FCpreview

View an Interface Screenshot

Installation

To install - unzip and copy the file to your /ui/macroscripts directory. Copy the .bmp icon files to their respective directories as in the zip under /ui (ui/discreet and ui/icons)

When you start up max - go to customize ui - and in the toolbars section - you'll find a new category of buttons 'FrameCycler preview'. Drag the only function in there to a toolbar of your choice. Click the new button to start it. First time you start up - you'll be taken straight to the preferences dialog - which will result in a file called FCpreviewPrefs.ini being created in your scripts path directory (usualy /max4/scripts).

Pro/Cons/Caveats

First off - this only works on viewport 1. So if you need to preview one of the other 3 - maximize it first. No biggie.

Pros are that it's pretty fast. Scrubbing in Framecycler is better than in an avi - and since the frames are cached - you only have to redo a the section that's changed since the last preview.

Cons are that there is no sound support yet (it's on the upcoming list) - and you're somewhat limited by the amount of frames that fit in memory. Iridas have it on their upcoming list that there will be improvements in this area.