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832 Chapter 22: Customizing the User Interface
Show UI
Customize menu > Show UI
The Show UI submenu lets you add or remove UI
(user interface) elements from the workspace, so
that you can customize y our screen as you work.
You can tur n these elements on and off as you need
by selecting them from the menu, maximizing
the efficiency of your workspace. The settings are
stored in the
maxstart.cui file, so they will remain
after you shut down and restart 3ds Max.
When you choose a UI element from the Show
UI submenu, it will be displayed or hidden,
depending on its previous state. If it was hidden
when you selected it from the menu, it will be
displayed. If it was displayed when you selected it
from the menu, it will be hidden. The Show UI
menu displays a check mark next to the UI element
when it is currently being displayed.
K eyboard shortcuts for turning on and off UI
elements are displayed next to their corresponding
UI elements in the Show UI menu.
You can use the Show UI menu to hide or display
the following UI elements:
Command Panel (page 3–799)
Floating Toolbars (displays Axis Constraints
Toolbar (page 3–735)
, Layers Toolbar (page
3–735)
,and Extras To olbar (page 3–736) )
Main Toolbar (page 3–733)
Tr ack Bar (p age 3–750)
Lock U I Lay out
Customize menu > Lock UI Layout
When the Lock UI Layout toggle is act ive, you
cannot modify the user interface layout by
dragging interface elements. (You can still use
the rig ht-click menu to do so, however.) Use this
command to pr event user interface changes or
inadvertent actions, such as floating toolbars, from
happening due to mouse clicks.
Tip: Use this command if you find you are
inadvertently selecting and
floating (page 3–1024)
UI elements such as the Command panel.
Procedure
To lock the UI layout:
• Choose Lock UI Layout f rom the Customize
menu.
Yo u c a n n o l o n g e r m o v e o r r e s i z e t h e U I
elements. Use this command to prevent
user interface changes or if you find yourself
accidentally floating toolbars or the command
panels on mouse clicks.
Plug-In Manager
Customize menu > Plug-in Manager
The Plug-in Manager lets you manage plug-ins
dynamicallywithoutanyinitializationrequired.
The Plug-in Manager provides a list of all plug-ins
foundinthe3dsMaxplug-indirectories,including
the plug-in description, t ype (object, helper,
modifier, and so on), status (loaded or deferred),
size, and path. The Plug-in Manager provides
options to load any plug-in, regardless where it
resides on disk. The Plug-in Manager is similar
to
Summar y Info (page 3–500) ,butwithmore
options.