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Chapter 4: Customizing the Max Interface and Setting Preferences

Interface Display settings
The options in the UI Display section control additional aspects of the interface. The Enable Viewport
Tooltips option can toggle tooltips on or off. Tooltips are helpful when you’re first learning the Max inter-
face, but they quickly become annoying and you’ll want to turn them off.
The AutoPlay Preview File setting automatically plays Preview Files in the default media player when they
are finished rendering. If this option is disabled, you need to play the previews with the Tools ➪ Grab
Viewport ➪ View Animated Sequence File menu command. The Display Cross Hair Cursor option changes
the cursor from the Windows default arrow to a crosshair cursor similar to the one used in AutoCAD.
For some actions, such as non-uniform scaling, Max displays a warning dialog box asking whether you are sure
of the action. To disable these warnings, uncheck this option (or you could check the Disable this Warning box
in the dialog box). Actions with warnings include topology-dependence and collapsing the Modifier Stack.
The Save UI Configuration on Exit switch automatically saves any interface configuration changes when you
exit Max. You can deselect the Use Large Toolbar Buttons option, enabling the use of smaller toolbar but-
tons and icons, which reclaims valuable screen real estate.
The Horizontal Text in Vertical Toolbars option fixes the problem of text buttons that take up too much
space, especially when printed horizontally on a vertical toolbar. You also can specify a width for text but-
tons. Any text larger than this value is clipped off at the edges of the button.
The Flyout Time spinner adjusts the time the system waits before displaying flyout buttons. The Color
Selection drop-down list lets you choose which color selector interface Max uses.

Layer settings
If you select an object and open its Properties dialog box, the Display Properties, Rendering Control, and
Motion Blur sections each have a button that can toggle between ByLayer and ByObject. If ByObject is
selected, then the options are enabled and you can set them for the object in the Properties dialog box, but
if the ByLayer option is selected, then the settings are determined by the setting defined for all objects in the
layer in the Layer Manager.
The settings in the Preference Settings dialog box set the ByLayer option as the default for new objects and
new lights. You also have an option to propagate all unhide and unfreeze commands to the layer. You can
select Propagate, Do Not Propagate, or Ask.
Real-World Texture Coordinates setting
The Use Real-World Texture Coordinates setting causes the Real-World Scale or the Real-World Map Size
option in the Coordinates rollout to be enabled. This setting is off by default, but it can be enabled to be the
default by using this setting.
Cross-Ref
Real-World Texture Coordinates is a mapping method explained in more detail in Chapter 17, “Adding Material
Details with Maps.” n

Files panel preferences
The Files panel holds the controls for backing up, archiving, and logging Max files. You can set files to be
backed up, saved incrementally, or compressed when saved.

Cross-Ref
The Files panel is covered in Chapter 3, “Working with Files, Importing, and Exporting.” n
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