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706 Chapter 20: Managing Scenes and Projects
Note:
You can control whether newly created
objects adopt the default layer settings on a
per-object basis by using Default To By Layer For
New Nodes in the
General Preferences panel (page
3–859)
.
You can also Freeze, Hide, or Isolate the layer of a
selected object using the cor responding command
in the display quadrant of the quad menu.
Layer Names
You can create and name a layer for each
conceptual grouping (such as walls or terrain)
and assign common properties to those layers. By
grouping objects into layers, you can control their
display and make changes quickly and efficiently.
When you name layers, you can use names of
variable length up to 255 characters. These names
can contain letters, dig its, blank spaces, and the
special characters dollar sign ($), hyphen (-), and
underscore (_).
Note: Any layers from a linked AutoCAD file are
automatically imported to 3ds Max. 3ds Max
names the converted layers based on the layer
names from the AutoCAD drawing.
See also
Layer List (p age 3–715)
Layer Manager (page 3–706)
Layer Proper t ies D ialog (page 3–711)
Layer Manager
Maintoolbar>LayerManager
Layers toolbar > Layer Manager
Tools menu > Layer Manager
The Layer Manager, available from the main
toolbar,isamodelessdialogwhereyoucancreate
and delete layers. You can a lso view and edit the
settings for all of the layers in your scene, as well
as the objects associated with them. You can
specify the name, visibility, renderability, color,
and objects’ and layers’ inclusion in the radiosity
solution from this dialog.
Objects are organized by layer in the dialog, in
an expandable list. By clicking ‘+’or‘-‘, you c an
expand or collapse (respectively) the object list for
each layer. You can also sort the layers by clicking
any of the column heads.
Anotherusefultoolistheabilitytoopen
the Object Properties dialog or Layer Properties
dialog for one or more highlighted objects or
layers directly from the Layer Manager by clicking
the corresponding icons.
Note: You can change the property settings for
each layer or object by clicking the corresponding
icon in the dialog. With each click, the icons
cycle through the various states of the property,
including Off (
)and By Layer (page 3–1014)
( ), and, in the Render, Color, and Radiosity
columns, By Object. When a property is set to By
Layer, the object in herits the property sett ing from
its associated layer.
Procedures
To create a new layer:
When you create new layers, 3ds Max names them
sequentially by default: L ayer01, Layer02, and
so on. After creating a layer, you c an rename it.
3ds Max assigns a random color to all new layers.
You can accept the default settings or specify other
colors.
1. On the main toolbar, click Layer
Manager .
2. IntheLayerManager,clickCreateNew
Layer.