Upcoming
Important note: some of the features below are tentative ideas only, they are under development but may not be included in the next release, or even never come out. The feature with green font is done, and it will be available in the next release. Ideas are developed from user feedback and comments, so if you’d like a feature, feel free to contact me, I look forward to hearing from you guys.
Done (available in the next update):
Considering or developing:
- Improve workflow using Lock Viewport.
- Add custom scale value for Scale Resolution.
- Show camera information in viewport.
- Shift + Right Click in camera list action.
Add “Show in viewport” in camera clipping section (only support Corona).
Separate W and H parameters when loading camera information (not recommend)
Custom Color Wire Frame for each camera or group Camera by color (can’t be done in this version)
Camera list width can be expanded (can’t be done in this version)
Manual
Most of the button in the script already has tooltip, but you can take a look to get an overview of how the script works before buy it.
Note that this manual is written for version 3.00, other versions (higher or lower) may have some differences.
You can also watch the full video tutorial for 3.02 version here.
Scripts are divided into 5 groups: Select Camera, Camera Name, Camera Frame, Batch Render and Global Switches. Except for the first group, the remaining groups will have a faint line to help you distinguish them. The logic of combining mouse operations and the Control, Shift, and Alt keys is relatively similar in most features, so after a while you should get used to them easily.
“SELECT CAMERA” GROUP
Select Camera is the group you interact with the most in the script. The camera list will automatically update and display the cameras in the current scene each time there is a change. Unlike 3dsMax’s default Camera View, the Smart Camera View window is not a modal dialog, so you can work with scripts and work with Scenes at the same time.
- “?” button: about script.
- “⛭” button: open Script System Setting.
- “Lite” / “Full” button: expand or collapse the script dialog depending on the mode.
- “Select Camera” list: show all cameras in scene. You can use mouse actions to interact with the camera right in this list by left clicking, double clicking or right clicking. You can customize the function of these mouse buttons in settings.
- “Select All” button: select all cameras in current scene. Right Click: unselect all cameras and refresh list.
- “Select By Name” button: select all cameras with the same name as the currently selected camera. Right Click: select the next group of cameras with the same name.
- “Select By Ratio” button: select all cameras with the same ratio as the currently selected camera. Right Click: select the next group of cameras with the same ratio.
- “Select Current Active” button: select current active camera node in current active viewport. Right Click: select current active camera node in current lock viewport ID.
- “Select Up” button: select the camera above current selection. Right Click: select the first camera.
- “Select Down” button: select the camera below current selection. Right Click: select the last camera.
- “Invert Selection” button: invert current camera selection.
- “Lock Selection” button: enable to lock current camera selection.
“CAMERA NAME” GROUP
Camera Name is a group containing functions related to displaying the Camera name on the script. You can batch rename Camera names by selecting the Cameras in the list, entering a new name, and clicking OK. You can also search Camera by name with the search button. Important note: unlike version 2, in version 3 only the Camera name will actually be affected, the resolution, scene state, render preset will only be visible on the script’s list.
- “Show Separator” button: show separator character in the camera name. Right Click: set the character used to separate the data.
- “Show Resolution” button: show resolution in the camera name. Right Click: set the character used to separate width and height.
- “Show Scene State” button: show scene state in the camera name.
- “Show Render Preset” button: show render preset in the camera name.
- “Show Frame Range” button: show frame range in the camera name.
- “Name By File” button: rename selected cameras by current 3dsMax filename. Shift + Click: rename all cameras by current 3dsMax filename.
- “Name By Class” button: rename selected cameras by it’s class. Shift + Click: rename all cameras by their class.
- “Name By Number” button: rename selected cameras by incremental number. Shift + Click: rename all cameras by incremental number.
“CAMERA FRAME” GROUP
Camera Frame is where you edit the camera’s frame like aspect ratio, width and height. It is actually two old groups from version 2, “Ratio Preset” and “Render Output” combined. Similar to renaming, you can batch manipulate cameras by selecting them, and then entering the desired resolution or aspect ratio. Important note: unlike version 2, in version 3 the resolution will be applied as soon as you enter parameters into the spinners.
- “Lock Aspect Ratio” button: lock the ratio between width and height.
- “Camera Over Scan” button: expand the frame without change the perspective.
- “Aspect Ratio Preset | x:y | y:x” button: set x:y aspect ratio to selected cameras. Shift + Click: set x:y aspect ratio to all cameras. Right Click: set y:x aspect ratio to selected cameras. Shift + Right Click: set y:x aspect ratio to all cameras.
- “Grid Overlay” button: show grid overlay for composition. Right Click: select grid type for composition. Shift + Right Click: quick switch grid modes.
- “Invert Aspect Ratio” button: invert selected cameras aspect ratio. Shift + Click: invert all cameras aspect ratio.
- “Set Scene State” button: set custom scene state to selected cameras. Shift + Click: set custom scene state to all cameras. Right Click: clear custom scene state of selected cameras. Shift + Right Click: clear custom scene state of all cameras.
- “Set Render Preset” button: set custom preset to selected cameras. Shift + Click: set custom preset to all cameras. Right Click: clear custom preset of selected cameras. Shift + Right Click: clear custom preset of all cameras.
- “Set Frame Range” button: set custom frame to selected cameras. Shift + Click: set custom frame to all cameras. Right Click: clear custom frame of selected cameras. Shift + Right Click: clear custom frame of all cameras.
- “Scale Resolution” button: double selected cameras render resolution. Shift + Click: double all cameras render resolution. Right Click: halve selected cameras render resolution. Shift + Right Click: halve all cameras render resolution.
- “Round Resolution” button: rounding selected camera’s resolution. Shift + Click: rounding all camera’s resolution. Right Click: set rounding value (any integer).
- “Limit Resolution” button: adjusts resolution of selected cameras based on pixel count limit. Shift + Click: adjusts resolution of all cameras based on pixel count limit. Right Click: configure pixel count limit value.
“BATCH RENDER” GROUP
Although Batch Render is not the main function of the script, but its ease of use makes 3dsMax’s default Batch Render unmatched. You can quickly render selected cameras, with presets and states set for each camera in just a few clicks. It can also help you to Grab Viewport batch, save you a lot of time in making final image.
- “Select Output Folder” button: choose output folder for render images. Ctrl + Click: use default path for output folder. Shift + Click: use current file path for output folder. Alt + Click: use current project path for output folder.
- “Open Output Folder” button: open current output folder. Ctrl + Click: open default output path. Shift + Click: open current scene file location. Alt + Click: open current project folder.
- “Batch Render” button: batch render selected cameras. Shift + Click: batch render all cameras.
- “Batch Grab Viewport” button: batch grab viewport selected cameras. Shift + Click: batch grab viewport all cameras.
- “Custom Output Name” button: use custom names for output file instead of camera names. Right Click: set custom name for output file.
- “Custom Output Format” button: use custom format for output file instead of JPG. Right Click: set custom format for output file.
- “Auto Open Output” button: enable to automatically open the output folder in Window Explorer when batch render or batch grab viewport process is complete.
- “Default Batch Render” button: enable to open 3dsMax default batch render dialog before begin render when press script start button. All views will be set up ready just like using a script.
- “Create Sub Folder” button: enable to automatically create a sub-folder in output location to save images. Right Click: set custom name for sub-folder. Use %date% for current date.
- “Auto Hide Icons” button: enabled to automatically hide all camera and light icons when using batch grab viewport function.
“GLOBAL SWITCHES” GROUP
This group contains the settings of the script, most of which are from the old Smart Camera View Setting panel, partly in the Script System Setting. All buttons will take effect immediately, and if necessary, the script will automatically restart, which is very convenient instead of having to toggle the settings panel constantly like previous versions.
- “Custom Color” button: enable to use custom color for camera wireframe. Right click to set new custom color for camera wireframe.
- “Name Fixer” button: enable to automatically remove space in camera name and replace with underscore character, add and correct padding, rename duplicate and fix broken names.
- “Selection Sync” button: enable to synchronize selection of camera list and selection of camera in viewport. Disabling it will slightly increase the performance of the camera interaction features.
- “Fast Select” button: enable to automatically switch to the Create mode if you are in the Modify mode when switching or selecting camera with script open. It will skip the process of loading camera parameters and increase the performance of 3dsMax significantly.
- “Auto Frame” button: enable to automatically turn on safe frame when switch viewport to a camera view, and turn off when exit.
- “Pro Mode” button: enable to suppress all notifications, messages, tooltips warning and prompts when using script.
- “Lock Viewport” button: enable to lock switch camera function to Lock ID. Right Click: set current Viewport ID to Lock ID.
- “Save Position” button: enable to save position of dialog on the screen when close. Disabling it will make the script always start in the center of the screen.
OTHER MISCELLANEOUS
What is Pixel Count Limit?
- Pixel Count Limit is a number that represents the limit of the total number of pixels on a rendered image. For example, with a 1600×1200 image, a total of 1600*1200 = 1,920,000 pixels will be rendered. Pixel Count Limit helps you balance the amount of pixels between views, so they will have approximately the same render time even though the aspect ratio is different (in case all render settings and conditions are the same). This is extremely useful for you to balance and arrange render time for the project. You can enter the value of Pixel Count Limit directly into the spinner, or press Ctrl + N after clicking on the spinner to open the 3dsMax Numerical Expression Evaluator. You can enter the math equation here, for example 1600*1200, then press Paste button.
What is Rounding Value?
- Round Value is the value that determines how rounding number is done. The script will attempt to round the number to the nearest multiple of the Round Value. Note that you can enter any integer, it doesn’t have to be a multiple of 10. For example, with a resolution of 1993, if the Round Value is 5, the script will round to 1995 (399 * 5); if the Round Value is 13, the script will round to 1989 (153 * 13). It’s very useful if you’re rendering images for special screens that require pixel-accurate resolution when scaling.