Relink Bitmaps

Today I would like to talk about Relink Bitmaps, a tool that I can't do without a day. It is a very useful script which helps you easily relink all missing files (Bitmaps, VRayMeshes, Mental Ray Proxies, VRayHDRI, IES, etc) when they change directories or when you move computers. Using this script it is just to find the missing resources and associate with your file again. The author is Colin Senner who is a very helping person whenever you need help.

I can't imagine my workflow without this tool. You can assign directories as search paths and configure the script. Here is a video to have a better understanding of the script.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mxfqodWjd4
And the Link for Colin's site and the script is:
http://www.colinsenner.com/scripts/relink-bitmaps

Fix Tool After Collapsing Isoline Display Turbosmooth

When I was modeling a sofa the other day, I collapsed one of the meshes which has a Turbosmooth modifier in Isoline Display. In fact, I didn't notice until this time that there is a bug and I didn't even notice the buggy result at that moment. Probably I was in edge mode and when I noticed the outcome pretty later that it was too late to undo.

The image above shows the problem. As you can see, the new edge loops are not there but only the vertices.
It is a very easy fix with a simple box model, but I had a complex mesh which was really hard to fix and which would take a lot of time.
I was very lucky to find this script which saved my day:

Vertex Killer by Mauricio B. Gehling 
http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/vertex-killer

This tool will remove any SELECTED vertices that are shared by ONLY and EXACTLY 2 edges. Thought it might be very useful for someone who collapses the Turbosmooth in isoline display.

Scripts On My AD3 Presentation 2: The Onion

During my presentation in AD3  in Venice on 04.10.2012, I introduced few scripts that I use frequently in my workflow. Many friends were very interested and asking me about these scripts so I decided to write about these useful tools on my blog as well.

The first tool was QuadChamfer wich you can find the related post here.

Second tool is the great Layer Manager by Blur Studios: The Onion

The Onion was originally created by David Humphres from Blur Studio and Paul Hormis from Hyperbolic Enterprises made it compatible with 3dsMax 9 and above and he is currently maintaining it.

It is a free tool which you can download from Hyperbolic Enterprises.
It is a great tool for managing your layers. I use a lot of layers for my architectural visualisation workflow and The Onion for me is the best way to work with layers. It is very easy to turn on/off, freeze,unfreeze layers with one click and nest and group layers. With just one click you can turn on/off grouped layers and easily select contents of a layer or move selected objects from one layer to another.

I can't think of my day without The Onion and I would like to thank both Blur Studios and Hyperbolic Enterprises for this tool very much.
Here is the quick help for you to find your way around:

• Click For Toggles of Layer Properties
• Shift+Click to Select Contents of Layer
• Ctrl+Click For Extended Menu
• Alt+Click To Add Selected Objects To Layer
• Right Click for Toggles Of Layer Groups

Scripts On My AD3 Presentation 1: Quad Chamfer

During my presentation in AD3 2012 in Venice, I introduced few scripts that I use frequently in my workflow. Many friends were very interested and asking me about these scripts so I decided to write about these useful tools on my blog as well.

The first one is the Quad Chamfer by Marius Silaghi.

I have been using this  tool since earlier versions and recently it has also become a modifier. This useful tool makes your modeling faster and easier by helping you to eliminate tris and n-gons in your chamfer and it helps you chamfer in quads (4-gons.) Anyone who is into  poly-modeling well know that when chamfering complex shapes, we come across a lot of tris or n-gons which are not favored by the Turbosmoth or in other words, subdivision methods. With quad chamfer, I get nice quads very easily and I  use this a lot.

Another useful benefit of the script is that you can add your chamfers as modifier and they will appear on the modifier stack which makes it possible to go back and tweak this chamfer value again and again. There are different methods for chamfering: such as with edge weights. User interface and plugin is pretty straight-forward aand very easy to use. You can visit Marius Silaghi's web site and buy this great tool there:

http://www.mariussilaghi.com/products/quad-chamfer-modifier