ACU 3ds Max cheat sheet

The default quad menu opens with a right-click in the viewport; it holds context-sensitive tools for the object or sub-object under the cursor.

Viewport navigation: middle mouse drag orbits, Alt+middle mouse pans, scroll wheel zooms, and Z zooms extents on the selection or scene.

Transform modes map to W (Move), E (Rotate), R (Scale); holding a mode key cycles through its variants such as uniform and non-uniform scale.

The command panel tabs are Create, Modify, Hierarchy, Motion, Display, and Utilities; the Modify tab shows the modifier stack of the selected object.

Coordinate systems in the Reference Coordinate System list include World, View, Screen, Local, Parent, and Gimbal; Local aligns axes to the object's own pivot.

Pivot point options are Pivot Center, Selection Center, and Transform Coordinate Center; the choice determines the origin of rotation and scale.

Scene Explorer (Tools menu) lists objects hierarchically and allows renaming, hiding, freezing, and selecting by name or type.

Units setup under Customize > Unit Setup defines Display Units and System Units; System Units govern internal scene scale and should be set before modeling.

Auto Key and Set Key are the two animation toggles at the bottom of the interface; Auto Key creates keys automatically when a property changes.

Editable Poly sub-object levels are Vertex, Edge, Border, Polygon, and Element; Border selects open edge loops around holes.

Common poly operations: Extrude, Bevel, Inset, Bridge, Connect, Chamfer, Target Weld, and Swift Loop for adding edge loops.

TurboSmooth and MeshSmooth apply Catmull-Clark subdivision; the Iterations value multiplies face count roughly fourfold per level.

Boolean compound objects support Union, Intersection, Subtraction, and Merge; operands can be converted to editable poly to clean results.

Loft builds a surface from cross-section shapes along a path; the path can be a spline, and multiple shapes can share one path.

Modifier stack order matters: a modifier evaluates top-down, so placing Bend above TurboSmooth differs from placing it below.

The Symmetry modifier mirrors geometry across a plane and welds vertices within the threshold, useful for character halves.

Snap settings (S key) include Grid Points, Vertex, Endpoint, Midpoint, and Face; angle snap controls rotation increments.

Shell and ProBoolean are modifiers/compound objects used to give thickness or combine solids while preserving closed manifold results.

The Slate Material Editor (M) is node-based; the Compact Material Editor is slot-based and limited to 24 visible slots per session.

Standard material channels include Diffuse, Specular, Glossiness, Self-Illumination, Opacity, Bump, Reflection, and Refraction.

Physical Material uses Base Color, Roughness, Metalness, and an IOR value near 1.5 for common dielectrics.

Map channels: Diffuse Color accepts color maps, Bump accepts normal or grayscale maps, and Opacity uses grayscale where black is transparent.

UVW Map modifier projection types are Planar, Cylindrical, Spherical, Shrink Wrap, Box, and Face; each maps the surface differently.

The Unwrap UVW modifier provides the Edit UVWs dialog for stitching, relaxing, and packing UV shells into the 0-1 space.

UVW Map channel numbers must match the map channel used by the material, otherwise the texture will not appear correctly.

Bitmap output settings control blur, cropping, and the alpha source; the View Image button previews the loaded file.

Multi/Sub-Object material assigns different materials per material ID; polygon material IDs are set in Editable Poly's Polygon level.

Standard light types are Omni (point), Target Spot, Free Spot, Target Direct, and Free Direct; photometric lights use real-world intensity units.

Arnold is the default production renderer in recent 3ds Max releases; Scanline and ART are alternatives available in the Render Setup dialog.

Key light, fill light, and rim light is a standard three-point setup; fill typically sits opposite the key at lower intensity.

Shadow types include Area, Shadow Map, Ray Traced, and Advanced Ray Traced; area shadows soften with distance from the caster.

Global illumination methods in Arnold include light sampling and skylight; the Skylight or an HDRI dome provides ambient illumination.

Render Setup (F10) controls output size, frame range, renderer, sampling quality, and the Render Elements list for passes.

Exposure Control under Environment (8) affects overall brightness; Physical Camera settings include FOV, f-stop, shutter, and ISO.

Render Elements such as Z-Depth, Reflection, and Diffuse passes are composited later and must be enabled before rendering.

The Frame Buffer displays the rendered image; the Render button (Shift+Q) renders the active viewport with current settings.

The Track View - Curve Editor edits animation curves; tangents control ease-in and ease-out between keys.

Key interpolation types include Linear, Bezier, TCB, and Stepped; Stepped holds a value until the next key with no interpolation.

The Dope Sheet shows keys as blocks along time, useful for retiming and shifting key ranges without editing curve values.

Controller types include Position XYZ, Euler XYZ, Bezier Float, Noise, and List; a List controller layers multiple controllers on one track.

Constraints such as Path, LookAt, Link, and Position attach an object's motion to another object or path.

The time configuration dialog sets frame rate (NTSC, PAL, Film, Custom) and the total animation length in frames.

Wire Parameters create one-way or two-way links between animatable properties of two objects.

Reaction Manager stores driven poses or values based on a slider, useful for corrective shapes and procedural rigs.

Biped and CAT are character rig systems; Skin and Physique bind mesh vertices to bones for deformation.