Slice Script

[Matt Sugden]

Hi, I'm looking for a script which will automate a process which I seem to do a lot of.

 

I'm often having to double slice poly's at very regular intervals, (so that I can extrude the double sliced polys) usually for modeling mortar joints, creating tile patterns, brick coursing that sort of thing.

 

I'm guessing there must be a script for this somewhere, I've had a quick look on some script sites, but I thought I'd ask here, as someone may be doing exactly this sort of things as well.

 

Ideally, I'd like to be able to set two different slice offsets, (or a single slice offset and the distance of the second slice from the first) and a count for the number of slices across the object.

 

Failing that, is there a function in Max to record an action, and then play it back so one button will do multiple functions, much the same as the way photoshop does?

 

Cheers for any help.

[SandmanNinja]

Failing that, is there a function in Max to record an action, and then play it back so one button will do multiple functions, much the same as the way photoshop does?

 

Yes, it's called script listener.

 

I make quick and dirty scripts all the time.

Just:

1) get the 'thing/action to script' ready to go

2) right click on script listener and make sure it's enabled and 'clear' of existing script

3) do the action

4) save the script listener to a file

5) open that file in the script editor

6) highlight the text in the editor and drag it to a tool bar

7) name it "Matt's Cool Script #1"

 

I use this all the time to help with editing the face of a poly for greebling.

I inset, extrude, etc and then I can click on any face (no matter if the face is bigger or smaller than the original face) and click a button, and I have an IDENTICLE 50-step greeble applied to that face.

 

Hope that helps

[Matt Sugden]

sorry to bring this thread back from the dead. While trying to 'record' the function of a slice in the script listener nothing appears to be happening in the pink or white sections of the MAXscript listener.

 

In fact when I do anything, nothing appears to be recorded in the max script listener, I must be doing something wrong. I have maxscript listener ticked F11, and I also have it set to 'enabled'.

 

Any ideas?

[anton]

You have to have the MaxScript Listener open and once it's open go to the MacroRecorder menu and make sure that Enable is checked together with the last 3 options: Show command panel swithchings; Show tool selections and Show menu items selections. This should do the trick.

 

One big piece of advice though, the Listener does not list all the thing you can do in max as it was added later on in the development and Autodesk decided that it's not worthed going back and open all the features to scripting. Another big drawback is that the syntax used in the listener is most of the time totally different from what you would use to write a script yourself.