Working with Files and XRefs

Complex scenes can end up being a collection of hundreds of files, and misplacing any of them will affect the final output, so learn-

ing to work with files is critical. This chapter focuses on working with files whether they be object files, texture images, or background images. Files enable you to move scene pieces into and out of Max. You can also export and import files to and from other packages.

Max scenes can also be composed from several different objects that have been created by a team. Using external references (XRefs), you can pull all the different pieces together into a single scene.

Working with Max Scene Files

Of all the different file types and formats, there is one file type that you will probably work with more than any other — the max format. Max has its own proprietary format for its scene files. These files have the .max extension and allow you to save your work as a file and return to it at a later time. Max also supports files saved with the .chr extension used for character files.

When Max starts, a new scene opens. You can start a new scene at any time with the File New (Ctrl+N) command. Although each instance of Max can have only one scene open at a time, under Windows XP, you can open multiple copies of Max, each with its own scene instance.

Starting a new scene deletes the current scene, but Max asks you whether you want to keep the objects and hierarchy, keep the objects, or make everything new, as shown in Figure 3-1. Starting a new scene with the File New menu command maintains all the current interface settings, including the viewport configurations, any interface changes, viewport backgrounds, and any changes to the Command Panel. To reset the interface, choose File Reset. When reset, all interface settings return to their default states, but interface changes aren’t affected.

C 3H A P T E R

In This Chapter

Saving, opening, merging, and archiving files

Importing and exporting objects and scenes

Importing objects from external packages like Illustrator and Poser

Externally referencing objects and scenes

Working with file utilities such as the Asset Browser

Accessing scene files information

90	Part I Learning the Max Interface

Figure 3-1: When creating a new scene, you can keep the current objects or select New All.

Saving files

After you start up Max, the first thing you should learn is how to save your work. After a scene has changed, you can save it as a file. Before a file is saved, the word “Untitled” appears in the title bar; after you save the file, its name appears in the title bar. Choose File Save (Ctrl+S) to save the scene. If the scene hasn’t been saved yet, then a Save File As dialog box appears, as shown in Figure 3-2. You can also make this dialog box appear using the File Save As command. After a file’s been saved, using the File Save command saves the file without opening the File dialog box. Pretty simple — just don’t forget to do it often.

Up One Level	Create New Folder
Go to Last Folder Visited	View Menu

Increment file number and Save

Figure 3-2: Use the Save File As dialog box to save a scene as a file.

The Save File As dialog box keeps a history list of the last five directories that you’ve opened. You can select these directories from the History drop-down list at the top of the dialog box. The buttons in this dialog box are the standard Windows file dialog box buttons used to go to the last folder visited, go up one directory, create a new folder, and to view a pop-up menu of file view options. The options include Large Icons, Small Icons, List, Details, and Thumbnails. The thumbnail option displays an image of the active viewport, which is useful when you open files, but when you save files for the first time, the thumbnail is blank.

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Note	If you try to save a scene over the top of an existing scene, then Max presents a dialog box
	confirming this action.

	Clicking the button with a plus sign to the right of the Save button automatically
	appends a number onto the end of the current filename and saves the file. For example,
	if you select the myScene.max file and click the plus button, a file named myScene01.max is
	saved.
Tip	Use the auto increment file number and Save button to save progressive versions of a scene.
	This is an easy version control system. If you need to backtrack to an earlier version, you can.
	The File menu also includes an option to Save Selected. This option saves the current
	selected objects to a separate scene file. If you create a single object that you might possibly
	use again, select the object and use the Save Selected option to save it to a directory of mod-
	els. A Save Copy As menu command is also available that lets you save the current scene to a
	different name without changing its current name.
	Another useful feature for saving files is to enable the Auto Backup feature in the File panel
	of the Preference Settings dialog box. This dialog box can be accessed with the Customize
	Preferences menu command, which is covered later in this chapter.

Opening files

After you’ve saved a file, you might want to know how to open it again. Choosing File Open (Ctrl+O) opens a file dialog box that is the same as the one used to save files, shown in Figure 3-2. Max can open files saved with the .max and .chr extensions. Max can also open VIZ Render files that have the .drf extension. Selecting a file and clicking on the plus button opens a copy of the selected file with a new version number appended to its name.

New	The ability to open VIZ Render (DRF) files is new to 3ds max 6.
Feature

If Max cannot locate resources used within a scene (such as maps) when you open a Max file, then the Missing External Files dialog box, shown in Figure 3-3, appears, enabling you to Continue without the file or to Browse for the missing files. If you click the Browse button, the Configure External File Paths dialog box opens, where you can add a path to the missing files.

Figure 3-3: The Missing External Files dialog box identifies files for the current scene that are missing.

92	Part I Learning the Max Interface

	If you open a file that includes features that have changed since the previous version, then
	Max presents an obsolete data format warning statement. Resaving the file can fix this prob-
	lem. However, if you save a file created with a previous version of Max as a Max 6 scene file,
	then you won’t be able to open the file again in the previous versions of Max.
Tip	You can disable the Obsolete File Message in the Files panel of the Preference Settings
	dialog box.
	The most recently opened scenes are listed in the File Open Recent submenu. Selecting
	these scenes from the list opens the scene file.
Note	You can also open files from the command line by placing the filename after the executable
	name, i.e., 3dsmax.exe myFile.max. You can also use the –L switch after the executable name
	to open the last file that was opened.
	Merging and replacing objects
	If you happen to create the perfect prop in one scene and want to integrate the prop into
	another scene, you can use the Merge menu command. Choose File Merge to load objects
	from another scene into the current scene. Using this menu command opens a file dialog box
	that is exactly like the Save As dialog box, but after you select a scene and click the Open
	button, the Merge dialog box, shown in Figure 3-4, appears. This dialog box displays all the
	objects found in the selected scene file. It also has options for sorting the objects and filtering
	certain types of objects. Selecting an object and clicking the OK button loads the object into
	the current scene.
Note	The Merge dialog box is very similar to the Select Objects dialog box.

Figure 3-4: The Merge dialog box lists all the objects from a merging scene.