsa line that connects annotation to a feature LENGTHEN Changesthe length of objects and the included angle of arcs LIGHT Creates alight LIGHTLIST Opens the Lights in Model window to addand modify lights LIGHTLISTCLOSE Closes the Lights in Model window LIMITS Setsand controls the limits of the grid display in the current Modelor layout tab LINE Createsstraight line segments LINETYPE Loads, sets, and modifies linetypes LIST Displaysdatabase information for selected objects LIVESECTION Turns on live sectioning fora selected section object. LOAD Makesshapes available for use by the SHAPE command LOFT Creates a 3D solid or surface by loftingthrough a set of two or more curves LOGFILEOFF Closes the text window log file openedby LOGFILEON LOGFILEON Writesthe text window contents to a file LSEDIT Has no effect exceptto preserve the integrity of scripts LSLIB Has no effect exceptto preserve the integrity of scripts LSNEW Has no effect exceptto preserve the integrity of scripts LTSCALE Setsthe global linetype scale factor LWEIGHT Setsthe current lineweight, lineweight display options, and lineweightunits MARKUP Displays the details of markups and allows youto change their status MARKUPCLOSE Closes the Markup Set Manager MASSPROP Calculatesthe mass properties of regions or 3D solids MATCHCELL Applies the properties of a selected table cellto other table cells MATCHPROP Appliesthe properties of a selected object to other objects MATERIALATTACH Appliesmaterials to objects by layer MATERIALMAP Displaysa material mapping gizmo to adjust the mapping on a face or an object MATERIALS Manages, applies, and modifies materials MATERIALSCLOSE Closesthe Materials window MATLIB Obsolete MEASURE Placespoint objects or blocks at measured intervals on an object MENU Loadsa customization file MENULOAD Obsolete MENUUNLOAD Obsolete MINSERT Insertsmultiple instances of a block in a rectangular array MIRROR Createsa mirror image copy of objects MIRROR3D Createsa mirror image of objects about a plane MLEADER Creates a line that connects annotation to afeature MLEADERALIGN Organizes selected multileaders along a specifiedline MLEADERCOLLECT Organizes selected multileaders containing blocksas content into a group attached to a single leader line MLEADEREDIT Adds leader lines to, or removes leader linesfrom, a multileader object MLEADERSTYLE Defines a new multileader style MLEDIT Editsmultiline intersections, breaks, and vertices MLINE Creates multipleparallel lines MLSTYLE Creates,modifies, and manages multiline styles MODEL Switchesfrom a layout tab to the Model tab MOVE Movesobjects a specified distance in a specified direction MREDO Reverses the effects of several previous UNDOor U commands MSLIDE Createsa slide file of the current model viewport or the current layout MSPACE Switches from paper space to a model space viewport MTEDIT Edits multiline text MTEXT Creates paragraphs oftext as a single multiline text (mtext) object MULTIPLE Repeatsthe next command until canceled MVIEW Createsand controls layout viewports MVSETUP Sets upthe specifications of a drawing NETLOAD Loadsa .NET application NEW Creates a new drawing NEWSHEETSET Createsa new sheet set OBJECTSCALE Adds or deletes supportedscales for < > OFFSET Creates concentric circles, parallel lines, andparallel curves OLELINKS Updates, changes, and cancels existingOLE links OLESCALE Controls the size, scale, and other propertiesof a selected OLE object OOPS Restoreserased objects OPEN Opens an existing drawing file OPENDWFMARKUP Opens a DWF file that contains markups OPENSHEETSET Opens a selectedsheet set OPTIONS Customizes the program settings ORTHO Constrainscursor movement to the horizontal or vertical direction OSNAP Sets running object snap modes PAGESETUP Controls the page layout,plotting device, paper size, and other settings for each new layout PAN Moves the view in thecurrent viewport PARTIALOAD Loads additional geometry into a partiallyopened drawing PARTIALOPEN Loads geometry and named objects from a selected view or layer into a drawing PASTEASHYPERLINK Inserts data from the Clipboard as a hyperlink PASTEBLOCK Pastes copied objects as a block PASTECLIP Inserts data from the Clipboard PASTEORIG Pastes a copied object in a new drawing usingthe coordinates from the original drawing PASTESPEC Inserts data from the Clipboard and controlsthe format of the data PCINWIZARD Displays a wizard to import PCP and PC2 configurationfile plot settings into the Model tab or current layout PEDIT Editspolylines and three-dimensional polygon meshes PFACE Creates a three-dimensional polyface mesh vertexby vertex PLAN Displays the plan viewof a specified user coordinate system PLANESURF Creates a planar surface PLINE Createstwo-dimensional polylines PLOT Plotsa drawing to a plotter, printer, or file PLOTSTAMP Places a plot stamp on a specifiedcorner of each drawing and logs it to a file PLOTSTYLE Sets the current plot style for new objectsor assigns a plot style to selected objects PLOTTERMANAGER Displays the Plotter Manager, where you canadd or edit a plotter configuration PNGOUT Saves selected objectsto a file in a Portable Network Graphics format POINT Createsa point object POINTLIGHT Creates a point light POLYGON Createsan equilateral closed polyline POLYSOLID Creates a 3D polysolid PRESSPULL Presses or pulls bounded areas PREVIEW Shows how the drawingwill look when it is plotted PROPERTIES Controlsproperties of existing objects PROPERTIESCLOSE Closesthe Properties palette PSETUPIN Imports a user-defined pagesetup into a new drawing layout PSPACE Switches from a model space viewport to paperspace PUBLISH Publishesdrawings to DWF files or plotters PUBLISHTOWEB Creates HTML pages that include images of selected drawings PURGE Removes unused named items, such as block definitions and layers, from the drawing PYRAMID Creates a 3D solid pyramid QCCLOSE Closes QuickCalc QDIM Quicklycreates a dimension QLEADER Createsa leader and leader annotation QNEW Starts a new drawingwith the option of using a default drawing template file QSAVE Savesthe current drawing using the file format specified in the Options dialogbox QSELECT Createsa selection set based on filtering criteria QTEXT Controls the display and plotting of text andattribute objects QUICKCALC Opens the QuickCalc calculator QUICKCUI Displays the CustomizeUser Interface dialog box in a collapsed state QUIT Exits the program RAY Createsa semi-infinite line RECOVER Repairs a damaged drawing RECOVERALL Repairs a damaged drawing and xrefs RECTANG Drawsa rectangular polyline REDEFINE Restores AutoCAD internal commands overriddenby UNDEFINE REDO Reverses the effectsof previous UNDO or U command REDRAW Refreshesthe display in the current viewport REDRAWALL Refreshesthe display in all viewports REFCLOSE Savesback or discards changes made during in-place editing of a reference (anxref or a block) REFEDIT Selectsan external reference or block reference for editing REFSET Adds or removes objectsfrom a working set during in-place editing of a reference (an xrefor a block) REGEN Regeneratesthe entire drawing from the current viewport REGENALL Regenerates the drawingand refreshes all viewports REGENAUTO Controlsautomatic regeneration of a drawing REGION Converts an object thatencloses an area into a region object REINIT Reinitializes thedigitizer, digitizer input/output port, and program parameters file RENAME Changes the names of named objects RENDER Creates aphotorealistic or realistically shaded image of a three-dimensional wireframeor solid model RENDERCROP Selects a specific region (crop window) in animage for rendering RENDERENVIRONMENT Provides visualcues for the apparent distance of objects RENDEREXPOSURE Provides settings to interactively adjustthe global lighting for the most recent rendered output RENDERPRESETS Specifiesrender presets, reusable rendering parameters, for rendering an image RENDERWIN Displays the Render Windowwithout invoking a render task RENDSCR Obsolete REPLAY Obsolete RESETBLOCK Resetsone or more dynamic block references to the default values of the blockdefinition RESUME Continuesan interrupted script REVCLOUD Creates a polyline ofsequential arcs to form a cloud shape REVOLVE Createsa 3D solid or surface by revolving 2D objects about an axis REVSURF Createsa revolved mesh about a selected axis RMAT Obsolete ROTATE Revolvesobjects around a base point ROTATE3D Movesobjects about a three-dimensional axis RPREF Displays theAdvanced Render Settings palette for access to advanced renderingsettings RPREFCLOSE Closes the Render Settings palette if it isdisplayed RSCRIPT Repeatsa script file RULESURF Createsa ruled mesh between two curves SAVE Savesthe drawing under the current file name or a specified name SAVEAS Savesa copy of the current drawing under a new file name SAVEIMG Saves arendered image to a file SCALE Enlargesor reduces selected objects proportionally in the X, Y,and Z directions SCALELISTEDIT Controls the list of scales available for layoutviewports, page layouts, and plotting SCALETEXT Enlargesor reduces selected text objects without changing their locations SCRIPT Executesa sequence of commands from a script file SECTION Usesthe intersection of a plane and solids to create a region SECTIONPLANE Createsa section object that acts as a cutting plane through a 3D object SECURITYOPTIONS Controlssecurity settings using the Security Options dialog box SELECT Placesselected objects in the Previous selection set SETBYLAYER Changes property and ByBlock settings for selectedobjects to ByLayer SETIDROPHANDLER Specifiesthe default type of i-drop content for the current Autodesk application SETUV Obsolete SETVAR Listsor changes the values of system variables SHADEMODE Startsthe VSCURRENT command SHAPE Inserts ashape from a shape file that has been loaded using LOAD SHEETSET Opens theSheet Set Manager SHEETSETHIDE Closesthe Sheet Set Manager SHELL Accesses operating system commands SHOWMAT Obsolete SIGVALIDATE Displays informationabout the digital signature attached to a file SKETCH Createsa series of freehand line segments SLICE Slices a solidwith a plane or surface SNAP Restrictscursor movement to specified intervals SOLDRAW Generatesprofiles and sections in viewports created with SOLVIEW SOLID Createssolid-filled triangles and quadrilaterals SOLIDEDIT Editsfaces and edges of 3D solid objects SOLPROF Creates profileimages of three-dimensional solids in paper space SOLVIEW Createslayout viewports using orthographic projection to lay out multi-and sectional view drawings of 3D solids and body objects SPACETRANS Calculates equivalentmodel space and paper space lengths in a layout SPELL Checks spelling in a drawing SPHERE Createsa 3D solid sphere SPLINE Fits a smooth curve to a sequenceof points within a specified tolerance SPLINEDIT Edits a spline or spline-fit polyline SPOTLIGHT Createsa spotlight STANDARDS Managesthe association of standards files with drawings. STATUS Displaysdrawing statistics, modes, and extents STLOUT Storesa solid in an ASCII or binary file STRETCH Movesor stretches the objects STYLE Creates, modifies, or sets named textstyles STYLESMANAGER Displaysthe Plot Style Manager SUBTRACT Combines selected regionsor solids by subtraction SUNPROPERTIES Opensthe Sun Properties window and sets the properties of the sun SUNPROPERTIESCLOSE Closesthe Sun Properties window SWEEP Creates a 3D solid or surface by sweeping a2D curve along a path SYSWINDOWS Arrangeswindows and icons when the application window is shared with externalapplications TABLE Creates an empty tableobject in a drawing TABLEDIT Editstext in a table cell TABLEEXPORT Exports data from a tableobject in CSV file format TABLESTYLE Defines a new table style TABLET Calibrates, configures, and turns on andoff an attached digitizing tablet TABSURF Creates a tabulated mesh from a path curveand a direction vector TARGETPOINT Creates a target pointlight TASKBAR Controls how drawings are displayed on the Windowstaskbar TEXT Creates a single-line text object TEXTSCR Opens the text window TEXTTOFRONT Bringstext and dimensions in front of all other objects in the drawing THICKEN Creates a 3D solid by thickening a surface TIFOUT Saves selected objectsto a file in TIFF file format TIME Displaysthe date and time statistics of a drawing TINSERT Inserts a block in atable cell TOLERANCE Creates geometric tolerances TOOLBAR Displays,hides, and customizes toolbars TOOLPALETTES Opensthe Tool Palettes window TOOLPALETTESCLOSE Closesthe Tool Palettes window TORUS Creates a 3D donut-shaped solid TPNAVIGATE Displays a specified tool palette or palettegroup TRACE Createssolid lines TRANSPARENCY Controlswhether background pixels in a bitonal image are transparent or opaque TRAYSETTINGS Controlsthe display of icons and notifications in the status bar tray TREESTAT Displays information about the drawing'scurrent spatial index TRIM Trims objects at a cutting edge defined by otherobjects U Reversesthe most recent operation UCS Managesuser coordinate systems UCSICON Controls the visibility and placement of theUCS icon UCSMAN Manages defined user coordinate systems UNDEFINE Allowsan application-defined command to override an internal command UNDO Reverses the effect of commands UNION Combinesselected regions or solids by addition UNITS Controlscoordinate and angle display formats and precision UPDATEFIELD Manuallyupdates fields in selected objects in the drawing UPDATETHUMBSNOW Manuallyupdates thumbnail previews for sheets, sheet views, and model spaceviews in the Sheet Set Manager VBAIDE Displaysthe Visual Basic Editor VBALOAD Loads a globalVBA project into the current work session VBAMAN Loads, unloads, saves, creates, embeds, andextracts VBA projects VBARUN Runs a VBA macro VBASTMT Executesa VBA statement on the AutoCAD command line VBAUNLOAD Unloadsa global VBA project VIEW Savesand restores named views, camera views, layout views, and preset views VIEWPLOTDETAILS Displaysinformation about completed plot and publish jobs VIEWRES Sets the resolutionfor objects in the current viewport VISUALSTYLES Createsand modifies visual styles and applies a visual style to a viewport VISUALSTYLESCLOSE Closesthe Visual Styles Manager VLISP Displays the Visual LISP interactive developmentenvironment (IDE) VPCLIP Clipsviewport objects and reshapes the viewport border VPLAYER Setslayer visibility within viewports VPMAX Expands the current layout viewport for editing VPMIN Restores the current layout viewport VPOINT Sets the viewing direction fora three-dimensional visualization of the drawing VPORTS Creates multiple viewports in model spaceor paper space VSCURRENT Sets the visual style in the current viewport VSLIDE Displays an image slide file in thecurrent viewport VSSAVE Saves a visual style VTOPTIONS Displays a change inview as a smooth transition WALKFLYSETTINGS Specifies walk and fly settings WBLOCK Writesobjects or a block to a new drawing file WEBLIGHT Creates a web light WEDGE Createsa five-sided 3D solid with a sloped face tapering along the X axis WHOHAS Displays ownership informationfor opened drawing files WIPEOUT Covers existing objectswith a blank area
WMFIN Importsa Windows metafile
WMFOPTS Sets options for
WMFIN WMFOUT Saves objects to a Windowsmetafile
WORKSPACE Creates,modifies, and saves workspaces and makes a workspace current WSSAVE Savesa workspace
WSSETTINGS Setsoptions for workspaces XATTACH Attaches an externalreference to the current drawing XBIND Bindsone or more definitions of named objects in an xref to the current drawing XCLIP Defines anxref or block clipping boundary and sets the front and back clippingplanes XEDGES Creates wireframe geometry by extracting edgesfrom a 3D solid or surface XLINE Createsan infinite line XOPEN Opensa selected drawing reference (xref) in a new window XPLODE Breaksa compound object into its component objects XREF Starts the EXTERNALREFERENCES command ZOOM Increases or decreases the apparent size ofobjects in the current viewport

3DS Max 10 "wish list"

loydering — Thu, 10 May 2007 20:41:36 GMT

Mark Kauffman is collecting a wish list for the up and coming Max 10. Basically a list of things we would like to see modified or added in the next version of Max that would make our jobs easier. Be realistic and as detailed as possible.

Here's mine:

Easier lofting tools (not vertex specific)

Meshsmooth without altering the perimeter of the object (and not in sub-object mode)

Mental Ray Daylight System

Messer — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:46:48 GMT

I know alot of you are using vray now but im just getting into the mental ray daylight system, as vray will probably be introduced here in the year 3000.

I need some help with er.... well.... everything regarding it. Does anyone know of any good tuts or videos that explains its all. Ive done the help command method and completely nuked my machine not to mention the black skys and black trees.

So can any of you guys hark back to the good old days of mental ray and help a limey out? :unsure:

V-ray for Sketchup

Samus — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 18:30:11 GMT

Pretty self explanatory, but there is now V-ray for Sketchup and also Rhino. The only downside is the price, which is $799. However, there is a nice 30 day demo.

[url]http://www.asgvis.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=section&id=6&Itemid=59
[/url]

Memory Error

Messer — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 12:01:38 GMT

On my latest model I keep getting this "Mem 0.4 fatal 031008 cant allocate 524000 bytes" error when I render but it will produce this error after say 700 odd frames.

This may help?

I am using mental ray, have a sky light with indirect illumination on draft and a target direct light producing raytraced shadows. The model size is 3500x 2800. There are quite a few forests in there but ive rendered more on previous jobs. I also have quite a few low poly cars in. I have noticed that the material editor is taking ages to load up but there is only a 60mb aerial PNG image but the size is about 6000 x 4000 ish and then the others are standard materials??

Color Bleeding Control in Vray

Chris — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 19:35:04 GMT

???

There is way too much color bleeding going on in my scene, I don't see a way to control it?

3d character model

linee — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 14:12:59 GMT

Hello all,

Where can I download some 3d max character model le?
as I need some still people for my project model.....

Please could anyone tell...:P

thx a lot :w00t:

linee :hehe:

"Photo realism" in 3D?

loydering — Thu, 06 Sep 2007 18:35:42 GMT

I have to admit that I get a little leary of the term "photo realistic" being used in conjuction with 3D, especially animation. No doubt we can acheive close to that quality with all the new tools and physically based cameras and lights. Maybe I'm to much old school, but I feel like using that term sets to high of client expectations.

What do you all think?

SketchUp Study - Level 1 Question

Lin Wei — Fri, 11 May 2007 02:48:43 GMT

It's too sample but it's my first 3D SketchUp work. I just want to add a fish and drop it into the water. But I couldn’t find the way to make a ball or sphere. Yep, I got the tool for circle and so have not problem to make cylindrical. I had run the sketchUp tutorial two times but didn’t find the answer(or I missed it?). Farther more, I went 3D wharehouse and borrowed a well made fish there. But it doesn’t let me ungroup or make change on the strokes. How would you do if you want to make a fish and drop it into the water?

Thanks advance and any answer will be appreciated!

Camera Moves

Tom — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 18:43:57 GMT

This was originally written and/or distributed by Mark Kauffman.

Pan

Tilt

The two camera movements you use routinely are the "pan" and "tilt." A pan is a turning of the camera to the left or right. A tilt involves tilting the camera up or down.

Pedestal Up

The stand for a heavy studio television or film camera is called a "pedestal." That's why the term for raising the camera is "pedestal up," and the term for lowering the camera is "pedestal down." These terms have nothing to do with adjustments to the "pedestal," or setup of the black level of the picture, which is an electronic adjustment, not a camera movement.

Truck Right

In moving a camera from side to side you "truck right" or "truck left." To move the camera closer to the subject, you "dolly in." To move it farther away you "dolly out." Of course, whenever the camera-to-subject distance changes, the focus must be adjusted.

Dolly In

Purists will point out that dolly shots (in or out) are fundamentally different in effect from zooming in or out. They're right. Zooming in and out changes the Field of View of the camera while the camera stays stationary.

Rack Focus

Finally, in situations where important parts of a scene are not the same distance from the camera, it's possible to change the emphasis of a shot from one part of the scene to another by changing focus alone.. The instruction to do this is "rack" focus "in" or "out" for a particular object in a scene. "Rack focus into the cup on the table," would be an example. Such instructions are rarely used and are generally given for artistic effect.

3D Modeling Workflow

loydering — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 17:40:30 GMT

As designers move towards designing in 3D, I thought it might be ueful to know where we stand today as we look to adapt to the industry trends. There is no "right" or "wrong" way to model and it usually depends on what type of project it is. For the purpose of this poll, try to think of your normal process creating geometry for your scene files.

Rain

Chris — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 15:06:12 GMT

Okay, I have this project coming up. It involves rain, but not just in the sense of rain falling from the sky, it goes a bit further.
I need to shoot this from a drivers perspective in a car with it raining, I need the windshield wipers to be running and I want the rain drops on the windshield to wipe away the rain and have water collect and drain away on the glass as it should in real life.

I need technique ideas and help, I haven't' started yet but I need to start getting my strategy down. I know that Denver at one time did something similar in the snow so maybe those guys have some thoughts for me?

-Chris.

Max behaving very badly....

Chris — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 20:25:07 GMT

Ok, this is a new one to me..and it's driving my crazy.

Every once and a while (a lot today) when I move something the object does not correspond to the mouse movement. the object will take off way out of space, or it will have a almost lag behind the movement. Plus the undo fail to undo the bad move.

The only solution that fixes this is to shut down max and restart it.

Anyone?

Default Max launch with 8 & 9

loydering — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 13:41:04 GMT

I imagine most of you are running Max 9 by now and have perhaps encountered and fixed this issue, but whenever I try to open a Max files from a project folder, it default launches Max 8. I've tried to associate the file type with Max 9, but it doesn't seem to have any effect. Anyone figure this one out or "suffering" like me?

Weird isolation problem

LukeC — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 23:34:53 GMT

Hey guys, I'm having a little problem thats subtle and is starting to play with my head. It doesnt happen all the time and from what I gather its only happening when I open a file but doesnt repeat itself after its done it once (maybe - im not too sure).

Anyway, I'll go through and pick out the objects I want to isolate, then hit alt-q to isolate them as normal, but then it'll isolate a completely different set of objects - and i think they were the last objects I isolated before I closed the file. Which then makes me think that I've made the wrong selection or something and do it again, which then works.

Its just really weird and I'm not too sure what the problem could be here - anyone experienced anything like this, or is this just me?

Vray Sun

Chris — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 14:07:38 GMT

I need some suggestions or help with Vray Sun. It's just waaayyy to bright.

I have lowered the intensity Multiplier to .2 and the bright multiplier to .5 and it's still too bright....and tooo much contrast...

Render to element

Mitch_R — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 02:08:49 GMT

Hi there,

I'm just wondering if anyone here uses the 'Render to element' function?? I have only just discovered this function , and it seems like it gives you more control over what the final image will look like. My main question would be, does this bring render times down if you render everything separately (diffuse, shadows,reflections,refractions,ect)

Thanks

Vray sky background?

nsaturay — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 19:06:45 GMT

Hello pb world! I'm a poster from the outsider, OZ ARCHITECTURE that is. I want thank you guys/gals for helping me on previous post regarding object appearing and vanishing animation. I got another topic question but something completly different.

I'm struggling to render my Environment map to show on my rendering? I'm using vray cam with vray sun. I've mess around w/ correction control and still nothing. I've turned the camera exposure on and off. I've also tooled w/ V-ray Envirnment/GI environment override to white/black. What's the secret?

For the time being i've been using the alpa channled to seperate background from the rendering in photoshop.

Autodesk Design Visualization Webcast

Mark Kauffman — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:26:13 GMT

I recieved information from Autodesk regarding a webcast that covers Design Visualization. You can find the link here:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/oc/offer/form?siteID=123112&id=9715805

Enjoy.

Unwrap Problem in Max 9?

Chris — Tue, 29 May 2007 14:14:20 GMT

I'm having lots of trouble opening a older max 8 file in max 9. I have narrowed the problem down to some objects with unwrap UVW modifier applied to it.

When just opening the file in 9 it hangs until I kill the process. So I tried merging groups of objects in the file into a new file until I narrowed it down to 12 or so objects which all have 2 things in common. They are single sided and have a unwrap mod applied.

So I went back and opened the file in max 8 on my old machine, deleted all the unwrap mods from the stack. Then was able to open them in max 9, BUT when I go to put a unwrap mod back on the object, max hangs like before.

So then I thought it was a problem with the geometry. So I applied a Shell mod on each object then I applied the unwrap and it worked, No hanging! But now I have to go back and edit all my unwraps!

Anyone else run across this or have anymore Ideas for me so I don't have to remap all these objects?!