Want to get rid of the new 3dsmax 2008 "Scene Explorer"?

[Tim Fairbanks]

My colleague and I were totally frustrated with the new 3dsmax 2008 Scene Explorer as the default Select By Name tool ("Hit List" in vernacular parlance). In our opinion, it's overly "feature" laden and cumbersome to use for making simple selections.

 

Our frustration was only exascerbated by the fact that the old "Hit List" (Select By Name) seemed to have been replaced with a selection floater rather than closing immediately after a selection was made. I don't know about you, but we're running dual 20" flat panel configurations and still need more desktop for 3dsmax, so there was no room for one more floater to be hanging around.

 

It's possible to return to the old "Hit List" by making the following change to your 3dsmax configuration files.

 

Edit your "CurrentDefaults.ini" file in the following (relative) location:

 

C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk\3dsmax\2008 - 32bit\enu\defaults\MAX

 

Change the follwing string from the default "1" to "0"

 

[scene Explorer]

SelectByNameUsesSceneExplorer=0

 

Ahhh. back the way it used to be! It's still possible to access the new Scene Explorer through the Tools pulldown menu and/or keyboard shortcuts, and the new Selection Floater can be keyboard-mapped as well.

 

DISCLAIMER: As always, modifying your default .ini files can be a risk if you're inexperienced in this sort of thing. Back'em up and hack responsibly.

 

 

TimF