Tag Archives: maxscript

Installing the Designimage Maxscript pack

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Tell me what you think

Sign up to my youtube channel for tutorials and my twitter feed for updates. I’m thinking of making the scriptpack only available if you subscribe to a mailing list. The scriptpack will remain free but I’d like setup a patreon for some new things I have in mind.

Tell me what you think in the comments below.

Download and unzip

The first thing to do is download the scriptpack from gumroad:

free scriptpack download

Donations not matter how small will help pay for bug fixes and updates. But just type 0 in the text box to download for free.

Automatic Installation

These maxScripts should install automatically using one of two methods. First open 3dsMax then either:

  • With Max open drag and drop the KenzorsScriptPack.mzp  file onto a max viewport
  • or from the 3dsMax menu bar pick MAXScript > Run and choose the KenzorsScriptPack.mzp file

If everything works you should see this message.

Manual Installation

Sometimes windows permissions can get in the way of the automatic install. However If the automatic installation fails for some reason, you can simply copy the files to the correct location manually. A .mzp file is simply a renamed .zip file. To install the scripts by hand you just have rename it and unzip it.

  1. Rename KenzorsScriptPack.mzp to KenzorsScriptPack.zip
  2. Unzip the files keeping the folder structure.
  3. Copy the KenzorsScripts folder and its contents to your 3dsMax ‘user scripts‘ directory.
  4. Copy the userMacros folder and its contents to your ‘userMacros‘ directory.
  5. Copy the userIcons folder and its contents to your ‘userIcons‘ directory.

You can check you ‘user paths‘ in max by going to the menubar.. .. Customise > Configure System Paths > select the ‘System’ tab > and checking the paths for  ‘Additional Macros’  ‘Additional Scripts’ and ‘Additional Icons’ You can also find paths by using the getDir comand in the the maxScript listener window like this.

getdir #userMacros
getdir #userIcons

Another tip is to use the shellLaunch command to open the windows folder. So this will open Windows Explorer at C:\Temp\SomeFolder (if it exists).

shellLaunch "explorer.exe" "c:\\temp\\somefolder"

This means you can open the userIcons folder directly using maxscript like this

shellLaunch "explorer.exe" "$userIcons"
shellLaunch "explorer.exe" (getdir #userIcons)

Running the scripts

The MaxScripts are run using my ‘Script Navigator’ utility or by simply navigating to the .ms file in 3dsmax Instructions and videos for these MaxScripts can be found on my maxScript page and on my youtube channel.

Further information

I’ll be posting updates to my profile on scriptspot For those of you that are interested the guys at scriptspot.com have written this post about maxScript it’s history and how to use it. http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/tutorials/script-installation-in-3ds-max

Autodesk

3ds max maxScript help

autodesk-3ds-max overview

Helium. Node based workflows for 3dsMAX

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I’ve been doing a lot of MAX plugin research recently. One thing that keeps coming up is how cool node base workflows are. If I’m designing a procedural effect I want a mathematical sketch pad and thats what schematic views give me. One day I might make the leap to Houdi but at the moment I’m heavily invested in 3dsMax.

If your into designing your own tools the it’s worth checking out Helium. It’s free and has been used by a bunch of developers for there products. Notably Krakatoa’s Magma Flow editor.

There’s also the MAXscripted building generator by Tyson Ibele

So … at some point ( when I have the time ) what i’d like to do is a cutdown clone of superflow elements but based the Helium editor.

Tutorial #002 – Parametric Superflow from V-MOTION on Vimeo.

Free Scripts and plugins links

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Some of the scripts and plugins I’ve been using.

Bulk rename utility

Free to download Bulk rename utility does what is says. It invaluable for fixing the names of broken file sequences. The UI is a little complex but it’s very versatile once you get used to it.

Greeble

Greeble the legendary detailing plugin. Great for mocking things up quickly.
greeble 3dsMax plugin

Soulburn Scripts

Neil Blevin has a big useful script pack Soulburn Scripts. He also has and interesting blog.

Wrap It

wrapit is great for retopologising hi res meshes in max

BerconMaps

BerconMaps  procedural materials for Max: Wood, Noise, Tile, Gradient and Distortion. All of them are 3D maps except for Tile. They will work with scanline, V-Ray, finalRender and Brazil… BUT alas not Mental Ray.Becon maps Plugin for 3dsMax

Clone

clone is a free plugin that does what it says on the tin. I’ve been using it production. It’s stable and a great time saver.

itoosoft Clone

Radial Symmetry

Radial Symmetry not free but super cheap ($20) an awesome time saver and a great creative tool

Script Navigator bugs and features

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There was a bug that prevented you from adding scripts outside of the userscripts directory.

I’ve made some changes to the way the script handles paths. This should fix the bug. I’m going to sink test it for a few days to make sure I haven’t missed anything.

bug #2
“When i try to add another tab by pushing the”+”, it s asks for a name, if i say”cancel” , it does cancel the tab creation. but if i input some characters into the box, “abcd” and hit cancel, it still creates the tab.”

I hadn’t noticed this before…but… because of the way the maxScript editText gui works. It might be a bit tricky to fix. I’m going to have a think.
I may have to add another to “ok” the new tab name.

Feature Requests from scriptspot :

#1 – Ability to move the scripts up/down for better observaiton/alphabetical changes or behavioural order.(just like adjusting priorities in a download manager)

I have generic script for the dotNet list box which should do this. The dotNet list box is much prettier anyway so when I get a chance I’ll see if I can hook it up.

cheers guys

Biped key all … key all biped limbs with one click

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This is a tool for keying all your biped limbs in one click (including the root or COM ).

Simply select part of the biped and click ‘key’
This will set a TCB key at the current frame on all the biped limbs.

You can also delete all the keys at the current time using the ‘delete’ button.

It’s part of my script pack. You can instruction to install it are here

Keeping keys aligned is part of an organised keyframing style I use to animate efficiently. I generally key all the characters limbs at each key pose. It also helps stop random wobbles in Bipeds FK spine. I wrote this tool to make the process faster.