Additional Notes About 3ds max 6

This file contains the latest information regarding 3ds max 6 software. For continuously updated information on all
Discreet products, visit our website at:
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Installing, Registering, and Authorizing 3ds max 6

3ds max 6 displays the Register Today wizard upon startup. Choose Authorize 3ds max 6 and the wizard
guides you through the brief registration and authorization process. You then have 30 days to enter a valid
authorization code before the software disables itself on that machine.

Before a user with Restricted Privileges can run 3ds max 6 under the Windows operating system, an
Administrator must start the program at least once. This generates registry information, which completes the install.

The installation program needs to be run from the primary CD/DVD drive or the drive with the lowest letter
designation.

SETUP.EXE should be used if youve copied the contents of the CDs to a fixed (local or network) drive.
CDSETUP.EXE should be used when running setup from the CD. Using the wrong executable can result in the
setup interface not finding all of the installers.

If you wish to view any of the PDF files during the installation and Acrobat has been installed but never run, it will
appear as if the PDF file is not loading. In these instances Acrobat will display a license agreement dialog that
can be hidden behind the Demoshield window. Use ALT-TAB to switch to the Acrobat dialog.

When you uninstall 3ds max 6 your configuration files will remain in the \3dsmax6 folder. These include your
custom ui and plugin.ini file, which may contain 3rd-party plugin authorization information. You can reinstall 3ds
max 6 to this folder at a later date, and your setting will persist. If you do not want your settings to persist, install
into a different folder.

The Repair feature only supports files that have internal versions (file versioning) with which it can use to track the
file. There are file types and partner programs in 3ds max 6 which do not provide this information. If the Repair
function does not successfully resolve the issues you are experiencing try uninstalling and then re-installing the
feature or partner program.

Network Deployment

When creating an interactive deployment, it is recommend that you select the compact install; then the user can
choose the installation type during install.

Network License Versions

Network licensing enables 3ds max (v4.3 and later) and character studio (v3.4 and later) software to obtain
authorization from a network license server. Before activating the network license server, you must upgrade to or
purchase the network-enabled version of 3ds max or character studio.

When using the network-licensed version of 3ds max, you must also use the network-licensed version of character
studio. The character studio licenses function independently of 3ds max licenses. For example, you can
purchase fewer character studio licenses than 3ds max licenses and "float" the character studio licenses among
the 3ds max stations, as long as all are floating licenses (standalone licensed character studio does not function
with 3ds max floating licenses).

When using the network-licensed version of character studio 4.2, however, you can choose between standalone
or network-licensed versions of 3ds max. In this case, it is important to set 3ds max and character studio to the
correct licensing mode, using their respective license configuration switchers (installed in the 3ds max 6 start
menu folder).

For license manager details, please refer to the Network Administrator's Guide, available by starting the Network
Setup Wizard from the Choose Setup Programs dialog (setup.exe in the root of your Product CD), and then clicking
View The Network Administrators Guide.

The 3ds max 6 installation program no longer creates a license file in the application root directory. The installer
has been improved to merge license server information directly into the registry. Should you still desire to
manually direct 3ds max 6 to a different license server using the license file method, you can create a licpath.lic
file using Notepad, containing the following two lines:
SERVER hostname hostid
USE_SERVER

Where hostname and hostid are the machine name and physical address of the license server. This information
can be obtained from your system administrator.

Notes About 3ds max 6 Features

3RD-PARTY PLUG-INS AND SCRIPTS

3ds max 6 has been recompiled with the Visual C++ version 7.0. Because of this, many plugins might need to be
re-compiled. If you experience problems such as the plug-in cant be loaded or cant be found even though it is
pathed correctly, you should contact the manufacturer to ascertain if a new version of the plug-in is available.

ACTIVESHADE

An ActiveShade floater or viewport updates every time a render element is added using the Render Scene dialog.

Moving or resizing an ActiveShade window over a Quicktime 6 window can cause a 3ds max 6 application failure

Changing the RectangleXYWH value in the [FloatingActiveShadeWindowRectangle] section of the 3dsmax.ini file
has no effect on the ActiveShade windows position or size.

Using Raytrace materials can cause the ActiveShade window to lose focus, activating the main UI keyboard
shortcuts. Click the ActiveShade window to reactivate ActiveShade keyboard shortcuts.

ASSET BROWSER

Autodesk VoloView is currently not supported.

Scene XRef drag and drop of files with scripts that depend on explicit scene object references can cause
unpredictable results or program failure.

BONES

Bones creation behavior can be unpredictable when using Snap Override. When you use SHIFT+right-click to
invoke Snap Override, the Bones system interprets this as a left-click and places a bone in the scene.

The Macro Recorder does not support Bones creation. However, you can manipulate the bones with the Macro
Recorder after creating them.

When Reassign Root is used it deletes and recreates new bones. Any animated parameters, controller setups,
and custom bone settings are lost, including IK chain assignments. You should use this tool before making any
adjustments or IK assignments to your bones.

When mirroring bones with the mirror tool it is advised to link the bones to a parent object and select it and the
bones before mirroring. The Mirror Tool applies negative scaling to the mirrored objects. Negatively scaled bones
can cause problems for some operations i.e. .fbx export/import)

Negatively scaled bones can now be set to unity with the Reset Scale button in Object Properties rollout of the
Bone Adjustment Tools dialogue. In tandem with the Reset Stretch and Realign buttons it is now easy to create
symmetrical bone chains free of scaling and stretch problems.

The Stretch Factor for the selected bone is now displayed in the Object Properties rollout of the Bone Adjustment
Tools dialogue.

BOOLEANS

Edges created during a Boolean operation involving compound (nested) Booleans might be visible when they
should be invisible. This affects only viewport display modes that display visible edges, such as Wireframe, Lit
Wireframes, and Edged Faces. These edges can be made invisible through mesh editing.

CAMERAS

Changing a Camera Corrected view to a User or Perspective view causes the view to display distorted geometry.
Changing to any other Axonometric view will correct this.

CHARACTERS

Use of the Unlink Selection tool on objects that are contained in Characters can produce unexpected results.
Instead, use the specific tools provided for adding and removing objects from Characters.

Objects with animated TCB Rotation controllers can shift position when a containing character is destroyed. To
avoid this, use Euler rotation controllers instead.

Pick Object must be used to add characters to groups because adding groups to a character by selecting it from
the viewport is not supported.

In some instances, the Character Error dialog can appear with no nodes listed. If this occurs, try reselecting or
selecting part of your hierarchy and then using Add Member to add more objects to your character.

Before entering the Skin Pose code for a character or group, it is advised to first set keys for all the members. The
easiest way to do this is to click Set Key Pose.

CLONING

The default value when cloning an object either through the objects right click menu or using the Edit/Clone menu
option has been changed to Instance. Shift-Clone still defaults to Copy.

COMBUSTION MAPS (FORMERLY PAINT*)

Loading IPP files from paint* is not supported. To use an IPP file, load it into the combustion application and
save it as a CWS file.

combustion needs to be installed on your system in order to view CWS files. It should also be installed on all
network-rendering servers if you are going to net-render a scene that contains CWS files. combustion does not
need to be authorized to process CWS files used within 3ds max net-rendering servers, but does need to be
present.

CWS files that were created as rub-throughs wont display unless combustion is installed on your computer.

In the Combustion Parameters rollout, when Track Time or Custom Resolution > Enable is turned on, viewport
selections are not highlighted.

If you are using a Combustion map with a Displace modifier or as a projector light map, the scene will not render
correctly while a live link exists between 3ds max and combustion. To render correctly, save the loaded
workspace file, and then turn off the Edit button to terminate the link between 3ds max and combustion.

Using the Combustion map (within 3ds max 6) with combustion and attempting to change the UV Coordinates
while Unwrap is selected and the Unwrap operation is visible in combustion, you might experience a
disconnection error in 3ds max. To correct this, verify that all your UV settings are in place before you attempt to
edit your map within combustion. The disconnection alert only appears when you have an object selected in your
scene, so if you unselect your object and change the Unwrap UV channels, no disconnection alert should appear.

The UV Offset values in the Coordinates rollout of the combustion map are not honored when painting directly
on the object in 3ds max 6. To offset the UVW Coordinates of the combustion map, apply a UVW Map modifier
and a UVW XForm modifier.

COMPOUND OBJECTS

When the Use Soft Selection check box is turned on in the Blobmesh compound object, objects that do not have
their own Use Soft Selection turned on will not generate a blobmesh surface. To correct this, enter the objects
sub-object mode, turn on the Use Soft Selection checkbox, and then exit the sub-object mode. A similar effect can
be achieved using a Select modifier, or by adding a Turn To modifier and turning on Invert in the Sub-objects
selection group.

CONTROLLERS
In 3ds max 6 the default controller assigned to the Path Constraint Percent parameter has been changed from
Bezier Float to Linear Float. In addition, Constant Velocity is on by default. This change was required in order to
provide by default a smooth motion at a constant velocity.
Third-party plug-in developers should be aware of this change of default controller especially if their code
assumes that the data comes from a Bezier Float controller. Because Bezier keys and Linear keys have different
signatures, code should test the type of controller assigned to the Percent parameter, and do data conversion as
necessary.
A data conversion can be done this way:
Control* linCtrl = CreateInstance(CTRL_FLOAT_CLASS_ID, Class_ID(LININTERP_FLOAT_CLASS_ID,0));
create a Linear Float controller.
linCtrl->Copy(bezCtrl);
// copy the keys from the Bezier
controller to the Linear controller.
pblock->AssignController(linCtrl, pblock->GetAnimNum(path_percent));
assume that the percent controller is hardcoded to 0.

//

// shouldn't

SHIFT+cloning path-constrained objects might not position copies properly. Creating clones of a path-constrained
object using the SHIFT+Move technique will not evenly space each clone from its previous sibling.

The Boolean controller is the new default controller for check boxes, replacing the On/Off controller. It is
recommended for use with Set Key because the value of a Boolean keyframe is either 0 or 1, whereas the value
of an On/Off keyframe represents a change in value. Use of the Boolean controller with Set Key will preserve the
current keyed state. An On/Off key will change the current state to the opposite one.

There is currently no action item for the Gimbal coordinate system.

In 3ds max 4, the TCB Controller was enhanced with the capability of performing quaternion rotations of greater
than 180 degrees. This enhancement allows objects to be wound up interactively in the viewports. This
enhancement produces a side effect when editing rotation keys in the timeline or in Track View. As a general rule,
a quaternion rotation takes the shortest path between rotation poses. However, when editing TCB rotation keys
using Delete, Cut and Paste, or Drag and Drop, or if keyframes are added in the middle of existing keyframes, the
animation near the edited keys might rotate opposite to its original direction. That is to say, it takes the long way
around to arrive at the same pose at the next keyframe. If this is undesirable, there are several remedies:
In 3ds max 5 a Rotation Windup check box was added to the Motion panel for TCB. When off,
the rotations are limited to <180 degrees. This will preserve any editing of rotation keyframes.
When on, rotations larger than 180 degrees are possible. It is recommended that you leave
Rotation Windups off until you require it for specific animation.
You might also want to change to the Euler XYZ controller, which will always produce correct
rotation poses after editing, regardless of windups at any keyframe. Euler XYZ is the default for
3ds max 6.

If an older scene containing a Local Euler controller is loaded into 3ds max 6, it will be recast as Euler XYZ. The
animation data and resulting animation will be precisely the same.

NURBS Point controllers should be individually reassigned from the Surface sub-object level rather than at the
Master Controller level in Track View in order to see their effect.

Master Point controllers are compound controllers, and depend on sub-controllers and their structure; therefore
you cannot cut and paste Master Point controllers.

Adding a Float List controller to a property with no keys, then adding a Bezier or TCB float, followed by a
procedural float controller (Noise or Waveform, for example) might cause product instability. To avoid instability,
make sure that animation is applied to the object before you add the controller.

Setting a motion track's input type to None after it was assigned to another type, such as Mouse or Keyboard, and
then using Undo can cause program failure.

CREATE PANEL

Using sub-object mode hotkeys (the numeric keys 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5) while creating Shape objects will cause
unrecoverable instability in 3ds max. If this occurs, exit and restart 3ds max.

CUSTOM ATTRIBUTES

Making a copy of a material that has custom attributes also copies the custom attributes. Any custom attribute
changes then affect both materials. Using Delete All to delete the Custom Attributes rollout on the copy should
end this behavior.

The default value in the Integer UI Options rollout is ignored when creating a new Integer custom attribute. The
value in the Float UI Options rollout is used instead. When creating a new Integer custom attribute, set the default
value in the Float UI Options rollout first, before defining the other values in the Integer UI Options rollout.

DAYLIGHT (IES SUN & SKY)

The positioning controller of the Daylight system does not exactly correspond to the one described by the IES
RP-21 Calculation of Daylight Availability standard, thus resulting in slight intensity variations at certain times and
locations.

DEPTH OF FIELD

Using atmospheric effects with the Depth Of Field rendering effect is currently not supported.

DOPE SHEET EDITOR

Performance can degrade when moving or coping keys for objects requiring intensive re-calculations based on
previous keys (for example HD IK.).

DISPLAY

The Direct3D Metal Bump viewport shader only supports .dds files as cube maps.

The Wave, Ripple, Bomb, Drag and UDynaFlect space warps will display with incorrect coloring under Direct3D.

Some video cards might display only half the lines on wireframe objects. To fix this, turn off the toggle Use
Wireframe Faces (Custom Driver Extension) on the Configure OpenGL dialog, located under Customize >
Preferences > Viewports panel.

Running 3ds max 6 with the track bar UI hidden can increase viewport performance. The track bar UI can be
turned off through Customize > Show UI and turning off Show Track Bar.

Running 3ds max 6 under Direct3D with Microsoft NetMeeting can cause display problems or product instability.

Direct3D does not support two-sided display for materials.

Best and Simple viewport transparency modes are the same for all D3D display drivers.

DirectX viewports might become unresponsive after Windows standby, running a screen saver, fast-user
switching, or locking the system.

Changing the DirectX Managers shader drop-down will cause the viewport to temporarily display the first frame
on an animated scene.

Users of the nVidia Quadro4 XGL display cards might see window flashing as the TrackView window opens. If this
occurs, disable the nView Desktop Manager using the NVIDIA Media Center. Choose nView Desktop Manager >
Disable.

Due to driver conflicts with some display systems, primarily laptop display cards, 3ds max might remain running
even after exiting. To end the 3ds max process, right click the windows taskbar and select Task Manager. Go to
the Processes tab and select 3dsmax.exe from the list, then click the End Process button and Yes.

Switching between vertex color, aplha, and illumination using Properties in Editable Poly when the display mode is
Direct3D can cause the colors to garble or not change. In this instance refreshing the viewport or entering or
exiting the editable poly's sub-object mode should force a refresh.

Direct3D viewports can become unresponsive after minimizing and maximizing when a viewport background is
displayed. If this occurs, please save your file and restart 3ds max.

DirectX 9 SHADER MATERIAL

DirectX 9 Shader materials can be inverted when applied to mirrored objects.

In a multi/sub-object material, the color swatches for a DirectX 9 Shader material cannot be set from the top level.
To change the color, go into the DX9 Shader material and adjust the Shaded color in the Software Render Style
rollout.

Multi/Sub-object materials can display incorrectly in the viewport when a DirectX 9 Shader material occupies the
first slot.

DYNAMICS UTILITY

The Dynamics utility is included within 3ds max 6 for legacy files only. For superior results, use reactor for any
dynamics simulations. The Dynamics utility will not be supported in future versions of 3ds max.

EDITABLE MESH

The Redraw Viewports shortcut key 1 doesnt work with Edit Mesh or Editable Meshes. To fix this, go to the
Customize > Customize User Interface dialog, Keyboard panel, under Group: Edit/Editable Mesh, and remove the
shortcut (1 by default) assigned to Vertex Level.

3ds max 3.x files that have a stack where an Edit Mesh modifier containing sub-object collapses is above a
MeshSmooth modifier, might load into 3ds max 6 with missing faces and distorted geometry. To correct this, load
the scene in 3ds max 3.1 and collapse the object to the highest MeshSmooth level in the stack (that's under the
Edit Mesh modifier with sub-object collapses), save that file, then re-open it in 3ds max 6.

EDITABLE POLY & POLYMESH OBJECT

If an Editable Mesh has face normals flipped in a non-uniform manner, converting it to an Editable Poly can cause
problems. The conversion process attempts to divide the object into elements to keep a legal condition. The
division method might be unpredictable and will probably be based on how many vertices are shared between
flipped and non-flipped faces. Unifying the normals before conversion is recommended. Or, you can detach the
flipped faces as elements before conversion, and the elements will be respected by the Editable Poly conversion.
This ensures a more orderly and predictable conversion.

Interior patch edges that are not displayed will always appear as visible edges after converting to a polymesh.

Some planar geometry using the 3ds max subdivision displacement (as opposed to the mental ray renderer
subdivision displacement) will render with unexpected results. To correct this problem, make the geometry slightly
non-planar (for example add a Bend modifier and set a bend of less than 1).

When in an edit mode such as Attach or Edit Triangulation, undoing a Stackview Convert To Editable Poly while
the Modify Panel is displayed and must be scrolled can result in program failure.

EDITABLE SPLINE
Mirroring a Spline Shape will remove Vertices and Tangent Handles.
FBX I/O (Kaydara)
In the Import FBX File dialog, there is no longer an Add to Current Scene or Hierarchy option. There is a Human
IK option that is available when the Human IK plug-in is present. This option imports the FBX character to Human
IK.

In the Export FBX File dialog, there is no Hierarchy option.

FILE I/O

3DS files created by the Rhino product (from Robert McNeel & Associates) can cause instability when imported
into 3ds max. If an assert error dialog is encountered, using Retry might result in a successful import, but this
might cause your session to destabilize.

FILE MENU

3ds max 6 files are not backward-compatible with previous versions of 3ds max and will not load in earlier
versions.

The Open Recent keyboard short cut might not always work when 3ds max 6 is initially launched. If it fails, click
one of the viewports then try the keyboard short cut again.

FLEX

Flex single-frame rendering can take a substantial amount of time. When a scene containing Flex is rendered at a
point in time far away from the Flex reference frame, the modifier must calculate the solution for all flexed points
from the reference frame to the current frame. During single-frame tests or net rendering, this could contribute to a
significant delay in overall rendering time. To correct this, add a Point Cache modifier above Flex and record the
flexed point data to disk. Then, disable all modifiers below Flex before you render.

GROUPS

Grouped objects that have animated TCB Rotation controllers can shift position when the object is removed from
the group. To avoid this effect, use Euler rotation controllers instead.

Use of the Unlink Selection tool on objects that are contained in Groups can produce unexpected results. Instead
use the specific tools provided for Attaching and Detaching objects from Groups.

HELP REFERENCE & TUTORIALS

The control descriptions in the Rendering Algorithim Rollout topic should be worded as follows:
Ray TraceWhen on, mental ray uses ray tracing to render reflections, refractions, Depth Of Field, and indirect
lighting (caustics and global illumination). When off, the renderer uses the scanline method only. Ray tracing is
slower but more accurate and more realistic. Default=on.
You must turn on Ray Trace to render reflections, refractions, Depth Of Field, and indirect lighting (caustics and
global illumination).

ScanlineWhen on, the renderer can use scanline rendering. When off, the renderer uses the ray-tracing
method only. Scanline rendering is generally faster than ray tracing, but cannot generate reflections, refractions,
caustics, shadows, or indirect lighting. Default=on.
Scanline MethodLets you choose the Scanline Rendering method from the Rendering Algorithms rollout of the
render dialog. The options are Normal or Rapid. Normal (the default) gives the highest quality. Rapid (for Rapid
Motion) renders object motion blur more quickly than the Normal method.

Due to late changes made to some of the default values of the mental ray shaders, some tutorials contain
inaccurate default values.

The help content for mental ray Preferences describes an Open Message Window button. This button is
not present in this release.

Information on the Water Surface Shadow shader was not included in the help content. Below is some information
that may help describe its use:
Water Surface Shadow - The lume water surface shadow shader can be used to get a more realistic shadow for
water scenes as it does not require expensive caustic computations. Nevertheless the strength of the shadow
depends on the waves of a water surface.
The parameters of Water Surface Shadow' are identical to Water Surface. For more information see the
documentation for Water Surface.
A typical use is to assign Water Surface to the Surface slot of a material, and then Water Surface Shadow to
the Shadow slot of the same material. To get good and fast results it is possible to use a constant color for the
Surface Material of Water Surface Shadow.

HIDE/FREEZE

In 3ds max 6, an object will be hidden or frozen if it resides on a hidden/frozen layer or if it is hidden/frozen at the
object level regardless of the state of the Display Properties By Layer/By Object toggle. To restore visibility and
selectability, use the Layer Manager to change the Hide and Freeze states of layers and objects as necessary.

Objects that were not hidden and not frozen in 3ds max 5.x files can unexpectedly be hidden or frozen when
opened in 3ds max 6 due to new changes to hide/freeze behavior. This will occur in 3ds max 5 files for two
different reasons:

1)

Where objects have their Display Properties set to By Object and they reside on a layer that is either
hidden or frozen (off or locked in 3ds max 5.1).

2)

Where objects have their Display Properties set to 'By Layer', while they are Hidden or Frozen at the
Object Level.

This is due to the fact that Hide and Freeze controls are no longer part of an object's Display Properties and are
not affected by the status of the By Object/By Layer toggle for Display Properties.

HOTKEYS

If Flash v5 or lower is installed on your computer, the text in the Hot Key Map will not display properly. Just go to
www.macromedia.com and download/install the latest free version of the Flash player (v7).

Prior to loading a *.kbd file from a previous version of 3ds max, manually remove the E from the Edit Keys Mode
action entry (under Track View group).

HSDS

Using HSDS on a mapped object breaks vertices and can distort the texture. This is a limitation, as there is no
provision for more than one texture vertex per vertex. To work around the problem, texture the output of HSDS
instead of the input.

INI FILES

Before editing 3dsmax.ini, or any other INI file, it is advised that you save a copy for backup. You can restore your
3dsmax.ini to factory defaults by removing it from the root \3dsmax6 folder and starting 3ds max.

INVERSE KINEMATICS

There can be instances where no warning will be displayed for an invalid IK dependency loop. It is possible to
create such a loop (with hierarchy links, controllers, or parameter wiring) that create an unpredictable IK solution.
The incorrect results are generally immediately evident and usually undoable.

Setting rotational joint limits on HI IK start joints might lead to unintuitive IK behavior. To correct this, free up as
many degrees (axes) of rotational freedom as possible. It can also help to adjust the preferred angles of the start
joint.

Conflicts may occur when you have an HI IK chain and use Assign Vertex Colors on the bones that make up that
chain. This conflict may cause subsequent file load problems. To correct, either collapse the stack after using the
Assign Vertex Colors utility, or add a VertexPaint or STL Check modifier to the top of the stack.

For HI IK, no MAXScript or parameter wiring is available for the Enabled state. This is as designed, as the
Enabled state is controlled by the new Boolean controller, which can be copied and instanced.

LAYERS

When a layers Shaded Viewport Display is used, it will be set to Facet if the viewport itself is displayed in nonSmooth mode. Once the viewport is set to Smooth + Highlights by right-clicking the viewport label, this will change
the layers default Facet display to Smooth.

Objects in 3ds max 5.x files that are on Layer 0 and have their color set to By Layer will be assigned a different
color when opened in 3ds max 6. This is due to the fact that in 3ds max 6, Layer 0 can now be assigned a
specific layer color and is treated like other layers in this regard. In 3ds max 5.x this wasn't possible and Layer 0
was treated as a special case. Layer 0 was not able to have its own layer color. Objects created on Layer 0 would
get their color assignments based on the status of the Object Color dialog's Assign Random Colors checkbox, just
as objects did in 3ds max before the Layer feature was introduced. When these objects are brought into 3ds max
6 for the first time, they will all adopt the Layer 0 color. This will only affect Layer 0 objects whose color is set to
By Layer.

LENS EFFECTS

A glow of small size doesn't appear to work when rendering to fields. To correct this, increase the size of the glow
before rendering.

Glow, on an Environment map, using Effects ID, will not work if Antialiasing is on.

Resetting 3ds max while the Video Post Lens Effects Setup dialog is displayed is not recommended.

LIGHT TRACER

Using the Matte Shadow material will produce incorrect shadow colors when rendering IES Sky with the Light
Tracer.

MACRO RECORDER

Not all features are macro-recordable.

MAP CHANNEL
When using the Map Channel Utility with patch objects, pasting channels can result in channel names being lost,
so name your channels after you've completed your copying and pasting.

MATERIAL EDITOR

When a noise map has been added as a material, the first launch of the Material Editor, in a 3ds max 6 session,
may be delayed. Subsequent launches of the Material Editor in the same session will not be delayed.

Blur and Blur Offset controls are enabled for all 3D maps, but can be used only with antialiased 3D maps such as
Noise.

The Make Unique button in the Material Editor also works on the map level of a material when you have a map
instanced to different channels of the same material.

Installing Microsoft Access after installing 3ds max 6 results in the MAT file type being reassigned as an Access
table file and not a 3ds max materials library file. To correct, use Windows Explorer > View > File Types to
reference the file type back to 3ds max 6.

Texture-mapped objects that are invisible at frame 0 and are missing UVW mapping coordinates will not be
textured in a rendered sequence when visibility is changed during the animation. To alleviate the problem, make
sure to have a UVW Map modifier on the object.

Use of recursive IFL files is not supported.

The startup default material library file has been moved to the \3dsmax6\defaults\max directory. You will need to
save it there in order for it to be used on startup.

MENTAL RAY:GENERAL

Raytracing 2-sided shadows is not currently supported with mental ray.

The raytracer settings in the Rendering menu are ignored when used with mental ray.

The "Render Atmospherics inside Raytraced Objects" flag within the Raytrace material is currently unsupported.

When scenes require more than 300 MBs to render, it is suggested to use "place holders". This enables "data
flushing" of everything that can be recreated later on thereby maximizing disk space usage. For example, the
"large BSP" can be partially flushed and recreated as other areas of the scene get rendered
Here's some information that should be considered when ray tracing large files:
grid

instancing
yes

flushing
no

largebsp
bsp

no
no

yes
no

Final Gathering requires Ray Tracing to be ON.

When creating large files for rendering with mental ray, especially ones using Final Gather, save your work before
rendering. Cancelling such a render could create a long wait time.

mental ray does not support antialiasing in the Material Editor.

The reflect/refract map is only partially supported with mental ray.

Materials generated by 3rd-party plug-ins are not supported in mental ray and can cause instability.

It is advised not to use Material to Shader in the 3ds max environment slot. This shader usually needs to be
placed on geometry in order to be evaluated.

mental ray does not support the Render Map feature in Material Editor.

Camera shaders will not be available in Material Editor via Get Material/From Scene until the file has been saved.

Sample spheres in the Material Editor are off center and not fully visible in when using 6x4 Sample Windows.

Very large displacement settings can cause 3ds max to become unstable. To avoid this instability, reduce large
factor values or change the displacement settings in the render dialog.

Scripting mental ray parameters is not supported in this release.

Gizmos with atmospherics assigned should have a positive height value in order to render correctly with mental
ray.

Scaling a gizmo being used for an atmospheric effect will, in turn scale the density of that effect when rendering
with the scanline renderer. mental ray does not perform this scaling. For the renderers to match after scaling such
a gizmo, the density of the atmospheric effect (Fire, Volume Fog, and so on) must be subsequently increased or
decreased.

Show Preview with mental ray Depth Of Field is not supported in this release.

Rendering objects with coincident faces is not supported in mental ray. Depth Of Field will not work correctly when
rendering objects with coincident faces using the mental ray renderer.

Instability may result from using a camera target as a focal node with Depth Of Field and the mental ray renderer.
Instead use the scanline renderer for such situations.

Pausing a rendering is not supported in this release.

The Reflect/Refract, Thin Wall Refraction, and Flat Mirror maps arent supported by mental ray.

Rendering outside the Safe Frame area with mental ray can cause instability when using Render Types (blowup,
crop and so on). To avoid this, render within the Safe Frame area or turn off Safe Frame.

Rendering Xrefed Atmospherics is not supported by mental ray.

Multi-Layer G-Buffers are not supported in this release of mental ray.

The Receive Shadows checkbox in Object Properties is not supported in this release of mental ray.

Using Rapid Scanline and G-Buffers is not supported in this release of mental ray.

The Alpha render element is unsupported when rendering atmospherics with mental ray. To work around this
problem, render to an image type that contains its own alpha channel.

The Blend render element is unsupported when rendering atmospherics with mental ray.

The Pseudo Color exposure control can render incorrectly with mental ray when used in conjunction with
atmospheric effects.

mental ray does not support colored shadows in render elements.

mental ray does not currently create all the channels required by RPF files. It does not support background, mask,
weight, or transparency.

mental ray will only output a single layer (the top one) of information into a RPF file.

The Visible To Camera checkbox in Object Properties is not supported.

In some cases, very high-poly objects can cause instability during rendering due to memory fragmentation.
Workarounds include:
1.

Split large objects into smaller ones. Aim for minimal overlapping with the bounding box of the new
objects. A good general rule is 10K-100K triangles per object.

2.

Render using the Conserve Memory option.

3.

Render using mental ray from the command line.

Video Post is not fully supported in this release, as it requires specific rendering modes and options, not all of
which are currently available in mental ray.

Render Passes in mental ray ignores the Skip Existing Images toggle.

Objects with a Look at Controller that are mapped with a Facade shader will not render correctly.

The Panorama Exporter utility uses only the default scanline renderer. However the Panorama Viewer can display
panoramas by the WrapAround Lens filter.

The mental ray Shadow Map shadow type does not support object Shadow Casting exclusion.

mental ray does not support every case of include/exclude lists for reflection and refraction.

mental ray can produce banding and unwanted shadows with Volume Light when the Auto checkbox is turned on.
Turning off the Auto checkbox and increasing the Sample Volume % spinner value can correct this.

Multiple overlapping light atmospheric effects can expose the edges of the volumes. Using the same instance of
the effect on all the lights should make them blend better.

When rendering a series of pass files in mental ray for use in an animation sequence, file names are required to
end with a letter, not a number.

When the InknPaint material is set to use displacement, smoothing group lines should be disabled to avoid
unexpected results.

mental ray particle Motion Blur is always straight and doesn't follow curving trajectories.

Rendering RPC objects is not supported with mental ray. All objects will render gray.

mental ray field rendered Lens Effects will be not be in the correct location.

Rendering with Bucket Widths less than 5 can cause system instability.

MENTAL RAY - DISTRIBUTED BUCKET RENDERING

When adding a new host to a Distributed Bucket rendering, close and re-start 3ds max 6 in order for the new host
to be recognized.

Using Remote Hosts Only with Distributed Bucket Rendering (DBR) is not supported in this release.

Contour shaders aren't supported with Distributed Bucket Rendering in this release.

When rendering contours using Distributed Bucket Rendering or the command-line renderer, the shader
declaration will need to be edited manually in order for contours to render correctly. This correction is needed if
contours are enabled in the rendering options. Below is an example of the edits that would be required; the actual
shaders or parameters values that are used depend on how they are set up in the scene.
contour store "contour_store_function" ()
contour contrast "contour_contrast_function_levels" (
"zdelta" 1000,
"ndelta" 20,
"diff_mat" on,
"diff_label" off,
"diff_index" off,
"contrast" off,
"min_level" 0,
"max_level" 1)

MERGE ANIMATION

Merge Animation no longer supports character studio Biped animation. character studio 4.x features support
the merging of Biped animation.

When using Merge Animation at the sub-object level, the target object will first need to have sub-object animation
controllers assigned to its vertices. Merge Animation does not automatically assign sub-controllers to vertices,

CVs or control points. For example, when merging FFD lattices, you must click Animate All before merging lattice
control points.

It is wise to make sure that the target object has a Vertex controller (Bezier Point 3 or similar) assigned to every
vertex in its mesh. There must be a one-to-one correspondence between the animated vertices of the source
nodes and the target nodes in the scene to achieve predictable results.

There is a known issue with Groups, which can cause Merge Animation to fail. This sometimes occurs with
objects that were once part of a Group but are no longer, leaving a flag for Group membership incorrectly set on
the object. One way to clear this flag is to make these objects part of a character (then destroy character if
desired). Alternatively, in MAXScript this will clear the flag for selected objects:
for n in selection do ( setGroupMember n false )

Merging .max files that contain Xref into the current scene is not advised.

Merge Animation errors can be avoided by exiting and reopening the Merge Animation dialog, between merges.

The Save Mapping and Load Mapping functions will only operate as expected provided the object IDs in the
scene and the source file are not changed in any way from session to session. There is no guarantee that object
ID to object name correspondence will be preserved between Merge Animation sessions.

MESHSMOOTH

When using Smoothness on a mesh that has had control-level editing, Smoothness will smooth down to the
highest level that has had control-level editing applied to it, or to the currently active control level, whichever is
higher.

At this time, control-level editing in MeshSmooth should be considered a modeling tool only. Having an animated
deformer placed before a MeshSmoothed object that has had control-level editing can result in the
MeshSmoothed object becoming distorted. It's recommended that deforming modifiers be placed after the
MeshSmooth modifier in the stack if you're using the deformers for animation. For best results, using a deforming
modifier before the MeshSmooth modifier in the stack, you'll need to limit your control-level edits to moving
vertices in their local Z axis.

Using MeshSmooth with values of more than 10 iterations is not supported.

When MeshSmooth is set to 0 iterations, a polygon conversion of the MeshSmoothed object still occurs and
viewport performance impacted. For optimal playback, set the MeshSmooth modifier to be off in viewports, rather
then setting iterations to 0.

Some meshsmoothed files using creasing may load into 3ds max 6 with faces that appear to collapse to a point
when smoothed. This can happen when some of the edge creases have become slightly corrupt, which causes a
problem in 3ds max 6 but not in 3ds max 5. To correct this, run this script in either 3ds max 5 or 3ds max 6 with
the file causing the error loaded.
mapped function FixEPolyCreaseErrors theNode =
(
local theObj = theNode.baseObject
if classof theObj == Editable_Poly do
(
if (polyOp.getEDataChannelSupport theObj 2) do -- crease data
(
format "processing node: %\n" theNode.name
local isNAN
local version = maxVersion()
if version[1] < 6000 then
Fn isNAN val = (classof val == float and val == 0 and val == 1)
else

Fn isNAN val = (classof val == float and val*0 != 0)

local nEdges = polyOp.getNumEdges theObj
local getEDataValue = polyOp.getEDataValue -- cache function value
local setEDataValue = polyOp.setEDataValue -- cache function value
local modified_edges = undefined
for i = 1 to nEdges do
(
local crease = getEDataValue theObj 2 i
if (isNAN crease) do
(
setEDataValue theObj 2 i 0.
if modified_edges == undefined do
modified_edges = #()
append modified_edges i
)
)
if modified_edges != undefined do
format "\tupdated edges: %\n" modified_edges
)
)
)

MODIFIER PANEL

The Configure Modifier Sets dialog should only be used for customizing button sets. If the user simply chooses
another button set from the drop down list, the current button set to be overwritten.

MODIFIERS

Using PathDeform and Stretch can leave remnants in the viewport. Press 1 to refresh the display.

A Helix object with Display Render Mesh on that uses an FFD modifier will no longer appear in the viewport if an
Edit Mesh modifier is added to the stack. To correct, convert the Helix to an Editable Spline by either collapsing or
adding an Edit Spline modifier somewhere before Edit Mesh.

The new Vertex Paint modifier does not support the Update On Mouse Up function in the 3ds max painter
interface.

The data resulting from the use of the Assign Vertex Colors utility is not baked into the mesh, but into the Vertex
Paint modifier itself. Thus, the data in the Vertex Paint modifier can later be retargeted to a different channel. The
results will only be baked into the mesh when you collapse the stack.

If a spline is chosen for beveling the edges of a shelled object and the Bevel Edges checkbox checked, the edges
of the shelled object will not update. Turning off Bevel Edges and then on again will force an update.

In some instances adding the Vertex Paint modifier to an editable mesh (or some other poly conversion) will result
in some shifting of vertex colors. This is usually a result of having edited the vertex colors at the Face level
instead of the Poly level. If this occurs try adding a Turn To Patch modifier between the Vertex Paint modifier and
the editable mesh. If that fails, enter the edge mode of the editable mesh and make all edges visible.

Adding a Vertex Paint modifier to an empty object (one with no faces or vertices) or deleting all the geometry
below a Vertex Paint modifier can lead to program instability. At least 1 face is needed for Vertex Paint to work.

MORPHER

Assigning a Morpher material will reset frame zero Morph Channel values to zero. To avoid this, use Set Key to
set non zero Channel values at frame zero. The frame zero value will appear to be reset, in this case, but
scrubbing the time slider will then update the frame zero value, as set previously.

Windows 98 or Windows ME can loose adequate system resources (UI elements might no longer display) through
scrolling the Morpher Channel List, repeated interaction with Morpher scene elements, or simultaneous use of
3ds max with other applications that require large amounts of resources. To resolve the problem, save your file,
exit, and restart 3ds max, or close the other resource-intensive applications. If possible, avoid excessively
scrolling the Morpher UI when using these operating systems.

When adding new targets to a progressive morph, target percents will be renormalized. If target percents have
been customized, it is recommended that you make a note of current target percents before adding new targets .

MORPHER MATERIAL

Copying a Morpher material to different Material Editor slots can cause unexpected results, particularly if using
Undo and Redo.

The Morpher material requires associated geometry to work correctly with Set Key.

MOTION PANEL

When a trajectory of an object is derived from a spline using the Convert From feature, the Previous Key and Next
Key buttons on the Key Info (Basic) rollout do not work unless Time Display (in the Time Configuration dialog) is
set to FRAMES:TICKS. This is because the keys are created between frames.

MULTIRES

Instanced MultiRes modifiers will display their Vertex Percentage values, and will hide their Vertex Counts, when
more than one object is selected.

When using Set Key, remember that the MultiRes modifier detects any keys that are set on object parameters as
changes in the underlying object's mesh, and this can require the MultiRes mesh to be regenerated.

NETWORK RENDERING

Network Render jobs might only appear to submit for scenes with Camera names containing the string: "<_".
Remove the underscore or the less-than sign to correct the problem.

Split Scan Lines does not stitch the G-buffer information back into the file. As such, G-buffer information is not
output when using Split Scan Lines. This means that using Split Scan Lines will not store RPF/ RLA data.

Render servers can timeout loading the application after 1 minute if the manager machine does not load the 3ds
max 6 renderer plugin. This can occur for 3ds max 5, 5.1 and 6. It is recommended that you install 3ds max 6 on
the manager machine. You may also just copy the 3ds max 6 task file from the \3dsmax6 folder on another
system into your backburner folder. When manager starts you should see: loading 3ds max 6 renderer plugin.

Net rendering scenes with DDS textures or with output to DDS files is not recommended on heterogeneous
render farms. This is due to DDS being a hardware accelerated format. As such results will differ between video
card model/driver combinations resulting in inconsistent renderings across frames.

PARAMETER WIRING
Wiring a parameter to a value outside the constrained range of that parameter can cause unpredictable results.

Turning on Display Render Mesh after wiring a NURBS point curve can cause instability. The workaround is to

assign a Bezier float controller to the curve's Sides track and insert a key. Values can then be changed, and
Display Render Mesh can be used without problems.
PARTICLE SYSTEMS

Using PArray with an Object-Based Emitter and Object Fragments where the emitter object has no vertices on the
Emit Start frame will cause instability, leading to an application failure.

When the source particle system of a Mesher compound object is set to Mesh Viewport Display, it will not update
properly in viewports. Use the Dots or Ticks Viewport Display options with a Mesher compound object.

SDynaFlect space warps do not solve properly in Dynamics simulations.

All Seed settings in Particle Flow use the same default value: 12345. This means that, if the default is not
changed, the same randomization sequence will be applied to all randomized values. For example, if scale and
speed are both randomized using the same seed value, then it's likely that all smaller particles will also be slower
ones. For fully random results, make sure all Seed values are different from each other.

In situations where a scene has a particle system that references geometry objects (as for collision detection),
and those reference objects are also rendered, the scene might not be able to render properly with the scanline
renderer. Rendering these same objects with mental ray doesnt pose any problem. To work around the problem,
hide all the objects that a particle system references (directly or indirectly) before using the scanline rendering.
That includes all deflector geometries, objects used as emitters, and so on.

PATCH OBJECTS

SubComp copy/pasting is not supported in patches.

PERFORMANCE

3ds max 6 now includes a performance flag that when turned on can enhance the overall performance of IK
operations. The flag (DontRepeatRefMsg) can be found in the currentdefaults.ini file and defaults to on (1) for the
3ds max market defaults and to off (0) for the Design Visualization defaults. Note: The performance enhancement
can produce instability when working with objects such as VIZWalls. If you encounter any problems turn off the
flag in the INI file (DontRepeatRefMsg=0) and re-launch 3ds max 6.

PLUG-IN MANAGER

Under Win98 and WinME, plug-ins that are currently loaded are marked as "Unloaded" instead.

The Load option for selected or tagged plug-ins loads a plug-in for the current 3ds max 6 session, but doesn't
load for subsequent sessions.

Plug-ins loaded using the script function "loadDllsFromDir" do not appear in the Plug-in Manager.

QUAD PATCH

Performance is slow when creating Quad Patches with 100x100 segments.

RADIOSITY

For best results, always use Exposure Control when working with radiosity.

After processing radiosity, some maps might display incorrect colors in the viewport. To fix this, make sure you
turn on Show Map In Viewport for the parent material, not for the map.

Radiosity does not support light Include/Exclude lists.

Coincident faces can cause artifacts with radiosity calculations. Splines using an Extrude modifier with an Extrude
Height of 0 and both Cap Start and Cap End turned on usually produce coincidental faces. To correct this, turn
one of the Cap options off, or make the Extrude Height > 0.

Rectangular or scaled spotlights are considered as standard conical spotlights by the radiosity solver.

Radiosity does not distinguish lights where Affect Ambient, Specular, or Diffuse is toggled. All are treated the
same way. If you need these lights to affect only the specified channels, exclude them from radiosity.

Objects excluded from radiosity will render black when using Re-Use Direct Illumination From Radiosity Solution.
If you want to avoid rendering Direct Illumination, you can Store Direct Illumination for all lights and add lights that
are excluded from radiosity.

Opening previous 3ds max 4 scenes sets Compute Radiosity When Required to on by default.

Radiosity does not support Wireframe materials. Use the Lattice modifier or an Opacity map to get the desired
effect.

In 3ds max 6, radiosity is computed based on the ambient color. If you have old files where the ambient color is
different or darker than the diffuse color, your scenes might render unexpectedly. For predictable results, either
lock the ambient and diffuse color or at least to make them very similar. Autodesk VIZ 4 uses the Diffuse color
to compute radiosity, so results from it may be dissimilar to those in 3ds max 6. You can correct this using the Fix
Ambient utility.

Radiosity does not support materials with the Face Map toggle turned on. Objects need to have explicit UVW
coordinates. To use Face Map, apply a UVW Map modifier to the objects, and choose Face. This has the same
effect as turning on Face Map in the material.

When using XRef Scenes, and the XRef Scene has been changed, the radiosity solution will not be automatically
invalidated. You need to click Reset All and restart, so the radiosity solution can be updated.

Files that contain radiosity solutions are usually very large. If you turn on Compress On Save in Customize >
Preferences, files will reduce significantly in size.

If you use Standard Lights with negative multipliers in your scene, it is suggested that you exclude these from the
radiosity solution. Using Standard Lights with negative multipliers can lead to unpredictable results.

RAYTRACE

Using the Raytrace material on double-sided materials is currently not supported.

It is almost always better to use supersampling, rather then antialiasing, at the material level. The only time you
might want to use Raytrace antialiasing is to blur or defocus reflections or refractions. If you do use Raytrace
antialiasing, the default blur value, 0.0, is usually too small. Try using 0.5 or 0.6 and set all of your materials that
use the Raytrace map to Adaptive Halton supersampling to improve image quality.

Some 3ds max 4.2 files using Raytrace maps as the refraction map of a standard material can render more
slowly in 3ds max 6. To improve performance, go to the Raytrace maps in your scene, open the Refractive
Material Extensions rollout, and turn off the Treat Refractions As Glass (Fresnel Effect) check box.

3ds max 4.2 .MAX files using Raytrace maps as the refraction map of a standard material will render differently
in 3ds max 6, due to improvements made in refraction map.

REACTOR
reactor 2.0 is included with 3ds max 6. No additional authorization is required. To start reactor, click the reactor
button on the Utilities panel.

reactor 2.0 requires the presence of DirectX version 8 or higher installed before being able to successfully load
into 3ds max 6. For your convenience, you can install DX 9.x from the 3ds max 6 CD or go online at:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/downloads/default.asp

The interactive reactor preview uses its own graphics display. Some older graphics accelerators that only do fullscreen acceleration will run slowly in software windowed mode. To use 3D hardware acceleration on these cards,
turn on the full screen option before previewing the scene. If you experience problems that include the abovementioned render problems or issues that prevent the preview window from running (blank, black screen, or the
window hanging), please contact Discreet Product Support with information about your card: chipset,
manufacturer, driver revision, and operating system information (including service pack version) so we can work
to correct it.

In the case of a scene not completing a Solve, there are various ways of simulating the same scene:

Take your original scene and increase the substeps/keyframe value (Animation & Export rollout).

Increase the collision tolerance for your scene so that its approximately 1/10 th of World Scale
(Advanced rollout). If this increase causes too large a gap between objects, scale the objects up
and scale gravity up by an equal percentage.

For keyframed and deformable objects, increase the updates/keyframe value.

The addition of body or collection types to a scene can change the scenes simulation. Adding types of objects will
not usually have a noticeable effect on the scenes simulation but it is advisable to create scenes as nearly
complete as possible, before tweaking the parameters for a desired result.

The reactor plugin can cause a 3ds max network render job to hang with a dialog stating that the reactor plugin
will not load. Should that be the case, you should install DirectX version 8 or higher.

REGATHER

Rendered images can look inconsistent when rendering with a number of rays per sample smaller than 40 on
systems with two or more processors. Differences will also be noticed between Autodesk VIZ 4 and 3ds max 6,
because 3ds max 6 supports multi-threading for Regather while Autodesk VIZ 4 does not.

RENDER ELEMENTS

Adding Render Elements to a newly opened file does not mark the scene as modified. To correct, save the scene
before opening a new scene or closing 3ds max 6.

Scenes from 3ds max 4 with Z Depth render elements load incorrectly when filtering is enabled. To correct,
disable filtering for these elements within 3ds max 4 prior to loading in 3ds max 6.

The Diffuse and Shadow elements might have unexpected results when rendering with the Light Tracer.

Using Render Effects on a Split Rendering can give unexpected results in the final image. Specifically the Lens
Effect may be in the wrong place when using Render Region crop. To correct this set the render type dropdown to
"View" and render again.

RENDER EFFECTS

The File Output render effect does not support network rendering.

RENDERING

When rendering scenes containing more than 5 million polygons, increase your virtual memory to 1.4 GB or
higher for better performance.

Image Motion Blur is a memory-intensive operation requiring a large amount of RAM. It scales linearly with the
number of pixels in the rendered image. You may not have sufficient memory to allocate the image motion blur
buffer if you are also using high-resolution background maps. To correct this, composite the blurred image against
the background image in postproduction, rather then rendering when Image Motion Blur is calculated.

Texture-mapped objects that are invisible at frame 0 and are missing UVW mapping coordinates are not textured
in a rendered sequence when visibility is changed during the animation. To alleviate the problem, make sure to
have a UVW Mapping modifier on the object.

When rendering Fields with Image Motion Blur and Work With Transparency turned on, the final images might
contain artifacts.

RENDER TO TEXTURE

A warning will be displayed when you use Render To Texture on a patch object. Results might be less than
satisfactory if you choose to continue. For best results, add either a Turn To Mesh or UVW Unwrap modifier to
patch objects before using Render To Texture.

Executing main menu functions while rendering with Render To Texture can lead to program instability.

The values entered when changing the output path and turning on network rendering in the General Settings
rollout of Render To Texture is not saved with the file. You will have to reset these upon re-opening the file.

RESOURCE COLLECTOR

The Resource Collector does not collect Environment, Displacement, or Projector maps.

The Resource Collector does not collect the image files used by IFL files, only the IFL file itself.

The Resource Collector does not collect the objects or scenes referenced by XRef Objects or XRef Scenes.

SCHEMATIC VIEW

Compound objects cannot be renamed.

SET KEY

Set Key requires a controller to be present to create a key. While all objects have default controllers for their
transforms, object parameters do not. Controllers must be assigned to these entities before Set Key can create
keys for them.

Leaving Set Key on during material creation can lead to unexpected results. It is recommended that you turn Set
Key off while setting up materials and maps.

Set Key action items will only work with XYZ controllers. For all other controllers, use Keyframe Tools action
items. Note that 3ds max 6 now defaults to XYZ controllers.

Set Key does not respect the changes made in the active material, unless you have enabled the Set Key Material
Filter.

Block controllers do not work with Set-Key-only animation. If the Block contains an object animated with Auto Key,
then all objects animate correctly. The Auto Key object can be a simple dummy, and it can be deleted after the
block is created.

The Follow/Bank utility does not support Set Key animation.

Set Key does not support NURBS objects.

Object creation on frames other than 0 while in Set Key mode is not recommended and can have unexpected
results. Note that in some cases Set Key mode does not always automatically disable during object creation.
Because of this, it is recommended that you disable Set Key mode manually before creating new objects.

SKIN

Loading an Envelope file corresponding to a number of bones that differs from that of the current Skin object will
result in a recoverable assertion. Should this occur, the scene can be saved and a new session of 3ds max 6
should be launched.

There is an additional feature called Skin Utilities for transferring vertex weights from one Skin object in a scene to
another. It can be found in the Utilities panel.

SPLINE IK

The default sub-controller for the first bone of the Spline IK bone chain is now Path controller. The first bone can
be animated interactively, just as with any object with Path controller and the other bones in the chain will follow.

Bones that continue past the end of a spline will maintain current orientation to their parent bones rather than
snapping to a 0,0,0 rotation as they did in 3ds max 5.0. This allows bone chains to be predictably path-animated
off of the end of the spline.

Spline IK now allows for the inclusion of the spline, spline helpers, IK handle, and bone chain in the same
hierarchy.

Spline IK will now preserve the arbitrary X-rotation of the bones in a chain after Spline IK is assigned.

The preferred angles for each bone under Spline IK control are accessible in MAXScript, although not exposed in
the user interface as with HI IK. Generally, only the X axis should be manipulated, as with Twist, since the Y and Z
axes are always used by Spline IK to fix the bones to the spline. This value can be accessed with
$.controller.prefXAngle.

It is possible that some Spline IK chains, created in 3ds max 5.0 might load into 3ds max 6 with bones arbitrarily
rotated about their X axes. This can occur if the bone chain was created in 3ds max 5.0 with arbitrary X-rotations
before Spline IK was assigned (after the assignment Spline IK would have automatically aligned the bones Xaxes). If such a scene is loaded into 3ds max 6, the bones can revert to their creation orientations. If it is
necessary to realign the bones, the bone chain can be reoriented using MAXScript. For example, select all the
Spline IK bones (if the first bone in the chain is already properly oriented, deselect it) and run:
for n in selection do ( n.controller.prefXAngle = 0.0 )

It is possible that some Spline IK chains, created in 3ds max 5.0, might load into 3ds max 6 with bone chains
entirely flipped about their local X axis. If this occurs, the bone chain can often be reoriented by adjusting the
Spline IK Twist Start Angle.

Spline IK will only work when referencing a shape or spline object, meaning the referenced objects stack must
end as a spline (a Shape). Modifiers can be used on the referenced spline so long as they do not convert it to
another geometry type.

SUBDIVIDE MODIFIER

The Subdivide modifier cannot be applied to NURBS Curves, even if theyre renderable curves. Instead, use the
Subdivision Properties to adjust the curve's mesh density.

Very low Size values can exhaust system memory and cause session instability because Subdivide will create
extremely large quantities of faces. Be sure to use reasonable Size values. If subdivide is taking a long time to
calculate, use the ESC key to abort the subdivision, then set the Update method to Manual so you can change the
Size value to something more appropriate.

TEXTURE COORDINATES

If you open a file that has its Unit Scale set differently than the System Unit Scale of your local 3dsmax 6
installation, you will get a File Load: Units Mismatch message. There are a number of reasons your System Unit
Scale might be different than the file you are opening. Whatever the reason, if you choose to Adopt the Files Unit
Scale you might lose the display of some of your texture mapping if the objects are using Unwrap UVW modifier.
If you do try to open a file and the mapping looks wrong, open the same file again and choose the option Rescale
the File Objects to the System Unit Scale rather than adopt the scale.

Choosing Adopt the Files Unit Scale will add two setting to your 3dsmax.ini file (UnitType= and UnitScale=). To
get back the default System Unit Scale you can edit your 3dsmax.ini file and remove those settings; Or go to
Customize > Unit Setup > System Unit Setup and change the units back to default scale: Inches.

TRACKVIEW

The Trackview hotkeys will not work if the application focus is in subordinate windows, such as floating Toolbars
and Soft Selection settings. To use Trackview hotkeys, click the Function Curve or Dope Sheet editor title bar to
replace the focus there.

Deleting the trackview.ini file can cause icons to disappear. To resolve this, try loading the trackview.ini file from
the 3ds max 6 CD. This action will bring your TrackView settings back to their default values.

TRANSFORM TOOLS

Transform tools will not update while dragging at a sub-object level.

The Transform gizmo can disappear when snaps are enabled at the sub-object level. Passing the cursor over the
missing gizmo will cause it to reappear.

TRANSFORM TYPE-IN

The Transform Type-In controls on the status bar don't re-enable properly after you've been in a sub-object mode.
To correct this, deselect and then reselect the object.

USER INTERFACE / CUI

CUI files created in versions of 3ds max prior to 3ds max 5.0 are not forward-compatible. These files need to be

re-created for use in 3ds max 6. 3ds max 5.0 CUI files are compatible with 3ds max 6.

CUI files should not be removed from the UI folder. If 3ds max 6 looks for a CUI file that is not in the UI folder
upon startup, the application can fail. This can be a problem if multiple users are using the same configuration
settings, but dont have the correct CUI files associated with that configuration.

In 3ds max 6 we have included a performance setting that turns on or off redundant reference messaging. This option
is on by default in the

The proper highlighting of UI elements (mainly check boxes and radio button settings) might not appear in the
command panel during keyboard tabbing when running 3ds max 6 under Windows 2000. To force the highlighting
to display properly, undock the command panel. Then the highlighting will display and properly show where UI
focus is. Once you have tabbed while the command panel is floating, you can redock the command panel, and
highlighting will operate properly.

Large fonts are not supported in 3ds max 6, and can produce unpredictable display results.

The grid draw options drop-down list in Advanced Options is not supported.

When working with memory-intensive files and processes, you might notice that the tools below the track bar
disappear. Simply click the Maximize/Restore button at the upper-right corner of the applications window. This will
cause the missing tools to redraw at the bottom.

When 3ds max 6 is started the first time, the toolbar button for the Keyboard Shortcut Override toggle will appear
to be off even though the function is active. Click the button once to turn this function off. The button will stay in a
non-active state. Click it again, and the desired functionality will follow.

If you want your system to default to your keyboard shortcuts from 3ds max 4 or 5.x, copy your keyboard
shortcuts over as maxkeys.kbd. into the 3ds max 6 \ui folder.

Closing the Customize User Interface dialog without saving will automatically save the KBD file.

When docking the Layers Toolbar either left or right the Layers drop-down list will be displayed as a thin strip at
the top of the docked toolbar. Although it is still operational, it is harder to click on because of its size. If the Layers
Toolbar is docked on the right flush with the edge of the screen, the Layers drop-down list will display off the
screen. To resolve this, do not dock the Layers Toolbar left or right. Instead dock it on the top or allow it to float.
This will force the toolbar to display horizontally.

Open Mini Curve Editor Button: In the lower left corner of the workspace there is a button that will open the Mini
Curve Editor docked directly above the Timeline. When loading a custom UI scheme that changes the current
icons (for example discreet-dark.ui or discreet-light.ui) this buttons icon will temporarily disappear. The button will
still function even without an icon. Restarting 3ds max 6 will restore the icon.

UVW MAP

UVW maps assigned below a Disp Approx (displacement approximation) modifier might block changes made at
the Displace Level. Setting the UVW modifier to Off in the viewport solves the updating problem.

UNWRAP UVW

Unfold mapping with Selected Faces can give unexpected results and is not recommended.

In certain patch models, the Stitch operation can cause tangent handles to be welded when Align Clusters is
turned on. Turning off Align Clusters should solve the problem.

When there is a sub-object selection below Unwrap UVW in the stack, the Unwrap modifier uses those faces and
disables its own Select Face sub-object mode. Closing the sub-object selection below the Unwrap will allow you
to enter the Select Face sub-object mode in Unwrap by clicking the title bar, then the sub-object plus symbol in
the stack will refresh after changing to another panel and back.

The Sketch Vertices feature should be used with the interactive feature on, as having it off can lead to situations
where Undo will not work.

In certain circumstances, the Brightness of the Edit Dialog background will be set to 0, which will result in the
bitmap not being visible in the Edit Dialog. To fix this, click the Show Options button in the lower toolbar and
increase the Brightness spinner value (0.5 is the default), or open the Options>Advanced Options floater and
increase the Tile Brightness or uncheck the Affect Center Tile checkbox. You can then choose Options>Save
Current Settings As Default, and you should not run into this problem again.

VERTEX COLOR MAP

The Channel Name dialog may get out of sync with the Map and Sub Channels display in the Vertex Color
modifier. If this happens, the Map Channel and Sub Channel will be the entries that show the correct result.

VIDEO POST

Close the Video Post Lens Effects setup dialog before you choose File > Reset.

Lens Effects Focus does not affect overlapping portions of objects.

Video Post does not support Multipass Depth Of Field and Multipass Motion Blur.

VIEWING FILES

The Autodesk FLC image file setup depends on the AVI settings for Windows Media Player. Since Media Player
can be replaced when installing other applications, viewing FLC files can fail at times. To work around this, install
QuickTime 5, which is provided with 3ds max, and use it to view these types of files. QuickTime 5 can convert
FLI and FLC files, but not CEL files.

WALLS

Break vertex sometimes leaves corner geometry. Saving and reloading the file will correct this condition

At times it can be difficult moving points vertically (up and down) on World Z axis when working with Walls in a
Grid (Top) view. Turning on Grid Snap and turning off Use Axis Constraints can help.

A Window object that is aligned to the bottom of a Wall object can corrupt the automatic booleans of attached
Doors and Windows. To correct this condition, move the Window away from the bottom of the Wall.

When trying to break a wall segment that has a bottom offset can result in incorrect display in the Perspective
viewport. This operation should be performed in the Plan view.

XREF
Manipulators can fail to function, once the file is saved using the Merge Manipulator option. If this occurs, then the
Xref should be removed and redone.

Deleting a Fog Atmospheric effect that has been object xrefed will result in an application failure, upon using
Update Now in the Xref dialog.

Use Proxy on an Xref Camera Object is not recommended. This can lead to an application failure.

Adding an Object XRef of an object, which is itself an Object XRef in the target scene, is not recommended.

XRef Automatic Update has more restrictive functionality under Windows 98. XRef objects and scenes can be set
to update automatically whenever a file change is detected. Under Windows 2000, this occurs each time the

source file is saved. Due to different system notifications in Windows 98, the automatic update occurs only when
the source file is closed by exiting 3ds max 6 or by loading another file. Manual Update works as expected.

When clicking to unbind the highlighted XRef(s) from whichever parent they've been bound to, the XRef scene
does not return to its origin, typically the 0,0,0 world origin of the MAX file scene it came from.

Drag and drop when running under Windows 98 requires the Local Intranet security level to be set to Low in IE.
This setting can be found in the Internet Options dialog, accessed from the Tools menu.

When using object Xref and Fire Effect Atmospherics, the fire effect information does not always update with the
Update Now function. It is recommended that Fire Effect Atmospherics be Merged rather than Xrefd.

Notes About MAXSCRIPT and the 3ds max 6 SDK

MAXSCRIPT (Scripter)

The following options in the MAXScript panel of the Preferences dialog have no effect:
o Auto Start MAXScript
o Load Controller Scripts
o Auto Open Listener On Output

MAXScript known problems and workarounds:

Saving a scene with missing scripted plug-in definitions may corrupt the data associated with instances of the
missing plug-in definitions.

If you create a node using the target keyword, the name of the target isn't derived from the name of the object
being created. For example:
targetSpot target:(Targetobject())

creates a Target Spot ($Spot01) and target ($Target01). If you create the Target spot in the UI, the target name
would be $Spot01.Target01.

Not all properties aliases as shown by showProperties are supported for the following objects:
o Free camera
o Target camera
o Spray particle system
o Snow particle system

SubObject move transform is currently supported only for Editable_Mesh, Editable_Poly, and NURBS.

SubObject rotate and scale transforms are not supported with: Editable_Mesh, Editable_Poly, Editable_Patch,
NURBS, MeshSmooth, and HSDS modifiers.

If the following property is true, an optimization in the way 3ds max processes internal notification messages is
enabled. This optimization will significantly increase interactive manipulation performance in some cases, but at a
slight risk of incorrect results.
preferences const StructDef
Preferences.DontRepeatRefMsg = <Boolean>

Weight property has been added to the Constraints: Position Constraint/Path Constraint/Look At
Constraint/Orientation Constraint.

<*_Constraint>.weight Array default: #() -- float array; SubAnim

Array containing weights corresponding to entries in the node array.

The following have been removed in 3ds max 6:

Render Scene Dialog
getUseDraftRenderer()
setUseDraftRenderer <boolean>

and
#draft value for
maxOps.GetRenderElementMgr

renderer

If the MAXScript Initial Heap Allocation, as specified in the MAXScript tab of the Preference Settings dialog, is
very large, 3ds max will fail to start if that amount of contiguous memory is not available. It is recommended that
the Initial Heap Allocation not exceed 100MB.

Exposure of all Stairs has been rewritten in 3ds max 6 and is no longer compatible with any versions of 3D
Studio VIZ or Autodesk VIZ 4.

Loading presets that contain node associations displays a dialog requiring user interaction. To bypass the dialog
using MAXScript, you can use the following syntax:
<boolean>renderPresets.Load <integer>which <filename>file <bitArray>categories [loadNodes:<enum: {#Yes|#No|#Cancel|
#Prompt}>]

Load the indexed preset from the specified file, using the categories described by the bitArray. Returns true on
success. Specifying LoadNodes with #Yes, #No or #Cancel will not display the Prompt window and will perform
the same actions as pressing the respective buttons in the prompt. Specifying #Prompt will display the dialog and
require user input. If you do not specify LoadNodes and the file contains nodes associated, the prompt window
will be displayed.

Some of the Sample Scripts have been moved to a new directory structure on CD #3 and any that contain hardcoded paths may generate errors.

The documented BipedExportInterface value class is not applicable to the current Character Studio version, and
has been removed.

Several methods were added to Character Studio that are not documented in the MAXScript Help file. Please see
the Character Studio readme section.

SDK

3ds max 6 plug-ins are not compatible with earlier versions. Recompiling is required. The recommended
compiler for development of 3ds max plug-ins is Microsoft Visual Studio 7.0, but plug-ins may also be
compiled using VC7.1, given some extra considerations. For an overview of the compatibility issues, please see
the tech note available in the TechDocs section of the Sparks Knowledge Base:
http://sparks.discreet.com/search/

The SDK AppWizard is designed for the VC6 development environment. However, an updated version for VC7
will be made available for download at http://sparks.discreet.com/.

The sdkhelp.exe utility (located in maxsdk\help\sdklink.zip) for previous versions has been replaced. The VC7
version of this tool is called the "Sparks Addin for Visual Studio 7", and can be downloaded from
http://sparks.discreet.com.

To use the hardware shader plug-ins located in \3dsmax4\plugins\hardwareshaders\, you will need to add \

3dsmax5\plugins\hardwareshaders\ to your Customize > Configure Paths > External Files and Plug-In panels.

\samples\gup\comsrv\maxclient\maxclient.vcproj
To compile, include statements in the project must be changed:
from:
#import "..\..\..\..\..\exe\stdplugs\comsrv.gup"
to:
#import "..\..\..\..\..\stdplugs\comsrv.gup"

\samples\modifiers\bonesdef\bonesdef.vcproj
Requires that you build the MAXComponents project first before compiling.

Creating vertical toolbars is not supported at this time, the standard Windows API could be used instead.

In order to compile the SDK samples for network rendering (JobAssign and ListJobs), the following must be
added to the project: #define DF_MGRPORT 3234.

Class IKMasterControl: Several types of controllers return a non-NULL pointer when GetInterface(I_MASTER) is
called on them. To get an interface to this class, use the following code:
ReferenceTarget* ref = NULL;
IKMasterControl* themaster = NULL
if (controller) ref = (ReferenceTarget*)controller->GetInterface(I_MASTER)
if (ref && ref->ClassID() == IKMASTER_CLASSID)
themaster = (IKMasterControl*)ref;

To prevent naming conflicts in MAXScript, the ClassName and InternalName returned by a plug-in class should be
different from names already used in 3ds max. This will prevent a potential renaming of existing plug-in classes
as exposed by MAXScript. For each plug-in class, MAXScript attempts to create a global variable with the name
returned by ClassName (and one for the name returned by InternalName if it is different) to represent the class. If
a global variable with that name already exists, the superclass name is appended to the class name. Thus, if you
create a modifier plug-in class whose name is "Dent" while Dent texture already exists, your modifier plug-in class
will be assigned the global variable name DentModifier in MAXScript To verify that there is no MAXScript name
conflict, you can run the following in MAXScript Listener:
apropos <class name string> implicitWild:false
If the result is just 'OK', no naming conflict exists.
---------------------------------------- End of 3ds max 6 section --------------------------------------

Additional Notes About character studio 4.2

INSTALLATION AND AUTHORIZATION

character studio 4.2 is installed from within the 3ds max 6.0 setup program.

COMPATIBILITY

character studio 4.2 requires 3ds max 6.0. It is not supported with earlier versions of 3ds max. All character
studio 2.x, 3.x, and 4.x data files remain forward compatible to character studio 4.2.

Backward-compatibility between version 4.2 and all previous versions of character studio is not supported. Thus,
files saved with version 4.2 cannot be used by earlier versions of character studio (e.g. 3.4, 4.0, 4.1).

Notes About character studio 4.2 Features

BIPED

Files created in previous versions of character studio must be resaved in 4.2 before using them.

Two new .ini flags have been added that affect which 3ds max objects are automatically put into the max object
list in the .bip save dialog: SaveOutBipsParent and SaveOutBipsParentChildren.
Usage: {1/0}

o If SaveOutBipsParent=0, then the bipeds parents aren't automatically put into the save list.
o If SaveOutBipsParentChildren=0, then saving out the bipeds parents will not save the other parents
children also.

Using native 3ds max trajectories is not recommended for use in any version of character studio and will result
in unpredictable animations. Use the Biped trajectories instead.

3ds max Track View Utilities are not supported on Bipeds.

Old .max and .bip footstep motions are automatically converted to the Biped 4.2 new pivot-based system when
loaded. In Biped 4.2, more control over the IK pivoting is possible.

The conversion to character studio 4.2 can introduce "sliding" footsteps that allow the IK key to move anywhere
in the coordinate space of the footstep, rather than being forced onto the footstep. A sliding footstep is created
whenever an IK key is allowed to be free by not being joined to the previous IK key. This does not necessarily
mean that sliding is introduced; it only means that sliding is allowed.

When feet are linked to dummy objects (IK Blend =1), entering and exiting Figure mode can cause the feet to
rotate. To return the feet to their correct position, enter and exit Figure mode twice more. It is recommended that
you try to do as much of your Figure mode work before using IK Blend with dummy objects. It is not
recommended using IK blending in Layers Planted or Sliding Keys. The limbs will snap to a different position than
expected. Free keys work fine.

Before importing motion-capture files (BVH or CSM), please consult the reference, or the bvh.rtf and csm.rtf
documents in the cstudio\docs directory. The .CSM files in the HouseOfMoves directory all start with a calibration
pose because Biped 4.2 uses the first frame to determine figure size and calibration of hip and feet angles in the
absence of a Talent Definition FIG file. However, this is only for convenience of quick viewing.

For best results, we strongly recommend that you always follow the guidelines in the csm.rtf document:
1. Create "Talent Definition" files (CAL and FIG) for a given performer from a specifically recorded "calibration

pose motion."
2. Create BIP motions from the talent's CSM motions using the same Talent Definition files from step 1.

10 Furthermore, using the Talent Definition files allows you to skip over the first frame so that it does not influence
key-reduced motions.

11 Smoothing parameters in the biped.ini file are now set to zero, which produces better results. The biped.ini file
can specify multiple path names for locating animation files for the Motion Flow Graphs.

12 When using the Motion Flow Graph, there must be a key set for the horizontal COM; otherwise your results can
be unpredictable.

13 If a Motion Flow Graph to do a looping motion results in accumulated turning, then you might need to adjust the
Angle in the Edit Transition dialog. This is because the program matches the orientation of the COM at the start of
the transition. If this orientation is different from the direction of the motion, some compensation is necessary.

14 Biped is not designed to work with the 3ds max Set Key feature.
15 Deleting keys after using subanimation manipulators results in a transform key at the current frame.
16 3ds max objects and subanims don't support saving segments. If you save out a segment, reload it and play it,
the segment end indicator is disregarded.

Saving files with 3ds max objects that have script controllers is not supported in this release.

Files from Biped (BIP) with IK objects do not retain links with those objects. To correct this, relink to the IK objects
after the BIP file is loaded.

Using layers to animate legs with IK will not display accurate results until the layer is collapsed. To check the
results, collapse the layer, undo, change the animation, repeat.

Copying and pasting poses/postures/tracks will not work between the base layer and higher layers because Keys
in higher layers are relative to previous layers, but are absolute on the first layer.

Use of the 3ds max 6 Timeslider's Create Key feature is not supported within Biped layers.

Accessing a biped after choosing File > New > Keep Objects and Hierarchy can lead to unexpected results and
therefore, is not recommended.

Saving BIP files with "Save position and Rotation" when using footsteps will cause footsteps to move to their initial
creation point. It is recommended you first convert to freeform or move footsteps as needed after using this
feature. This also applies to using the hotkey (default is ALT-M) to "bake" the Move-All transforms.

Motion Flow transitions that are of 0 or 1 frame length will now accummulate Z transformation instead of repeating
it. For instance, a Biped ladder-climbing clip that transitions to itself in character studio 4.1 will show the Biped
repeating the same rungs of the ladder over and over. The same clip in character studio 4.2, given a 0 or 1
frame transition, will show the Biped continuing up the ladder as the Motion Flow script progresses. Because of
this fix, existing Motion Flow files will have to have their scripts reinitialized; this can be accomplished by changing
any parameter of the script, i.e.: change the start frame from 0 to 1 to 0.

When using Create Multiple Footsteps for generating 5 or more steps, the tension setting for in-the-air keys on
the feet will default to 25 for only the first four steps, after which it will default to 50. To reset all those keys to a
tension of 25, select them and edit their tension en masse using the Transform key dialog.

Using MAXScript to make Figure mode false on a biped that isn't in Figure mode is unadvisable as it will introduce
and offset in the transform.

The transition focus parameter in the transition editing dialogue box (in both the mixer and moflow systems) now
creates more visually precise transitions based on relative toe position. Legacy max motion flow files will look the
same as before when loaded, but may be easily improved to reflect this bug fix by either editing a transition or
script parameter(such as tweaking back and forth the script start frame or start position) to force an updated
motion flow computation. Legacy mixer files will be updated automatically upon loading. The updated motion in
the transition, while not dramatically different, should appear to to be much more natural and seamless. As before,
some slight sliding of feet may still occur depending on the motion clips that are being used, but only to
accommodate the tradeoff with the continuity of speed in the figure's center-of-mass.

CROWD

17 In Motion Clip, when saving Global Clip ANT files, it's best to clear the scene of all Delegates and Master Clip
objects. Otherwise, a defect results that causes some of that data to be present upon reloading of the ANT file.

18 Biped crowds solve faster, with less backtracking, if the biped Motion Flow Graphs contain motion clips with many
alternative choices in direction of motion.

19 When using the Surface Arrive behavior, if you change the BIP files after a solve the Z data is lost.
20 Biped Crowd scenes must be solved starting from frame 0.
21 Loading a Crowd file without the Behavior plugin can cause program failure.
22 In Scatter using negative XY with XY Plane values can cause program failure when using Generate Locations.

Solve & Scatter Solve are not redrawing viewports correctly in OpenGL mode. Click Redraw to correct the display.

MAXSCRIPT

23 It is not recommended to use the Copy command on a Biped structure.

For example, the following can result in an out-of-memory error and program failure:
bp = biped.CreateNew 100 -90 [0,0,0]
bp_obj = $Bip01*
bp_obj1 = copy bp_obj

24 Many of the features of character studio 4.2 do not support the Macro Recorder.

New MAXScript methods:

biped.setPlantedKey <node>
biped.setSlidingKey <node>
biped.setFreeKey <node>
These methods set the approprieate IK key for the given biped node. The key is created at the currrent Slider
time, as opposed to the current MAXScript time.
biped.resetAllLimbKeys <biped_ctrl>
This method resets a limb's IK pivot points.
biped.collapseMoveAllMode<biped_ctrl>
This function bakes the Move All Mode information directly into the biped.
biped.bendFootprints <biped_ctrl> <float> -- angle in degrees

biped.scaleFootprints <biped_ctrl> <float> -- amount as fraction

These methods bend and scale the footprints.
<Interval> biped.getCurrentRange <biped_ctrl>
This method returns the Animation Range for the specified controller
<Point2> biped.getIdLink <biped_node>
This method returns the id and link values for a specified biped node as a Point2 value. The 'x' value is the id and
the 'y' value is the link. See the 'Biped Node Hierarchy' topic in the MAXScript Help file for a description of the id
and link values. An id value of -1 means the node isn't part of a biped.
<Node > biped.getRotParentNode <biped_node>
<Node > biped.getPosParentNode <biped_node>
These methods return the parent node of the specified node in terms of rotation and translation.
<Quat > biped.getParentNodeRot <biped_node>
<Point3 > biped.getParentNodePos <biped_node>
These methods return the rotation and translation of the specified node in terms of its rotation and translation
parent nodes.
<Point2> biped.getClavicleVals <biped_node>
Returns the 2 rotation values for the clavicle node as a Point2 value. The component values are the rotation in
degrees. The specified node must be a Clavicle, UpperArm, LowerArm, or Hand.
<float> biped.getHingeVal <biped_node>
Returns the hinge angle for the specified node in degrees. The specified node must be either an arm (Clavicle,
UpperArm, LowerArm, or Hand), in which case the elbow hinge angle is returned, or a leg (Thigh, Calf, HorseLink,
Foot), in which case the knee angle is returned.
<float> biped.getHorseAnkleVal <biped_node>
Returns the Horse Ankle hinge angle for the specified node in degrees. The specified node must be a leg (Thigh,
Calf, HorseLink, Foot), a biped structure must include the HorseLink.
<float> biped.getPelvisVal <biped_node>
Returns the pelvis rotation angle in degrees. The specified node must be the pelvis node.
<float> biped.getFingerVal <biped_node>
Returns the hinge value for the specified node in degrees. The node must be either a finger or toe node, and must
not be a root finger or toe node. (The root finger and toe nodes have 3 rotational degrees of freedom, the
remaining finger and toe nodes have 1 rotational degree of freedom.) The angle returned is the hinge angle
between the node and its parent node.
<Control> biped.getHorizontalControl <biped_ctrl>
<Control> biped.getVerticalControl <biped_ctrl>
<Control> biped.getTurnControl <biped_ctrl>
Convenience functions for getting the different biped COM controllers.
MOTION

Anchor Key settings are not saved in MAX files.

MOTION MIXER

The Motion Mixer does not support animation that depends on 3ds max objects. When Bipeds use 3ds max
objects for IK blending, those clips will not import accurately to the Mixer. To bake the IK object animation for use
in the Mixer, use Save Segment with a key per frame.

PHYSIQUE

25 Physique functionality can be assigned to any object type; however, if you assign it to non-Biped or non-Bones
hierarchies such as lights, cameras, or helper objects, and then initialize, the program can fail.

26 If you merge a Physique mesh from a MAX file to a biped, the program can fail. The workaround is to merge the
mesh and the biped, remove the Physique modifier from the mesh, and then delete the biped file.

27 Physique is assigned to links, not nodes. To assign either floating bones or hierarchy bones, you need to have a
link; this means a node is required at both ends of the link. In most cases, you will need a dummy node at the end
of the last link.

28 Before applying Physique to 3ds max Bones, check to make sure that there are no circular references in your
Bones structure. If there are circular references, the results are unpredictable.

29 Any objects that have scaled Biped images or bone structures that were scaled with any versions of Physique
prior to v3.11 should be manually re-initialized in v4.2.
NETWORK RENDERING

30 To render character studio animations using network rendering, each computer on your rendering network must
have the same version of character studio. A result of not having the same version on all machines is floating
feet or incomplete renders.

31 When using Motion Flow Graphs, use UNC path names. For example, if your BIP file in your Motion Flow Graph
is named:
c:\3dsmax6\cstudio\motions\bip\runner.bip
change the name of the file in the Motion Flow Graph by right-clicking the clip and changing the name in the Clip
Name text box to:
\\mypc5\3dsmax6\cstudio\motions\bip\runner.bip
where mypc5 is the network identification of the computer that has the BIP file.
PHYSIQUE SDK MODIFICATIONS

32 Physique exports the data based on the link to which the vertex is assigned. The node returned is the first (parent)
node of the link. If there is branching in the hierarchy, Physique reports the vertex assigned to the same node
twice. This is correct since the vertex is assigned to two links, each with the same root node.
SDK:BIPED AND CROWD INTERACTION

33 For information about Biped, Physique, and Crowd extensions in MAXScript, see the online and printed
Reference, as well as the online MAXScript Reference that ships with character studio.

34 It is possible to influence clip selection for bipeds during a Crowd solution by using preferred clips. The following
biped MAXScript functions allow users to set the biped preferred clip during a crowd solution:

35 biped.numPrefClips <biped_ctrl>
Returns the number of preferred clips.

biped.getPrefClip <biped_ctrl> <index_integer>

Returns the name of the nth preferred clip.

biped.clearPrefClips <biped_ctrl>
Clears the preferred clip list.

biped.addPrefClip <biped_ctrl> <name_string>

Adds the clip to the preferred clip list. Returns true if added, false if not added because it was already in the
list.

biped.deletePrefClip <biped_ctrl> <name_string>

Deletes the named clip from the preferred clip list. Returns true if successful, false if the clip was not in the
list.

biped.isPrefClip <biped_ctrl> <name_string>

Returns true if the clip is in the list, false if not.

biped.getCurrentClip <biped_ctrl>
Returns the name of the currently active clip for this biped; this is relevant only during a Crowd solve.

The following are examples showing how the crowd system PerFrameFn <crowd_helper_.htm> can be used to
change the biped preferred clip dynamically.
Example: Changes the preferred clip as a function of frame number.
fn PerFrameFn crwd t = (
if (t == 200f) then
(
a = $bip100
a = a.transform.controller
biped.addPrefClip a "jog_L45"
))
Example: Changes the preferred clip as a function of the current clip.
fn PerFrameFn crwd t = (
a = $bip100
a = a.transform.controller
if (biped.getcurrentclip a == "jog_L135") then
biped.addPrefClip a "jog_L45"
)
END

TUTORIALS

character studio 4.2 tutorial files can be found on the Partner Resources CD.

When working on the Motion Flow tutorial, you will encounter some missing steps in the "Looping Animation In
Motion Flow Mode", "Using A Shared Motion Flow" and "Creating Random Motion" lessons. The
following additional information will allow you to complete the tutorial.

o Looping Animation in Motion Flow Mode

In the section titled "Create a Script" at step 2, you are asked to click the walk2loop clip five times. After
performing that step, right-click in the Motion Flow graph to turn off scripting mode.

o Using A Shared Motion Flow

In the section titled "Create a Shared Motion Flow Script" at step 9, you are instructed to click the Create
button on the Create Random Motion dialog. Doing this will display the Unify Options dialog. This dialog
appears for each biped in the scene that will share the motion script. Since this tutorial has six bipeds, the
dialog appears six times. Click OK to accept the default settings each time the Unify Options dialog appears.

o Creating Random Motion

In the section titled "Set and Optimize Transitions" at step 12, you are told to enter a Minimum Animation

Length of 2000 and click Create. The Unify Options dialog will appear where you can accept the default
settings and click OK. If the biped shifts position and float above the grid, change the Start Position Z value to
zero on the Motion Flow rollout. This will position the entire animation back on the ground plane.

UI

The default Left/Right FootStep keyboard shortcut conflicts with the native 3ds max hotkey. To use the Left/Right
Biped footsteps keyboard shortcut remove the 3ds max "Smart Select" keyboard shortcut under Customize User
Interface.

Collapse Move All Mode: This action will now collapse and "bake" the current Move-All transforms into the
selected Biped. Default key is ALT-M

Reset all limb keys: This action will "clean up" all the IK limb keys (by simply resetting all the keyframes) to fix IK
keyframe motion discontinuities for "corrupted" files that might have been created in character studio 4.0 or
character studio 4.1 using either 1) motions with scaling bone subanims or 2) trackbar sliding key edits that alter
IK limb keyframe positions. Default key is ALT-K

Discreet is a Division of Autodesk, Inc. 3ds max, Autodesk, Biped, character studio, combustion, Discreet, Physique, reactor, sparks,
and Volo are registered trademarks of Autodesk, Inc./Autodesk Canada Inc., in the U.S.A. and/or other countries. mental ray is a
registered trademark of mental images GmbH & Co. KG licensed for use by Autodesk, Inc. All other brand names, product names, or
trademarks belong to their respective holders. 2003 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.