3DS MAX Tips & Tricks

To turn off the blue outline (selection highlight) around selected objects:
Go to Customize > Preferences. In the Preference Settings window, go to the Viewport tab and
deselect the Selection/Preview Highlights.
To change the selection highlight color: Customize UI > Colors > Elements > Viewports > Selection
Highlights
Right click on snaps icon and in the options tab, to enable Axis Constraints.
To flatten AutoCAD plans in 3ds Max, use non-uniform scale. Press F12 to open the Transform window
and scale on Z axis to 0.
To remove a button on a toolbar, press ALT and click and drag the button off the toolbar.
Turn off display selected with edged faces and then use F4 to toggle it on/off.
3ds Max default Material:
RGB: 60, 60, 60
Spec. Level: 50
Gloss: 25
Soften: 0.1
3dsmax.ini (C:\Users\erich\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax\2016 - 64bit\ENU)
In the [Selection] section:
Animation=1........................activates a soft fade in/fade out of the selection overlay
HighlightFactor=0.150000.....controls the selection overlay intensity
UseSceneDepth=1 ................when enabled, makes selection outline respecting z-depth (hiding
occluded parts)
To re-use an existing line in the modifier stack:
Select the object
Right click and Clone
Select Copy
With the clone selected, delete all modifiers above Extrude in the Modifier stack
Change the extrude amount as needed
Apply Cap Ends.
Scriptspot.com > Loop Regulizer plugin
Customize > Preferences > Gizmos > Center box handle, check Move in screen space
When using the Shell modifier, enable the Straighten Corners option. This ensures that the shell
thickness remains constant throughout the entire length of the spline.
Draw line around outside wall only. Then Extrude with Cap Start/Ends turned of. Then use Shell with
straighten corners on.
To extrude a closed loop (rectangle, circle, square) into a solid, turn on Cap Start/Ends.
Use 2.5 snap if you are drawing in an orthographic mode and want all points to be in one plane.
Use selection lock toggle (space bar) to ensure that you only move the selected object (e.g. point,
line, etc.)

3Ds Max keyboard shortcuts

Viewports
Alt + W isolate/maximize selected viewport
T - Top view
L - Left view
F - Front view
B - Bottom view
V - Viewports selection window
G - show/hide grid
Z - Zoom to selected objects
F3 - Wireframe toggle ON/OFF
F4 - Edge faces toggle ON/OFF
Shift + F - show safe frame (to see what exactly will be rendered)
W Move
E = Rotate
R Scale
X Search
CTRL + ALT + MMW + drag = smooth zoom
ALT B = viewport configuration
Object modifications
Alt + Q - isolate selected object
Shift + A - quick align
Alt + A - align
Shift + X - switch constrains to Edge or to none
S - Snap toggle ON/OFF
A - Angle snap toggle ON/OFF Ctrl + V - clone selected object
X - show/hide gizmo
D - show/hide gizmo for affect pivot only
- - transform gizmo down
+/- scale the transform gizmo larger or smaller
Selections
1 - Vertex
2 - Edge
3 - Border
4 - Polygon
5 - Element
Alt + X - see-through (transparency) ON/OFF for selected object
Q = Select
CTRL + I = Invert selection
CTRL + click = select
ALT + click = deselect
I = center view on cursor while selecting/moving points
Other
Shift O = hide objects
CTRL + V = copies selected objects
CTRL + Z = undo
CTRL + Y = Redo
F12 = Transform Type in
ALT D = toggles axis rotation when move tool is on
CTRL + R = Arc rotate around a point
CTRL + D = Deselect
Ctrl + S = Increment/version save
F10 = Render setup
8 = Environment settings
CTRL + Backspace = remove edges with vertices
Ring = selects all edges parallel to one side

Loop = selects all encircling /adjoining edges

Turn off snaps to stretch from one side
Select edge, then shift and drag to extrude the edge
Use shift to constrain lines to 900 angles
F9 Render
Backspace Undo last action
Use Shift to constrain lines to 90 deg.
M - Material editor
C = Camera view
H = select from scene
J - show/hide selected brackets
Right click in viewport to exit a command
Shift + Right click = snap options
Show Frozen In Gray toggle: Edit Menu > Object Properties > Edit Object Properties > General
panel > Display Properties
; = Repeat last command

Changing the mouse wheel zoom increment:

Customize user interface > Mouse tab > Wheel Zoom Increment
Materials not displaying in Viewport but they render?
Click on the "Realistic" in your viewport and go to Materials and then choose either Shaded with
Maps or Realistic with Map.
To render only selected objects:
1.
Open the Rendered Frame Window.
2. From the Area To Render drop-down list in the top-left corner of the window, choose Selected.
3. Activate the viewport to render.
4.
Select the objects to render.
5. Render the scene.
3ds Max displays a progress dialog that shows the progress of rendering and the rendering
parameter settings. To stop rendering, click Cancel in this dialog, or press Esc.
To render a region:
1. Activate the viewport to render, or choose it from the Viewport drop-down list on the
Rendered Frame Window.
2. On the Rendered Frame Window, click
(Edit Region).
This automatically sets the Area To Render option to Region, and displays the region window in the
Rendered Frame Window and the active viewport. The window has editing handles and a close box
(X).
3. To move the region window, drag inside it. To adjust its size, drag the handles.
To preserve the window's aspect ratio, press and hold Ctrl before you drag a handle.
4. Render the scene.
3ds Max renders the region only. In Production mode, the Rendered Frame Window is cleared before
rendering, but in Iterative mode, the area of the window outside the region remains intact.
To render a blowup:
1. Open the Rendered Frame Window and choose the viewport to render.
2. Choose Blowup from the Area To Render list.
(Edit Region) button appears on the Rendered Frame Window, to the right of the Area To Render
list, and the Blowup region window is displayed in the active viewport. This window is different from
the one used for Region and Crop.
The Blowup region window does not appear in the Rendered Frame Window because the region
extents might exceed the window area, depending on the rendering history.
3. To move the window, drag inside it. To adjust the window size, drag its handles.

The window is constrained to the aspect ratio of the current output size.
4. Render the scene.
3ds Max displays a progress dialog that shows the progress of rendering and the rendering
parameter settings. To stop rendering, click Cancel in this dialog, or press Esc.
If I minimize MAX when it is rendering then I can't restore it until it finishes. Go to Task
Manager > Application Tab, then right click on the running process of 3dsmax and go to 'Bring to
Front'.

When attaching one object to another, using the Attach function, make sure that both objects are
not instances, otherwise Attach will not work. Make then unique by right clicking on the object in the
history tree (under the modifier list) and selecting Make Unique.
If two points wont weld, check the orientation of the normal of the polygons and flip them so they
area ll facing in the same direction.

Windows and Materials

By default, 3ds Max assigns five different material IDs to windows. The aectemplates.mat material
library includes Window-Template, a Multi/Sub-Object material designed to be used with windows.
Each component of the window/material is listed below along with its corresponding Material ID.

Material IDs for a door or window

Material ID

Window/Material Component

Front Rails

Back Rails

Panels (glazing), with 50% opacity

Front Frame

5
Back Frame
Note: 3ds Max does not automatically assign a material to the window object. To use the included
material, open the library and then assign the material to your object.
To create a window material:
1. Create a window or select an existing window.
2. Open the Material Editor, and select a slot for the material.
3. Click the Type button below the Material Editor toolbar.
The Material/Map Browser dialog opens.
4. In the Material list, double-click the Multi/Sub-Object item, and then on the Replace Material
dialog that appears, choose either option and click OK.
5. On the Multi/Sub-Object Basic Parameters rollout, click Set Number and change Number Of
Materials to 5. Click OK.
6. Optionally, change the sub-material names to those specified in the above table.
7. Edit the material as you would any Multi/Sub-Object material.

Window Glass
When using 3ds Maxs Windows, if after applying Glass material, the polygons are not transparent,
make sure that both sides of the window have the glass material applied.
Wheel Zoom Increment
Determines the sensitivity of the zoom when you use the wheel on the mouse. Increase sensitivity up
to a maximum value of 100 or reduce it to a minimum of 0.01. Default=1.0.
The Mouse panel lets you customize mouse behavior.
Standard menu: Customize menu > Customize User Interface > Mouse tab
Enhanced menu: Customize menu > Customization > Customize User Interface > Mouse tab