Volume 1: Chapter 1 Notes and Corrections
NOTES for 3ds Max 2021 and newer Users:
1)
SHIFT + Drag shortcut no longer clones Faces in Editable Poly mode in 3ds Max 2021.1Autodesk Support
Oct 8, 2023
Issue:When using the SHIFT+Drag hotkey in 3ds Max 2021.1 and newer versions, the shortcut command no longer clones polygon Faces as it did previously in Editable Poly mode. Instead the shortcut creates newly extruded geometry.
Image: Shift + Drag in 2016 and 2021.Environment:3ds Max 2021.1 UpdateCauses:This was an intended change made to 3ds Max for faster modeling workflows and is noted in the 3ds Max 2021.1
- What's New docs: What's New in 3ds Max 2021.1 Update.
2)
(From Autodesk: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Standard-Legacy-Materials-don-t-appear-in-3ds-Max-2021.html#:~:text=In%203ds%20Max%202021%2C%20open,upper%2Dleft%2Dhand%20corner.) A PDF file of these notes on the Material Editor is available at the end of this correction note.
Standard (Legacy) Materials don't appear in 3ds Max 2021
Issue:
In 3ds Max 2021, upon opening either the Compact or Slate Material Editor, then the Material/Map Browser, the Standard (Legacy) material type no longer appears.
Environment:
3ds Max 2021Causes:The 3ds Max 2021 default material type and render engine have been changed to Physical Materials and Arnold, respectively. The Arnold renderer does not natively support the older Standard (Legacy) material type.
Solution:
To fix this, do the following:
- In 3ds Max 2021, open either the Compact or Slate Material Editor, then click on the Materials/Maps Browser button.
- When the Material/Maps Browser appears, click on the small arrow in the upper-left-hand corner.
- Make sure Materials and Maps are both checked, and the Show Incompatible item is checked as well.
- After checking these, the Standard (Legacy) material type should appear again.
Note: to ensure that legacy 3ds Max Map types render with Arnold, do the following:
- Go to the Rendering > Render Setup > Arnold > System tab.
- Make sure the Legacy 3ds Max Map Support button is checked.
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Note for 2021 and newer Uses: Exporting Materials in FBX
As of 3ds Max 2021, the Standard (Legacy) material type has been replaced with the Physical Material type as the default. The render engine has also been changed from Scanline to Arnold. By default, Standard (Legacy) materials and their maps are converted to Physical materials upon scene or object export, and the original Map value settings may not be identical to the converted ones.
Issue:
When exporting objects to .FBX format with Standard (Legacy) Materials applied, Displacement map values are not retained upon re-importing the .FBX objects into 3ds Max.
Upon import, the values are re-set, and the Displacement map has been "wrapped" into a Vector Map container loaded into a Physical Material, not a Standard (Legacy) material.Causes:As of 3ds Max 2021, the Standard (Legacy) material type has been replaced with the Physical Material type as the default. The render engine has also been changed from Scanline to Arnold.
By default, Standard (Legacy) materials and their maps are converted to Physical materials upon scene or object export, and the original Map value settings may not be identical to the converted ones.
Solution:
To force 3ds Max to retain Standard (Legacy) materials upon object export, do the following:
- In a new 3ds Max session, go to the Command Panel > Create > Geometry, and create a simple object in the scene (it can be a Box, Sphere, Teapot, etc.)
- Open the Material Editor (either Compact or Slate) and apply a Physical Material to the object. (Note: although this material is not supported for FBX export, applying it will add specific parameters to the 3dsmax.ini file, as described in Step 8. Without this step, the parameters will not appear in the 3dsmax.ini file.)
- Now, go to File > Export and export the object to .FBX format.
- When done, close 3ds Max.
- Make sure hidden files and folders are visible in Windows (see How to turn on hidden files and folders on Windows).
- In Windows Explorer, navigate to the 3ds Max user preferences folder (usually, C:\users\<username>\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsmax\<versionnumber>\ENU.)
- Open the 3dsmax.ini file in a text editor, such as Notepad.
- Do a search for the following text:
PhysicalMtlAsPhong=0
PhysicalMtlAsLambert=0
- Replace the 0 in the first entry to 1, so the text reads PhysicalMtlAsPhong=1.
- Resave the 3dsmax.ini file, then restart 3ds Max and do a test export of the scene with the default .FBX export settings again.
- Upon re-import, the .FBX file should retain the Standard (Legacy) material settings.
| fbx_materials_export_fix.pdf |