3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [28]
The effect of the spinner drag is shown in the viewport if the Update During Spinner Drag menu option is enabled in the Views menu. If the cursor is located within a spinner, you can press Ctrl+N to open the Numeric Expression Evaluator, which lets you set the value using an expression. For example, you can set a spinner value by adding numbers together as you would if using a calculator. An expression of 30+40+35 sets the value to 105.
Cross-Reference
Chapter 36, “Animating with the Expression Controller and Wiring Parameters,” covers the Numeric Expression Evaluator in more detail. •
Understanding modeless and persistent dialog boxes
Many dialog boxes in Max are modeless, which means that the dialog box doesn't need to be closed before you can work with objects in the background viewports. The Material Editor is an example of a modeless dialog box. With the Material Editor open, you can create, select, and transform objects in the background. Other modeless dialog boxes include the Material/Map Browser, the Render Scene dialog box, Caddy controls, the Video Post dialog box, the Transform Type-In dialog box, the Display and Selection Floaters, and the various graph editors. Pressing the Ctrl+~ keyboard shortcut closes all open dialog boxes. Pressing the same keyboard shortcut again reopens the dialog boxes that were previously closed.
Another feature of many, but not all, dialog boxes is persistence, which means that values added to a dialog box remain set when the dialog box is reopened. This feature applies only within a given Max session. Choosing the File⇒Reset command button or exiting and restarting Max resets all the dialog boxes.
Getting Help
If you get stuck, Max won't leave you stranded. You can turn to several places in Max to get help. The Help menu is a valuable resource that provides access to references and tutorials. The 3ds Max Help and MAXScript Help are comprehensive help systems. They are HTML pages that are accessible through the Autodesk.com website. Selecting the Autodesk 3ds Max Help menu from the Help menu opens a web browser and loads the help files. This ensures that the latest and most up-to-date help files are available. Additional Help presents help systems for any external plug-ins that are loaded. The Tutorials command loads the tutorials, which offer a chance to gain valuable experience.
New Feature
Accessing help files from the Autodesk.com website is a new feature in 3ds Max 2012. •
If you are working with Max offline, you can download and access a local copy of the help files. The Help panel in the Preference Settings dialog box, shown in Figure 1.15, lets you specify whether to use the online or the local help files.
FIGURE 1.15
The Help panel includes buttons for downloading the latest help files.
Using the InfoCenter toolbar
With all the various help files, it can be tough to know exactly which one to look in for the information you need sometimes. To help with this, 3ds Max includes an InfoCenter toolbar located at the right end of the title bar.
When you enter a keyword in the InfoCenter toolbar, Max performs a search and presents a list of information on where the keyword is found in all the various help files, including Max documentation and online resources, as shown in Figure 1.16.
FIGURE 1.16
The InfoCenter toolbar lets you search multiple help files at once.
Tip
You can use wildcards when searching for keywords. The asterisk (*) replaces one or more characters, the question mark (?) replaces a single character, and the tilde (~) looks for prefixes and/or suffixes added to the word. For example, con* finds controller, construct, and contour; sta? finds star and stat; ~lit finds prelit and relit; and limit~ finds limited and limitless. •
Clicking the Search icon located to the right of the search text field (which looks like a tiny pair of binoculars) starts the search. The InfoCenter toolbar also includes buttons for accessing Subscription Center, Communication Center, and Favorites. For each of these buttons, a pop-up dialog box appears