Bobo, now that the bug is gone I can enjoy using your script. This was one of the few things maya has that I wish came in 3dsmax. Thanks for creating it and fixing the bug so quickly!
If you still want to improve the script even further here is a list of features/improvements I wouldn’t mind seeing in a new version.
In order:
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Display current file name in history browser. Display date render was created would be cool to.
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Script is automatically turned on when 3dsmax is started. Maybe have the option to turn this on/off
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Progress Bar Skips Images – The progress bar could be a little smoother when scrolling a large amount of images. It seems to only have 100 steps. I think that means one step = 1% right? So if you have 200 images you wouldn’t be able to view all of them without skipping images and would have to use the spinner. Is it possible to move your mouse 1pixel at a time and have the progress bar move the same amount. That is if you have enough images in the history. hmm maybe using a scrollbar instead of a progress bar would allow for this?
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When “Show VFB” is turned on the default window position is in the middle of my two monitors. This is fine but when I move the window to a better spot and scroll through the images the window moves back to the original default position if the next render is of a different resolution. This gets a bit frustrating when I have to constantly re-position the window every time I scroll through the images.
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Ability to save to an uncompressed image format like .png which can be viewed in Windows Picture Viewer. Or the option to chose any file format you like.
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Resizable history browser window, where image is displayed at the original rendered resolution and the ability to dynamically resize the image/window. I know max doesn’t even dynamically resize the images in the frame buffer but at least max allows you to change the image size in the window by 50% at a time. The script has a “Show VFB” option but its not as intuitive as just having to worry about one window.
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Incorporate the image browser into the VFB window. It would be very cool and the most intuitive UI. But I’m assuming it would be a lot harder to script and might not even be possible with maxscript.
I hope you don’t mind me posting my ideas.
Thanks again.
That’s easy, will do something about it.
- Script is automatically turned on when 3dsmax is started. Maybe have the option to turn this on/off
Not sure what you mean – in order to enable it, you have to check the checkbutton manually. Do you want it to start automatically?
- Progress Bar Skips Images – The progress bar could be a little smoother when scrolling a large amount of images. It seems to only have 100 steps. I think that means one step = 1% right? So if you have 200 images you wouldn’t be able to view all of them without skipping images and would have to use the spinner. Is it possible to move your mouse 1pixel at a time and have the progress bar move the same amount. That is if you have enough images in the history. hmm maybe using a scrollbar instead of a progress bar would allow for this?
Does the option to drag in the image view give you a better resolution?
I haven’t used it in production, so I don’t know much about these limitations. I just wrote it and forgot about it
- When “Show VFB” is turned on the default window position is in the middle of my two monitors. This is fine but when I move the window to a better spot and scroll through the images the window moves back to the original default position if the next render is of a different resolution. This gets a bit frustrating when I have to constantly re-position the window every time I scroll through the images.
Controlling the position of the VFB is only possible in Max 2009. But it is possible.
- Ability to save to an uncompressed image format like .png which can be viewed in Windows Picture Viewer. Or the option to chose any file format you like.
RPF is not compressed AFAIK, but you cannot view it externally. The reason I went with RPF was the fact it could save all channels rendered. I might add the option to save to any format, as I use mostly EXR myself.
- Resizable history browser window, where image is displayed at the original rendered resolution and the ability to dynamically resize the image/window. I know max doesn’t even dynamically resize the images in the frame buffer but at least max allows you to change the image size in the window by 50% at a time. The script has a “Show VFB” option but its not as intuitive as just having to worry about one window.
Waste of screen space. The browser was meant to show you a thumbnail of what was rendered, and then in the VFB you can check pixel data by right-clicking, filter RGB/Alpha, show channels (if saved) and so on. I could not do this in the scripted view and that’s why I never attempted to. If the VFB position were controllable (see 4.), it would be much better to use…
- Incorporate the image browser into the VFB window. It would be very cool and the most intuitive UI. But I’m assuming it would be a lot harder to script and might not even be possible with maxscript.
Again, this is possible only since Max 2009. I am not using 2009 right now, and it will take a while before everybody gets access to it, so I am not sure how soon I will add this. But I had the plan to do it…
Thanks for reviewing my feature requests.
yea. That way when I start up max I don’t have to worry about turning it on. I usually forget things…
Its not perfect but its 60% better. Thanks for the tip.
Yea I knew its uncompressed. Nothing wrong with the choice of format though. I actually like using the raw max files. It just means when my project is over and I back-up the renders to dvd I can’t view them without starting up max or send them to other people without converting. Maybe a solution is to have an option to “Export/Copy” all availble images in the History Browser to a desired format. I’m sure theres already a converter somewhere but it would be nice if it was integrated into the same script.