max 4 project manager

FEATURES AND USAGE

THE PROJECT MANAGER FLOATER

Project Manager is currently located on a large MODELESS floater. included are also some additional callbacks for monitoring file opening/saving located in the ProMan Monitor script.
The Main window "Browse Projects" provides a list to select from existing project names. Each project is stored in a .PMN file in a directory \ProjectManager in MAX root directory. This file contains the Directory Structure of the project and is used to set the Path Configuration of 3ds max whenever the project is selected while the [Change Paths] button is checked.

STARTING FOR THE FIRST TIME

When first started, Project Manager creates a snapshot of the default MAX Path Configuration. These values will be used by the "MAX Default" buttons in the "Project Setup and Directory Management" rollout.
When first started, Project Manager also creates a new project called [Default Max Settings]. It will contain the original MAX Path settings and can be used to restore the pre-Project Manager state of the system anytime.
The [Default Max Settings] will be used when switching between projects to reset all paths to the defaults first. If a Project's Asset Path is not checked (inactive), the default path will remain active.
The [Default Max Settings] will be the only project that will appear on the Project List until you create your own Projects.

THE BROWSER ROLLOUT LAYOUT

The drop-down list on top will display a list of all currently defined Projects.
When the [Change Paths] button is checked, selecting a Project from the list will also make the Project the Active Project, changing all Max Paths immediately according to the Project's Settings. When the button is unchecked, you will be able to browse all the Projects and their Assets without altering the current Max settings.
Checking the button will make the currently displayed Project the Active Project immediately without the need to select the name from the list again.
To reset the Max Paths to their defaults, just select the [Default Max Settings] Project and make sure [Change Paths] is checked.
At the right side, 12 buttons allow for quick access to all Project Assets. When pressed, the content of the respective Project Path will be displayed in the File Browser window.
A context-sensitive list of possible File Operations will be displayed bellow the Project Assets buttons. Double-clicking an operation from the list will execute it on the currently selected file in the File Browser. Operations marked with [DC] can be also executed by Double-Clicking the file name in the File Borwser directly.
A 132x132 pixels Thumbnail View will show small previews of the the .MAX, .MX and image files when selected in the File Browser.
The File Info window will show details about the selected files like size, creation and modification date, scene details, image resolution etc.

FILE BROWSING

The File Browser Window shows the Modified/Creation date of the file, the Size in Bytes, Kilobytes or Megabytes, and the File Name.
By pressing the [Modified] button multiple times, the user can cycle through "Modified-Newest", "Modified-Oldest", "Created-Newest", "Created-Oldest" and "Modified-Unsorted". The list will be sorted accordingly. When another Sorting method is selected, the button will read "Modified" only.
A leading zero will be added to all numbers (day, month, hours, minutes) to ensure correct sorting.
By pressing the [Size] button, the user can cycle between "Size-Large" and "Size-Small". The list will be sorted accordingly.
By pressing the [K] button, the Size mode can be switched between "B" (bytes), "K" (kilobytes) and "M" (megabytes). The numbers will change respectively.
By pressing the [File Name] button, the user can cycle between "File Name, A-->Z" and "File Name, Z-->A".
When changing sorting modes, the currently selected file will always remain in focus.
When the "Incl.SubDirs" checkbutton is checked, all directories bellow the one set as Project Asset directory will be searched. This could take some seconds.
When changing the sorting without changing the content of the list, a cached version will be used for speed (esp. useful with recursive Sub-Directory search). Clicking on any of the Project Assets buttons or changing the project or the state of the "Incl.SubDirs" checkbox will invalidate the cache.
The text field bellow the previews/info/operations will show the full path of the file currently selected in the File Browser. This path will be used by the Open Asset Browser and Open Win.Explorer commands in the List Of Operations.
The [E] button to the right of the text field will open the Windows Explorer at the displayed path. Typing a new temp. path in the text field will let you quickly open any path on the disks.

SCENE FILES DISPLAY AND OPERATIONS

When the browser mode is [SCENES] and a .MAX file is selected, its thumbnail will be displayed (if available) in the thumbnail window. NOTE: The thumbnail display is not a built-in function of MAXScript and might not always return the expected image. Selecting the file once again usually fixes the problem. Certain thumbnails might look corrupted though, although appearing correctly in Asset Browser and Open File dialog...
Next to the thumbnail, File Details will be listed, incl. MAX Version, Compression, Mesh Details, Object Counts, User and Computer Name the file has been created by, Render Size and Animation Range.
The List of Operations will show the following options:

Open File Now [DC] - Load the selected file by double-clicking it in the file browser or by double-clicking the Operation itself. If the current scene has changed, you will be prompted about saving. [DC] means that double-clicking the file name in the File Browser will have the same effect.
Open File Dialog - Open the standard Open File dialog - gives you the option to browse for other files and the usual thumbnail view. If a scene is currently loaded, its path will be displayed in the dialog.
Alternative File Dialog - Open a file open dialog without the thumbnail view. The path of the currently selected file will be used, and the name of the file will be filled in the file field automatically.
Merge File Dialog - Open the standard Merge File dialog.
Replace File Dialog - Open the standard Replace File dialog.
Insert Tracks Dialog - Open the standard Insert Tracks dialog. Object Selection set may not be empty for this operation to work.
XRef Scene Dialog - Open the standard XRef Scene dialog.
XRef Object Dialog - Open the standard XRef Object dialog.
Launch MaxFinder - Starts the external version of the MaxFinder utility that ships with max. It can be used to locate files based on their Custom File Properties.
Open Asset Browser - Open the Asset Browser in the same directory for a complete overview with thumbnails and drag&drop options.
To open the Windows Explorer, please use the [E] button to the right of the path text.

AUTOBACK FILES DISPLAY AND OPERATIONS

When the browser mode is [AUTOBACK] and a .MX file is selected, its thumbnail will be displayed (if available) in the thumbnail window. The last backup .BAK file of a max scene will also be displayed.
.MX files will be handled exactly the same way as .MAX files, including File Details display.
Open File Now [DC] - Load the selected .MX file by double-clicking it in the file browser or by double-clicking the Operation itself. If the current scene has changed, you will be prompted about saving.
Alternative File Dialog - Open a file open dialog without the thumbnail view. The path of the currently selected file will be used, and the name of the file will be filled in the file field automatically. Possible File Types are .MX, .BAK, .MAX, and All Files.
Open and Rename - open the Autoback file and try to locate the original path and file name (stored by the ProMan_Monitor callback script). If the original path is available, the file will be saved to it with _BACKnn suffix, where nn is a sequential number. This will let you "revive" any number of Autoback copies of the same file without overwriting older ones.
Open Asset Browser - Open the Asset Browser in the same directory for a complete overview with thumbnails and drag&drop options.
Open Win Explorer - Open the Windows Explorer in the same directory for advanced file operations.

IMPORT FILES DISPLAY AND OPERATIONS

When the browser mode is [IMPORTS], all files will be displayed (since some max installations might have added capabilities to import files through 3rd party plug-ins). This mode is very useful for quickly merging multiple mesh files, checking the content of .3DS files etc.
The following possible Operations will be displayed:

Import File Now [DC] - Perform a regular Import operation with any dialogs involved. [DC] means that double-clicking the file name in the File Browser will have the same effect.
Import File Dialog - Open the standard Import dialog to use the added functionality for creating directories, using the Windows history etc.
Open Asset Browser - Open the Asset Browser in the same directory for a complete overview and drag&drop options.
Open Win Explorer - Open the Windows Explorer in the same directory for advanced file operations.

EXPORT FILES DISPLAY AND OPERATIONS

When the browser mode is [EXPORTS], all files will be displayed (since some max installations might have added capabilities to export files through 3rd party plug-ins).
The following possible Operations will be displayed:

Export File Dialog - Open the standard Export dialog to enter a name for the scene export.
Export Selected Dialog - Open the standard Export Selected dialog in case there are selected objects in the scene.
Open Asset Browser - Open the Asset Browser in the same directory for a complete overview.
Open Win Explorer - Open the Windows Explorer in the same directory for advanced file operations.

IMAGE FILES DISPLAY AND OPERATIONS

When the browser mode is [IMAGES], all files will be displayed (since some max installations might have added capabilities to use image files through 3rd party plug-ins).
The Creation and Modification Dates of the image, the Size in Bytes and the Width and Height will be displayed as File Info.
If the file is of unknown format (not a bitmap), only Creation/Mod Dates and the Size will be displayed.
The following possible Operations will be displayed:

Open Image in VFB [DC] - Open the image in a Virtual Frame Buffer. If another image is requested for display, it will use the SAME VFB!
Open Image in NEW VFB - Open the image in a separate Virtual Frame Buffer. If another image is requested for display, it will create a unique VFB (for comparing)
View File Dialog - Open the standard View File dialog to select the image to be displayed and browse additional information like Color Depth etc.
Open In Default Win.App. - Open the image in the Windows Application registered for the respective file extension. For example, .JPG might have been set to open in Internet Explorer, while TGA could be related to Photoshop, and AVI would launch the Media Player...
Open Asset Browser - Open the Asset Browser in the same directory for a complete overview, thumbnails and drag&drop options.
Open Win Explorer - Open the Windows Explorer in the same directory for advanced file operations.

PREVIEW FILES DISPLAY AND OPERATIONS

When the browser mode is [PREVIEWS], all files will be displayed (since previews can be in any animation format - AVI, MOV or FLC).
The following possible Operations will be displayed:

Play Preview File [DC] - Play the selected file in the application registered for its file extension (Media Player by default)
View Last Preview - Play the last preview (if available) - standard max method.
Open Asset Browser - Open the Asset Browser in the same directory for a complete overview, thumbnails and drag&drop options.
Open Win Explorer - Open the Windows Explorer in the same directory for advanced file operations.

MAP FILES DISPLAY AND OPERATIONS

When the browser mode is [MAPS], all files will be displayed (since some max installations might have added capabilities to use image files through 3rd party plug-ins).
The Creation and Modification Dates of the image, the Size in Bytes and the Width and Height will be displayed as File Info.
The following possible Operations will be displayed:

Open Image in VFB [DC] - Open the image in a Virtual Frame Buffer. If another image is requested for display, it will use the SAME VFB!
Open Image in NEW VFB - Open the image in a separate Virtual Frame Buffer. If another image is requested for display, it will create a unique VFB (for comparing)
View File Dialog - Open the standard View File dialog to select the image to be displayed and browse additional information like Color Depth etc.
Open In Default Win.App. - Open the image in the Windows Application registered for the respective file extension. For example, .JPG might have been set to open in Internet Explorer, while TGA could be related to Photoshop, and AVI would launch the Media Player...
Open Asset Browser - The following cases will be distinguished:

When the "Use Path" checkbox is checked (there is a Local Map path defined for the Project), its name will be retrieved from the Project Template PMN file. This Map Path will be used as the URL for the Asset Browser.
If the checkbox of the Local Maps path is unchecked, the FIRST Map Path from the current Max Map Paths definitions will be used (usually the default \maps path)

Open Win Explorer - Open the Windows Explorer in the same directory for advanced file operations.

MATERIAL LIBRARY FILES DISPLAY AND OPERATIONS

When the browser mode is [MATLIBS], only .MAT files will be displayed
The following possible Operations will be displayed:

Load Material Library [DC] - Load the MatLib in the Material Editor. If you keep the modeless Material/Map Browser open, you can quickly browse multiple libraries.
Open Material Editor - self-explanatory.
Load Default MatLib - Load the default 3DSMAX.MAT Library.

SCRIPT FILES DISPLAY AND OPERATIONS

When the browser mode is [SCRIPTS], only .MS and .MCR files will be displayed. This mode is very useful for quickly browsing scripts, opening or running multiple scripts etc.
When a maxscript file is selected, the File Info windows will display details about the content of the script's source code:

FUNCTIONS will display all lines starting with "fn " - the list will show the heads of Functions
ROLLOUTS will display all lines starting with "rollout " - the list will show the heads of all rollout definitions
REMARKS will display all lines or parts of them starting with "--" - the list will show all code remarks found in the script, incl. file header descriptions

The following possible Operations will be displayed:

Open in MXS Editor [DC] - Open the script in a new MAXScript Editor. [DC] means that double-clicking the file name in the File Browser will have the same effect.
Run Script - Evaluate (Launch) the script.
Open Win Explorer - Open the Windows Explorer in the same directory for advanced file operations.

EXPRESSIONS FILES DISPLAY AND OPERATIONS

When the browser mode is [EXPRESS.], only .XPR files will be displayed.
When a file is selected, the expression text will be displayed in the File Info window. This mode is very useful for quickly browsing available expressions saved to disk.
There are currently NO Operations available for this type.

SOUND FILES DISPLAY AND OPERATIONS

When the browser mode is [SOUND], only .WAV files will be displayed.
The following possible Operations will be displayed:

Play Sound FIle [DC] - Launch the registered Windows program for playing sound files. [DC] means that double-clicking the file name in the File Browser will have the same effect.
Load As Sound Track - Load the file in the Trackbar/Trackview for synching / scrubbing.
Open Asset Browser - Open the Asset Browser in the same directory for a complete overview and drag&drop options.
Open Win Explorer - Open the Windows Explorer in the same directory for advanced file operations.

VIDEO POST FILES DISPLAY AND OPERATIONS

When the browser mode is [VPOST], only .VPX files will be displayed.
The following possible Operations will be displayed:

Open VideoPost - Open the VideoPost window. (There are no ways to access anything in VP through MAXScript.)

PROJECT MANAGER LOG FILE

The "Project Manager Log" provides details about the Operations performed during a Project Manager session. (There will be manual and automatic LogFile saving later)
New Operations will be prefixed by a ">"
Successfully finished Operations will be prefixed by "+"
Failed Operations will begin with "--"
When a set of operations is finished, the word "Ready." without prefix will be displayed.
When an operation is slower than realtime (like recusively scanning sub-directories for files etc.), the elapsed time will be displayed, too.
For most operations, the current Project Name will be displayed.

DIRECTORY MANAGEMENT (docs under construction)

The "Project Setup and Directory Management" provides the tools for creating new Projects and setting up their Directory Structure.
The Path the Project will reside at has to be defined. The Project will be stored in a sub-directory with the same name as the Project Name.
To define a new Path, use the [>Get Path] button, type in the path manually, or press [PM Defaults] to set the path to a sub-directory \Projects of the current max Root directory.
The Name of the current project selected in the Project Browser will be displayed (if available). To create a new project, just enter a new name.
[CREATE] creates a new .PMN file in the \ProjectManager directory containing all paths defined bellow.
Selecting an existing Project, entering a new name and creating a new project will basically copy all its hierarchy structure to the new project!
To set the Project Assets Directory, check the checkbox in front to enable. If not checked, the path will be stored as preset, but will not be created/used/set as max path. The default max path from the [Default Max Settings] Project will be used instead. This checkbox can be switched anytime later to reconfigure the Project using the [UPDATE] button.
To get an existing path from the harddisk, press the [>Scenes] (etc.) button or type in the desired path manually.
To reset the path to the value stoted as the default max path, press [MAX Default].
To reset the path to the default value suggested by Project Manager, press [PM Default].
The path can be either a relative sub-directory of the project's path ("scenes"), or a full path anywhere on the network ( "D:\projects\newproject\scenes")
To toggle or invert all checkboxes at once, use the [All On], [All Off] and [Invert] buttons.
To set all paths to the max defaults, press [All to MAX].
To set all paths to Project Manager's defaults, press [All to PM].
All Assets except the Local Maps will modify the Max Path settings.
The Local Maps path will be added to the Map Paths list in case it isn't there yet. NOTE that in v0.1 the path will only be added once but never removed when changing projects. (possibly in a future version)
The UPDATE button can be used to change the paths/settings of the currently selected Project. You CANNOT change the name of the project using the Update function.
NOTE: The RENAME option has been removed for security reasons. To rename a Project manually, use the Windows Explorer to rename the Project directory, then select the original Project in Project Manager, select the new Project Path and Create a new project with the new name of the Project Directory.

PROJECT ARCHIVING (docs under construction)

Project Manager features support for the MaxZip external archiving program that ships with max 4 (thanks to Larry Minton!)
The Archiving feature lets you zip any combination of Asset Directories with or without sub-directories to a single ZIP file.
Additional buttons let you quickly set combinations of Assets - All, None, Invert, Default (only most important Assets), Scene Assets (only Scenes, Maps and Sounds), and Junk&Rest (add the stuff you usually don't need daily like VPost files and Expressions, Previews, Exports etc)
The Zip File will be generated in the Project Path root directory by default.
The Zip File Name will look like

ProMan_MaxImgMapMtlScrSnd_4_1_2001_5_55_18_AM.zip

Max, Bak, Imp, Out, Img, Prv, Map, Mtl, Scr, Exp, Snd, Vpt denote the assets included
The numbers show the date and time the archive was generated (for your convenience since Windows usually shows Modified and not Creation Date!)

The file can be unzipped using MaxUnzip, WinZip or any other Zip-compatible program.

The ZIP file will contain a list of the files zipped, and full path name references - unzipping the file would recreate the original directory structure.

PROJECT CATALOG (under construction)

Project Manager features HTML Catalog Creation containing a summary of all Assets with thumbnails, file details etc.
The Catalog feature lets you scan one or more Asset Directories with or without sub-directories and create separate HTML pages with a common Index.
The [TN] buttons control the inclusion of Thumbnails for the respective Assets.
The appearance of the Catalog Files can be controlled using the color swatches.
The HTML File will be generated in a Sub-Directory \Catalog of the Project directory.
To open an existing Catalog in the Asset Browser, press the [Browse Catalog] button.
Here is an example of the current content of the Project Catalog HTML Files. Future versions may vary (with even more info!)

THE PROJECT MANAGER MONITOR

Project Manager Monitor is a separate script which is part of the Project Manager package. NOTE that some important functions required by the PM Floater are located in the PM Monitor - without the PM Monitor, the whole system will refuse to work!
PMM will be started from a startup directory when max launches and will monitor File Loading and Saving in the background using some callbacks.
PMM will check the file path of each scene file loaded and will compare it to the known project paths stored in the Project Manager directory. When a file is recognized as part of a known project, the Project Paths will be set for all Assets automatically.
To toggle Automatic Project Switching on/off, use the Project Manager Monitor Settings in the "Project Setup and Directory Management" rollout.
[Enable Project Auto-Switching] checbutton is checked by default. When on, each file detected as part of a known project will trigger Project Path loading. When off, the current Paths will remain unchanged like when having a plain vanilla max without Project Manager.
[Prompt Before Switching Project Paths] is unchecked by default. When checked, a Yes/No prompt describing the Project and its path will be issued and the user will be able to decide whether to enable the new Project Paths or not. This can be very useful when a single Path is defined in multiple Projects...

[Warn After Switching Project Paths] is unchecked by default. When checked, a warning will appear after loading the file and the Project Paths informing the user that changes have been made to the Path definitions.

All 3 settings will be stored in a file called ProMan_Monitor.ini in the ProjectManager directory. The file will be updated each time a setting is changed, and will be read each time a PMM callback has to make a decision.
If a Project Scene is being loaded and its Project was the last Project set as Active Project by either the PM Floater (manually) or PMM (automatically), the scene will be opened silently without a prompt even if Prompts are requested!
PMM will also store the original MAX file name in a custom field of the File Properties each time a file is being loaded and saved. This way, each Autoback file will hold the original file name and path inside. Project Manager offers an Operation in its AUTOBACK mode which will load an autoback file and save it under its original name with _BACKnn suffix at its original path, where nn is a sequential number.
When changing to a new Project, the [Default Max Settings] project paths will be applied first, after that the new Project settings. This will ensure that all paths disabled in the new Project will be set to the Max Defaults and will not remain set to some other Project's paths

POSSIBLE FUTURE FEATURES

Time Management feature to store the time a scene has remained open for editing. Possible project-based time management summary charts etc.
Filter Function (similar to the search queue parsing of Columbo) for finding/filtering files according to complex criteria like vertex counts, ownership, creation date, image size etc.
Archiving Filtering option for zipping only newer files, only modified files, only last week's files etc...
Project Synchronization Function for comparing and synchronizing single directories or whole projects between machines (over mapped network drives)