ramRender will load both the previous render and the new render into the Ram Player for easy comparison. ramRender is written in Maxscript and is compatible with Max 2009 upwards.

*** Beta ***

Download the ramRender script here

Changelog:
 - 24/08/10	RamRender no longer disables the RFW.
 – 11/05/10	unleashed unto the world!

ramRender is intended as a tool to enable you to compare two version of a rendering. Simply click the ramRender button to activate, and it will then monitor the renderer. When you next hit render, the current image in the Render Frame Window (RFW) will be stored, and then displayed in the Ram Player together with the new rendering. You can then slide the splitter left and right to see the difference between the two renderings.

Features.

To access the options panel, hold Shift and click the ramRender button.

‘monitor renderer’ – This indicates that ramRender is monitoring the renderer. Toggle the toolbar button to turn this on or off.

‘remember current render’ – Activate this, and ramRender will remember the image in the RFW and always display this in the left channel of the Ram Player.

‘load image file’ – Click this button to choose an image to load into the left channel of the Ram Player instead of a rendering.

Installation.

1. drop the mzp package onto the 3DsMax viewport

2. press the button ‘install ramRender’

3. close the installer window

4. right-click the toolbar and choose ‘customize’

5. choose the category ‘JN scripts’

6. drag the script ‘When active RamRender…’ onto your toolbar, perhaps next to your render button

7. re-start Max

You can un-install ramRender any time by running the installer mzp package.

Q&A

q: what version of 3DsMax does ramRender work with?

a: The earliest version that will work is 3DsMax9, this is because ramRender relies on Maxscript code that was introduced with v9. I have tested it successfully on Max 2009, 2010, and 2011

q: how come there is another ram Player every time I render?

a: Autodesk have not made many controls of the Ram Player available to Maxscript, and this is as much as I could do

q: I would like a feature added or change, is that possible?

a: Yes, if you have some suggestions about how to improve ramRender then I’m all ears. Please comment below

q: What renderers is ramRender compatible with?

a: ramRender is compatible with any renderer that uses the 3DsMax render frame window. This means that it is compatible with VRay, but not the VRay frame buffer. Users of the VRay frame buffer will be able to use the built in VRay Frame buffer History tool that comes with VRay.

Download the new scene explorer expansion pack here.

Download the original scene explorer expansion pack here.

Please read the article here for more information about using the scene explorer and containers as a nested layer manager.

- Introduction
- Contents
- Installation
- Usage
- Conclusion
- Known issues

Introduction.

The scene explorer expansion pack is a set of scene explorer presets and scripts for use in 3ds Max 2010 to enhance the scene explorer capabilities. It contains a set of useful explorers like a light lister and a camera lister, and also some tools to help migrate you to using containers instead of the Max layer system and XRefs.

Contents.

The scene explorer expansion pack contains the following items;

- scene explorer columns camera expansion,
- scene explorer saved presets, containers, camera lister, and a light lister
- convert layers to containers MXS script
The camera expansion script must be installed to show the cameras explorer properly.

Installation.

- Download the mzp package from the link above
- Either run it from your maxscript drop down menu or drop it onto your viewport.
- Choose customize | customize user interface from the max drop down menus
- Select Toolbars from the tabs at the top of the dialog
- Press select to create a new toolbar and name is ‘Scene explorers’
- Select the category : JN Scripts
- Drag the three Scene explorer scripts onto the new toolbar. Max will need to be re-started for the icons to display correctly
- Drag the script ‘Convert layers to containers’ to the toolbar
- Place the toolbar wherever you would like it live
- re-start Max

Usage.

scene explorer saved presets.

The scene explorer saved presets consist of three scene explorers. These will appear under tools | saved scene explorers and are available whenever you start max. They are easily made yourself, and are just presets to get your started.

- containers.

This scene explorer is intended for use as an advanced layer manager instead of the existing Max layer manager. It’s feature list comes from the Max containers and scene explorer features and include:

- nested layers
- drag and drop objects
- import and export layers (containers)
- rename layer
- change multiple parameters at once
- interchangeable columns / parameters
- the ability to cache layers in the viewport for performance enhancement
- the ability to cache layers in memory for better memory management
- collaborative working and editing. Share you layers with other people

- cameras.

This scene explorer is a camera lister. It displays only cameras and camera properties. You can edit multiple parameters and objects simultaneously. Currently it will only work with standard Max cameras.

The next update will include VRay cameras and Maxwell camera properties.

I have now updated the script to include VRay and Maxwell camera properties. Please download again and overwrite the previous installation to update it.

I intend to update this to include Brazil and Final Render cameras but since I don’t use / own these renderers I cannot include them without a little help. If you like, you can post to tell me the camera properties by selectiing a brazil / FR camera, and typing;

 show $

in the maxscript listener. Then post the results and I’ll update the script. Alternatively you can do this yourself by following the instructions below under camera columns expansion script.

- lights.

This scene explorer is a light lister. It is intended to replace the existing light lister. It displays only lights and light properties. You can edit multiple parameters and objects simultaneously. This scene explorer is easily made yourself.

camera columns expansion script.

The script is loaded at Max run-time. It adds a set of commonly used camera parameters to the scene explorer such as the lens FOV and mm. You can add new columns within the scene explorer as per usual. The new columns available are (FOV, mm, show ranges, near range, far range, show horizon, show cone, orthographic projection). You can add more parameters to this file by editing it. It can be found in the directory:

…3ds Max Design 2010ScriptsStartupJN_sceneexplorer_add_camera_columns.ms

convert layers to containers MXS script.

This script will convert max layers into containers so you can update old files or process imported DWG or DXF files. Select the objects whose layers you want to convert and execute the script. Of course I would save your file before doing tihs. The script will not modify existing layers.

Conclusion.

I think it’s important to note that the intention of this pack is to promote a new work flow in Max and doesn’t actually offer anything more than is already available in Max. It simply packages and presents it is an easy to use way. The new containers feature in max offers many things that people have been requesting for a long time. What it doesn’t do is to promote itself in a way so that people know that these features are here.

Known issues.

There are one or two things that need to be updated. I’ll do my best to list them here.

1. No scene explorers on loading files from previous versions. THIS ISSUE IS NOW FIXED IN THE BETA

3ds Max saves scene explorers with files, so it is possible that you could load a file that doesn’t have any scene explorers at all, even the expansion pack. I’ll be working to fix this but you can fix it yourself by following these steps;

1- from the drop down menu: Tools | manage scene explorers.
2- Delete the lights and cameras scene explorers if they’re listed (ie, if you have the scene explorers installed for 3ds Max 2009)
3- Click ‘Load’ and load each of the explorers containers, lights, and cameras.

I’ll work at fixing isues as soon as possile.

Please post any comments or requests and I’ll do my best to help.

This script has been in my toolbox for a long time, so I’ve taken it out, polished it up, and partnered it with a friend. There are probably other scripts out there that will do this for you but I hope you will find mine intuitive and easy to use.

Ladies and gentlemen I give to you Align Tools

Download here

1. Align to three points

Pick your source objects, activate the tool and then click the three points. Max refuses to show the snap icon after the first click but it will snap correctly.

2. Align to an edge

Pick your target object, select and edge in the sub-object and the click the tool. Now either click your source object or right click to have a dummy created along that edge.

Installation:

Download the mzp package and drop it into your max viewport.

customize | customize user interface

choose the JNScripts category and the two tools should be listed. Drag them onto a toolbar. You may need to re-start Max in order to get the icons to show correctly.

If I can think of any more then I will expand the toolbox. Requests welcomed.

I’ve recently updated it to work with class instances, a much more efficient and almost foolproof way of ensuring we get all the maps.

It has two methods of functioning.

1. if the material editor is open, it will open all the maps used in the current material

2.if the editor is closed, then it will load all the maps used in the materials of the selected objects.

This is really handy script if you want to quickly adjust some materials maps in photoshop

for installation, just drop the mzp file onto you max viewport and then add the script to your quad (or menu, or toolbar!).

customize | customize user interface | category : JNScripts

Download the installation file here

Here is a run through of what’s happening under the hood.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
--	Open bitmaps in photoshop
--	version 3.1
--	max version 2008, 2009, 2010
--	written by Joshua Newman
--	written		25/05/04
--	updated 	07/04/09
--	www.joshuanewman.net
--	copyright 2004, 2009
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-- if the material editor is open, the current materials bitmaps will be opened in photoshop.
-- otherwise all the bitmaps used in the current selection will be opened.

macroScript Photoshop category:"JN Scripts" tooltip:"Load bitmaps in Photoshop." icon:#("JNpshp",1)
(

	On isEnabled return (Try((Selection.count!=0 and selection[1].material!=undefined) or mateditor.isopen())Catch())
	On isVisible return (Try((Selection.count!=0 and selection[1].material!=undefined) or mateditor.isopen())Catch())
	On Execute Do
	(
		bitmaps=#()
		if mateditor.isopen() then
		(
			a=medit.getcurmtl()
			bitmaps=getClassInstances Bitmaptexture target:a
		) else
		(
			sel=selection as array
			for s in sel do
			(
				if s.material!=undefined then
				(
					newbitmaps=getclassinstances Bitmaptexture target:s.material
					for b in newbitmaps do if (finditem bitmaps b==0) then append bitmaps b
				)
			)
		)
		pshop=CreateOLEObject"Photoshop.Application"
		pshop.Visible=true
		for b in bitmaps do pshop.open b.filename
	)
)

Step by step.
macroscript definition.

macroScript Photoshop category:"JN Scripts" tooltip:"Load bitmaps in Photoshop." icon:#("JNpshp",1)
(

This defines the script as a macro, this allows you to add it as a keyboard shortcut, quad menu item, drop down menu item, or button on your tool bar.

	On isEnabled return (Try((Selection.count!=0 and selection[1].material!=undefined) or mateditor.isopen())Catch())
	On isVisible return (Try((Selection.count!=0 and selection[1].material!=undefined) or mateditor.isopen())Catch())

These two lines whether or not the tool is enabled or visible. For example, if it is in a quad menu, then at least one of these conditions must be met for the tool to be visible; 1. Either the material editor has to be open, 2. at least on object must be selected, 3. the first selected object must have a material.

	On Execute Do
	(

Where to start when the script is executed.

		bitmaps=#()

let’s define a variable to hold all the bitmaps we find

		if mateditor.isopen() then
		(

Is the material editor open?

			a=medit.getcurmtl()

if yes then lets get the currently selected material and place it in a temporary variable ‘a’

			newbitmaps=getClassInstances Bitmaptexture target:a

now use the getClassInstances function to get all dependents of the class Bitmaptexture and put them into our bitmaps variable. This will now contain an array.

		) else
		(

ok, so the material editor isn’t open then.

			sel=selection as array

Let’s convert the current selection into an array of objects.

			for s in sel do
			(

Now iterate through that selection object by object,

				if s.material!=undefined then
				(

and check to see if has a material assigned.

					newbitmaps=getclassinstances Bitmaptexture target:s.material

get all the bitmaps used in that material into a temporary variable, returns an array.

					for b in newbitmaps do if (finditem bitmaps b==0) then append bitmaps b

We then iterate through the array and check to see if the bitmap is already listed and add it if it isn’t. I’ve changed this line to remove the appendifunique function since this function was added to Max in version 2008. This will allow my script to work in earlier versions of max.

				)
			)
		)
		pshop=CreateOLEObject"Photoshop.Application"

This creates that OLE communication link with photoshop.

		pshop.Visible=true

This makes photoshop visible on the desktop, if it isn’t already.

		for b in bitmaps do if (doesfileexist b.filename) then pshop.open b.filename else (print b.filename)

Finally, we iterate through our array of bitmaps and check to see that the filenames are valid before opening them one by one in photoshop.

	)
)

Don’t forget to close your parenthesis!