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Minor Improvements

In addition to the major improvements, many minor improvements make working with objects, materials, and other facets of Max easier. Minor improvements found in version 2012 include the following:

• Darker default theme: Max has adopted as default the darker interface theme, which is easier on your eyes in low light.

• Online help files: The Max help files are opened in a web browser loaded from Autodesk.com when accessed using the Help menu. This ensures the latest and most up-to-date version of the help files.

• Faster start-up time: Max 2012 starts up more quickly and requires less memory than previous versions. This is accomplished by loading only the tools needed.

• mental ray 3.9: Max 2012 includes the latest version of mental ray 3.9.

• Undo feature in Slate Material Editor: The Slate Material Editor now allows undo and redo commands.

• Vector displacement maps: Vector displacement maps exported from Mudbox are now supported within Max.

• Screen Clone feature: The Viewport Canvas has a new feature that lets you clone an image from anywhere on the computer screen, including Photoshop if it is open.

• ProOptimizer improvements: The ProOptimizer modifier has been improved to yield better, faster results. You also can interpolate the optimized mesh by UVs and normals.

• Single-step transfer to other Autodesk products: Max's File menu includes a Send To option for sending the current scene to Softimage, Mudbox, or MotionBuilder automatically.

• Support for WIRE files: 3ds Max 2012 allows WIRE files from Autodesk Alias Design to be imported into Max as Body objects.

Appendix B: What's on the CD-ROM

In This Appendix

System requirements

Using the CD with Windows

What's on the CD

Troubleshooting

Throughout this book, you'll find many tutorials that help you understand the principles being discussed. All the example files used to create these tutorials are included on the CD that comes with this book. In addition to these files, you'll find sample 3D models and an electronic version of the book.

This appendix provides you with information on the contents of the CD. For the latest and greatest information, please refer to the Readme file located at the root of the CD.

System Requirements

Make sure that your computer meets the minimum system requirements listed in this section. If your computer doesn't match up to most of these requirements, you may have a problem using the contents of the CD.

For Windows 7 (recommended), Windows Vista, Windows XP Professional SP2, or Windows XP Home Edition SP2:

• Intel® Pentium® III or AMD® processor, 500 MHz or higher (dual Intel)

• Xeon® or dual AMD Athlon® or Opteron® (32-bit system recommended)

• 512MB RAM (1GB recommended)

• 500MB swap space (2GB recommended)

• Graphics card supporting 1024 × 768 × 16-bit color with 64MB RAM (OpenGL® and Direct3D® hardware acceleration supported; 3D graphics accelerator 1280 × 1024 × 32-bit color with 256MB RAM recommended)

• Microsoft® Windows®–compliant pointing device (optimized for Microsoft IntelliMouse®)

• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6

• A CD drive

Using the CD with Windows

To install the items from the CD to your hard drive, follow these steps:

1. Insert the CD into your computer's CD drive. The license agreement appears.

Note

The interface won't launch if you have autorun disabled. In that case, click Start⇒Run. In the dialog box that appears, type D:\start.exe. (Replace D with the proper letter if your CD drive uses a different letter. If you don't know the letter, see how your CD drive is listed under My Computer.) Click OK. •

2. Read through the license agreement, and then click the Accept button if you want to use the CD. After you click Accept, the License Agreement window won't appear again.

The CD interface appears. The interface allows you to install the programs and run the demos with just a click of a button (or two).

What's on the CD

The