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496 Chapter 20: Managing Scenes and Projects
inthecaseofasingleasset,thefilename. Both
versions of the dialog include drop-down h istory
lists for reverting to a previous path or file name.
The primary function for this command is to
change the path p ointed to by 3ds Max for existing
assets whose locations have changed. However , for
outputfilessuchasrenderedimagesandrender
elements, you can also use Set Path to create
and use new output directories. If you change
an output path to one that doesn’t exist, you’re
prompted to confirm that you want to create the
folder(s). if you confirm, the output paths are
changed in all appropriate locations, such as the
Render Scene dia log.
The version of the dialog that appears depends on
the number of hig hlighted assets:
If a single asset is highlighted, you can change
thepathandthefilename. Thefollowing
dialog appears.
Tochangethepath,editthePathfieldorusethe
ellipsis [...] button to browse for a new path.
This changes the path only.
To revert to a previous path, choose it from the
drop-down list.
To change the file name, edit the File field or
choose a name from the drop-down history
list.Notethatthischangesonlythenameofthe
asset file as pointed to in the scene; it doesn’t
change the actual asset file name. Use t his
toupdatethesceneiftheassetfilenamehas
changed.
Ifmultipleassetsarehighlighted,youcan
changethepathbutnotfilenames. The
following dialog appears.
The dialog shows the portion of the current
path that the highlig hted assets and lets you
specifyanewone,eitherbyeditingtheSpecify
Pathfieldcontentsorbyclickingtheellipsis[...]
button an d browsing to a different path.
For example, if two assets are highlighted,
and one asset’s path is
c:\max_files\maps1\
whi le the other’s is
c:\max_files\maps2\
,the
Specify P ath field will show
c:\max_files\
.
Changing this changes the
complete
path for all
highlighted assets. Of course, they must all be
present there for the program to find them.
To revert to a previous path, choose it from the
drop-down list.
To change only the portion of the path that
all highlighted assets have in common, use
Retarget Common Root (see following).
Ret ar get Common R oot—Lets you change only the
par t of the path that all highlighted assets have in
common. This command opens a version of the
Specify Assets path dialog that shows the common
path prefix for the highlighted assets and lets you
specify a new one, either by editing the Specify
New Common Path Prefix field contents or by
clicking the ellipsis [...] button and browsing to
a different path. Use Retarget Common Root
for repathing multiple files, particularly those in
different directories within the common root.