3D Max is my primary software for 3d work; I’ve been using it for over 7years now. It is full of gems that lots of people don’t know about. So in this series, I will be sharing with you some of the ones I use on a daily basis.
Tip #1
The first tip is actually a command panel that is hidden under Edit. It’s so useful that I have setup a keyboard shortcut for it (I’ve set it to “N”)
This awesome command panel is called Transform Toolbox. I'm only going to cover the buttons that I use the most. You can explore the rest, and share in the comment how you use them :)
1-It offers a quick rotate that is dependent on your viewport. so depending on how you are looking at your object, Max will rotate it for you accordingly. You can set up the rotation angles as you like, or use the drop down menu that comes with some presets.
2-The little “R” button there is GOLD! What it does, is Reset the Xform for you and then collapse the stack all in ONE single click! I use it all the time.
Transform Toolbox
3-I use to spend so much time manipulating my pivot manually (or with snaps) to make it align according to what I needed…and then I discovered “Align Pivot”. This little tool rocks !
It allows you to manipulate your pivot so easily. All you have to do is set whether you want it on Min/Man/Center/Origin and then click on the access(X,Y,Z) that you want to be moved. Center will center your pivot to your mesh, and Origin will put the pivot in the origin of the world.(PRO TIP: You can also have multiple meshes selected when manipulating the pivot)
Keep in mind that it is using the bounding box of your mesh, so make sure you have reset your xform before.
4-The last one is Center which will move your mesh to the origin of the world and then Qclone which I don’t use as much but is a pretty nifty tool. Kinda works like the Rotate tool, but instead this one will clone your asset according to how you are looking at it on the viewport. (Hold shift to make an instance or hold Alt to make to 2 instance copies)
This will wrap it up for this first tip and trick series on 3D Max. Let me know what you think in the comment below, or if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask !
Thanks for stopping by, and keep on learning !
