Page 129 - Kitab3DsMax

Chapter 3: Working with Files, Importing, and Exporting

saves the current selected objects to a separate scene file. If you create a single object that you might use
again, select the object and use the Save Selected option to save it to a directory of models.

Tip
Another useful feature for saving files is to enable the Auto Backup feature in the Files panel of the Preference
Settings dialog box. This dialog box can be accessed with the Customize ➪ Preferences menu command, which is
covered later in this chapter. n

Archiving files
By archiving a Max scene along with its reference bitmaps, you can ensure that the file includes all the nec-
essary files. This is especially useful if you need to send the project to your cousin to show off or to your
boss and you don’t want to miss any ancillary files. Choose Application Button ➪ Save As ➪ Archive to save
all scene files as a compressed archive. The default archive format is .zip (but you can change it in the Files
panel of the Preference Settings dialog box to use whatever archive format you want).
Saving an archive as a ZIP file compiles all external files, such as bitmaps, into a single compressed file.
Along with all the scene files, a text file is automatically created that lists all the files and their paths.

Opening files
When you want to open a file you’ve saved, you may do so by choosing the Open icon on the Quick Access
toolbar or Application Button ➪ Open (Ctrl+O), which opens a file dialog box that is the same as the one
used to save files. Max can open files saved with the .max and .chr extensions. Max also can open VIZ
Render files that have the .drf extension. Selecting a file and clicking the plus button opens a copy of the
selected file with a new version number appended to its name.
Cross-Ref
The Application Button ➪ Open menu also includes commands for opening files from Vault. Vault is a version con-
trol system for Max resources. It is covered in more detail in Chapter 24, “Building Complex Scenes with
Containers and XRefs and Using Asset Tracking.” n
If Max cannot locate resources used within a scene (such as maps) when you open a Max file, then the
Missing External Files dialog box, shown in Figure 3.5, appears, enabling you to Continue without the file
or to Browse for the missing files. If you click the Browse button, the Configure External File Paths dialog
box opens, where you can add a path to the missing files.
If you open a file saved using a previous version of Max that includes features that have changed since the
previous version, then Max presents an obsolete data format warning statement. Resaving the file can fix
this problem. However, if you save a file created with a previous version of Max as a Max 2011 scene file,
then you won’t be able to open the file again in the previous versions of Max.

Tip
You can disable the Obsolete File Message in the Files panel of the Preference Settings dialog box. n

Note
You can also open files from the command line by placing the filename after the executable name, as in 3dsmax.
exe myFile.max. You can also use the –L switch after the executable name to open the last file that was opened. n

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