3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [39]
The viewport labels are divided into a General menu (shown as a plus sign), a point of view label, and a shading method label. The various pop-up menus for these labels also include many of the settings found in the Viewport Configuration dialog box, but the dialog box lets you alter several settings at once. You can also make this dialog box appear for the active viewport by right-clicking any of the Viewport Navigation Control buttons in the lower-right corner.
The Viewport Configuration dialog box contains several panels, including Visual Style & Appearance, Layout, Safe Frames, Display Performance, Regions, Statistics, ViewCube, and SteeringWheels. The Preference Settings dialog box also includes many settings for controlling the behavior and look of the viewports.
New Feature
Several Viewport Configuration panels have been simplified in 3ds Max 2012. Two panels were combined into the Visual Style & Appearance panel, and the Display Performance panel also has been greatly simplified. •
Cross-Reference
See Chapter 4, “Customizing the Max Interface and Setting Preferences,” for more on the Preference Settings dialog box and all its options. •
Setting the viewport visual style
Complex scenes take longer to display and render. The renderer used for the viewports is highly optimized to be very quick, but if you're working on a huge model with lots of complex textures and every viewport is set to display the highest quality view, then updating each viewport can slow the program to a crawl. The Viewport Configuration dialog box's Visual Style & Appearance panel, shown earlier in Figure 2.13, lets you set the visual style settings for the current viewport.
Tip
If you ever get stuck waiting for Max to complete a task, such as redrawing the viewports, you can always press the Escape key to suspend any task immediately and return control to the interface. •
Note
These settings have no effect on the final rendering specified using the Rendering menu. They affect only the display in the viewport. •
Rendering levels
The Rendering Level options, from slowest to fastest, include the following:
• Realistic: Shows smooth surfaces with lighting highlights
• Shaded: Shows smooth surfaces without any lighting effects
• Consistent Colors: Shows the entire object with minimal lighting
• Hidden Line: Shows only polygon edges facing the camera
• Wireframe: Shows all polygon edges only
• Bounding Box: Shows a box that would enclose the object
New Feature
Most of the rendering levels in 3ds Max 2012 have been renamed, and a few have gone away, simplifying the list. •
Cross-Reference
Within the Rendering Level drop-down list are several Stylized options, including Graphite, Color Pencil, Ink, Color Ink, Acrylic, Pastel, and Tech. These non-photorealistic rendering methods also can be rendered and are covered in Chapter 24, “Rendering Non-Photorealistic Effects.” •
Although it really isn't a rendering method, the Edged Faces option shows the edges for each face when a shaded rendering method is selected. You can enable and disable this option with the F4 keyboard shortcut. Figure 2.16 shows, side by side, all the various viewport rendering methods applied to a simple sphere.
FIGURE 2.16
The viewport rendering methods are shown from left to right. First Row: Realistic, Shaded, Consistent Colors, Hidden Line, and Wireframe. Second Row: Bounding Box, and Edged Faces applied to Shaded.
The Realistic shading method uses any applied textures and high-quality lighting and shadows. The Shaded method is similar, but it uses a quick shading method called Phong shading. The Consistent Color method displays the entire object using a