Drag & Drop Reference Images

Submitted by br0t on Wed, 2012-09-26 13:35

Date Updated:

09/11/2012

For modeling in 3ds Max I like to use image planes textured with reference images of my object. Not only for blueprints, but even any reference, because on my laptop screen space is very limited and this way I don't have to switch between applications, just move my view a little. Setting up those planes is annoying, because you would have to create a material for each and then a plane with the right aspect ratio. This script automates all this, by giving you a little window where you can drag and drop any common image type onto. The reference planes will then be created on a line and you can specifiy whether to align height/width of all images. You can also choose a material type and the gamma value that the images are loaded with.

22/08/13: Added scaling option for planes; Script now remembers its settings

03/01/13: Set plane segments to 1 on creation

05/12/12: Removed axis checkboxes, added option to align width or length of the planes, updated image, tightened UI

18/11/12: Removed self-illumination from Standard material. which made things too bright (thanks to DeaDog)

13/10/12: Added option to choose the material type (mr arch&design, standard & vraymtl)

06/10/12: Disabled Real World Scale for maps, added Gamma correction option using a color correction map (thanks to miauu, Kinofaya)

29/09/2012: UI checkbutton fix, thanks to Anubis

27/09/2012: Now recreates image from Base64 string (method by LoneRobot.net, thanks to barigazy); now uses "maxOps.canImportBitmap" thanks to Anubis

Explanatory video:

Video URL:

Links

Homepage URL:

http://www.cbuelter.de

Download URL:

http://www.cbuelter.de

Comments

Submitted by Michele71 on Wed, 2012-10-03 12:23.

Nice job man ;)

Submitted by miauu on Wed, 2012-10-03 14:41.

Set your Gamma to 1 and drag

Set your Gamma to 1 and drag ana drop the images. Then return the gamma to initial value.
This also can be implemented in the script.

Tools and Scripts for Autodesk 3dsMax

Submitted by Kinofaya on Wed, 2012-10-03 03:56.

Gamma problem

Hi,

First, thanks for this script.

I tried it, but i am facing a gamma problem i believe.

When i drag my Pic.jpg, in max the picture is very bright.
When i try to correct this with the material editor, my changes have no effects on the texture.

Any idea what is the problem ?

Thx in advance

Submitted by artrender on Mon, 2012-10-01 14:08.

great script !

this is very useful, is it possible to change the checkbox for real-world map size to off so that the map is sized properly to match the plane? Maybe this is turned on by default by the UI schemes but I am using the designViz.mentalray preset.

Submitted by br0t on Mon, 2012-10-01 13:20.

hey subfeel, glad you like

hey subfeel, glad you like it! thats a useful addition, i did not think about segments. There is a line in the script:

pln = Plane width:difMap.bitmap.width length:difMap.bitmap.height material:mat

you can replace it with:

pln = Plane width:difMap.bitmap.width length:difMap.bitmap.height material:mat lengthsegs:1 widthsegs:1

and should get no more segments. I'll add that on the next occasion
cheers

Never get low & slow & out of ideas

Submitted by subfeel on Mon, 2012-10-01 06:09.

hi! this is very usefull

hi! this is very usefull script imho :) big thnx!
but which params i should change in notepad if i don't need length/width segments when script creates plane?

Exhibition Design: https://www.behance.net/subfeel

Submitted by barigazy on Wed, 2012-09-26 14:59.

I send you a mail.

bga

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