HaywoodTools

News:
3/13/2007: Added my help section, for the Winchester tool. I'll try and add more help for the scripts as time goes on.
1/6/2007: Going forward, I'll be developing all new scripts using Max 9. Most should still work with older versions, but I won't be specifically testing each one for backwards compatibility. And all of my current scripts should work with 9 as they are, but please let me know if you find any issues using them with new version of Max. Also, I'll make a note in its description if I know that a new script will only work with Max 9 or above.

Description
I create a lot of scripts as I work to help me get things done as fast and efficiently as possible. I've also created quite a few scripts at the request of many of the talented artists I work with at GPG. Check back every month or so for updates and new scripts.

Installation
Download the latest script pack and unzip into your 3ds Max root directory, usually either C:\3dsMax8 or C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3dsMax8. Make sure to keep the folder structure within the zip file intact so that all files go to the right place.

You should end up with the following files in the following folders:
..\Scripts\HaywoodTools\*.ms
..\Scripts\HaywoodTools\HaywoodTools.ini
..\UI\MacroScripts\HaywoodTools.mcr
..\stdplugs\stdscripts\HaywoodTools_functions.ms

To uninstall, just delete the above files.

The tools can be found in the HaywoodTools category of the Customize User Interface dialog box where you can assign them as hotkeys, toolbar buttons, or quad menu items. They are organized by name based on function, so that all modeling tools start with, "MDL - ", skin tools start with, "SKN - ", and so on.

Bugs:
Please report any bugs, problems, or suggestions for improvements. I use many of these tools myself on a daily basis and so have tried my best to make sure they work as expected. But I'm still more artist than programmer so there may be issues I'm not aware of. All scripts have been tested with Max 8 or 9, but may or may not work with earlier versions.

 

DOWNLOAD SCRIPT PACK
HaywoodTools

v0.06

Updated: February, 2007
New Tools: Align UV's Average, Dimension Text, Multi Prop Changer, Pivot Buddy, Set System Units, Spline Grow, Winchester
Updated: Sub-Object Level 1-5 - Fixed a bug where all sub-object elements would get selected if you weren't already in a sub-object mode.
Removed: Toggle Default Lighting - Uh, this is already included in Max. Ctrl-L

FX TOOLS Version  Description  Help Codes
Blow Chunks v0.02 Turn selected geometry objects into a PFlow particle system. Great for blowing stuff up. Many thanks to Bobo for his PFlow tutorials.   NUI, 2S+
Crack Me Up v0.04 Breaks an object into random pieces. Use with the "Blow Chunks" tool to blow stuff up.    
New PFlow v0.01 Creates a new basic Particle Flow system with certain default settings that I like to use. If a geometry object is selected when this is run, it will be used as the emitter.   NUI
Spline Grow v0.01 Animates the knots in splines so that it looks like the spline is growing over time. Select one or more spline shapes then run the script. Doesn't work well with closed shapes like circles or rectangles. Play the animation to see the result. The effect can be seen here: FXholographReveal03   NUI, 1S, SPL
Winchester v0.4 Shoot stuff up, using either displacement modifiers or booleans. Requires the ProBooleans extension to work with Max 8.  
MODELING TOOLS Version  Description  Help Codes
Clean Verts v0.02 Cleans up a poly object by removing unwanted verts, which are: 1) Isolated verts, and 2) Verts on straight edges. Good for cleaning up boolean operations.   NUI, PO, 1S
Center Pivot v0.01 Centers the pivot point on all selected objects.   NUI, 1S+
Center Pivot Bottom v0.01 Centers the pivot point and moves it to the bottom of the object on all selected objects.   NUI, 1S+
Custom Connect v0.02 Connects either verts or edges depending on which mode you're in. When in edge mode, use it repeatedly within a second from the last usage to increase the number of segments. So when you run it the first time you get one connecting edge, run it again within a second and you get two, and so on.   NUI, PO, 1S, HK
Custom Loop and Ring v0.02 Selects vert, edge, and face loops and rings. For verts and faces, select two in a row and then run the script.   NUI, PO, 1S, HK
Custom Remove v0.02 Gets rid of leftover verts when removing edges. Also context sensitive so that you can use just one hotkey to remove verts or edges in EPoly objects.   NUI, PO, 1S, HK
Edge Constrain Toggle v0.01 Toggles the "Constraints" setting in Edit or Editable Poly between "Edge" and "None".   NUI, PO, 1S, HK
Edge To Edge Select v0.02 Selects the in-between edges that make up the shortest path between two selected edges.   NUI, PO, 1S
Flow Connect v0.01 Same as using the Connect button on an edge Ring, but will also move the newly added verts out along their local Z axis in order to keep the overall curvature of the object. If only one edge is selected it will automatically select the entire edge ring before connecting them. Currently only works with Editable Poly base objects, not Edit Poly modifiers.   NUI, PO, 1S, HK
Get Materials From Selected v0.03 Gathers the materials assigned to the selected objects and puts them in the Material Editor. A quick way to see only the materials applied to certain objects.   NUI, 1S+
Grow Edge Loop v0.03 Grows the selected edges out along their edge loops.   NUI, PO, 1S
Grow Soft Selection v0.01 Increases the falloff amount for Soft Selections.   NUI, PO, 1S, HK
Instance Replace v0.01 Turns all selected objects into instances of the first selected object.   NUI, PO, 1S+
Multi Mat From Selected v0.02 Creates a Multi/Sub-Object material that contains all the materials of the selected objects, and then modifies the object's face ID's so that the new material can be applied to them correctly. Also strips out unused material slots from objects that already have a Multi/Sub material applied.   NUI, 2S+
Multi Mat Random Diffuse v0.01 Creates a multi/sub-object material with a user-defined number of sub-material slots, each one having a random diffuse color.    
Pivot Buddy v0.02 Set of tools for quickly rotating and aligning the pivot of the selected objects.    
Reset XForm To World Center v0.01 Sets the pivot of all selected objects to world coordinates [0,0,0], and then resets the XForm... twice. Resetting twice is just a safety measure against a Reset XForm bug that's been in Max forever.   NUI, 1S+
Select Non-Quads v0.01 Selects all polys in an EPoly object or edit poly modifier that are anything other than four sided.   NUI, PO, 1S
Set Unique Smoothing Group v0.01 Applies a smoothing group to the selected faces that is unique to the smoothing groups of the surrounding faces.   NUI, PO, 1S
Shrink Edge Loop v0.03 Shrinks the selected edges in along their edge loops.   NUI, PO, 1S
Shrink Soft Selection v0.01 Decreases the falloff amount for Soft Selections.   NUI, PO, 1S, HK
Snapshot Selected v0.02 Takes a selection of objects and attaches them all into one editable poly object. It works by taking a snapshot of each object before attaching, so that world space deformations are preserved.   NUI, 2S+
Snapshot Selected Replace First v0.01 Same as Snapshot Selected, except the first selected object is completely replaced by the meshes of the other selected objects. Useful for updating XRef objects and doing the bullet-proof "reset xForm hack".   NUI, 2S+
Sub-Object Level 1-5 v0.02 Set of five scripts. Assign these to your sub-object level hotkeys for increased functionality.
1) Transfers the selection from one sub-object level to another. For example, if you're in edge mode with edges selected, and you switch to vert mode, then the verts associated with the selected edges will automatically be selected. Works with both mesh and poly objects.
2) Looks for the first Edit Mesh, Edit Poly, Editable Mesh, Editable Poly, or Unwrap UVW item in the modifier stack and goes there directly. This saves time if you have modifiers on top of your stack, like Symmetry or Turbosmooth.		   NUI, 1S, HK
Toggle Subdivision v0.01 Looks for either a TurboSmooth or MeshSmooth modifier on the selected objects and toggles it on or off in the viewport. Doesn't effect the render setting, so you can toggle it off and still render correctly with smoothing applied. If there isn't a TurboSmooth or MeshSmooth modifier, but the object is an Editable Poly, then the "Use NURMS Subdivision" checkbox with be toggled on or off.   NUI, HK
Tweak Mode v0.02 Toggles in and out of "Tweak Mode". Great for modeling because it lets you move around your model and make changes very fast.
The following settings are changed:
1) Move Tool is activated, 2) Coordinate system is set to Screen Space, 3) Transform gizmo is constrained to X and Y axes, 4) Transform gizmo turned off		   NUI, HK
Verts To Zero X v0.03 Moves the selected verts or edges to zero along the object's local X axis. Useful when modeling with the Symmetry modifier to keep the center verts aligned.   NUI, PO
RIGGING TOOLS Version  Description  Help Codes
Link By Distance v0.02 Links one group of objects to another group of objects based on distance. So each object in the second group will be linked to the closest object in the first group. Good for cutting up a a high-res character and linking the pieces to the skeleton instead of skinning, which allows for smoother playback while animating.   NUI, 2S+
Link Chain v0.01 Links two or more objects so that the first selected object is the parent of the second, the second selected object is the parent of the third, and so on.   NUI, 2S+
Link Group v0.01 Links two or more objects so that the first selected object is the parent of all the other selected objects.   NUI, 2S+
SKIN TOOLS Version  Description  Help Codes
Average Skin Weight v0.03 Assigns an average bone weighting to the selected verts based on the weighting of the verts around them. Good for fixing random stray verts or doing a final cleanup pass on your skinning.   NUI, SKN , HK
Remove Unused Bones v0.01 Removes any bones in a Skin modifier that have zero verts weighted to them.   NUI, SKN
Select Verts By Bone v0.01 Selects all verts weighted to the selected bone.   NUI, SKN
UV TOOLS Version  Description  Help Codes
Align UVs v0.02 A set of seven scripts to align selected UV verts or edges based on: average overall position, average horizontal, average vertical, top, bottom, right, or left. For example, aligning to the top of the selection means that all the selected verts or edges will move up to the position of the highest selected vert.   NUI, UV
Relax UVs v0.01 Relax selected uv's without opening the Relax dialog box. Hold down a combination of the Shift and Ctrl keys to relax using different options...
Default: Relax by face angles, 1000 iteration, 0 stretch, 1 strength, keep boundary points fixed off.
Control: Relax by face angles, 1000 iteration, 0 stretch, 1 strength, keep boundary points fixed on.
Shift: Relax by edge angles, 1000 iteration, 0 stretch, 1 strength, keep boundary points fixed off.
Shift-Control: Relax by edge angles, 1000 iteration, 0 stretch, 1 strength, keep boundary points fixed on.
   NUI, UV
Weld All UVs v0.01 Welds all of an object's UVs that are right on top of each other. Useful for OBJ files imported from ZBrush, and after applying certain kinds of mapping that leave a lot of open edges, like Cylindrical.   NUI, UV
MISCELLANEOUS TOOLS Version  Description  Help Codes
Dimension Text v0.01 Adds text under an object that shows its length, width, and height dimensions. The text is updated in real time as the object is scaled.   NUI, 1+S
Look At Viewport v0.02 Forces an object to always face the viewport. A modifier is added to the object that includes options to turn off the auto look at behavior, or to enable it only for certain types of viewports.   NUI, 1S
Multi Prop Changer v0.01 Change the properties of many objects at once. The properties this applies to are the ones you find in the modifier panel, not User Properties or general Object Properties (renderable, cast shadows, etc.). A common use for this script would be to change the multiplier or color on a lot of lights, or turn on the renderable mesh property of a lot of splines and then change their thickness without having to select each one individually.    
Render View v1.07 If you've used Maya and have longed for a way to flip back and forth through your recent renders, this is for you. Saves every render automatically, along with information on frame number, render time, and view or camera name. Also has a text field that let's you type in short notes pertaining to a specific render. Useful for doing tests and keeping a visual history of your scene development. To have it automatically save renders, open the Render View window and click the "Auto" checkbox. When the "Auto" checkbox is checked, renders are saved even if the window is not open. Hover the mouse over the buttons for a description of what they do. Also closes the default render window automatically if the RenderView window is open to avoid extra clutter, but only if you're using Max 9.    
Set System Units v0.01 Opens a small dialog that let's you quickly change the system units.    
Silhouette View v0.01 Toggles the viewports into and out of "Silhouette View". It basically turns the models completely black so you can concentrate on refining the silhouettes.   NUI
Stringer v0.01 Turns maxScript code into an executable string, also turns the string back into code. * This script was created by Mike Biddlecombe, I'm just hosting it because it's extremely useful and needs to be shared.    
Turnaround Render v2.00 Quickly set up a camera and lighting to do a 360 degree beauty render of your model(s).   1S+

Code Explanations:
1S - Must have only one object selected.
1S+ - Must have one or more objects selected.
2S - Must have only two objects selected.
2S+ - Must have two or more objects selected.
HK - Best if assigned to a hot key. In my experience, these are used so often that it's best if you have quick access to them.
NUI - No UI. Usually means that you have to select one or more objects (or a specific type of modifier) before running the script; or as in the case of "Tweak Mode", toggles some settings.
PO - Works on EPoly objects, either the Editable Poly base object or the Edit Poly modifier.
SKN - Only works on the Skin modifier.
SPL - Only works on splines or shapes.
UV - Only works on the Unwrap UVW modifier.