this is my first post at BA so first of all i want to say hi
short background: in the last ca. 11 years i was using 3ds max for low-poly game asset creation (for games that never materialized - but thatâs another topic :)), from modeling, texturing to rigging and animation.
during this time i was also checking the evolution of blender (first time it even wasnât open source and last time it was release 2.49) and although i liked it it somehow was not a match for app i was using (unstable, lack of tools, weirdâŚ)
now a week ago i gave it another shot and downloaded release 2.68a and was blown away. i can say i was waiting all these years for blender to reach this maturity (it even contains 3ds max preset - YES).
however as iâve said iâm used to 3ds max so to satisfy my needs (or habits?) to full extent iâve coded a small addon iâve named âbmax toolsâ.
i hope youâll enjoy it.
OVERVIEW:
BMax Tools is a set of custom and assorted selection of native Blender tools that loosely follow the appearance and naming conventions of 3ds max. All tools are accessible through custom context menus which replace the native ones.
tool selection tracker (preserves tool selection across modes and workspaces)
The package comes with BMax Tools Extras, which are an optional install that enhances and/or consolidates some aspects of Blenderâs default behavior.
Changes:
modified select, rotate, scale, and cursor icons
modified industry compatible keymap (for changes see this post)
Additions:
one-click set scene view to scene origin
synchronized X-Ray toggle (both modes are set at once to the same value)
enhanced X-Ray setup (adds access to backwire alpha and pose bone X-Ray)
INSTALLATION: Read the included file âreadme.txtâ
Hello Ozzkar, welcome to the fold. Iâm a Maya user who popped on over as well, and seriously started using Blender around the 2.63 point. Once you really take a good hard look at Blender, its quite an amazing little application isnt it? Anyways, glad you are here. I think its good to have users of other applications who bring with them workflow experience and can apply it to blender, which ultimately helps it grow and develop into a tool for a wider audience. Thanks for the script.
Also i recommend hitting up a few of the blender channels on irc.freenode.net (one of them is full of developers and the other users).
thanks this is exactly how i feel. iâm amazed how blender today combines the best of various worlds and and itâs own goodies.
i think the biggest obstacle for new users is itâs different terminology for what are basically the same features in other apps as well as itâs modular design making the user make several separate actions (albeit more flexible approach in the end) whereas in other apps user would just klick one button.
thanks for the tip. i was never a member of an irc channel so maybe itâs the right time to change it.
Indeed, those are some very useful tools. I come from a Max background as well and especially the âselect by typeâ has always been somewhat of a chore to me in Blender. I will definitely use your tools, thanks!
Keymap is based on âIndustry Compatibleâ (directly modified) and it follows the paradigm LMB = select / tweak, MMB = navigate, RMB = context / cancel. The changes are as follows:
Global changes:
Shortcut
Action
Notes
MMB
Pan
Alt + MMB
Orbit
Ctrl + Alt + MMB
Zoom
Ctrl + <select>
Extend selection (add)
Ctrl and Shift are essentially globally swapped
Shift + <select>
Remove from selection
F1
Toggle toolbar
F2
Toggle sidebar
F3
Toggle tool settings
F4
Edit last action
F5
Play/Pause
F6
Stop
F7
Go to start
F8
Go to end
F9
Toggle quadview
F11
Quick Tools
F12
Search Menu
Spacebar
Toggle area fullscreen
Ctrl + Y
Redo
HOME
Zoom all
Z
Zoom selected
Shift + Z
Interactive zoom border
S
Toggle snap
Screen specific changes:
3D View
UV Edit
Graph Editor
Dopesheet
Tab
Select transform space
Select linked under mouse
Go to Dopesheet
Go to Graph
A
Select snap target
` (accent)
Select pivot
N/A
Alt + ` (accent)
Snap cursor to selected
3D View specific changes:
Shortcut
Action
X
Toggle cursor visibility
Shift + X
Center view to cursor
Shift + C
Snap cursor to origin
Up Arrow
Select child
Down Arrow
Select parent
Numpad 2
Orbit down
Numpad 4
Orbit left
Numpad 6
Orbit right
Numpad 8
Orbit up
End
Set view to scene origin
Globally disabled shortcuts:
MMB duplicates that mirror other tools (scroll, select, tweak, transform)
F1 â F12 (for available actions see the table âGlobal changesâ above)
animation actions originally bound to âSâ (with any modifier key)
select more/less (up/down arrows)
frame navigation (left/right arrows)
pie menus (replaced with respective standard menus)
your tools and interface you have made look very good.thanks.any interest in doing a Array tool(like max) with scaling,move rotate options(cumulative,random).
You have done hard work, very clean UIs, especially align tools even it has same properties than Advanced Align Tools addon. Min and max are always good for positioning objects in interior environments.
Very nice. Although I migrated from Maya/Max back in 2009, these tools look too good to pass up. Good job with all of this, and welcome to the wonderful world of Blender.
Love the add-on, Iâm also 3ds user. Selecting by type is priceless, before addon I was stick with selection name pattern⌠Is it only my error that align is affecting position in non selected axis? I like puting things on ground by min to max in Z only. I know sanping can handle this easily but Iâm using snapping to other stuff so changing the mode from vertex to face snap is to long⌠So for me it would be usefull to change position in only 1 axis⌠But again THANKS FOR ADDON !!!
align (the dialog) should affect selected axes only. iâve looked into it but couldât replicate behavior you mention. could you please describe the steps that lead to this behavior in more detail? btw. target to align to is always the active object (or 3d cursor when selected, then also the active object is aligned)
advanced align tool (with quite a bit more functionality) was a part of inspiration (as well as simple align tool and of course 3ds maxâs align selection dialog)
