topic Re: Creating new types of Operator Nodes by code in 3ds Max Forum

Creating new types of Operator Nodes by code

nnikbin — Wed, 07 Sep 2016 05:05:39 GMT

Hi,

I'd appreciate it if anybody could answer the following questions:

1- Is it possible to create new types of simple operator nodes in MCG by writing programs, and adding them to the list of Nodes/Operators. I know that we can create Compound nodes but I'm looking for simple nodes like Sphere, BoxContainsBox, ...

2- Which file(s) contain(s) the source code or binary code of simple (non-compound) Nodes/Operators

Thanks in advance,

Navid

Re: Creating new types of Operator Nodes by code

Alfred.DeFlaminis — Thu, 08 Sep 2016 23:03:02 GMT

Hello @nnikbin,

I'd like to try to help point you in the direction where you can find some answers here. When it comes to programming, I'm a bit out of my depth. I have some links here that may help. There is also a facebook group specifically for the MCG you might be interested in. Youtube has a slew of tutorials as well that may help.

Regarding the source code/binary code, I would need to look into it to see if it's even available. There is a folder located at "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2017\MaxCreationGraph" which contain some scripts related to the MCG, but you probably already found that. There are 2 sphere nodes already inside the creation graph, "Sphere" and "SphereQuadMesh".

Best Regards,

Re: Creating new types of Operator Nodes by code

nnikbin — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 01:32:00 GMT

Hi Alfred,

Thanks for your answers. I think I was not able to convey what I'm looking for correctly. Suppose that I want to create a new node and add it to the list of available nodes at the left side of MCG window and I do not want to create it as a compound node, but I want to create it by coding, something like creating a new Dependency Graph Node using Maya SDK. How can I do it? Is there any tool for creating a new type of non-compound node for MCG? and where this non-compound nodes are saved?

I think "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2017\MaxCreationGraph" is the path for compound nodes.

Thanks again

Navid

Re: Creating new types of Operator Nodes by code

Swordslayer — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 07:36:48 GMT

There's only anecdotal evidence that it indeed is possible, see post #327, that says that Daniel Santana knows how to do that. If you find out a way to do that, please post here for others searching for the solution.

Re: Creating new types of Operator Nodes by code

Alfred.DeFlaminis — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 15:50:16 GMT

Hello @nnikbin,

I'm going email a few people to try to find an answer to your question, when I hear back I will update here on this thread. I apologize for the inconvenience here, but this question is a bit beyond my ability to answer so I need to run it up the chain. I appreciate your patience.

Best Regards,

Re: Creating new types of Operator Nodes by code

nnikbin — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 16:06:22 GMT

Many thanks Alfred,

I look forward to hear from you

Re: Creating new types of Operator Nodes by code

Swordslayer — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 18:56:56 GMT

Apologies for bad link in the previous post, here's the correct link, look for post #327.

Re: Creating new types of Operator Nodes by code

nnikbin — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 20:04:46 GMT

Thanks Swordslayer,

Interesting discussion! I'm wondering how you found that related post!? 🙂

Re: Creating new types of Operator Nodes by code

Swordslayer — Fri, 09 Sep 2016 20:29:51 GMT

I¨m subscribed to that thread, made a few observations along the way and few of benchmarks of maxscript vs mcg - and it's also my sentiment that being able to create our own 'native' nodes, not the intepreted compounds, would allow for a greater control over the speed/optimizations and the whole logic, as the functional approach often just doesn't cut it. Plus there are some nodes that you cannot make from the ready-made ones, like SelectedSceneNodes - you can get all scene nodes but AFAIK there's no way to tell if any of them is selected, unless you use EvalMAXScript, which just doesn't feel right and is cumbersome...

Re: Creating new types of Operator Nodes by code

Alfred.DeFlaminis — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 20:35:55 GMT

Hello @nnikbin,

I just wanted to follow up here. I have been reached by one of the 3ds Max developers and the official word is that there is no officially supported method of doing this at this time. However, I was able to get my hands on a lot of links regarding the MCG, so I am sharing them here though they don't resolve your issue directly. (They may help though). I realize this isn't the answer you wanted but it is the official answer for this problem.

Best Regards,

Re: Creating new types of Operator Nodes by code

nnikbin — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 21:06:45 GMT

Hi @Alfred.DeFlaminis,

Many thanks for your answer and for these interesting links. Your answer is actually what I was looking for.

Regards,

Navid

Re: Creating new types of Operator Nodes by code

Alfred.DeFlaminis — Tue, 13 Sep 2016 21:19:29 GMT

Hello @nnikbin,

Happy to be of service, thank you so much for your time.

Best Regards,