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toc
Contents
Introduction .........................................................................1
Documentation................................................................. 23
Program Maintenance..................................................... 28
Repairing Components ............................................................. 29
Support............................................................................... 39
Reseller Support..........................................................................39
Discreet Support Resources ......................................................40
Discussion Forums .....................................................................40
Discreet Education......................................................................40
Introduction 1
install
3ds max Installation and Support Guide
Introduction
Welcome to 3ds max® 7 - the landmark new version of Discreet's
comprehensive solution for advanced 3D modeling, animation,
and rendering. With an extensive new feature set designed to
increase performance and boost productivity, 3ds max 7 offers
animators powerful new creative workflow tools, including the
most comprehensive advanced character animation toolset
currently available, acclaimed visual effects tools, and support
for next generation production environments.
This guide provides information for installing and starting
3ds max 7. In addition to describing steps to install the program
quickly, it includes information about system requirements and
troubleshooting. It also tells you how to uninstall the program.
See “Frequently Asked Questions” on page 41 to address many
common questions about, and issues with, the installation and
use of 3ds max 7.
Important: This guide covers only installation of the 3ds max 7
software for single users (standalone licenses). For information about
installation and registration or activation of network floating-
licensed versions of the software, see the Network Licensing Guide.
You can view this file from the 3ds max 7 Installer main panel by
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System Requirements
Before you begin the install process, make sure your system meets
the minimum operating requirements for 3ds max 7.
• Computer—Intel® PIII or later processor or AMD® processor,
running at 500 megahertz or better. 3ds max takes advantage of
multiple processors.
Recommended is a system running dual Intel Xeon™ or dual
AMD Athlon™ processors.
• RAM—Minimum 512 MB and 500 MB swap file size.
Recommended is 1 GB RAM and 2 GB swap file size. The
complexity of your scene impacts the amount of RAM you need
to maintain performance.
• Display—Graphics card supporting a minimum resolution of
1024 x 768 x 16-bit color.
Recommended is a 3D graphics accelerator, configured for
DirectX® 9 or OpenGL®, with resolution set to
1280 x 1024 x 64MB of RAM.
OpenGL and Direct3D hardware acceleration is supported; 3D
graphics accelerator, 1280 X 1024 32-bit color with 256MB RAM
is recommended.
Note: 256-color mode is not supported.
System Requirements 3
• Other—To activate and register 3ds max and to view the online
Help systems, you must have Internet Explorer® 6 (or later).
You can download Internet Explorer from the Microsoft Web
site: www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/.
You also need QuickTime® 5 (or later) to run the QuickTime
plug-in and Panorama Exporter. QuickTime 6.5 is on the
3ds max 7 Installation CD and can be accessed under
Supplemental Tools on the main panel of the installer.
See “Apple QuickTime 6.5” on page 22 for more information.
Important: The 3ds max Software Developer Kit (SDK) is not installed,
by default. To install the SDK, go to “Installing Supplemental Tools” on
page 20.
backburner 2.3
backburner™ is the 3ds max 7 network-rendering management
software, also used by combustion®.
On a system where 3ds max has never been installed, backburner is
installed into a shared folder; c:\program files\backburner 2\. This
is done so you can use the network rendering and command-line
rendering features of 3ds max and so other programs, like
combustion, can take advantage of backburner as well.
If you're installing 3ds max 7 on a system that had installations of
3ds max 6 or combustion, an older version of backburner is already
installed on the system. In this case, the newer version of
backburner will install into the same path used by the previous
version. This is done so the older version of 3ds max or combustion
will still be able to use the newer version of backburner. It also
means that any 3ds max 6 or combustion network-rendering jobs
that are still in the queue will not be lost. They can still be assigned
and rendered using the new version of backburner.
3ds max 7 can use the newer version of backburner, but cannot use
the older version of backburner.
For more information on backburner, see the Network Rendering
topics in the 3ds max 7 User Reference.
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Network-Licensed Version
If you're planning to install 3ds max on multiple networked
systems, such as a render farm or a classroom environment, you
now have several options that can greatly expedite the
installation process.
Choosing Network activates the Network License Server field,
where you can specify a license server. If you've purchased a
network-licensed version of 3ds max, network administrators
can perform a network installation by installing the Autodesk
License Manager tools. Refer to the Network Licensing Guide
available from the main 3ds max 7 installer panel. You can also
find this document located in the \manuals folder on the product
CD.
Network-licensed versions of 3ds max obtain activation from a
network-license server. Before activating the network-license
server, you must upgrade to or purchase the network-enabled
version of 3ds max. A standalone licensed version can be
converted to a network-licensed version. Check with your
Authorized Autodesk Reseller for further information.
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Asia Pacific
•Fax: +65.6735.4857
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License Folder
When you install 3ds max, the installer adds a hidden license
folder named c:\documents and settings\all users.winnt\application
data\macrovision\safecast\product licenses.
Do not tamper with the license folder or any files within the folder.
License Errors
If you do receive a license error, you will need to reactivate your
copy of 3ds max. You can use the Activation Wizard to complete
your request. Depending on the error, you may have a seven-day
grace period, from the time of your license error, before you must
reactivate the product. After the seven-day grace period, you will
not be able to use the software again until you have entered a
new activation code. In certain cases, there is no grace period.
If a new activation code is needed, the Activation Code dialog
will appear when you start 3ds max. You can only choose to
activate the product if you encounter a licensing error.
Stand-Alone Backburner
The stand-alone version of backburner provides a browse button
that allows you to select your install location. It will also change
the registries and move folders if backburner was previously
installed.
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Documentation 23
Documentation
The Documentation panel of the 3ds max 7 Installer gives you
access to documents that are separate from the 3ds max online
References and Tutorials.
When you restart the 3ds max 7 Installer, the installer checks for
an existing installation of 3ds max. You will notice a subtle
difference to the 3ds max 7 Install panel. The action list, at the
right, shows you what components can be repaired or removed.
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Adding Components
Removing Components
Uninstalling components is similar to adding them. There are
two ways of correctly uninstalling 3ds max 7 or any of its
components, either through the 3ds max Installer or by using
Add/Remove Programs.
Removing 3ds max uninstalls the components from your system,
removing most files and Windows registry entries from your
hard drive. If you simply delete the 3ds max folders, you will not
remove all program components.
Program Maintenance
If you ever encounter a problem that prevents 3ds max 7 or any of
its components from running, you can attempt to repair the
problem without uninstalling and reinstalling the software. You
should try to repair your software if you suspect some sort of file
corruption, missing files, or corrupted registry entries.
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Program Maintenance 29
Repairing Components
There are two ways of correctly repairing 3ds max 7 or any of its
components, either through the 3ds max Installer or by using
Add/Remove Programs.
• From the 3ds max Installer, select Repair next to the
component name, and click Modify, or,
• Open the Windows Control Panel and choose Add/Remove
Programs. From Add/Remove Programs, select any of the
3ds max 7 components, and click the Change button.
Repair reinstalls the component (based on your current
installation configuration), in order to replace any files,
registry keys, or shortcuts that might have been damaged.
If an existing file is newer than a file normally used to repair it, the
existing file isn't changed. In other words, if you've applied a
patch, a repair will not restore the system to an earlier state.
Preferences stored in the registry might be reset to default values.
User Reference
The 3ds max 7 User Reference documents the program. Once you
have the program running, choose Help menu > User Reference.
The User Reference was updated for this version of the software.
Tutorials
The third disk included in the 3ds max 7 box contains all of the
tutorial sample files, as well as additional scenes, images, material
libraries, maps, and sound files for you to use while learning and
experimenting with 3ds max.
To view the 3ds max 7 Tutorials online while you are using the
program, choose Help menu > Tutorials. The Tutorials were
updated for this version of the software.
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The 3ds max 7 Installer does not install any of the tutorial sample
files to your system. As you need them, copy the files to your
hard disk. Suggested location: \3dsmax7\tutorials.
For your convenience, a slightly smaller subset of the 3ds max 7
Tutorials topics is provided in a single printed volume that you
can read offline.
MAXScript Reference
To see complete information about MAXScript, choose Help
menu > MAXScript Reference. The MAXScript Reference is
provided online only, as a compiled HTML Help file.
The MAXScript Reference was updated for the most recent
versions of the 3ds max software.
To use any of the files on this CD, simply copy or drag them to your
own computer. Files from the Sample Files and Partners CD are
uncompressed and are not installed when you run the 3ds max 7
Installer.
The 3ds max 7 Partners and Samples main screen is where you can
choose to install plug-ins from Discreet Third-Party Plug-in
Partners or plug-ins from the Discreet Certified Plug-ins program.
You can also choose to manually browse the CD.
Partners
This release of 3ds max includes some fully-functional plug-ins
that add specific value for games, design, visualization, and
visual simulation customers.
• RPC™ Plug-ins from ArchVision™, Inc.: Lets you add
photorealistic objects (such as cars, people, etc.) from the
included ArchVision sample CD to your renderings.
• PolyTrans™ from Okino Computer Graphics, Inc.: A demo
version of PolyTrans, from Okino Computer Graphics, lets
you evaluate dozens of CAD, DCC and VisSim data
converters directly within 3ds max.
• OpenFlight® Geometry Converter from Okino Computer
Graphics, Inc.: Lets you import and export OpenFlight data
without any restrictions.
• Okino Super Installer from Okino Computer Graphics, Inc.
This program allows you to directly import and export all of
the PolyTrans supported 3D file formats from a custom user
interface directly inside these programs.
• EASYnat™ from Bionatics® s.a.: Offers a lifelike plant
modeling solution that allows you to drop virtual seeds from
the included samples and “grow” them in your model.
• Turbo Squid™ from Turbo Squid: Is free software you can
use to buy and sell digital assets. It provides access to a strong
community of graphics professional and a growing library of
over 70,000 models, motion capture files, maps, sounds, plug-
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ins and more. For more information, visit the Turbo Squid Web
site at http://www.turbosquid.com.
Samples
The total collection of sample files on the Sample Files and
Partners CD is quite large and you can manually copy them to
your hard drive. The samples include maps and material library
files. Sample files have their file attributes set to Read-only, even
if you copy them to your local drive. Attempting to save a sample
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file using the same name will result in an error unless you change
the file attribute to Archive. Refer to your operating system
documentation to learn how to change file attributes, if necessary.
Installation Troubleshooting 37
Also refer to the 3ds max Documentation Set topic in the online
User Reference file for details regarding the documentation
included with 3ds max. You can access the online references by
clicking User Reference from the Help menu.
Note: If you have purchased an upgrade version, printed
tutorials are not included in the box. If you wish to have the
printed version, fill in the request card included in the box, or go
to www.autodeskbookrequest.com to complete the form online.
Installation Troubleshooting
Adding a Command-Line Switch to the Executable
Line
1. From within Explorer, My Computer, or the Desktop, right-
click the icon for 3ds max 7 or its shortcut.
A shortcut menu appears.
2. Choose Properties. The Properties dialog appears.
3. In the Target text box, add the command-line switch after the
program path and executable file name. For example:
c:\3dsmax7\3dsmax.exe -h.
4. Click OK.
The command-line switch takes effect the next time you run the
program from the shortcut.
To see a complete list of command-line switches and their
functions, see “Starting 3ds max from the Command Line” in the
User Reference.
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Support 39
Support
If you need assistance with your installation, contact your
Authorized Discreet Reseller, or use any of the following support
options.
Reseller Support
Authorized Discreet Resellers provide first-level support and
front-line technical assistance. Be sure to inquire about product
integration and installation, on-site services as well as training
options from your local Reseller.
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Discussion Forums
Information and peer-to-peer assistance is available on the
Discreet Forums.
Discreet Education
Links to training, courseware and other useful materials are
available on the Discreet Education site.
You are given the opportunity to change drive location and folder
name. If you choose to change drive location, be sure that you also
have a folder name specified. If the installer recognizes d: as having
the most space, but you want the software installed on c:, make
sure an entire path to c:\3dsmax7 is specified. If you simply type c:,
you run the risk of installing the program directly into your
system's root folder.
Activation Questions
General Questions
Q. I export back and forth from home all the time, and I'm
tired of writing floppy disks. Is there another way?
Yes. The first time you export to another PC, you have to write
the file (and it can be anywhere, on a floppy, or shared network
drive). But after that, you can use the Transfer Code instead.
Export normally, but instead of entering a file name, on the
Export Type Selection dialog, choose the Transfer Code option.
Write down the code and click Transfer. On the other PC, choose
Transfer Code again on the Import page, and enter the code.
Transfer codes can't be reused; you'll get a new one each time.
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