Change Viewport Statistics to be a Max Program setting instead of a File Setting

[Anonymous]

Every time I turn on statistics for viewports it defaults to:

Polys:

Verts:

FPS:

As a games industry professional, I care about Tris & Verts. As such EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. I load a file I have to change this setting.

I really don't want this setting to exist on a per file basis.  I want to set this so it is the same for every file I open.

I know I can change the settgings, and save it to a Maxstart file. This doesn't help me when I am opening files from literally hundreds of artists who don't have the same setup. It is a horrible UX for someone in my position. This issue has plagued me for years.

I understand some users may like the feature the way it is. The fix is simple.

Add a the button "Make Current Default", and a button "Reset Defaults"

This seems like it would be a pretty easy addition to all of the other user settings Max records.

For the love of god, please make this change...

[Anonymous]

You can set that in maxstart.max   

maxtart.max is another place where you can customization 3dsmax.

3dsmax configuration is split in several faces. 

*.ui  Files 

medit.mat

maxstart.max

custom > preferences

*.ini files

etc. 

maxtart.max takes control over Viewports, F10 windows, and several more. 

[brentscannell]

Personally I am not a huge fan of Maxstart.max for preferences

This is actually a topic that we are looking at from a wide view (where settings are stored). One conceptual approach that was presented was a series of option overrides, which I'd like to get your opinion on for this particular setting.

If you modified the default settings (let's assume you didn't have to edit maxstart.max for the project and just stored your settings in a .prefs file somewhere that was remembered by Max), and then a file was coming in with different settings,

would you want to know that the file had different settings than what you current have?

Would you want to be prompted to adopt the file's settings and override your own, much like the file units warnings?

Would you you expect to be able to set the "show me this prompt again" settings to either always override or never override?

Would such a prompt apply for ALL incoming settings from a file, or would you like to set overrides on a per setting basis? An example would be: artist sets up a scene with specific file units, viewport stats, viewport display settings, etc. Would you want to inherit the viewport display settings and unit settings, but not the stats options?

[Anonymous]

@Anonymous 

As stated in the original post. Maxstart.max only helps for files that I create personally. My issue is when I load files created by other users. Since you pointed this out, a larger issue is that user preferences are spread over several files. Why? IMO there should be a general User Pref file for all of Max, and a keyboard pref file. (I still accept use cases for ini files as well)

@brentscannell 

I would love a separate (unified) preferences file. Most programs I use have them, and most have had them for 20 years. 

Before diving into your more specific questions, I would like to state a general thesis on which all of my answers are based. This is a philosophical divide that affects more than this single issue.

There is data that is pertinent to the scene, and there is data that is pertinent to the user.

• Data that is pertinent to the scene should be saved in the max file.
• Units Setup
• FPS Setup
• (Just as an example: In Maya y-up/z-up would also be one of these)
• Anything that similarly affects the content of the scene. Its seems to me this list would be pretty small.
• Data that is pertinent to the user's personal workflow should be saved in a user preferences file.
• Statistics setup
• Viewport Setup
• Keyboard shortcut preferences
• Anything that similarly effects the user's interaction with scene 

As a user:

• It is important to me: that the file is setup for 24 fps and the units are meters, because that is what the project I am working on requires.
• It is not important to me: that the last user that opened the file was measuring number of polygons in the statistics when they should have been more interested in vertex and triangle counts for the project purposes, or that they were working in quad view layout with 4 random user views last time they saved the file.

I feel that including the Statistics and Viewport setup in the max file is almost as ridiculous as if the keyboard shortcuts were saved with the max file. So, if a user opened a file that was last saved by another user, suddenly all of your hotkeys are different. Statistics and Viewport setup are part of the users’ workflow, not a property of the scene.

I concentrate on Statistics and Viewport settings because they have been a constant annoyance ever since I started sharing files with other users. As there are probably many settings being saved that I am completely ignoring/forgetting; I believe it is likely there are other many items that are stored in .max files that are completely extraneous in terms of transfer to another user (IMO). 

Regarding the specific examples you provided:

If you modified the default settings (let's assume you didn't have to edit Maxstart.max for the project and just stored your settings in a preferences file somewhere that was remembered by Max), and then a file was coming in with different settings,

• would you want to know that the file had different settings than what you current have?
• Would you want to be prompted to adopt the file's settings and override your own, much like the file units warnings?

The following answer applies to both of these questions simultaneously.

Yes - but only for scene pertinent data as described before. It is imperative that I, as a user, be aware of those settings when loading a new file that differs.

My opinion: user workflow pertinent data, as outlined above, should be excluded and not even offered. It does not need to be saved in the .max file. If I want the previous user’s setup that badly, they can share their preferences file with me. At the very least I would prefer to be able to opt-out of it.  

• Would you expect to be able to set the "show me this prompt again" settings to either always override or never override?

If it is necessary to include user workflow pertinent data, this seems very reasonable to me. There would of course need to be some easy way to turn that off the auto override in case it has unintended consequences for the user at some point.

• Would such a prompt apply for ALL incoming settings from a file, or would you like to set overrides on a per setting basis? An example would be: artist sets up a scene with specific file units, viewport stats, viewport display settings, etc. Would you want to inherit the viewport display settings and unit settings, but not the stats options?

Short answer: yes - in the interest of offering maximum flexibility to the user. If this is the only resolution possible, I would at least be given the option to opt-out of settings that I do not wish to adopt.  I would also suggest this be a single dialogue box with check-marks for “keep current”/ “import from file” akin to windows current system for comparing files when copying files of the same name into a folder.

However, I still simply feel the larger issue is lumping Unit Settings, Viewport Display Settings, Statistics Settings , and into the same broad category - "scene settings". One is vital to the definition of the scene - the others are user workflow preferences. Why pass on user workflow preferences at all?

I know unintended consequences may arise from some of what I am suggesting here. I am suggesting: do not save Viewport setup with .max files. What I mean? Do not change my Viewport settings and especially layout when I load a new file. However; I know it is possible to save individual viewports while working. Do I think saved viewports should be included in the max file? Absolutely! (I'm making an assumption it's possible these are connected under the hood thus my reference to unintended consequences)

If you have any other questions, require clarification, or additional opinion please let me know! 

[dswahn]

I'd like to see a "Make Default" feature for viewport statistics. It's quite annoying to change for every new scene you make.