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16 Chapter 1: Getting Started with 3ds M ax
are used for many purposes, such as material and
map definition, light projections, a nd environment
effects.
Setting XR efs File Paths
The
XRefs panel (page 3–857) contains multiple
path entr ies that the progra m uses to search for
externally referenced files. These are used for
sharing files in a workgroup situation.
Impor ting, Merging, R eplacing,
and E x ter na ll y R ef erencing S cenes
Gear model imported to become part of another scene
You can realize great productivity gains when
you reuse work by combining geometry from
scenes or other programs. 3ds Max supports this
technique with the Import, Merge, and Replace
commands. You can also share scenes and objects
w ith others working on the same project using
XRef fu nct ionalit y.
Importi ng Geomet r y f ro m Ot her
Programs
UseFilemenu> Import (page 3–490) to bring
objects from other programs into a scene. The
types of files that you can import are listed i n
theFilesOfTypelistintheSelectFileToImport
dialog.
Depending on the file t ype you choose, you might
have options available for that import plug-in.
Mer ging Scenes Together
Pipe and ashtray models merged into one scene
Use Merge (page 3–469) to combine multiple
scenes into a single large scene. When you merge
a fi le, you can select which objects to merge. If
objectsbeingmergedhavethesamenameas
objects in your scene, you have the option to
rename or skip over the merged objects.
Mer ging A nima tion i nto S cenes
Use Merge Animation (p age 3–471) to merge the
animation from one scene into another with the
same (or similar) geometry.