Datasheet

Chapter 1 ✦ Finding Your Way — Exploring the Max Interface

Controlling the MAXScript Mini-Listener

The MAXScript Mini-Listener consists of two simple text areas where you can enter

MAXScript commands and immediately see the results. The pink area is where MAXScript

commands are entered, and the white area is where the results are displayed. You can think

of the MAXScript Mini-Listener as a calculator that is at your fingertips.

MAXScript and the MAXScript Mini-Listener are covered in detail in Chapter 48, “Automating

with MAXScript.”

Using the Key Controls

You can use the Key Controls to set animation keyframes for objects in the scene. Setting

keys can be done in two modes — Auto Key (keyboard shortcut, N) or Set Key (keyboard

shortcut, '). Auto Key mode sets keys for any changes made to the scene objects. Set Key

mode gives you more precise control and sets keys for the selected filters only when you

click the Set Keys button (keyboard shortcut, K). You can set keys for the selected object

or for a specified character.

Using the Time Controls

Although the Time Controls sound like an interface to a time machine, you use them to con-

trol animation sequences.

Based on the selected mode (keys or frames), the Time Controls can move between the first,

previous, next, or last frames or keys. You can also reset the number of frames and the frame

rate using the Time Configuration dialog box.

Chapter 30, “Animation Basics,” covers both the Key Controls and the Time Controls in detail.

Using the Viewport Navigation Controls

The Viewport Navigation Controls are the eight buttons located in the lower-right corner of

the interface. They enable you to zoom, pan, and rotate the active viewport’s view. You can

undo any viewport changes with the Views➪ Undo Viewport Change (Shift+Z) menu command.

I cover the Viewport Navigation Controls in detail in Chapter 2, “Seeing It All — Working with

Viewports.”

Interacting with the Interface

Knowing where all the interface elements are located is only the start. Max includes several

interactive features that make the interface work. Learning these features makes a difference

between an interface that works for you and one that doesn’t.

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