3ds Max 9 Bible

In addition to the major improvements are many minor improvements that make working with objects, materials, and other facets of Max easier. Minor improvements found in version 9 include the following:

• Influences: Within the Select Objects dialog box, you can select objects based on influences.

• Track View menus: The Track View menu has been reorganized. You can now access commands by right-clicking on the Hierarchy pane.

• Communication Center button: A new button at the bottom of the main interface lets you define how often Max looks for updates.

• AutoCAD Import: The ability to import AutoCAD files has been improved.

• Viewport Statistics: You can view a range of scene statistics in the upper-left corner of the viewports including Frame Rate, Polygon, Edge, and Vertices totals.

• Hidden Line display method: Scene objects in the viewport can be viewed using the Hidden Line display method. This method displays the objects in wireframe but hides all edges pointing away from the camera.

• Support for all DirectX Shaders: Max now allows you to load cgfx files. This shader can also be viewed within the viewports.

• Quick Planar Map: The Unwrap UVW window includes a new mapping method that quickly planar maps the selected object.

• Relative Paths: The Configure User Paths dialog box can now work with absolute or relative paths based on the Project Folder.

• Set Project Folder: The Set Project Folder command creates a project folder with all the necessary sub-folders and allows quick saving of scene files into the specified location.