Help

Introduction:

This is the help

Interface:

Menu:

In the menu you will find quick tools for models, materials and textures manipulation, also there is preferences about the functioning of the script.

Tools:

Models >

• Display Selection As Box: Will toggle the currently visualization mode of the selected objects, it will work with standard max geometry, vray proxies and mentalray proxies.
• Paint With Selection:  Will enter in the paint mode using your currently selection as Model.

Materials >

Textures >

Customize:

• Preferences:
  • Asset Paths: Define the main assets folders for Models, Materials and Textures, Select the asset Type clicking in the 3 buttons “Models”, “Materials” and “Textures”, each one will show a list of the currently assets, to add a new asset just click in the button “Add”, to modify click “Modify” and to Remove click in the button “Remove”.
  • Proxy Settings: There is a check-box “Use a Custom Proxy Path” to define a new path for the generated Proxies using the script, this option is available for users that uses Assets in locations that doesn’t has Right Access (CDs, DVDs, Protected Folders …), to define a path Browse for a folder.
  • Renderer Filter: It’s a working in progress feature, that will change for a more advanced one soon, you can define “Filters” for max file names, so models named for example “Chair – Vray.max” and “Chair – MentalRay.max” can share the same thumbnail named “Chair.max”.
  • Preview Item Size: Define the size of the item preview.
• Render Thumbnail Settings:
  • When generating thumbnails of the models and materials, will be generated a camera using the following settings.
  • Cam. FOV: Define the camera fov.
  • Cam. Zoom: Define the camera Zoom.
  • Horiz. Angle: Ranging from 0º to 360º, define the Horizontal Angle, with 0º being in the front of the object.
  • Vert. Angle: Ranging from 0º to 360º, define the Horizontal Angle, with 0º being in the front of the object.
  • Thumb. Width: Define the thumbnail image width size
  • Thumb. Height: Define the thumbnail image Height size
  • Use Viewport Rendering: Will make screenshot from the viewport instead of a rendering engine render.(Useful with the new features of the 3ds Max 2010 viewport)
  • Custom Models Settings:
    • Custom Model Scene: Define a max file to be used as scene for you automatic render thumbnail creation. Leave in blank to disable.
    • Use Model Camera: If there is a camera in the model, use the first encountered for the automatic thumbnail generation, instead of the default created camera using the script settings.
    • Use Scene Light: Use the lights of the defined Custom Scene instead of the default that is created created
  • Custom Material Settings:
    • Custom Material Model: Is the custom model to be used in the automatic render thumbnail generation, the material will be applied to all the geometries, if no model is defined it will create a simple sphere like the material editor default.
    • Custom Material Scene: Define a max file to be used as scene for you automatic render thumbnail creation. Leave in blank to disable. No material will be applied to the scene geometries
    • Use Scene Camera: If there is a camera in the scene, use the first encountered for the automatic thumbnail generation, instead of the default created camera using the script settings.
    • Use Scene Light: Use the lights of the defined Custom Scene instead of the default that is created created
    • Default Light Mult.: Multiply to define the intensity of the default created lights.
  • Model Render Presets:
    • Default: Define a render preset file (.rps) to be loaded in the automatic thumbnail generation of models, when the currently renderer is setted as Default Scanline.
    • Vray: Define a render preset file (.rps) to be loaded in the automatic thumbnail generation of models, when the currently renderer is seted as Vray.
    • Mental Ray: Define a render preset file (.rps) to be loaded in the automatic thumbnail generation of models, when the currently renderer is seted as Mental Ray.
  • Material Render Presets:
    • Default: Define a render preset file (.rps) to be loaded in the automatic thumbnail generation of materials, when the currently renderer is seted as Default Scanline.
    • Vray: Define a render preset file (.rps) to be loaded in the automatic thumbnail generation of materials, when the currently renderer is seted as Vray.
    • Mental Ray: Define a render preset file (.rps) to be loaded in the automatic thumbnail generation of materials, when the currently renderer is setted as Mental Ray.

ToolBar:

• Show/Hide Categories Panel.
• Refresh Assets .
• Define Items Thumbnail Sizes.

Categories Panel:

Display the Currently assigned Assets.

Model assets are directories, and model categories are sub folders of the asset directory.
Material Assets are directories with Material Libraries inside (.mat) and material Categories are Material Libraries inside the Asset directory.
Texture assets are directories, and textures categories are sub folders of the asset directory

• Models: Click In the Models tab to visualize model assets and categories. Right Click in a category will display a Context Menu.
  
  Queue Render Thumbnail: Add current item thumbnail request to a queue list. You can choose to include subcategories to the queue list.
  New Model: Add geometry selection as a model in the selected category
  New Category: Add a new category to the Selected Asset
  Rename: Rename the category
  Remove: Remove the Category

• Materials: Click In the Materials tab to visualize Material assets and categories. Right Click in a category will display a Context Menu.
  
  Queue Render Thumbnail: Add current item thumbnail request to a queue list
  Get Material From Active Slot: Get Material from the active slot in the material editor
• Textures: Click In the Textures tab to visualize model assets and categories.

Items Panel:

Items are models, materials and textures of categories.

• Model Item:
  Left Mouse Click: start the paint mode using the item.
  Shift + Left Mouse Click: quick add the item to the render thumbnail queue List
  Right Mouse Click: to open the context menu.
  Drag the item to another category: will move the item and all files (thumbnail, max file, proxies.)
  Ctrl + Left Mouse Button: will select more than one item to be dragged.
  
  View Image: Visualize the thumbnail image of the item in a new window.
  Open File: Open the file in a new instance of the 3ds max
  Open in Explorer: Open a explorer windows with the max file selected.
  Render Thumbnail: Create/Replace a thumbnail to the selected item. This will make a render and will freeze your 3ds max while processing. Press Esc to stop.
  Queue Render Thumbnail: Add the thumbnail render task to a queue list.
  Paint: Start the paint mode with the selected model. Same as a simple click in the item.
  Replace: Replace the selected objects by the selected model item.
  Remove: Remove the item. Also will remove the .max file, thumbnail, proxies.
  
  
• Material Item:
  
  Render Thumbnail: Create/Replace a thumbnail to the selected item. This will make a render and will freeze your 3ds max while processing. Press Esc to stop.
  Queue Render Thumbnail: Add the thumbnail render task to a queue list.
  Send to Active Material Slot: Set the selected material to the active slot in the material editor
  Remove: Remove material from the selected category
• Texture Item:
  
  View Image: Visualize the texture in a new window.
  Open in explorer: Open a explorer windows with the selected texture.

Settings Panels:

• Model Panels:
  • Merge Settings
    
    General
    Merge as Proxy: Will convert the model to proxy to be used in the paint mode. Convert to vray proxy if the current renderer assigned is Vray and convert to MR Proxy if the assigned renderer is Mental Ray.
    Display as Box: Display the model as box in the paint mode. Works with proxies.
    Reset Transforms: Reset the transformations of the model to be used (Useful for scaled Models).
    
    Paint
    Use Surface: When checked the script will ask for a surface when entering in the paint mode.
    Link to Surface: When checked will link the painted models in the used surface.
    
    Replace
    Keep Ref.: When checked will keep the selected references objects.
    Link to Ref.: When checked will link the new model to the reference. Useful to replace Autocad Blocks.
    Include Instances: Include as references all the instances of the selected object. Example: if you make 10 instances of a Box model, if you select one box, and use the replace mode with this option checked, all the 10 instanced Box will be replaced.
    
    
  • Transformation Settings
    
    General Transformations:
    Random Transformations Checkbox: If checked will paint the models with the Random Transformations Settings.
    Snap Rotation: Define the rotation used in the Shift + Left Mouse Click function to rotate models before single placement.
    Offset Transformations: Define values offset values to change the position, rotation and scale while painting and placing models.
    Random Transformations: Define Random Transformation settings, for random position, Rotation and Scale of the painted Model.
    Move values will vary from the defined value to the negative of the same value.
    Rotation will vary from 0º to 180º.
    Scale will vary from the min value to the max value.
  • Paint Settings
    
    Perpendicular To Surface: If checked will place the object perpendicular to the surface normal.
    Area Size: The area of random distribution of painted models. Use as 0 to precise painting.
    Density: The amount of painted copies per spacing.
    Spacing: Spacing between models painting.
  • Pivot Settings
    
    Use Custom Pivot: If checked will change the pivot of the merged model (only affect the group head).
    Align To World: Align the pivot rotation to world coordinates.
    Axis alignment: Change the alignment of the axis X Y Z to min, center or max of the bounding box.
    Offset Pivot: Offset the position and rotation of the axis X Y Z after the pivot adjustment.
• Material Panels:
  • Uvw Settings
    HCG Asset Browser PRO can save and load stored UVWMaps
    
    Remove UVWs: Remove all uvwmaps of the selected objects.
    Apply UVWmap: Apply a uvwmap with the Defined Settings in this panel. If “Remove UVWs” isn’t checked, it will replace the uvwmaps with the same channel value of the selected objects.
    Use saved UVW: Load stored uvwmaps (if exist) of the applied material. If checked won’t apply the defined uvwmap shown in the panel.
    
    Remove Saved UVWs: Remove all saved UVWmaps of the applied material.
    Save UVW: If checked will save/replace the uvwmap based on the defined uvwmap channel. Is possible to store multiple uvwmaps.
    
    UVW Settings: Settings for automatic application of uvwmap modifier or to use the uvwmap information to be saved in the material item.

Settings ToolBar:

Where you can access the Settings Panels, for each asset type will be available specific panels.

Status Bar / Queued render thumbnail tasks:

You can see HCG Asset Script messages using some options, and also see the progression of some processes.

There are buttons to control the render thumbnail queue list processing.
Play: Start the processing of the render thumbnail tasks.
Stop: Stop the render thumbnail queue processing
Clear: Remove all the render thumbnail tasks from the queue.

Tutorials:

Work in progress…