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The Open Last Rendered Image button in the RAM Player interface window provides quick access to the last rendered image. The Close Channel button clears the channel. The Save Channel button opens a file dialog box for saving the current file.

Caution

All files that load into the RAM Player are converted to 24-bit images. •

The Channel A and Channel B (toggle) buttons enable either channel or both. The Horizontal/Vertical Screen Split button switches the dividing line between the two channels to a horizontal or vertical line. When the images are aligned one on top of the other, two small triangles mark where one channel leaves off and the other begins. You can drag these triangles to alter the space for each channel.

The frame controls let you move between the frames. You can move to the first, previous, next, or last frame and play the animation forward or in reverse. The drop-down list to the right of the frame controls displays the current frame rate setting.

You can capture the color of any pixel in the image by holding down the Ctrl key while clicking the image with the right mouse button. This puts the selected color in the color swatch. The RGB value for this pixel is displayed in the blue title bar.

The Double Buffer button synchronizes the frames of the two channels.

Tip

You can use the arrow keys and Page Up and Page Down keys to move through the frames of the animation. The A and B keys are used to enable the two channels. •

Tutorial: Using the RAM Player to combine rendered images into a video file

Not only can the RAM Player be used to load and compare images, but also it can handle animation files. It also can load in multiple frames of an animation that were saved as individual image files and save them back out as an animated file.

To combine multiple rendered image files into a video file using the RAM Player, follow these steps:

1. Select the Rendering⇒RAM Player menu command to open the RAM Player. Then click on the Open Channel A button and locate the Exploding Planet - frame 10.tif file from the Chap 23 directory on the CD.

This file is the first rendered frame of a ten-frame animation.

2. The Image File List Control dialog box opens. Using this dialog box, you can specify the Start and End Frames to load. You also can select to load every nth frame. Select 0 as the Start Frame and 9 as the End Frame and click OK.

3. The RAM Player Configuration dialog box loads next, letting you set the Resolution and Memory Usage for the loaded files. Click OK to accept the default values.

All of the image files that share the same base name as the selected file are loaded into the RAM Player sequentially. Press the Play button to see the loaded animation.

4. Click on the Save Channel A button to access the file dialog box, where you can save the loaded animation using the AVI, MPEG, or MOV video formats.

Figure 23.11 shows one frame of the loaded animation files.

FIGURE 23.11

This rendered image is just one of a series of rendered animation frames that can be viewed in the RAM Player.

Using Command-Line Rendering

Within the default installation directory is a file named 3dsmaxcmd.exe. This file lets you initiate the rendering of files using a command-line interface. This feature enables you to create batch files that can be used to start Max, load several scenes, and render them automatically during the night while you sleep. You can find a command prompt interface in Windows XP using Start⇒All Programs⇒Accessories⇒Command Prompt.

Cross-Reference

If you're not comfortable with executing commands using the command line, you can set up batch rendering using the Batch Render feature covered in Chapter 48, “Batch and Network Rendering.” •

If you type 3dsmaxcmd -?, the command line returns a list of available parameters that you can use. Typing 3dsmaxcmd –x returns several sample commands. The simplest command to render a scene called coolstuff.max would be 3dsmaxcmd