[Max] - setting modifier defaults

Tools 3ds Max
1

Hey doods,

my work uses a very tiny scale that forces us to type in a value of .001 for pretty much every modifier that requires world units. So I was wondering if you guys knew of a file or a way to set modifier defaults?

I know I could set up my own custom buttons that would add a ____ modifier and set the particular values to what I want but I was wondering if there was a more universal way to edit those things?

any help is much appreciated, thanks!

2

Just off the top of my head, I’m wondering if you couldn’t address the issue by adjusting the “Units Setup” within Max. This wouldn’t help in setting default values for modifiers, but at least the values that you’re working with could be brought into a more sensible range.

3

I would strongly suggest fixing the unit issue, rather than go this route. Your pipeline should be more flexible than this.

My $0.02. :wink:

4

I’d love to, but afraid I have no influence over the established system as a character artist so I’m just trying to make my life easier :p:

I gotta admit I’ve actually never used max’s units too much, but whenever I set custom units it simply converts values from the internal max units to the new arbitrary unit, so I still end up having to type in the proper value. maybe I’m doing something wrong?

[meaning with MyUnit = .001, an editable polys weldThreshold is displayed now as 1 MyUnit instead of .001 generic units]

maybe there’s a way to set the proper settings in 3dsmax.ini?

5

So turns out I hadn’t searched through all the available callbacks apparently.
I eventually got word from Bobo who sent the following:

callbacks.removeScripts #postModifierAdded id:#symmodthreshold
callbacks.addScript #postModifierAdded "theMod = (callbacks.notificationParam())[2]; if classof theMod == Symmetry do theMod.threshold = 0.001" id:#symmodthreshold

so in this way you could possibly set the proper values on a modifier whenever it’s added. It’s not the most elegant solution since it could overwrite settings of some modifiers which keep the last settings you’d used on a modifier of the same class, but in my case I was able to work around it and set settings for all the main modifiers we need to use if they’re the same as the default values

maybe someone else could find that useful too

6

Good idea! Yay for dangerous maxscript workarounds.