[Closed] Viewport with maxscript

Not really as far as I know… I once did a test by creating somekind of Direct3D ActiveX-Control (can’t remember which one exactly it was…), which could display some basic 3d stuff, but I don’t think this would count as a real solution since it was pretty limited and handling was horrible
But theoreticaly, it might be possible to create your own ActiveX-Control which can handle this stuff better, not sure how powerful ActiveX really is though…

dropping in… i’d be very interested in this as well

The only thing I can think of is to export the scene as DWF and view the resulting file using the DWF viewer activex control which can be put in a maxscript dialog as well. Not a very nice solution but the only one I can think of right now.

• Martijn

hang on a second. are we sure we want a 3d model in the dialog? the original post didnt mention a 3d model if you want a render then you could render to a bitmap and just have a bitmap in the dialog.

solar_system2006 can you clarify exactly what you want to show in the viewport?

Of course it would also be possible to write a function that integrates with the max API that allows you to open an opengl viewport, which you could then call from maxscript

yes dave, an animated 3D MODELS

Thank you for ur replies guys!

I just found my old code, it uses a DirectAnimation ActiveX Control for the 3D view. But I don’t think that you can do anymore than viewing a simple object with this, and even this is difficult The object you want to display will be exported from max as a DirectX Object (so you need a .x exporter installed) and then gets loaded into the ActiveX Control. Also, the object should be positioned at the world origin and scale should be small.

Not sure if it is of any use at all, but maybe someone gets inspired

rollout ro_3DViewer "3D Viewer Test"
   (
   	groupbox grp_3DView pos:[5,0] width:320 height:325
   	activeXControl ax_3DCtrl "DirectAnimation.DirectAnimationWindowedIntegratedMediaControl.1"  pos:[15,15] width:300 height:300
   	
   	button ui_LoadSelected "Load Selected Object" pos:[10,330] width:150
   	checkbutton ui_PlayRotation "Play Rotation" pos:[160,330] width:150 enabled:false
   		
   	local objGeometry, meterLib, vLight, vCam 
   	local isPlaying = false
   	local temp_obj_Name = "c:\\__tempObjExport.x"
   
   	function create3DViewport objFile =			
   	(
   									--- initialize and fill viewport
   		meterLib = ax_3DCtrl.MeterLibrary		
   		ax_3DCtrl.Image = meterLib.SolidColorImage meterLib.black
   		ax_3DCtrl.BackgroundImage = meterLib.SolidColorImage meterLib.black
   		ax_3DCtrl.updateInterval = 0.1
   									--- Create Camera
   		dim = 1000.1 				
   		vCam = (meterLib.PerspectiveCamera (10*dim) (0.1*dim)).Transform (meterLib.Translate3 0 0 0.01)
   		vCam = vCam.transform (meterLib.Rotate3Degrees (meterLib.YVector3) (10))
   									--- Create Light
   		vLight = meterLib.PointLight.Transform (meterLib.Translate3 (dim/2) (dim/4) (1.5*dim) )
   									--- Load Object
   		loadedObjGeometry = ( (meterLib.ImportGeometry (objFile)).DiffuseColor (meterLib.Red))
   		objGeometry = loadedObjGeometry.Transform  (meterLib.Scale3 0.01 0.01 0.01) 
   									--- Render View
   		finalImg = (meterLib.UnionGeometry (objGeometry) (vLight)).Render (vCam)
   		ax_3DCtrl.Image = finalImg 
   		ax_3DCtrl.start()
   	)
   
   	on ui_PlayRotation changed state do
   	(
   		if state == true then
   		(
   			if isPlaying == false then ax_3DCtrl.stop()
   			
   			--- give object constant rotationspeed
   			objGeometry = objGeometry.transform (meterLib.Rotate3RateDegrees (meterLib.XVector3) (20))
   			objGeometry = objGeometry.transform (meterLib.Rotate3RateDegrees (meterLib.YVector3) (20))
   			objGeometry = objGeometry.transform (meterLib.Rotate3RateDegrees (meterLib.ZVector3) (20))
   	
   			--- render
   			finalImg = (meterLib.UnionGeometry (objGeometry) (vLight)).Render (vCam)
   			ax_3DCtrl.Image = finalImg
   			ax_3DCtrl.start()
   			isPlaying = true
   		)
   
   		if state == false then
   		(
   			ax_3DCtrl.pause()
   			ax_3DCtrl.stop()
   		)
   	)
   
   	on ui_LoadSelected pressed do
   	(
   		objs = getCurrentSelection()
   		if objs.count > 0 then
   		(
   			try	ax_3DCtrl.stop()
   			catch()
   			exportfile temp_obj_Name #noprompt selectedOnly:true
   			create3DViewport temp_obj_Name
   			isPlaying = false
   			ui_PlayRotation.state = false
   			ui_PlayRotation.enabled = true
   		)
   	)
   )
   
   createDialog ro_3DViewer width:330 height:360
   

its a bit of a hack but maybe you could regester the dialog as a veiport and switch the layout to 2 panes 1, with the dialog in and one set to perspective. that was you can use all the existing max functionality with viewports to play back your animated 3d model.

Dave, I didnt understand your explanation much, could you elaborate more?

Cthulhu, I tried your method, I downloaded the panda tool script and tried to export an animated sphere with its path, but when I save( on the desktop for example) I dont find the file I just saved, any idea what is happening?