3ds Max® 2008 Bible

Chapter 4. Customizing the Max Interface and Setting Preferences

IN THIS CHAPTER

• Using the Customize User Interface dialog box

• Creating custom keyboard shortcuts, toolbars, quadmenus, menus, and colors

• Customizing the Command Panel buttons

• Loading and saving custom interfaces

• Configuring paths

• Setting system units

• Setting preferences

When you get into a new car, one of the first things you do is to rearrange the seat and mirrors. You do this to make yourself comfortable. The same principle can apply to software packages: Arranging or customizing an interface makes it more comfortable to work with.

Early versions of Max allowed only minimal changes to the interface, but later versions enable significant customization. The Max interface can be customized to show only the icons and tools that you want to see. Max also has a rather bulky set of preferences that you can use to set almost every aspect of the program. This chapter covers various ways to make the Max interface more comfortable for you.

Using the Customize User Interface Window

The Customize menu provides commands for customizing and setting up the Max interface. The first menu item is the Customize User Interface menu command. This command opens the Customize User Interface dialog box. This dialog box includes five panels: Keyboard, Toolbars, Quads, Menus, and Colors. You can also access this dialog box by right-clicking any toolbar away from the buttons and selecting Customize from the pop-up menu.

Customizing keyboard shortcuts