help with camera controls in 3DS Max

[Anonymous]

hey im new to 3ds max, i ported a model i made in blender and i'm trying to work on it in 3ds max now but i'm getting a lot of problems with this program that are very frustrating.

So one of the issues i'm having is simply controling the viewport camera...

The zoom increments are way to intense, i'm far away from the model and if i try to zoom a little it goes right passed it.

I tried adjusting it in the "customize user interface" menu but the results are very inconsistent.

For instance :

- it only affected 1 viewport, any others are still as before.

- the distance i'm able to zoom in or out caps randomly. Sometimes i couldnt get near my model at all.

- for some reason, the 1 viewport which was affected by the new setting is no longer affected by it.

Another problem I'm having with the camera is the pivot point.

I dont know how to set the pivot point for my camera, and its constantly changing and seems to be very random as it will sometime choose a point that is extremely far from my model and i will lose sight of my character as soon as i pivot just a little bit because my camera is now a mile away from it.

Your post subject line has been edited by @hagen.deloss: help with camera controls

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

What version of max are you using? Assuming it is a recent version and you are talking about the viewport camera, not the render camera gizmo.

Check your Zoom problems are not from your scene settings. This would be a separate problem.  Start with a clean Max and check in simple geometries. For that close and open max and create a few primitives.  

Pivot is indicated bit a small green sphere that appears where you click with alt. You need to use the shortcut alt and central mouse button.

Check "orbit point of interest" option first, the one that looks a blue point with a circle around.

[hagen.deloss · Accepted solution]

Hello @Anonymous

Great to hear from you on the 3DS Max forums! I wanted to check in and see if you had a chance to test out @Anonymous's suggestions? I would also recommend checking to see if your Blender file was made using the same unit measurements as the scene in 3DS Max you are opening it with. You can check unit settings by navigating to Customize>Units Setup. If your Blender scene was made in inches, I would change your unit setup in Max to reflect that.

Another useful tool is the hotkey "Z", which zooms in on any given object you have selected in your scene, and, while holding ALT+middle mouse button, you can circle that object (as Karl pointed out). If you hold down on just your middle mouse button, that will pan around your scene. If you are in an editable poly's sub-object mode, the Z key can focus you in on the objects selected vertices, edges or faces as well.

Here is a video that outlines a lot of the additional navigation tools.

I hope this extra information helps!

Please select the Accept as Solution button if a post solves your issue or answers your question.

[hagen.deloss]

Hi @Anonymous

I wanted to check back and see if a post helped you with your problem. It would be super helpful if you could add a post with how you decide to proceed, and your results. That way other Community members can benefit from your process 😄

Please select the Accept as Solution button if a post solves your issue or answers your question.

[dewaine50]

Do you know how to change camera control so that right click hold will rotate

[hagen.deloss]

Hi @dewaine50 ,

I don't think that is a specific option, it usually needs to be a Mouse operation+ a keybinding. if you would like to learn more about customizing 3ds Max Mouse movement bindings, take a look at this documentation here. 

That would be under the menu path Customize menu > Customize User Interface > Mouse tab.

I hope this helps!