Appendix B Installing and Configuring 3ds max 6 1197

Within Max, the Help Authorize 3ds max menu command lets you enter an authorization number to authorize the software.

Setting the Display Driver

When Max is first run, a splash screen appears, as shown in Figure B-4. This screen shows some of the keyboard shortcuts that are available in Max.

Figure B-4: The Max splash screen shows some keyboard shortcuts.

After all the plug-ins have finished loading, a small dialog box, shown in Figure B-5, appears and lets you select the display driver to use. Choosing the correct display driver is important for getting the best performance out of your computer. If you are unsure of which display driver to use (it really depends on your graphics card), choose the Software option. You can change the display driver in Max later by choosing Customize Preferences and, clicking the Choose Driver button in the Viewports panel. The Graphics Driver Setup dialog box opens. If you change the graphics driver, you need to restart Max before the new driver is used.

Figure B-5: This dialog box lets you choose the display driver to use.

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You can choose one of three different drivers to use in Max: Software, Direct3D, or OpenGL. You also have the option of selecting a custom driver.

Tip You can also start Max with a specific display driver from the command line using the –h option. For example, 3dsmax.exe –h Direct3D runs Max using the Direct3D display drivers.

Software

The software display driver option is Max’s own built-in software graphics driver called HEIDI. Because HEIDI is a software driver, it does not take advantage of any special graphics hardware that your graphics card supports, so your computer’s CPU does all the work. The nice thing about this option is that it works on any computer, even if you don’t have a good graphics card.

After you’ve installed Max, start it up using software drivers to make sure that everything has installed correctly. Next, try the different graphics drivers to see whether you can move up to something faster.

OpenGL

If your graphics card supports OpenGL in hardware, this is definitely the driver to use. OpenGL works under all Windows operating systems and is typically present on high-end graphics cards. In order for Max to use OpenGL, the drivers must support OpenGL 1.1 or later. One of the features enabled with the OpenGL drivers is Virtual Viewports.

Direct3D

Direct3D uses the graphics card’s hardware capabilities and simulates anything else it needs in software. You must have DirectX 9.0 installed for these drivers to work. Simulating different features makes Direct3D run on a wide range of computers, but it can be much slower. If your graphics card’s drivers support all of Direct3D in hardware, then using this driver might give you good performance. If it switches to software mode, however, it will be much slower than HEIDI.

Updating Max

Max includes a feature for checking for and automatically installing updates. From within Max, you can select Help 3ds max on the Web Updates. This menu command opens a Web page where the updates are posted.

You can also use the Check for Updates to 3ds max 6 program that is located in the Start discreet 3ds max 6 folder. This opens a dialog box, as shown in Figure B-6. If you’re connected to the Internet, simply click the Next button to look for updates.

Appendix B Installing and Configuring 3ds max 6 1199

Figure B-6: The Check for Updates to 3ds max 6 dialog box uses the Internet to look for updates.

Moving Max to Another Computer

A stand-alone license of Max can exist on only one computer at a time. If you reinstall Max on a different computer, you need to export the license to the new computer. Exporting a license is accomplished using the Portable License Utility, shown in Figure B-7. This utility can be found in the Start Programs Autodesk folder.

Figure B-7: Use the Portable License Utility to move a Max license to another computer.

The Portable License Utility displays all licenses on the current computer and the identification code for the computer (which has been blanked out for this figure). Select the license to export and click the Export License button. This saves the license to a file that you can import using the same utility on the new computer. Once you export your license, it continues to work on the original computer for a 24-hour grace period.