Page 163 - Kitab3DsMax

Chapter 4: Customizing the Max Interface and Setting Preferences

FIGURE 4.10
The Customize Ribbon dialog box lets you repopulate the existing panels or even create your own panels.

Making dynamic tools and panels
Some properties, such as the Visible property for standard commands or the Available property for panels,
let you choose values of True, False, and Conditional. The Conditional option opens a dialog box, shown in
Figure 4.11, where you can specify the conditions required for the command to be visible or available. For
example, you can have a button appear only when an Editable Poly object is selected or when Slice Mode is
enabled. This gives you the power to make the custom Ribbon dynamic.
The Conditional dialog box also includes a field for entering MAXScript conditions, such as enabling an
object only when multiple objects are selected. The Open Editor button opens a MAXScript Editor window
so you can test your conditions.

Saving Ribbon changes
Once you’re happy with the Ribbon changes, you can press the Save button to immediately apply the
changes to the current Ribbon. The Save As button opens a dialog box where you can save the custom
Ribbon as a separate file with the .ribbon extension. Saved ribbon files can be reloaded into the Customize
Ribbon dialog box using the Load button.

Tutorial: Building a Ribbon panel of primitives
Working with the Ribbon is great, and I typically like to hide the Command Panel when modeling, but
occasionally I need to create a primitive object to work with. The Create menu is too cumbersome, so creat-
ing a Ribbon panel holding all the primitives is helpful.
To create a Ribbon panel of primitive objects, follow these steps:
1. Click the Graphite Modeling Tools button in the main toolbar to open the Ribbon interface.
115

6/30/10 3:35 PM
09_617779-ch04.indd 115
09_617779-ch04.indd 115 6/30/10 3:35 PM