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2012 3ds Max click. This script is great for creating background/context forests, shrub beds, and the like. ObjectReplacer: ObjectReplacer will replace selected objects (or groups) with other objects. This is great for replacing low polygon assets received in files from clients with high polygon, properly textured assets from your production library. TransformRandomizer: TransformRandomizer changes the transforms of one or multiple objects through numeric values set in parameters. I use TransformRandomizer daily, especially for adding variety to setdressing such as trees and shrubs. If you have a mass/volume of plants in one area that are all the same model (or proxy), you’ll end up with a very consistentlooking render. Use TransformRandomizer to change the rotation and scale of all the objects independently, which creates massing of items that look like they have tremendous amounts of variety, but are created with one model asset. TranformRandomizer works in conjunction with the object’s pivot point, so make sure that is set properly first or you might be surprised with the result! My recommended settings would be: min -45, max 45 for the rotation variation (in the Z), and random scale min 85 max 115 (you can do x, y, z independently with these values or all at once, or some more than others!). The script will execute these parameters every time you click “apply,” and the effect is both random (it will do different settings for each item each time, so it could get smaller once, or larger once, depending on the settings) and cumulative. It is best to do small increments in order to find something satisfactory in just a few clicks.
script utilizes the GBuffer ID, which is present and editable on every object in 3ds Max. This script streamlines the creation of mattes, which will render and output at the same time as the main image pass, thus saving time and energy since they don’t need to be created separately. It also speeds up the transition into post production software such as Adobe After Effects or Adobe PhotoShop. SketchUp Import Awesomizer: Although 3ds Max supports opening/importing SketchUp files with a native .skp importer, this method has its shortfalls. Since the importer brings in the model with the SketchUp layers, components, object names, and materials, the model can be a bit of a hassle to use in 3ds Max because the programs handle the information differently. In addition, the quality of the SketchUp model, or rather, the quality of the import, depends on the quality of the modeler and their personal workflow and habits. The inconsistency in these variables can be quite inconvenient for using SketchUp information directly in 3ds Max, so for my workflow, this script fills that gap. My preferred workflow is to export the model out of SketchUp as a .3ds file, by materials. Then, I import the file into 3ds Max and use the “layer by material” portion of the SIA script to organize the model into layers by material (these will build in my Layer Manager as well). Once this is sorted, I can begin to sort geom-
A few others: NameManager cleans up names of objects quickly, which is good for 3D party models or model assets from Evermotion or Turbosquid. ViewportControl is great for getting to those views that aren’t set to hotkeys by default, such as “Right” and “Back.” ObjectDetacher quickly explodes large meshes into individual objects by elements, which is very handy when trying to glean down geometry, or drill down a curtain wall or some other large geometric object for animation.
Personal Scripts For the last part of this article, I wanted to share two of my own scripts: the SketchUp Import Awesomizer (SIA) and GBuffer ID Script. SIA was developed and refined through several months of SketchUp model imports and mimics my personal workflow for importing SketchUp models into 3ds Max. The GBuffer ID 50 www.augi.com
Figure 1: Screengrab of the SketchUp Import Awesomizer Script August 2011