Maxscript : Cheats & Tidbits

Front 1

$

Back 1

current selection

Front 2

$Box01

Back 2

select object with name"Box01"

Front 3

$'TileA'*

Back 3

select objects with the names starting with'TileA'

Front 4

move $[10,10,10]

Back 4

move relatively by 10 units in x

Front 5

rotate $ (eulerangles 90 0 0 )

Back 5

rotate relatively 90 degrees around x

Front 6

scale $[2,2,1]

Back 6

scale twice in x and y,z is unchanged

Front 7

$*

Back 7

select all objects

Front 8

$.material.difuse = color 255 0 0

Back 8

change diffuse color to red(for Vray the name of this property is diffuse, for standard materials it is diffuseColor !)

Front 9

$.material = VRayMtl diffuse:green
reflection:gray reflection_glossiness:0.7

Back 9

apply green glossy reflective VRay material

Front 10

$.material = VrayMtl()

Back 10

apply Vray material

Front 11

w = 10
h = 10
a = w * h

Back 11

assign the value 10 to w
assign the value 10 to h
calculate the area a

Front 12

a=#($Box01,$Box02,$Box03)

Back 12

array definition with three objects

Front 13

a.count

Back 13

returns number of elements in array

Front 14

a[1].renderable=false

Back 14

access elements of array with brackets[ ]

Front 15

$.pos.x = random 0 10

Back 15

random value between 0 and 10 (integer)

Front 16

$Box01.height = random 2.0 5.0

Back 16

random height between 2 and 5 (float)

Front 17

print $.position

Back 17

print position of current object

Front 18

format "% objects selected." selection.count

Back 18

output number of selected objects

Front 19

$Tile.parent = $Wall

Back 19

link Tile to Wall object

Front 20

animate on (at time 50f(move $ [0,05]))

Back 20

with Autokey on, move object at frame 50

Front 21

animate on (at time 100f($.radius=10))

Back 21

with Autokey on, set radius at frame 100

Front 22

$.children[1].name = "Tile_01"

Back 22

set name of first child object

Front 23

objects

Back 23

all objects in the scene

Front 24

geometry

Back 24

primitives,meshes and other geometry objects

Front 25

lights

Back 25

lights(includes Vray and other third party lights)

Front 26

cameras

Back 26

cameras

Front 27

spacewarps

Back 27

forces, spacewarps, deflectors etc.

Front 28

$*.material = undefined

Back 28

removes all materials of the scene

Front 29

delete $lights/Fill*

Back 29

delete all lights starting with "Fill"

Front 30

if a >b do (print d; print e)
a = (if d ==0 then 0 else a/d)

Back 30

If expression:
if <expr> then <expr> [else <expr>]
if<expr> do <expr>

Front 31

for i = 1 to 10 do
(
Box pos:[1*30,0,0]
)

Back 31

Loops:
create 10 boxes at different x positions

Front 32

for obj in (selection as array)
where classOf obj == Cylinder do
(
obj.scale.z = 2
)

Back 32

Loops:
set scale value for cylinders in current selection

Front 33

If($.pos.z<0) then
$.wirecolor = red
else
$.wirecolor=green

Back 33

Conditional Statement:
set wirecolor to red if object is below 0, otherwise green

Front 34

if(superclassof $ == Light) then delete $

Back 34

Conditional Statement:
delete current object if it is a light

Front 35

function calculateVolume w l h =
(
w*l*h
)

Back 35

Function:
Multiplies the parameters(width, length, height) when supplied to run the function.

Front 36

calculateVolume 10 20 50

Back 36

Function:
Based off function calculateVolume w l h = (w*l*h)
Function call with concrete values: return result will be 1000.

Front 37

for obj in (selection as array) do
(obj.primaryVisibility = false)

Back 37

For Loop:
turn off "visible to camera" property for selected objects

Front 38

for obj in (selection as array)
where hasProperty obj "radius" do
(obj.radius = 10)

Back 38

For Loop:
set the radius porperty for objects which expose it (applies to spheres and cylinders but not to a box, for example)

Front 39

for obj in(selection as array) do
(
for m in obj.modifiers where
(classof m) == TurboSmooth do
(
m.enabled = false
)
)

Back 39

For Loop:
turn off turbosmooth modifiers on selected objects by iterating all objects and also all their modifiers. The classof command checks if m is a TurboSmooth modifier & then disables it.

Front 40

backgroundColor = color 0 0 0

Back 40

set environment background color

Front 41

useEnvironmentMap = false

Back 41

toggle environment map(true/false)

Front 42

$sphere01.wireColor = red

Back 42

Assigns the spheres color property to red using dot notation. ex: .wireColor = r g b

Front 43

messagebox ("Hello World")

Back 43

creates a message box that pops up with the message you wrote in string format.

Front 44

about, and, animate, as, at, by ,case, catch, collect, continue, coordsys, do, else, exit, fn, for, from, function, global, if, in, local, macroscript, mapped, max, not, of, off, on, or, parameters, persistent, plugin, rcmenu, return, rollout, set, struct, then, throw, to, tool, try, undo, utility, when, where, while, with

Back 44

Reserved words that have fixed meanings & can't be redefined or configured.

Front 45

x+=1

Back 45

Short hand version of x = x +1 which is used for incrementing.

Front 46

Context Expressions
<context> { , <context> } <expr>
<animate> <on> ( do something )

Back 46

Context expressions are mirrors of some of the most important abstractions in the 3ds Max user interface - the animate button, the time-line slider, the working coordinate system, and so on. Context expressions make it as easy to create animation and perform geometry manipulation in MAXScript as these tools do in the user interface.

Front 47

[in] coordsys : part of the Context Expressions to manipulate objects inside 3dsmax

Back 47

coordsys local
coordsys world
coordsys parent
coordsys grid
coordsys screen

Front 48

about :part of the Context Expressions to manipulate objects inside 3dsmax. It defines the center point about which any scale or rotation operation is performed within its context.

Back 48

about pivot -- rotates/scales about each object's pivot point
about selection -- rotates/scales about the center of the current selection
about coordsys -- rotates/scales about the coordinate system
about <node> -- rotates/scales about the pivot of give node

Front 49

about $foo rotate $box* 30 y_axis

Back 49

rotate all the boxes 30 degrees about the y_axis of $foo

Front 50

in coordsys parent about coordsys rotate $planets* 45 z_axis

Back 50

rotate each planet 45 degrees around its parent

Front 51

in coordsys local selection.pos = random [-20,20,20] [20,20,20]

Back 51

randomly jiggle each object in the selection around +/- 20 units

Front 52

in coordsys parent rotate selection (EulerAngles 0 0 90)

Back 52

rotate objects in parent’s coordinate system

Front 53

at time : context corresponds to the 3dsmax time slider.

Back 53

-- generate a keyframed animation of $foo randomly chasing $baz
animate on
for t in 0 to 100 by 5 do
at time t
$foo.pos = $baz.pos + random [-10,-10,-10] [10,10,10]

Front 54

about: context defines center point about which any scale or rotation operation is performed.

Back 54

about selection : Rotates/scales about the center of the current selection

about pivot: Rotates/scales about each object's pivot point

about coordsys: Rotates/scales about the center of the current working cord. system set using the coordsys context expression.

about<node>: Rotates/scales about the pivot point of the given object.

about <matrix3>: Rotates/scales about the center of the coordinate system specified by the given 3D matrix

about <point3>: Rotates/scales about the given point with coordinate system and axes taken from the current working coordinate system.

Front 55

about $foo rotate $box* 30 y_axis

Back 55

rotate all the boxes 30 degrees about the y_axis of $foo

Front 56

in coordsys parent about coordsys rotate $planets* 45 z_axis

Back 56

rotate each planet 45 degrees around its parent

Front 57

coordsys : [ in ] coordsys corresponds to the current reference coordinate system

Back 57

[in] coordsys world : Use the world space coordinate system

[in] coordsys local: Use the object's local coordinate system

[in] coordsys parent: Use the object's parent's coordinate system

[in] coordsys grid : Use the currently active viewport’s coordinate system

[in] coordsys screen : Use the currently active viewport’s coordinate system

[in] coordsys <node>: Use the specified node's local coordinate system - this is equivalent to the "pick" coordinate system capability in the 3ds Max user interface

[in] coordsys <matrix3> : Use the coordinate system specified by the given 3D matrix

Front 58

animate on
(
for i in selection do
(
in coordsys local i.position = [random -20 20,random -20 20,random -20 20]
)
)

Back 58

randomly jiggle each object in the selection around +/- 20 units

Front 59

animate on
(
in coordsys parent rotate selection (EulerAngles 0 0 90)
)

Back 59

rotate objects in parent’s coordinate system

Front 60

set: perform "sticky" actions. context established to perform code that follows up,until you declare a new "sticky" action. Establishing a "sticky" context is accomplished with set.

Back 60

set can be used on •animate , •time , •in , •coordsys , •about , •level , or •undo

EXAMPLE:
set animate on
set time 30f
move $foo [80,0,0]
scale $baz [1,1,3]
$bar.bend.angle += 23
set animate off
set time off

Front 61

try: Error-trapping scheme but limited to the fact you can't get error codes or info about error that occured.

Back 61

try <protected_expr> catch <on_err_expr>

•the protected_expr is executed & any errors that occur are trapped and on_err_expr is executed.

•If there are no errors the on_err_expr isn't executed.

Front 62

catch: Part of Error-trapping scheme that will execute if bumps into error.

Back 62

catch is part of the <on_err_expr>

Front 63

throw: can be used to generate your own runtime error and pass on an error you caught when doing some interim clean-up
• Will execute outer catch if you have nested try/catches.

Back 63

throw ("Hey")

this returns -- Runtime error: Hey

Front 64

f = openFile "foo.dat"
try
while not eof f do read_some_data f
catch
(
messageBox "bad data in foo.dat"
results = undefined
)
close f

Back 64

In this example, any errors in reading or processing the data in the read_some_data() function are trapped, then a Message box is displayed and some clean-up is done.

This is a good example of a use for the simple error-trapping.

Front 65

• classOf $
• superclassOf $

Back 65

returns the class of the node and superclass of the node

Front 66

t = targetObject()

Back 66

Creates a target object assigned to variable t. *Hint: type classOf on targetObject will return Targetobject, but superclassOf will return GeometryClass(however you can't modify this as you can typical geometry)

Front 67

tc = TargetCamera pos[100,100,100]

Back 67

Creates a TargetCamera at coordinate [100,100,100] assigned to variable tc.

Front 68

tc.target = t2

Back 68

The targetObject you created with variable t2, is now the targetObject for the TargetCamera you created using variable tc. The two are joined and complete.

Front 69

for i = 1 to 200 do sphere pos:(random[-300,-300,-300] [300,300,300]) radius:(random 2 40)

Back 69

Create random sized spheres in the [300,300,300] coordinate space.

Front 70

$Sphere*.radius = 10

Back 70

Selects all spheres and adjusts their radius to 10.

Front 71

for o in $ where hasProperty o "radius" do o.radius = 10

Back 71

Selects objects with a radius property in your selection and sets the radius to 10.

Front 72

for o in selection do for m in o.modifiers where classof m == Bend do m.angle = 45

Back 72

Nested for loop,this will filter all modifiers which & if they equal a bend type modifer and edit their angle value.

Front 73

Reserved Keywords

Back 73

about

and

animate

as

at

by

case

catch

collect

continue

coordsys

do

else

exit

fn

for

from

function

global

if

in

local

macroscript

mapped

max

not

of

off

on

or

parameters

persistent

plugin

rcmenu

return

rollout

set

struct

then

throw

to

tool

try

undo

utility

when

where

while

with

Front 74

theBox = box width:10 length:10 height:10
for y = 0 to 9 do for x = 0 to 9 do (copy theBox).pos = [ 50*x, 20*y, 0]
delete theBox

Back 74

•creates a box called theBox.
• for loop iterates 9 times to copy theBox on the x and y axis.
• copies on x every 50 units, copies on y every 20 units
• delete the original theBox leaving you with a total of 100 boxes.

Front 75

theOffset = 0
for o in $Box*do moveKeys o.height.controller(theOffset +=1)

Back 75

This will offset your keyframes by one to each object.
*This does depend on your object copy order.

Front 76

Turn on/off network rendering.

Back 76

rendusenet = true
rendusenet = false

Front 77

select every object in the objects where the object’s material is not defined

Back 77

select (for o in objects where o.material == undefined collect o)

Front 78

For every object in our selection where the material is not undefined put it in the material slot of the same index (will bug after 24)

Back 78

for i = 1 to selection.count where selection[i].material != undefined do meditmaterials[i] = selection[i].material

Front 79

Make the material in slot 1 of the material editor the current object’s material, just because it’s a pain to pick some times.

Back 79

meditmaterials[1] = $.material

Front 80

showproperties (variable)

EX: showproperties b

Back 80

Shows the objects properties you can edit and manipulate.
EX:
.height: float
.length: float
.lengthsegs: integer
.width: float
.widtsegs: integer
.mapCoords: boolean
.heightsegs: integer

Front 81

addmodifier b (taper())

Back 81

Adds a taper modifier to b. To show properties of b so you can edit them type:
showproperties b.taper
.curve: float
.limit: boolean
.upperlimit : float
.lowerlimit: float
.amount: float
.primaryaxis: integer
.effectaxis: integer
.symmetry: boolean
.center : point3
.gizmo:transform

Front 82

Radio Buttons : choose among several options

Back 82

syntax:
• type is the var assigned to the radio buttons
•"Type" is the caption text displayed in the UI
•labels:#("Noise","Smoke") are the options
•columns defines the number of columns

Front 83

The Colorpicker:

colorpicker col "Material Color" defalut:[180,180,180]
on col changed val do
(
mat.diffusecolor = val
mat.ambientcolor = val/2
)

Back 83

dfd

Front 84

utility:

utility assign_color "Assign Color"

Back 84

typing 'utility' at the very top of the script will allow this script to run from the utility>MaxScript button.

In this ex: assign_color is our var & 'Assign Color' is our text in our UI