3DS Max Tutorial - The UserInterface

3DS Max interface can be classified into five elements. These elements can be grouped under various sub-elements. The following are the main five elements of the max interface.

Menus
Menus hold most of the 3ds Max commands. These menus are found along the top edge of the Max window.
Toolbars
There are a number of toolbars containing icon buttons that provide single-click access to features. These toolbars can float independently or can be docked to an interface edge. By default, the main toolbar and the reactor toolbar are visible.
Viewports
There are four separate views into the scene show. They are- Top, Front, Left, and Perspective.
Command Panel
The command panel is located to the right of the four viewports. It contains six tabbed icons at its top that can be clicked to open the various panels. Each panel includes rollouts containing parameters and settings. These rollouts change depending on the object and tab that is selected.
Lower Interface Bar
Along the bottom edge of the interface window is a collection of miscellaneous controls.

   Figure1-1: Max Interface

In the following section, the usage and functionality of each element will be given in detail.

Menus
The menus at the top of the Max interface contain most of the max commands. There are toolbar buttons and keyboard shortcuts corresponding to many of the menu commands. A menu command can be executed by selecting it with the mouse cursor. The same command can also be executed by clicking its corresponding toolbar button if there is one, otherwise its keyboard shortcut has to be pressed.

   Figure 1-2: File Menu

The main menu includes the following options:
File, Edit, Tools, Group, Views, Create, Modifiers, Character, Reactor, Animation, Graph Editors, Rendering, Customize, MAXScript, and Help. 
You can also access the Menu by pressing the Alt key on the keyboard. This selects the File menu. Arrow keys can be used to move between the other menus. With a menu selected, you can press the keyboard letter that is underlined to select and execute a menu command.

Toolbars 
The main toolbar is by default placed at the top of the max interface under the menus. The reactor toolbar is placed along the left edge of the interface. Toolbars can be used conveniently to execute commands with just a single click of the mouse.
A docked toolbar can be converted into a floating toolbar by clicking and dragging from the two vertical lines on the left or top of the toolbar. After separating it from the interface edges, the floating toolbar can be re-sized by dragging it from the edges or the corners. A floating toolbar can be docked by double clicking on the title or taking it to the closest edge by dragging it from the title.

   Figure 1-3: Main toolbar in Floating mode

When in the by default docked position, the main toolbar is too long to be completely visible. Your monitor’s resolution should be atleast 1280 pixels wide to accommodate the whole toolbar. You can scroll the toolbar on a lower resolution screen by positioning the cursor on the toolbar away from the buttons, such as, below one of the drop-down lists (the cursor changes to a hand), and then clicking and dragging the toolbar in either direction. You can easily scroll the main toolbar by dragging with the middle mouse button.

Viewports
The viewports cover over the largest area of the user. They are used to view the objects within the scene and can be configured to view the scene in different modes.
Front, Back, Top, Bottom, Left, and Right are the orthographic viewports available in Max. By default, the three of the four viewports show Top, Front, and Left orthographic views and the fourth viewport shows the perspective view. The top-left corner of the viewport displays the viewport name.
Orthographic views are displayed from the perspective of looking straight down an axis at an object. This reveals a view in only one plane. Because orthographic viewports are restricted to one plane, they show the actual height and width of the object.
Isometric views are not restricted to a single axis and the scene can be viewed from any location, but all dimensions are still maintained.

   Figure 1-4: View Port

The standard viewports show you several different views of your current project, but within each viewport you can zoom in on certain objects, pan the view, or rotate about the center of the viewport. To zoom, pan, and rotate the default views, you need to use the Viewport Navigation Control buttons. These eight buttons are located at the bottom-right corner of the window.

   Figure 1-5: Navigation Control Buttons

Command Panel 
The Command Panel is located to the right of the viewports along the right edge of the interface. This is one of the most frequently used sections of the max interface. This is where the object parameters, settings, and controls are located.
The Command Panel is split into six panels, each accessed via a tab icon located at its top. These six tabs are- Create, Modify, Hierarchy, Motion, Display, and Utilities.

   Figure 1-6: Command Panel

The Create panel 
It contains controls for creating objects; such as, geometry, cameras, lights, and so on.

The Modify Panel 
It contains controls for applying modifiers to objects and editing editable objects such as meshes and patches.

The Hierarchy Panel 
It contains controls for managing links in a hierarchy, in joints, and in inverse kinematics.

The Motion Panel 
It contains controls for animation controllers and trajectories.

The Display Panel
It contains controls that let you hide and unhide objects, along with other display options.

The Utilities Panel
It contains miscellaneous utility programs, most of which are plug-ins to 3ds max.

Rollouts
Rollouts contain most of the controls, buttons, and parameters in the Command Panel. Each rollout title bar includes a plus or minus sign (a minus sign indicates that the rollout is open; a plus sign shows closed rollouts). Clicking the rollout title opens or closes the rollout. You can also reposition the order of the rollouts by dragging the rollout title and dropping it above or below the other rollouts. But you cannot reposition some of the rollouts, such as the Object Type and the Name and Color rollouts found in the Create panel.

      Figure 1-7: Rollouts

Right-clicking away from the buttons in a rollout presents a pop-up menu which you can select to close the rollout you’ve clicked in- whether it is a Close All, Open All, or Reset Rollout Order. The pop-up menu also lists all available rollouts within the current panel, with a check mark next to the ones that are open. Expanding all the rollouts often exceeds the screen space allotted to the Command Panel. If the rollouts exceed the given space, then a small vertical scroll bar appears at the right edge of the Command Panel. This scroll bar can be dragged to access the rollouts at the bottom of the Command Panel, or can be clicked away from the controls when a hand cursor appears. With the hand cursor, you can click and drag in either direction to scroll the Command Panel. The Command Panel can be also be scrolled with the wheel on the mouse.

Using the Lower Interface Bar Controls 

Lower Interface bar is a collection of several sets of controls located along the bottom edge of the interface window. These controls cannot be pulled away from the interface like the main toolbar, but they can be hidden using the Expert Mode (Ctrl+X). These controls, include the following from left to right:

Time Slider
The Time Slider, located under the viewports, enables you to quickly locate a specific frame. It spans the number of frames included in the current animation. Dragging the Time Slider can move you quickly between frames.

Track Bar 
The Track Bar displays animation keys as color-coded rectangles with red for positional keys, green for rotational keys, and blue for scale keys. Parameter change keys are denoted by gray rectangles. Using the Track Bar, you can select, move, and delete keys.

Status Bar 
The Status Bar is below the Track Bar. It provides valuable information, such as the number and type of objects selected, transformation values, and grid size. It also includes the Transform Type-In fields.

Prompt Line
The Prompt Line is text located at the bottom of the window. If you’re stuck as to what to do next, look at the Prompt Line for information on what Max expects.

Key Controls 
These controls are for creating animation keys and include two different modes- Auto Key (keyboard shortcut, N) or Set Key (keyboard shortcut, ' ).
Auto Key mode sets keys for any change 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).

Time Controls 
Resembling the controls on an audio or video device, the Time Controls offer an easy way to move through the various animation frames and keys. Based on the selected mode (keys or frames), the Time Controls can move between the first, previous, next, and last frames or keys.

Viewport Navigation Controls
In the lower-right corner of the interface are the controls for manipulating the viewports. They enable you to zoom, pan, and rotate the active viewport’s view.

   Figure 1-8: Lower Interface Bar