3ds Max 2012 Bible - Kelly L. Murdock [40]
Note
Many material effects, such as bump and displacement maps, cannot be seen in the viewport and show up only in the final render. •
Viewing transparency
In addition to these shading types, you also can set the viewport to display objects that contain transparency (which is set in the Material Editor dialog box). The Transparency option is located under the viewport Shading label in the Material submenu. The Enable Transparency option also is located in the Visual Style & Appearance panel of the Viewport Configuration dialog box and in the Views⇒Show Materials in Viewport As menu. Figure 2.17 shows the transparency option disabled and enabled with the help of a hungry little animated creature and his ghostly rival.
New Feature
Previous versions of Max included options for making transparency appear as None, Simple, and Best, but improvements in the way transparency is displayed made these different options unnecessary. •
FIGURE 2.17
Transparency in the viewport can be enabled using the Views⇒Show Materials in Viewport As menu.
Other rendering options
The other rendering options, such as Disable View (D), Viewport Clipping, and an option to turn Textures on and off also are available. These options can help speed up viewport updates or increase the visual detail of the objects in the viewport.
Tip
At any time during a viewport update, you can click the mouse or press a key to cancel the redraw. Max doesn't make you wait for a screen redraw to be able to execute commands with the mouse or keyboard shortcuts. •
Within the Selection section are several options that make it easier to see the selected object and/or subobjects. The Selection Brackets option displays white corners around the current selection. Selection brackets are useful for helping you see the entire size of a grouped object, but can be annoying if left on with many objects selected. Uncheck this option (or press the J key) to make these brackets disappear. The option to Display Selected with Edged Faces helps to highlight the selected object. If this option is enabled, then the edges of the current selection are displayed regardless of whether the Edged Faces check box is enabled. Figure 2.18 shows the grips of an M-203 rifle that was created by Viewpoint Datalabs selected with the Display Selected with Edged Faces and the Use Selection Brackets options enabled. These options make the current selection easy to see.
FIGURE 2.18
The Display Selected with Edged Faces and Use Selection Brackets options make identifying the current selection easy.
You use Shade Selected Faces (F2) to shade selected subobject faces in red, making them easy to see. The Shade Selected Objects option causes the selected object to be shaded. This is noticeable only if the render level is set to Wireframe or Hidden Line. It causes the selected object to be shaded.
Note
The Shade Selected Faces (F2) option, which shades selected subobject faces, is different from the Views⇒Shade Selected menu command, which turns on shading for the selected object in all viewports. •
Using clipping planes
Clipping planes define an invisible barrier beyond which all objects are invisible. For example, if you have a scene with many detailed mountain objects in the background, working with an object in the front of the scene can be difficult. By setting the clipping plane between the two, you can work on the front objects without having to redraw the mountain objects every time you update the scene. This affects only the viewport, not the rendered output.
Enabling the Viewport Clipping option in the viewport point-of-view label menu places a yellow line with two arrows on the right side