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CHAPTER

Customizing the Max

Interface and Setting

Preferences

hen you get into a new car, one of the first things you do is to rear-
range the seat and mirrors. You do this to make yourself comfortable. IN THIS CHAPTER
WThe same principle can apply to software packages: Arranging or cus-
tomizing an interface makes it more comfortable to work with. Using the Customize User
Interface dialog box
Early versions of Max allowed only minimal changes to the interface, but later
versions enable significant customization. The Max interface can be customized Creating custom keyboard
to show only the icons and tools that you want to see. Max also has a rather shortcuts, toolbars,
bulky set of preferences that you can use to set almost every aspect of the pro- quadmenus, menus, and
gram. This chapter covers various ways to make the Max interface more comfort- colors
able for you.
Customizing the Ribbon
Customizing the Command
Using the Customize User Panel buttons
Interface Window Loading and saving custom
interfaces
The Customize menu provides commands for customizing and setting up the
Max interface. The first menu item is the Customize User Interface menu com- Configuring paths
mand. This command opens the Customize User Interface dialog box. This dia- Setting system units
log box includes five panels: Keyboard, Toolbars, Quads, Menus, and Colors.
You also can access this dialog box by right-clicking any toolbar away from the Setting preferences
buttons and selecting Customize from the pop-up menu.

Customizing keyboard shortcuts
If used properly, keyboard shortcuts can increase your efficiency dramatically.
Figure 4.1 shows the Keyboard panel of the Customize User Interface dialog box.
In this panel, you can assign shortcuts to any command and define sets of short-
cuts. You can assign keyboard shortcuts for any of the interfaces listed in the
Group drop-down list. When an interface is selected from the Group drop-down
list, all its commands are listed below, along with their current keyboard short-
cuts. You can disable the keyboard shortcuts for any of these interfaces using the
Active option located next to the drop-down list.

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