SDK and Scripting Enhancements

PURPOSE
Please help us collect ideas for SDK and scripting-related enhancements.

What’s on your top ten list? Add a vote to any idea you also think is important!

HOW TO USE THE FORUM

  • Each user has 20 votes for each forum
  • Each idea can have no more than 3 votes by a single user
  • If you enter an idea, it will cost you 1 vote – therefore try to make sure the idea doesn’t already exist
  • The more precise and detailed a description you give, the more likely your idea will rise higher in the list
  • When an idea is implemented, votes are returned to all the users that voted
  • User can change their votes at any time
  • Admins can move, edit and delete ideas as they see fit to better meet the goals of the forum
  • We will flag ideas that are getting our attention as “under review”. Because of limits on what we can say publicly, that is as far as we can go with commenting on a particular idea. If it is “under review” it simply means we’re studying it for possible implementation or gathering data, but there is no commitment to do it.

Remember, we do not release versions on “internet time”. Unlike the web sites this was designed for, our process of releasing functionality is much longer term. So there won’t be a constant churn of ideas being “closed out” by us and votes returned to you. For this tool to map to our process, we will be looking at the data during a short period of the year (3-6 months) and deciding what actions to take after that. Don’t expect to post an idea and a month later for us to respond in some fashion to it. The most likely scenario is that you’ll post an idea and if a lot of other people vote on it, we’ll eventually flag it as “under review” – but that could be 9 months later or longer.

Please treat this as an experiment in working with the community. Even if Uservoice is not the final home for this, we’ll do our best to export all the ideas to whatever future system might take its place. Your voice will persist.

Note: It’s important to realize that these lists are simply raising the quality of the feedback we get from the community. They are not a replacement for how we define the features for any given release. They are valuable input, but beta input, product strategy, focus, innovation and other factors are also important aspects we consider.

AVAILABLE PUBLIC FORUMS
Default Settings
Please tell us which user defaults settings you change the most! Enter a description of the default or ini setting and then see how the community votes on it. Remember these are only the user preferences you can either set in the interface or ini files.

General Feature Requests
Please help us collect ideas for new features and general product enhancements. What’s on your top ten list? Add a vote to any idea you also think is important!

Small Annoying Things
This forum is about all the little annoying quirks and problems in 3ds Max that you might have gotten used to over the years but that really should be fixed.
Remember, keep these ideas to tweaks of the workflow rather than large, sweeping changes to the tools. Try to imagine how much effort a programmer has to go into in order to implement your suggestion. Anything requiring major UI changes or new UI dialogs will need to go in another forum.

SDK/Scripting Enhancements
This forum is about improvements to the SDK or Script-related.

How might the Autodesk 3ds Max SDK/Scripting be improved?

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  1. Release the source to scanline renderer as sample code

    The scanline renderer is fast and flexible and more powerful than it is getting credited for, but development of it has ceased and the renderer is sadly being phased out. Release the source code as a compilable sample so that we can improve it in-house and fix things that are broken such as HDR-rendering, gamma bugs and the forced clamping. It would also be a great resource when writing other plugins as a reference to how things work. Maybe even some fixes could find their way back to autodesk for free.

    42 votes
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    0 comments  ·  SDK  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
  2. Integrate Max.NET SDK Wrapper by Ephere

    Max.NET SDK Wrapper by Ephere would be a great addition to the 3ds Max .NET SDK

    18 votes
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    3 comments  ·  SDK  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
  3. Sleep-like function for max CPU and GPU use

    There is a Sleep(time) function in Windows API that suspends the execution of a thread. Similarly I would like Max SDK to implement and expose to plugin developers a function that would suspend all Max use of CPU and GPU. Why? To be able to finish plugin task earlier in cases when the user has to wait idly for its outcome. In such scenario there is no need for a plugin to compete with Max for CPU and GPU time.

    15 votes
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    0 comments  ·  SDK  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
  4. Clean global variables without restarting MAX

    As far as I know the only way to get rid of global variables is to restart the program. It would be nice to have a function to wipe off this data.

    14 votes
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    1 comment  ·  SDK  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
  5. Each 3ds max node (modifier, object) can create custom output channels

    Each 3ds max processing plugin (modifier, object, textures) can create custom output channels.
    This could benefit for future node editing interface, where you can connect any output information to other nodes and do very complex stuff like maya/houdini. Now 3ds max has only the concept of input-input connection. but an output-input will be very very helpful.
    like Sphere->Vertex Array->GetVertByIndex->GetUVW->GetMaterialColorAtUVW->Push PlaneVerticiesByIntensityAmount

    9 votes
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    0 comments  ·  SDK  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
  6. SDK .NET more than a wrapper

    The wrapper actually require that you understand the complex SDK working but is different enough for the samples in c++ to not allow a simple rewritte. The documentation is far too thin. Overall it too often feels like it would be easier to go for c++.

    What I would like is to see NET have a real place in the SDK, with higher level implementation as maxsharp but complete.

    Internally Max looks like it is going more and more for c# (scene explorer, ribbon, etc...) but on the SDK side it is not going as fast.

    6 votes
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    0 comments  ·  SDK  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
  7. Plugin parameters should be independent of plugin DLL installation

    Objects, materials and maps' parameters should be exposed to maxscript even if the plugin isn't installed. In other words if I have a Vray Material on an object but no Vray Installation maxscript should still be able to access all of the material settings.

    The "glossiness" parameter may not make any sense to the application but it should still be readable through scripting.

    4 votes
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    0 comments  ·  SDK  ·  Flag idea as inappropriate…  ·  Admin →
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SDK and Scripting Enhancements

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