@StephenMF wrote:
I have a productivity tip.
I have my thumb button mapped to "NumPad 0"
This gives my quick access to the functions I use the most.
NumPad 0 = Zoom Extents All Selected
Ctrl + NumPad 0 = Collapse (poly)
etc.
etc.
Enjoy.
Stephen
I have them remapped to Ctrl and Alt - makes it more comfortable to add/subtract from selection, rotate viewport etc. Then again, I use AutoHotkey extensively and have all the other mouse buttons remapped to different actions in different contexts as well. Anyway, some tips and tricks:
While shift moving to copy or instance an object, you can use space button to confirm instead of clicking the OK button - much faster when doing this often.
You can switch between viewports in a way similar to WinTab switching programs by using the Windows key + Shift. This works both with one maximized view and when cycling through the visible views.
When you want to scale only positions of a set of objects, link them to a dummy placed where you want the scale center to be, switch to the Hierarchy panel -> Affect Hierarchy Only and scale the dummy.
If you want to tweak parameters of a modifier but the gizmo obstructs your view (say a noise gizmo), click the Pin Stack toggle and deselect the object - the gizmo will disappear and you will still be able to change the parameters.
To invert vertex colors, you can use UVW XForm - choose Vertex Color Channel and flip all the channels. Works on face/element selection as well.
Symmetry uses the current Subobject selection as the center as long as subobject mode is active when adding it, so when your pivot is not at the desired symmetry plane, select one edge on that plane and add the Symmetry Modifier (if there are modifiers above, sometimes it wonn't work until they are turned off). The Symmetry gizmo will be placed at the center of the selection.
You can use the Select by Name dialog with any pick node event - for example when Link mode is active and it would be hard to pick the parent by clicking, press H and pick the parent from the list.
Align/Normal Align tools also work with any subobject selection.
If AutoGrid is on and you hold down the Alt key, the User Grid displayed together with the object you are creating will remain active (won't work when in AutoKey mode).
If you want a material to render completely black under all circumstances, use Multi/Sub Object material with one slot, righ-click that slot and choose Clear to remove the material.
You can convert the new boolean objects (2017+) to Editable Spline to get the spline at the intersection of the operands. Spline based modifiers work as well.
With some modifiers such as FFD(box), the Show End Result button state doesn't stick and you cannot see the result of the stack. To fix that, paste enableShowEndRes true in the miniListener commandline and press Enter.
If you work in a vertex subobject mode and only want to see the smoothed result of the stack and not the vertex dots, add a Poly Select modifier. You can also turn off the edge cage under Subdivision Surface -> Show Cage.
Most of the time, the Transform Type-In dialog (F12) is not really needed - you can switch Absolute/Offset mode of the three spinners in the status panel with the button on the left.
UVW Map has a very useful Acquire button - you can pick another object with mapping and it will acquire that mapping (Realtive/Absolute). Useful when adding a new object to a set of already mapped ones.
Many people know there's the Edit > Select By > Color so you can click an object and select all the objects with the same wirecolor. Sometimes it's hard to pick that object in the viewport and you don't know its name but you know the color - and for that, there's the Select By Color button in the Object Color pallette - it's in the lower right and there's only an icon, no name.
You can pick any color on the screen with the color picker - first, click the eydropper under the color palette, click inside the color palette and HOLD the mouse button. Now you can move the cursor outside the color palette and pick from your reference pictures, photoshop or anywhere else.
Max File Finder is the maxfind.exe utility in Max root folder, which makes it easy to find a scene by a material name used in it, object name, author, plugins, you name it.
When you want two object to share the same rotation, x-position etc., you can use Wire Parameters but it's much easier to copy the controller and paste it as an instance. In list controllers, this works as Relative offset, in top-level, it's absolute.
