Additional Notes About 3D Studio MAX R3.

1
Notes About Installation
Dual Windows NT and Windows 98 Install
If you wish to run 3D Studio MAX under both Windows 98 and NT 4.0, you must install 3DS MAX separately under both operating systems. If you do this, you may install into the same directory.

Adequate Disk Space

Adequate free space must exist on the system drive to allow room for temporary files that are created while the program is running. If for example the C: drive fills up, MAX will fail to open files regardless of how much free space exists on the drive containing MAX or the scene file. It is also important to have adequate disk drive space on network rendering servers. When a network rendering job is submitted, the .MAX file is compressed down to a small file in the same manner that winzip compresses a file. The compressed file is sent to the network rendering servers and decompressed locally on each of the netrender servers. This process requires that there be enough space to store the compressed file and decompress it to its normal size. A good rule of thumb for available disk space, would be a minimum of 2.5 times the size of the largest file that is going to be network rendered. Also note that the free space required will be much larger if Include maps is checked in the Network Job Assignment dialog. Of course this does not include the amount of space also required for the swap file. The best rule of thumb is to make sure to have as much free space on rendering servers as possible. Symptoms of low drive space on a network rendering server will be the following: 1. An error occurs in the server console window and in the queuemanager : "Error Writing C:\3dsmax3\network\temp\xyz.maz" When the manager is trying to copy the compressed file to the rendering server. "Error Unarchiving xyz.max from archive c:\3dsmax3\network\temp\xyz.max" when the render server is trying to decompress the max file ( and maps if include maps was checked) 2. Netrender server renders the frames really fast, at the wrong resolution. The queuemanager will show that the frames are rendered, but the frames are missing from the location where they were supposed to be saved to.

Display Fonts
3D Studio MAX requires the use of small display fonts. Large display fonts are not supported. To change the display font size, go to the Control Panel, Display. From the Display Properties dialog, In the Font Size box, choose small fonts.

Problem with Outlook file compression

3DS MAX can be slow when Microsoft Outlook is running with MaxCompression on (Tools/Options/Other/Advanced Options/Add-In Manager). We recommend turning

MaxCompression off when using Outlook and 3DS MAX R3.1on the same system. MaxCompression is a product designed for Microsoft Outlook, and is not in any way related to 3DS MAX, despite the similarity of name.

BONUS Feature Installation

Bonus Scripts, Objects, Plug-ins, and Interfaces are only installed when chosen during a Custom Installation. The Bonus install option was created for useful tools and samples that are either not fully developed, tested, and/or are being phased out from the product. These tools are safe to use, but may not be up to the quality levels we place on the rest of the product. Please note that Kinetix makes no guarantee on their longevity in future product releases. Also note that some sample files in the World Creating Toolkit may use features available only in Bonus files. The Reactor controller is one of these bonus features.

Character Studio
Installation
A complete installation of Character Studio R2.2 is provided on the 3DS MAX R3.1CD for licensed customers who have been using Character Studio R2.1 and R2.0 with 3DS MAX R2.X so they can continue to use Character Studio with this new release, 3DS MAX R3.1. You may also install Character Studio R2.2 if you do not already own a licensed copy, but you will only be able to view and render sample Character Studio files. You cannot create or modify Character Studio files until you purchase the product. No new features have been added to Character Studio R2.2, although behavioral modifications have been made. See the cstudio\Docs\readme.rtf file after installing Character Studio R2.2 for detailed information. See the 3DS MAX R3.1Installation Guide for more information on installation and authorization of Character Studio R2.2.

File Compatibility
There is a compatibility issue when upgrading files containing a Biped object from MAX R2.5 to MAX R3.1 that can potentially corrupt data. Be certain to install the Character Studio R2.2 plug-ins that are part of the 3D Studio MAX R3.1 installation CD-ROM before attempting to load any files created with MAX R2.x and Biped 2.1. Failure to install the plug-ins will result in an error condition that can potentially make the .MAX file unloadable. This condition will present two warning dialogs, one regarding missing DLLs, and another regarding obsolete data. Do not resave the file in this case. You must install Character Studio before attempting to load and save this file.

Resource Management in Windows 98

Resource management in 3DS MAX R3.1 has been vastly improved. 3DS MAX R3.1 now uses only 10-15% of system resources in Windows 98 as opposed to over 60% in 3DS MAX R3 or earlier. Resource levels for 3DS MAX R3.1 under Windows 98 are now equivalent to those in Windows NT 4.0.

Windows 98 Limitations
While Windows 98 is supported, 3DS MAX R3.1has the following restrictions that are not found when operating on Windows NT:

Multiple sessions of 3DS MAX not supported on Windows 98

Unlike Windows NT, Windows 98 has fixed GDI and UI resource limits. The resource requirements of 3DS MAX are too large for two copies to fit in Windows 98 at the same time and 3DS MAX will simply not allow a second copy to be launched on Windows 98.

Network rendering not supported on Windows 98

Although the Network Renderer can be setup and appear functional, network rendering will not work reliably under the Windows 98 operating system. Icons for Manager, Queue Manager, and Server are not installed automatically in the start menu during setup.

File Manager (winfile.exe) not recommended for file copy/move

The Windows 98 File Manager does not support long filenames, and will truncate all files or folders to an 8.3 format when moving or copying. This will adversely affect long filenames in several 3DS MAX directories (root, stdplugs, UI) and will prevent 3DS MAX from finding many necessary files. Do not use File Manager to copy or move such files. Use Windows Explorer or any tool that supports long filenames.

Hardware Lock
The Sentinel drivers installed with 3DS MAX R3, version 5.38, will not work with the 3DS MAX R1.2 Hardware Lock on Windows NT. This is not a problem for Windows 98.

Authorizing 3D Studio MAX R3

After installing 3D Studio MAX R3, you have 30 days to register your software with Autodesk Customer Service and obtain an authorization code. The product is fully functional during this time period, but will cease to function if unauthorized after 30 days. Please note that this authorization has no connection to your hardware lock. You can switch locks if necessary without effecting your authorization. Unlike previous releases of 3D Studio MAX, your authorization is stored within your Windows Registry. For this reason, every installation of 3DS MAX will need to be individually registered. Copying an existing installation to another system will not transfer the authorization with it.

Notes about Hardware

Graphics Card Displays
DirectX
DirectX 6 support is now available on Windows 98. 3D Studio MAX only supports D3D with hardware acceleration and at high-color display depths (a minimum of 8MB of onboard memory is required). The D3D support can come from the hardware drivers that are in the D3D SDK and/or runtime, or it can come from the graphic card manufacturers' own D3D drivers. Software-only D3D is not supported because it is slower (by at least two times) than 3DS MAX's own software SZB (HEIDI) driver. 3DS MAX uses D3D features that are standard, but not typically used by games. This includes ordinary wireframe displays, dashed lines, screen door transparency, and points. Many D3D drivers will not have these capabilities debugged and/or running efficiently at first because their primary emphasis is often games and not application performance.

OpenGL
OpenGL is supported in Windows NT and Windows 98. All OGL display drivers must be at least OpenGL 1.1 compliant (3DS MAX will not work with OpenGL 1.0 drivers). OpenGL 1.1 is the official version of OpenGL that comes with NT 4. Display slowdowns occur when using modeless dialogs over enlarged viewports in OpenGL. You can speed up the display by turning off Redraw Scene on Window Expose in the OpenGL configuration dialog (File/Preferences/Viewports)

however this may cause artifacts to appear when moving the dialogs. Press "1" to refresh the viewport and clear any artifacts. The display slowdown does not occur in a standard multi-viewport configuration. The 3DS MAX R3.1Virtual Viewport feature is only available when 3DS MAX is using an OpenGL driver. The Virtual Viewport feature allows you to zoom in on a sub-region of the current viewport, creating a "virtual viewport" in which you can perform all the standard navigation, but in a zoomed-in area. You can use the Virtual Viewport on any type of viewport, but it's primarily designed for zooming in on camera views. This lets you perform close-up work, such as tracing, without distorting the relationship between the geometry and a bitmap background. The Virtual Viewport option is disabled if you are using a Software Z-Buffer, HEIDI, or D3D driver.

Benchmarking
There are thirteen benchmark files in the \scenes\benchmark directory on the World Creating Toolkit. These files are provided for anyone wanting to benchmark the speed of their video cards. Each file tests different aspects of display speed within MAX. For a description of what each file tests, see \scenes\benchmrk\R3 Benchmark Descriptions.txt. Also included is a script located on the World Creating Toolkit at \script\utilities\3dsBMarkR3.ms. Instructions for running the script are located at the top of the script itself. To see which cards are certified to run in 3DS MAX R3, and how fast they run the benchmarks, see: http://www.ktx.com/display

CPUs
Machines with non-Intel processors
The MAX Profiler utility uses Intel Pentium specific instructions so it does not load with processors of other types, such as Cyrix or AMD CPUs. This will cause a DLL initialization failure in acap.dll when loading MAX. This utility is installed only if MAXSDK is chosen as an option in the custom install. It is advised to remove the files "\3dsmax3\acap.dll" and "\3dsmax3\StdPlugs\MaxProf.dlu" on these systems.

Machines with Pentium III processors

3DS MAX R3.1should operate fine on machines with these processors. You can increase the interactive performance of your SZB driver by approximately 30% by installing the special drivers tuned for this processor. While these drivers have not been thoroughly tested and are not installed by default, you can safely copy these drivers from the Pentium3 folder of your 3DS MAX installation. Specifically: 1. Exit MAX 2. Copy the pentium3\heidi6.dll file from the CD to the MAX root directory 3. Copy the pentium3\drivers\szb6.hdi file from the CD to the \drivers subdirectory of the MAX root directory. This change will have no effect on D3D or OpenGL driver performance. Please check with your graphics card manufacturer for the possibility of recent driver updates that may also take advantage of Pentium III 3D instructions in either OpenGL or Direct3D mode

Advanced Micro Devices Athlon processors

3D Studio MAX Release 3.1 officially supports AMD Athlon CPUs. Please see the minimum system requirements for more information about ram, video, and hard drive requirements. For more information about the Athlon and 3D Studio MAX Release 3.1,

please visit AMD's website at http://www.amd.com/discreet

Mouse Drivers
Make sure you are using the most current drivers for your pointing devices. Old or obsolete drivers may cause unpredictable results and program failures with 3DS MAX. The best method to obtain updated device drivers is to go to the URL for the manufacturer of your device and download the latest from there.

Notes about Features

New crash recovery system
In the event of an unexpected crash, 3D Studio MAX R3.1 will attempt to save a copy of the scene currently in memory. If a crash is intercepted, the user is given the option to save the current file. The recovered file is named "<filename>_recover.max" and stored in the configured AutoBackup path. This filename is placed in the recent file list of the MAX File menu for easy reloading. This system provides a fairly reliable means of recovering data, but it is impossible to recover from certain failures. For this reason, users should not rely upon the crash recovery system as an alternative to good data backup practices. The following are clarifications to possibly confusing situations or descriptions of known errors and procedures to avoid them.

Bitmap Formats
paint*
You must have Discreet paint* 2.1.1 installed to view or manipulate .ipp files, or to view paint maps on any map channel in 3DS MAX R3. paint* maps used as a displace modifier map will not render correctly when a live link exists between 3DS MAX and paint*. To render a sequence of frames correctly in MAX, simply save the loaded project file and deselect the Edit button to terminate the link between MAX and paint*. The UV Offset values in the Coordinates rollout of the Paint map are not honored when painting directly on the object in MAX. To offset the UVW Coordinates of the paint map, apply a UVW Map modifier and a UVW Xform modifier. If, when loading a .ipp file as a project file, the image isn't displayed or rendered properly in MAX, select the Edit button to create a live link. Certain .ipp files rely on separate source images, such as Rub-Throughs and in these instances the live link is necessary for the .ipp file to be viewed and rendered properly in MAX.

Photoshop .PSD
Only Photoshop 3 .psd files are fully supported. The .psd formats from Photoshop 4 and 5 are only supported for images with only one layer. Files containing multiple layers must be flattened in Photoshop before they can be used in 3DS MAX.

Controllers
3DS MAX will shut down when exiting, resetting, or loading a file if an IK controller's End Effector Position is used as a React To object in the Reactor Controller, or as a controller for a Vector variable in an Expression Controller. If a .MAX file was saved prior to this, the file will have no data corruption. However, it will continue to cause an application failure upon closure. You can avoid the failure by creating a dummy and aligning and linking it to the end effector. Pick the Node track of the dummy for use by the Reactor or Expression Controllers. Results will vary some, because the controllers will be responding to the world space position of the dummy instead of its offset from the root bone. If an object has only SubObject animation, and thus is controlled only by a Master Point Controller, rescaling the time through the Time Configuration Dialogue will produce incorrect scaling of its keys. The workaround is to create a key in any of the objects other tracks. Block Controller. Including Note Tracks in a block of animation will cause an application error while writing the block. If note tracks are desired in an animation block, a Note Track can be added to the block after it is written. For example, write the Position track of an object to a Block, expand the MasterBlock and the Block tracks, and add a note track under the Block track or under the Position track. Master Point Controller. If a Master Point Key Info dialogue is open, it will not update its time automatically after moving the key in Track View. An Application Error will occur if a SO key value is adjusted before the Key Info dialogue is forced to update by either reselecting the key or closing and reopening the Key Info dialogue.

Create Panel
Compound Objects
Scatter MAX may crash when entering the Modify panel when a sample Scatter scene is selected, due to Scatter having trouble dealing with a leftover space warp binding. If you remove the binding via Schematic View, MAX will not crash. Loft Vert Topo change to Loft Path w/Steps causes assert. To avoid this, when doing a loft with Path Steps mode chosen, do not change the path shape topology, or, temporarily change the loft to Percentage or Distance mode, change the path and switch back to Path Steps mode.

NURBS Surfaces
Sub-object two rail sweeps with closed rails and more than one cross-section are not guaranteed to work. The Merge checkbox in Displace NURBS has no effect when used for Surface Edge and Displaced Surface settings. In order to get rid of the holes that may occur between adjoining surfaces in a displaced NURBS model, set Merge for the Base Surface only.

Particle Systems
Due to a Visual C++ compiler bug, PCloud may incorrectly display very large numbers of particles (i.e. 10,000). R2.5 path follow space warps did not work with fields. The new path follow does work with fields, but this has caused a slow down under some conditions.

Instanced Particles don't support multiple map channels. If the emitter object used by a PArray particle system moves very quickly in a scene, particles may appear to be emitted in puffs even if sub-frame sampling is turned on. Reducing the speed of the emitter can reduce the puffing effect.

Patch Grid
When creating a Quad Patch, setting length and width segments to 100 or more can cause a program failure.

Customize Menu
Reverting to Startup UI Layout loads _startup.ui , a file that is written as a temporary backup UI when you start MAX. _startup.ui will be identical to MaxStart.cui until Maxstart.cui is changed and resaved during a session. Reverting to Startup UI is not the same as Loading MaxStart in that MAX will still consider your current UI to be the last .CUI file that you loaded. The way to avoid overwriting a Custom UI with your startup UI is to use Load instead of Revert. Configure Paths, Bitmaps, is limited to 50 Bitmap path directories. After entering more than 50 Bitmap path directories, the 3dsmax.ini file doesn't write these paths correctly.

Plug-in Loading
In the General Tab of the Preferences Setting Dialog, when Load Plug-Ins on Demand is turned on, 3DS MAX only loads plug-ins when they are used. When this is turned off, all plug-ins are loaded at startup, which takes more memory. The Default for this setting is ON. If you are running 3DS MAX under Windows 98, it is recommended that this setting be enabled.

File Import/Export
.3DS Format
When exporting to .3DS file format, then importing, you may see meshes have moved from their original position. This situation is due to the fact that 3DS MAX's pivot offset is a matrix containing rotation, translation, and scale, and 3DS DOS is just a translation.

.DWG Format
Exporting entities in the R14 format will result in a warning when the file is opened in AutoCAD R14. The warning will claim that the drawing contains proxy graphics. When you save to an R14 file format, it writes some of the newer objects to an AutoCAD 2000 database to support "round-tripping". The warning can be ignored. Clicking OK and continuing at this point will have no effect on the exported entities.

IGES Import
When merging an IGES file, it is recommended that you save your work first. After a large IGES import, it is recommended that you save your work, and then restart MAX. There may be some instances where the IGES import is trimming the wrong portion of the surface. In this case, select the surface, make it independent, select the trim curve, and flip the trim. The IGES importer uses IGES group and level information to distinguish between objects. All data that is not grouped, and resides in the same level will import to the

same object. To distinguish between separate entities, it is recommended that you use groups or levels when exporting from the originating application. For the fastest import, change your viewport layout to a single viewport, and set the display to wireframe.

Using VRML with Character Studio

For best results, export Character Studio creations as VRML97, not VRML 1.0. It is possible to export Character Studio objects as VRML 1.0, but usable results can be much more difficult obtain. To export objects with skin, clothing, etc. added by Physique, it is advisable to hide the underlying geometry, such as Biped parts, and uncheck the Export Hidden Objects option in the export dialog. This is so the Biped will not "poke through" the skin and clothes. The Coordinate Interpolators option in the export dialog should be checked.

Viewing Files
The Autodesk Flic image file setup is dependent on the .AVI settings for Windows MediaPlayer. Since MediaPlayer can by replaced when installing other applications, it can fail at times on Windows 98. To work around this, install QuickTime 4, which is provided with 3DS MAX R3.1, and use it to view these types of files. QuickTime 4 can convert .fli, and .flc files, but not .cel files.

Material Editor Materials & Maps

Running 3DS MAX with Microsoft Access
The Microsoft Access product uses the same extension as 3DS MAX material library files (.mat). If you are experiencing problems opening material libraries in the Material/Map Browser and have Microsoft Access installed, removing the association between the .mat extension and MS Access via the Explorer (Views/Options/File Types) will solve the problem.

3D Map Blur & Blur Offset

The "Coordinates" rollout for 3D Maps includes parameters for Blur and Blur Offset. The only 3D map supplied with 3DS MAX that supports these two parameters is the Noise Map. The Blur and Blur Offset parameters have no effect on other 3D Maps.

Matte/Shadow Material
Matte/Shadow materials used as sub-materials can render semi-transparent instead of opaque when the Opaque Alpha checkbox is unchecked. Avoid using matte/shadow materials as sub-materials.

Morpher Material
Morpher materials should only be applied to objects with the morpher modifier applied.

RayTrace Material/Map
Raytraced reflections of objects using wireframe materials are not supported. The Lattice modifier can be used to achieve similar wireframe results (in geometry) for appearing in raytraced reflections. Raytrace materials used within Double Sided materials are known to render incorrectly, producing visible "wireframe" artifacts. Avoid using Raytrace materials as a sub-material of a Double Sided material. Global tracks are not being created when loading a Raytrace material or map from a material library. If you do not already have a Raytrace material in your scene you will

need to Hold and Fetch or save and reload the file to get the global tracks to show up in Track View. If a raytraced material does exist in your scene then the preexisting global tracks will be used. Assigning a different controller to a Global Raytrace Engine track and selecting UNDO then REDO will cause MAX to crash. You can assign new controllers to global parameters, but avoid selecting undo then redo directly after the new controller assignment. Disabling Self Reflect/Refract in Raytracer Options gets rid of the edges of the mesh showing on the rendered image when using Raytrace with "surface" entities (Nurbs, Patches). Disabling Self Reflect/Refract for these types of entities also gets rid of other rendering anomalies such as splotchy highlighting.

MAXScript
Mesh Sub-object Rotation
Mesh sub-object rotation and scaling is not implemented in MAXScript. For instance the following will not work in this version of 3D Studio MAX: select $.verts[#(1,2,3,4)] rotate $.selectedVerts [30,60,90]

Barycentric_Morph_Controller Keys
When using the addnewkey() method to create a key for the Barycentric_Morph_Controller controller, the time component of the key value returned is usually not correct. Use the getMKKey() method to access the created key.

Bricks : TextureMap
There is an error in the parameter naming for the Bricks map (in Bonus). The Per_Column property is exposed with the name Change_Row, which conflicts with the existing Change_Row property name. As a result, you can not access the Per_Column property.

Coordinate Display
Using a <format_name> value of #other for setStatusXYZ() does not correctly display the specified point3 value. The X and Y component values are displayed in the Y and Z status boxes, and the X status box is blank.

extrudeFace()
When using the extrudeface function in MAXScript, the sub-object level is changed to 0 if the mesh is active in the modify panel.

Mouse Cursors
setSysCur #squash shows the non-uniform scale cursor

Atmospheric : MAXWrapper
Unlike most MAXWrapper objects, you can not copy an Atmospheric.

RenderEffect : MAXWrapper
Unlike most MAXWrapper objects, you can not copy a RenderEffect.

Viewport Methods and System Globals (Miscellaneous)

In certain cases, the lockAxisTripods() method can cause multiple Assertion Failures. This occurs when one or more objects are selected, lockAxisTripods true is executed, and then the objects are deselected. The flashNodes() method does not redraw the viewports after displaying the specified nodes as white wireframes. To properly redraw the viewports, call the forceCompleteredraw() method immediately after calling flashNodes().

UVGenClass : Material
Setting the <textureMap.coordinates>.mappingType value sets <textureMap.coordinates>.mapping to 0. In description of <textureMap.coordinates>.mapping: If mapping type is Environment mapping (mappingType = 1) : mapping = 1 Spherical; 2 - Cylindrical; 3 - Shrink-Wrap; 4 Screen should be: If mapping type is Environment mapping (mappingType = 1) : mapping = 0 Spherical; 1 - Cylindrical; 2 - Shrink-Wrap; 3 Screen

UVW Mapping Channels >1

MAXScript does not currently implement multiple mapping channel methods. These methods are however implemented in an extension pack for MAXScript and are available on the 3D Studio MAX support webboard under "Library - Plugins File Uploads."

stopCreating()
This method stops the creation of the current object, if any. This method does not take a argument.

setVertSelection(), setVertSelection(), setEdgeSelection(), setEdgeSelection(), setFaceSelection(), getFaceSelection()

These methods operate on Edit Mesh modifiers in addition to Mesh Select modifiers.

Editable_Mesh : GeometryClass and TriMesh : Value

In the Constructors section, mesh vertices:<array_of_point3s> \ faces:<array_of_point3s> \ [ materialIDs:<array_of_integers> ] \ [ textureVerts:<array_of_point3s> ] should be: mesh vertices:<array_of_point3s> \ faces:<array_of_point3s> \ [ materialIDs:<array_of_integers> ] \ [ tverts:<array_of_point3s> ]

Bitmap Values
In the last Output section, fn unpack val = for p in val collect (r=p/256^2; g=p/256-x*256; b=mod p 256; color r g b)

should be: fn unpack val = for p in val collect (r=p/256^2; g=p/256-r*256; b=mod p 256; color r g b)

MAXScript Message and Query Dialogs

In the Examples section, if queryBox "Do you want to continue?" beep:no then ... should be: if queryBox "Do you want to continue?" beep:false then ...

BitmapTexture : TextureMap
The value type for <Bitmaptexture>.starttime is now Time rather than Integer.

File_Output : RenderEffect
The <File_Output>.channelType parameter is no longer animatable.

StandardMaterial : Material
The following parameters have been changed: <Standard>.samplerEnable Boolean default: false -- alias: Sampler_Enable <Standard>.samplerQuality Float default: 0.5 -- animatable, alias: Sampler_Quaility <Standard>.samplerAdaptThreshold Float default: 0.1 -- animatable, alias: Adaptive_Threshold <standard>.UserParam0 Float default: 0.0 -- animatable, alias: Optional_Param0 <standard>.UserParam1 Float default: 0.0 -- animatable, alias: Optional_Param1 <Standard>.useSelfIllumColor Boolean default: true -- alias: Use_Self_Illumination are now:: <Standard>.samplerEnable Boolean default: false animatable, alias: Sampler_Enable <Standard>.samplerQuality Float default: 0.5 -- animatable, alias: Sampler_Quality <Standard>.samplerAdaptThreshold Float default: 0.1 -- alias: Adaptive_Threshold <standard>.UserParam0 Float default: 0.0 -- alias: Optional_Param0 <standard>.UserParam1 Float default: 0.0 -- alias: Optional_Param1 <Standard>.useSelfIllumColor Boolean default: false -- alias: Use_Self_Illumination

Pickbutton
Due to limitations in 3DS MAX, you cannot specify a node using a Pickbutton in the Create panel, for example in a scripted Geometry plugin. The work-around is to only enable the Pickbutton when the object open in the Modify panel.

Listbox, ComboBox, and Dropdownlist

If the .items list is an empty array, the .selection property value is 0 and the .selected property value is undefined. In 3DS MAX R3.1, .selection property value is 1, and accessing .selected would cause a system exception in this case.

Persistent Globals
Values stored in a persistent global that are a subclass of MAXWrapper are not retained across a file save/load unless the MAX object is present in the scene. For example, if you said: Persistent global Mat1, Mat2 Mat1=standard() Mat2=standard Box material:Mat2 After a file save/reload Mat1 would be undefined because the material wasnt present in the scene. Mat2 would contain a material value since the material was applied to the box.

gw.text(), gw.htext(), and gw.wtext()

The documented color: keyword parameter is not available.

bindKnot()
A screen redraw is needed after calling bindKnot() to update the vertex to the bound location. If needed, call redrawViews() after calling bindKnot() to complete the bind operation.

splineOp methods
The splineOp methods simulate a Modify panel button press. In some cases, the actual operation is not performed until Editable Spline runs through its main loop. Since MAXScript and Editable Spline are running in the same thread, the Editable Spline main loop may not be immediately run. For example, if spline es had 4 knots and you ran: ( setKnotSelection es 1 #(4) splineops.delete es format "# knots: %\n" (numKnots es 1) ) format "# knots: %\n" (numKnots es 1) The results would show 4 knots and 3 knots, respectively.

activeGrid
The activeGrid system variable can be set to a node value to set the node as the active grid. The activeGrid variable cannot be set to undefined to reset the active grid to the home grid. Use the max activate home grid command to reset the active grid to the home grid.

getKnotPoint(), setKnotPoint()
When position controllers are assigned to the knots of a splineShape, the controllers are stored in the splineShape. The getKnotPoint() and setKnotPoint() methods get and set the knot positions assigned to the spline stored in the splineShape, but not the values stored in the knot position controllers. When the splineShape is evaluated for display by 3DS MAX, the knot positions are updated based on the positions stored in the knot position controllers. The getKnotPoint() and setKnotPoint() should not be used on animated knots. Instead, the knot controllers should be accessed directly. The above is also the case when operating on the knot tangent handles.

fileProperties.addProperty()
The maximum length of a property name or value is 1024 characters.

isKindOf()
This method does not work properly with NURBS objects. The following function can be used as a substitute: fn isKindof1 obj class = ( local myClass=classof obj if myClass == class do return true if myClass == value do return false isKindof2 myClass class )

OKMtlForScene()
This method does not perform the correct type checking of its argument, and therefor does not work. The following function can be used as a substitute: fn OKMtlForScene1 theMat = ( for obj in objects where (obj.material != undefined and obj.material.name == theMat.name) do return false true )

render()
The netrender option is not supported.

sceneMaterials
The sceneMaterials system variable can contain materials that were used in the scene earlier in the 3DS MAX session, but are no longer being used.

Scripted plug-ins/Parameter blocks

A scripted plug-ins on update handler is called if either the version number is changed, or if a change is made in the definition of a parameter in a parameter block. In the on get and on set parameter event handlers, it the parameter type is a table type parameter (for example, floatTab), an additional argument can be specified. This argument is optional, and will contain the index of the item in the table being accessed. For example, parameters main rollout:params ( STRENGTHS type:#floatTab tabSize:24 tabSizeVariable:FALSE on STRENGTHS set val index do delegate.mapAmounts[index]=val ) If an array or arrayParameter value is assigned to a table type parameter, the assignment occurs one element at a time. If an array was assigned to parameter STRENGTHS in the above example, the on set handler would be called 24 times.

Apropos and StringStream's

There is a problem with the Apropos method when outputting to a StringStream variable. You can get Apropos into a state where the input and output streams are the same giving a system exception. The work-around is to make sure your StringStream is a local not a

global variable.

skinops.getVertexWeightBoneID()
In 3DS MAX R3, the index returned by this method was 0-based. In 3DS MAX R3.1, the index returned is 1-based.

MAXScript MacroRecorder
Not All Actions are Macro-Recordable
While the majority of 3DS MAX R3.1generates MacroRecorder output, there remain many areas that do not. In general, most of the buttons on the 3DS MAX Menu Bar, toolbars, Status Bar, Create panel, and Modify panel will generate MacroRecorder output, but: If a button invokes a secondary dialog, changing a setting or performing actions in the secondary dialog will not typically generate Macro Recorder output. In the Create and Modify panels, MacroRecorder output will only be generated if a MAXScript can actually create the object or modifier. In some cases, the plug-in implementing an object or modifier has not been updated to support MacroRecorder, so that object or modifier will not generate MacroRecorder output.

MacroRecord and Absolute Transforms

When the Absolute Transform Assignments option is selected, absolute transform assignments are output only if a single object is transformed. If multiple objects are selected, relative transform operations are output.

Modify Panel
Edit/Editable Mesh
Cut The Cut tool is designed to slice across every visible edge it crosses. In some cases, Cut treats invisible edges as though they were visible and inserts a vertex at the point of intersection with the new edge. Cut is quad-safe, not polygon-safe: it can only handle one invisible edge at a time. The second (, fourth, sixth, etc) invisible edges in a sequence will be treated like a visible edge.

Undo Convert to Editable Mesh following an Undo add modifier, purges the Undo stack Vertex display not available in polygon create mode if show end result on You can turn on the object's Vertex Ticks display property to see the vertices in this case. The vertices will not appear selected, however.

Edit/Editable Spline
Using Snap to Vertex with the Edit(able) Spline Create Line tool, the cursor will snap to itself, making it difficult to snap to existing Vertices. To avoid this problem, use Create Line Shape when using Vertex Snap. Clear Start New Shape to automatically add the new Line Shape and collapse to Editable Spline. To avoid collapsing an Edit Spline, leave Start New Shape checked and Attach the new Line Shape.

Flex
Flex does not immediately affect some cloned objects. The Clone Initializer v1.0 macro script can be used to initialize Flex or Volume Select modifiers on cloned objects. This script, MacroCloneInit.mcr, is installed in the UI\MacroScripts directory. Creating a button for the Clone Initializer macro script ----------------------------------------------------------------------------1. Launch 3DSMAX R3 2. From the Customize menu in the Main Menu bar, select Customize UI... 3. Select the Macro Scripts radio button. 4. Select the Tools category from the dropdown. 5. Select Clone_Init from the list window. 6. Drag the Clone_Init button to any visible toolbar. 7. Close the Customize User Interface dialog. Using Clone Initializer v1.0 -------------------------------------1. Press the Clone_Init button to launch the Clone Initializer floating dialog. 2. Check either Volume Select or Flex. 3. Press Initialize. Any object in the scene containing a Volume Select or Flex modifier is selected and the modifier's parameters are momentarily loaded into the Modify panel. This initializes the modifier, if necessary, after a clone(copy) operation.

Morpher Modifier
When using the morpher modifier, if you notice playback speeds slowing down over time, a file reset will clear this condition. Mopher Modifiers associated Controller Function Curves disappear in Track View during editing when Morpher Modifiers Auto_Reload_Target is checked. The workaround is to uncheck Auto Reload Target when editing function curves of morpher objects.

Surface Modifier
On Windows 98, applying a surface modifier with segments of 1000 or more will cause the program to fail.

Modeling with Surface Tools and Edit Patch

When an Edit Patch is applied to a Surface Modifier, Spline level edits are recognized only under specific conditions. 1. Any Spline operation that adds or deletes Vertices will result in corrupt topology, at the Edit Patch level, once a Patch Sub Object has been selected. To avoid Patch Topology corruption, make Spline level Topology final, before applying an Edit Patch to the Surface. 2. Edit Patch will fail to recognize Spline level Sub Object transforms, once a Patch Sub Object has been transformed. To maintain Edit Patch recognition of Spline level Sub Object transforms, add (or delete) some topology at Edit Patch level first. Any Edit Patch operation that adds or deletes Vertices will work, but if you do not wish to add topology directly to the Patch model, Create and Attach a separate Patch Object out of view in the scene.

Volume Select
A cloned Volume Select modifier does not initialize unless the modifier is currently in stack. Volume Select Auto-Fit does not correctly translate a scaled gizmo. The transforms are organized in a way in the volume select modifier such that the gizmo scale is applied to the incoming translation of the box (from beneath the stack). Volume Select does not fit properly when applied to multiple objects. Animated splines may temporarily disappear when they are used as the "Select By" object. If this occurs, simply add an Edit Spline modifier to the spline object.

Motion Panel
IK
If you create an IK chain and link it to an object, moving the object wont move the end effector. This is how it is supposed to work (so feet stick to the floor). If you want the end effector to move with the parent of the chain, then you have to specify that by linking it, not using the toolbar link, but using the link command under end effector parent in the motion panel.

Object Properties
The Object Properties dialog, Rendering Control section, contains 4 check boxes that are grayed out. These spaces are intentionally left blank and can not be accessed at this time.

Rendering Menu
RAM Player
Some systems, most notably the SGI PC's, have a bus optimized for a 32-bit graphics pipeline. The RAMPlayer is normally using a 24-bit pipeline and that can cause a performance problem on these systems. The RAMPlayer can be configured to use a 32 bit pipeline by adding the following line under the [Performance] section in 3dsmax.ini: RAMPlayer32Bit=1 The drawback is that each frame will require more memory so fewer frames will fit in memory. On a 32 bit optimized system this configuration can increase the frame rate by a factor 3 or more. If you close 3DS MAX while the RAM Player window is still open, you will see an Application Error message. Click OK to proceed.

Network Rendering
Duplicate machine names show up in the Queue Manager if NETBIOS is not installed. We recommend that NETBIOS be installed on any machine that will be used for network rendering. The file output rendering effect does not save all the frames when network rendered. If all frames are rendered when network rendered, they may appear to be out of sequence when played back or the output may be incorrect. The work around is to render the sequence of frames on a single machine.

Missing DLLs
Missing renderer DLLs can cause 3DS MAX to crash on file save after merging materials

from another .MAX file that also uses the missing renderer DLL. The work around is to load the material library from the desired .MAX file into a new .MAX file, then load the .MAX file you want to work on. At that point you can grab the materials from the material library and save the file.

Rendering Effects
Animation tracks cannot be copied in Track View from one effect to another similar effect. The abilities and control of the Lens Effect filter in Rendering Effects are somewhat different, and sometimes less, then that provided by the similar Lens Effect filter in Video Post. If you are not achieving the desired results in Rendering Effects, try the Lens Effect image filter event within Video Post. A small size glow, e.g. size .01, does not work when rendering to fields. To work around this, increase the size of the glow.

Render (MAX Default Scanline A-Buffer)

Canceled Renderings
An images memory is not freed when you cancel a rendering. This memory will be freed at the conclusion of the next rendering or after restarting 3DS MAX. This may be noticed if you have canceled a very memory-consuming rendering and cannot begin another due to lack of memory. An alternative to restarting 3DS MAX is to simply render a rendering of small resolution to restore the memory from the previously canceled render.

Determining Memory Requirements of Large Resolutions

Rendering large resolutions can be a very memory intensive task, and exceeding Windows total memory resources can destabilize 3DS MAX or the Windows operating system. The following information is provided to better understand the memory required when rendering. Many factors determine the memory required by the MAX Renderer to process the scene and produce the image. Of these, the factor impacting memory the most is often the output resolution. The following requirements scale with the number of pixels rendered (output width x height = pixels rendered): Output Image: 8 bytes/pixel Image Motion Blur: 39 bytes/pixel Each light casting a shadow map will require memory. Direct & Spot lights each use one shadow map while omni lights use six per light. Raytraced shadows require processor time rather than memory. Automatic reflection maps are similar to omni lights, in using six maps apiece. Shadow Maps: 4 bytes x size x size (x 6 if omni light) Reflect/Refract Map: 4 bytes x size x size x 6 All bitmaps referenced in the scene require the same memory regardless of how they are used, and are loaded into memory only once, regardless of how often they are used. A bitmaps color depth and resolution determine the initial memory requirement. Note that there are 8 bits per byte, so a 24-bit image is actually using 3 bytes of color depth. Memory for filtering a bitmap occurs only once per filter map type per bitmap. Bitmaps: color depth x height x width

Bitmap Filtering:

1 additional byte per pixel if Pyramidal filtered 12 additional bytes per pixel if Summed Area filtered

All surfaces are converted to triangular meshes for processing. The memory required to render a scenes geometry is the number of faces actually given to the Renderer. This is important to remember as some objects (e.g., NURBS, Patches, and XREF Proxies) and modifiers (e.g., MeshSmooth and Optimize) can display much simpler representations in the viewport. The following is required of each master object: Face Vertex Each UVW/ face Each UVW/ vertex 32 28 12 12 bytes bytes bytes bytes

Instanced geometry does take less memory then the original mesh, with the following being required of each instance: Instanced Face Instanced Vertex 5 bytes 20 bytes

Image Motion Blur at Large Resolutions

Image Motion Blur is very memory intensive at high resolutions, requiring 39 bytes per rendered pixel to process. Not having sufficient RAM is a common reason for receiving the Not enough memory to process Image Motion Blur pass error message. You ideally should not depend on Virtual Memory to provide this memory because it has a tendency to become fragmented, and Image Motion Blur requires a contiguous block of memory to process. If you are successful in rendering one or more frames with Image Motion Blur, but fail on a subsequent frame, then it is likely that your systems memory has become fragmented. Memory fragmentation can even occur in systems having more than adequate RAM to process the scene because Windows is not 100% efficient at restoring the RAM into contiguous blocks after each frame. This chance of memory fragmentation increases as your scene makes large memory requests per frame (such as loading large, sequential images). The solution is to either add more RAM to your system to decrease the chance of memory fragmentation, or to render your sequence in a series of consecutive 3DS MAX sessions.

Rendering Images for Print

3DS MAX does not directly support printing. Images from 3DS MAX can easily be printed by other applications that can load one of the supported bitmap formats. It is assumed that the printing application will control the images final DPI and Print Screen settings. The only bitmap format with print setting control from within 3DS MAX is the EPS format. All other formats are given a default DPI setting that can be easily changed by the printing application. DPI is independent of resolution, and that the DPI setting can be changed at any time without affecting resolution or requiring a new rendering. When using a screened printing device (such as an ink jet printer) it should be noted that a printing devices DPI resolution works in conjunction with the screen being used by the printing application. Because most screens require approximately 2 DPI to optimally print a pixels color, rendering more then one half the DPI as pixels-per-printed-inch does not result in a better print (e.g., a 300 DPI plotter printing a maximum resolution of a 30x20 should be sent no more than a 4500x3000 image) and superior results may result from even coarser resolutions because of the particular device and screen combination.

Working with Background Images

When using background images, there are essentially two approaches: preserve the background image and make the scene match it, or filter the background image during rendering to match it with the 3D scene. You can use either approach with 3DS MAX R3.1by understanding the following: Using Background Images with Anti-Aliasing Filters By default, environment background images are not affected by anti-aliasing. You can have the background image filtered along with the rest of the scene by checking Filter Background in the Background section of the Rendering tab in the Preference Settings dialog (Customize/Preferences/Rendering). Working with Background Scene Elements There are essentially two ways for a scene object to appear as part of the background: using a Matte/Shadow Material, or using a 100% self-illuminated material having a Diffuse texture of the background image that either uses Environment Screen Mapping or the object has Camera Mapping applied. If you are filtering the background image (FilterBackground=checked) you can use any anti-aliasing filter or Matte/Shadow option and obtain a matched result. If you are not filtering the background image (the default) then you need to take additional precautions to ensure the geometry matches the background. The Matte/Shadow Material is affected by anti-aliasing unless its Opaque Alpha is OFF. Textures of other materials are affected by all anti-aliasing filters except the Plate Match/MAX R2 filter. This AA filter will not affect textures, and can be used when matching Screen or Camera Mapped geometry against unfiltered background images. Preserving Background Image Alpha By default, a background images alpha is ignored, and only the alpha of the scenes geometry is recorded in the rendered image. You can change this behavior with the UseEnvironment Alpha setting in the Rendering tab of the Preference Settings dialog (Customize/Preferences/Rendering). When Use Environment Alpha is checked, the background images alpha is combined with the scenes. If the image has no alpha, the backgrounds alpha is set to 1 (opaque). If the background uses a color instead of an image, the background alpha is set to 0 (totally transparent). Self-Illumination Change may affect Older Scenes Scenes from 3DS MAX R2.5 and earlier that used self-illuminated objects to match backgrounds may need to be adjusted to achieve the same match in R3. In previous releases, the scenes ambient light level was added to the selfillumination calculation. This has changed in R3.1so that ambient light only affects self-illuminated materials if they are less than 100%. Older scenes that compensated for the previous ambient light brightening (probably by using a lesser Self-Illumination percentage) will need their Self-Illumination value increased to 100% to achieve a background match.

When not to use Pre-Multiplied Alpha

When coordinating with external image manipulation products, it is important to verify what type of image alpha they use. By default, 3DS MAX uses pre-multiplied alpha when compositing or saving bitmaps containing alpha channels. If an external application (such as Adobe Photoshop) is expecting non-pre-multiplied alpha, then a composite performed in that application with a default 3DS MAX image will have traces of the background color in its transparent areas. You can compensate for this by saving your images in the .TGA format with the Pre-Multiplied Alpha option OFF. The RGB of the resulting image will contain no transparency but will appear correctly after its alpha channel is merged. Note

that rendering geometry against a black background is the best way to achieve reliable composites in most external applications.

Viewing Apparently Banded Rendered Images

Images with subtle lighting changes may appear banded when first rendered and viewed in the Virtual Frame Buffer (VFB). This is due to the limitations of viewing a 48-bit color image with a 24-bit color monitor. While the True Color Output Dithering preference corrects for 24-bit viewing when the image is saved, the VFB is always showing the Renderers immediate result. When scrutinizing 24-bit output, ensure the dithering preference is active, and you are viewing previously saved images.

Schematic View
Change in Schematic View functionality in MAX R3.1: Schematic View layouts are not preserved in R3.1 scene files by default. To enable this feature, simply add the following line to the 3dsmax.ini configuration file in the [Performance] section: [Performance] PreserveSchematicView=1 Please note that enabling this feature may substantially increase the file size of scenes containing thousands of objects. Schematic View does not preserve the layout for hidden objects unless the Show Only| Visible Objects filter is turned off. Compound object operands cannot be renamed in Schematic View. The workaround is to rename the operands in the Modify panel, as in R2.5.

Track Bar
When an object has both Master Point (Sub Object) keys and Transform keys, the Track Bar cannot be used to delete a single Master Point key as it will instead delete all the Master Point keys. Deleting of single Master Point keys must be done in Track View.

Utilities
Dynamics Utility
Dynamics provides only limited support for objects with identical names. All objects of the same name are included in the simulation regardless of which one is chosen. Workaround: Verify that each item in a Dynamics simulation is given a unique name prior to setting up the simulation

IFL Manager
Use of the IFL Manager by users not familiar with the MAX R3.1changes to the Bitmap File Dialog may create some initial confusion. The Bitmap File Dialog now contains IFL creation functionality; if using this functionality while using IFL manager, some confusing yet harmless error messages may appear. When accessing the IFL managers Select button, the Bitmap File Dialog will appear as it always has. If the user enables the new Sequence checkbox on the Bitmap File Dialog (to create an IFL from the dialog), and then clicks Open, an Image File List Control Dialog appears. Clicking Ok creates an IFL file successfully, but then returns an IFL Manager unsupported file type error. The root of the problem is that this new Bitmap File Dialogs IFL creation functionality is not appropriate to use from IFL manager. The Bitmap File Dialog still is needed by IFL manager to choose image files; it simply should be used as it has in the past (without

enabling the new to R3.1Sequence button). Alternatively users may want to use the new IFL creation functionality of the enhanced Bitmap File Dialog instead of using IFL Manager.

UVW Remove Utility

The UVW Remove Bonus Utility should not be used on Patch or NURBS surfaces. Doing so may cause the program to fail.

Video Post
Outputting to more than one .MOV QuickTime file from Video Post can cause a program failure.

Lens Effects Filters

The Lens Effects filters for 3DS MAX R3.1 do not support files saved from earlier versions of the Digimation LenZFX product sold for use with 3DS MAX R1. A translator will be made available to convert older files for use in the current version of Len Effects. Attempting to load files created in LenZFX for 3DS MAX R1 may destabilize your system, resulting in a loss of any unsaved work. Lens Effects Focus is best suited for simple Scene and Radial blurring effects. The Focal Node feature in Focus presents a few known problems relating to anti-aliasing and inconsistent blur effects, especially when objects overlap and when backgrounds are used. Using the RadioRay renderer with Video Post Lens Effects will result in a program failure.

Referencing Objects and Scenes (Xrefs)

Xref Objects
Physique, Skin, Path Deform, particle emitter objects, instanced geometry particles, and other internal references are not maintained across an external reference. If your XRef object relies on another object in the source scene, the relationship won't always be preserved in the destination file. Use an XRef scene rather than an XRef object to maintain this relationship and get the result you want.

XRef Automatic Update

Xref Automatic Update has more restrictive functionality under Windows 98. XRef objects and scenes can be set to automatically update whenever a file change is detected. Under WinNT, this occurs each time the source file is saved. Due to different system notifications in Windows 98, the automatic update only occurs when the source file is closed by exiting MAX or loading another file. Manual Update works as expected.

BONUS Features
Rendering Effects Depth of Field
Atmospheric effects are incorrect after using DOF. Volume light, volume fog, combustion and fog will produce incorrect results when used with the Depth of Field effect. Changing Antialias filter sizes when using Depth of field will cause artifacts to appear in the rendered image.

With the new antialias filters available in MAX R3, changing filter sizes for any of them, will cause the rendering to be either sharp when using low values or blurry with higher values. The combination of using the higher filter size values and DOF will cause "dirty" pixels to appear around objects. It will also cause two focus bands to appear where the transition between the area in focus and the out of focus area. The first band appears between the camera and the in-focus area; the other appears behind the infocus area. These bands are not filtered by the AA filter and thus appear to be in focus. It also important to remember that render occluded objects should be on for all objects in the scene in order to achieve correct results with DOF. This is an object property, which is brought up by right clicking on the selected objects.

Doors and Windows

In Bonus Tools, there is an AEC category of MAX objects under which Windows and Doors now reside. Doors and Windows no longer appear in the drop down list of Geometry Objects with the Typical installation. They can be installed, at any time, by running Setup and Selecting Bonus Tools under Custom installation. Installing AEC objects places Doors and Windows in the MAX Geometry list as they appeared in MAX R2.0 Hinged Window objects open from the centerline of the sash. If you want the sash to pivot from an edge, then you must detach the entities that make up the sash, apply a Xform modifier to the new Sash object and move the Xform center to the desired location. If you use Edit Mesh to detach the Sash, then you can Copy/Paste/Instance in Track View between the Window %Opening controller and the Sash Xform Euler Rotation axis. Since the Euler axis rotation units are in radians, the rotation will be much more sensitive to changes in the %Opening value. Sliding Doors and Windows have a new constraint that affects the parameter curves for %Opening in Track View. When Animating the %Open parameter, you should make keys in Track View and delete the Key at frame zero. Some Door and Window objects have Sub-Object mapping that is not suitable for uniformly-sized maps. This can be corrected by applying sub-object mapping. Use Mesh Select and UVW Map modifiers with Acquire Mapping/Absolute to establish consistent mapping across elements.

Adobe Premiere and PhotoShop Filters

Using Premiere and PhotoShop plug-ins can be problematic due to the diversity and idiosyncrasies that might be found in the various plug-in designs, and depending upon the filter used, you may experience unpredictable results. 3DS MAX only supports Premiere and PhotoShop filters provided as plug-ins by 3 party developers. The filters that ship with the actual Adobe products cannot be used with 3DS MAX (this is a result of the Adobe plug-in specification and not a 3DS MAX limitation). To avoid confusion between the two filter types, it is highly recommended that you install your filters in a directory other than the Adobe products' native filters directory. Premiere and PhotoShop Filters tested by Kinetix: NOTE: 3DS MAX R3.1only supports 32-bit filters. The "Filter Unsupported" dialog message will appear on any 16-bit filter you try to launch. Andromeda Filters (series 1, 2, and 3) KPT Filters
rd

Gallery Effects KPT Convolver- Known crash in KPT code Alien Skins Eye Candy - Crash in Aliens code on setup Alien Skin Black Box 2 - The "Filter Unsupported" dialog message appears.

Resource Collector Utility

The Resource collector doesn't collect bitmaps used by environments, those referenced by modifiers (like Displace and Volume Select) or objects (like Light projector maps).

Notes about Documentation

3D Studio MAX documentation takes two forms: online HTML Help systems and printed books. The Reference and Tutorials are duplicated in print, and a portion of the MAXScript R3.1Reference appears in print as well. In some cases, the documentation is more recent in the online version. As a rule, be sure to check a topic entry in the online reference to get the most complete and accurate information. The lists that follow outline the sections of the online system where the information differs from the printed books.

Reference Corrections
In the following topics, the Online Reference contains correct information that is erroneous in the printed Reference: Displace NURBS (WSM): Workaround removed. Lattice Modifier: "Junction group" should be "Joints group". NURBS > 1-Rail Sweep Surface / 2-Rail Sweep Surface: Graphics are incorrect in print. NURBS > Mirror Surface: Graphics are incorrect in print. NURBS > Extrude Surface: Graphics are incorrect in print. Torus Knot: Graphics are incorrect in print. GeoSphere: Information on Hemisphere is missing. Twist, PatchDeform, and PathDeform Modifier topics: Information on Modifier Stack Rollout and Selection Level is missing. Stretch Modifier: Information on Modifier Stack Rollout and Selection Level is missing, and graphics are incorrect in print. Materials > Global Raytracer Settings Dialog: Graphics and text have incorrect defaults. Materials > Output rollout: Graphic is incorrect. Materials > Bump Mapping: Note about scaling bump mapping is incorrect. In several topics, "Angle of Incidence" is stated at 90 degrees; it should be 0 degrees.

In the following topics, the Online Reference contains more complete information than the printed Reference. Starting 3DS MAX from the Command Line: Information on starting with switches. MAX Default Scanline A-Buffer Rollout: Information on 3dsmax.ini rendering switches and image motion blur. Environment Dialog: Information on 3dsmax.ini rendering switches.

Glossary > Targa Files, Pre-multiplied Alpha, Environment Map, Filtering, and Aliasing/Antialiasing: Information on 3dsmax.ini rendering switches. Surface Mapper (WSM). Virtual Frame Buffer: Information on Sequence and Setup buttons. Skin Modifier: Missing graphic. UVW Map Modifier: Information on UVW Map Centering and Use Pivot Points. File > View File: Information on Sequence and Setup buttons. Select Background Image Dialog: Information on map path behavior. Dynamics Utility: How to avoid unwanted animation in dynamics.

Light Lister and Light Lister Include/Exclude are not documented in print. The following subjects are missing from the printed Reference, but do appear correctly in the Online Reference: "Plate Match/MAX2.5 Antialiasing Filter" and "Select Bitmap Image File Dialog".

Tutorial Corrections
The scene and map files for the tutorials are not installed as part of any install option. The files are located on the World-Creating Toolkit CD in subdirectories under the \tutorials directory. You should copy the files from the CD to a directory on your hard drive for faster access. Occasionally, this is not clearly explained in the printed tutorials. In "How to Speak 3DS MAX," the information on 2D/2.5D/3D Snaps is incomplete. The information is correct and complete in the online version. In the "Modeling a Rhino Head with Surface Tools" tutorial, there are many small changes throughout the document. It is recommended that you use the online version, rather than the printed book, to do this tutorial.

HTML Help System

Printing "everything in current heading" doesn't print graphics. This is a limitation of the HTML Help program. It is not specific to our HTML Help file, but to all HTML files. In order to use the Favorites tab in the HTML Help System on Windows 98, you must have Internet Explorer 5.0 installed.

MAXScript Help
Spinner The description of, and the presence of an argument for, the on entered handler is incorrect in the MAXScript Help file. The corrected description for this handler is: on <spinner> entered do <expr> Called when the user types a number into a spinners edit field and then presses ENTER or presses TAB to move the cursor out of the field. The on <spinner> changed handler, if supplied, has already been called at this point and the spinner's value property is up to date. This handler is also called when the spinner is released. The on <spinner> buttonup handler, if supplied, has already been called at this point and the spinner's

value property is up to date.

Notes about the SDK (Software Developers Kit)

Information on the SDK is available on our peer-to-peer SDK Forum via the World Wide Web. You can locate this discussion area by using the Kinetix On-Line Forum Directory at http://support.ktx.com/~200 Dedicated SDK support from Kinetix is available via the Autodesk Developer Network. This network gives registered developers access to marketing and development support from Kinetix. You can obtain more information on this program from our web site at http://www.ktx.com/developer.

FrontEnd Controller
In 3D Studio MAX R3.1there exists a conflict between the new Customizable User Interface and the older FrontEndController class. Due to this conflict the FrontEndController functionality has been disabled.

BezierShape::Render() has a missing parameter

In BezierShape topic of MAX SDK help, the method Render is defined as void Render(GraphicsWindow *gw, Material *ma, RECT *rp, int compFlags) but the actual definition (in shape.h) is void Render(GraphicsWindow *gw, Material *ma, RECT *rp, int compFlags, int numMat

Use of parammap2 node picking buttons with object creation

If a developer creates an object plug-in that uses either a NodeListBox2 or a PickNodeButton2 in a rollup, that UI control will be disabled when it appears in the create panel, but it will be enabled when it appears in the modify panel. This is because there is a fundamental incompatibility between the pick mode associated with these UI controls and the current implementation of the command mode stack during object creation. In order to use a pick mode in the create panel, a developer must create their own button and set the pick mode manually on a button press. Doing so will replace the create mode that is in the command stack, so when picking is finished the developer must be sure that the stack is restored to its previous creation state.

Disabling Save on Crash

In 3D Studio MAX R3.1 functionality has been added to save the current .MAX file in the event of abnormal program termination. Since this could interfere with debugging, you can turn it off by adding the following environment variable: DISABLE_MAX_CRASH_HANDLER. Setting this variable to "yes/YES/y/Y/1/TRUE" will turn off the Save on Crash feature, whereas a lack of setting or "no/NO/n/N/0/FALSE" leaves it on. -end-