Strokes

Command entry:Customize menu

Preferences

Preference Settings dialog

Viewports tab

Mouse Control group

Stroke

Strokes are a way to assign command shortcuts to mouse or tablet drag patterns. For many operations, strokes are more convenient than keyboard shortcuts because they can select an object and apply a command to it.

For example, you can assign Orbit to a downward stroke. When you draw this stroke, 3ds Max changes to Orbit mode. You can assign a circular stroke to the Hide Selected command so that it both selects the objects and then hides all the objects in the bounding extents of the stroke pattern.

You can use strokes in two ways:

If you have a middle mouse button, you can define and use strokes by specifying the Stroke option for the middle mouse button in the Viewports tab of the Customize menu Preferences dialog.
To define and use strokes with the left mouse button, use the Strokes utility and turn on Draw Strokes.

Using the Keyboard with Strokes

The same stroke pattern can perform four different functions by holding Shift, Alt, or Shift+Alt when drawing the stroke:

Drawing a vertical line is one type of stroke.
Holding Shift while drawing the same line is another type.
Holding Alt while drawing it is a third type.
Holding both Shift and Alt while drawing the line is a fourth type.
Holding Ctrl while drawing a stroke indicates that you want to define a new stroke, rather than use an existing stroke.

NoteChanges you make to the set of strokes are saved with 3ds Max and persist from session to session.

Procedures

To define and use strokes with the middle mouse button:

Choose Customize menu Preferences Preference Settings dialog Viewports tab.
In the Mouse Control group, turn on Stroke.
You must turn on this option for all Stroke functions to work with the middle mouse button.
Hold the middle mouse button and drag in a viewport to make a stroke. If the stroke hasn't been defined, a dialog appears where you can click Define to define the stroke. If the stroke has already been defined, the corresponding function is executed.
See Defining Strokes for information on defining and editing strokes.

To define and use strokes with the left mouse button:

Choose Utilities panel Utilities rollout More button Utilities dialog Strokes.
Turn on Draw Strokes.
Hold the left mouse button and drag in a viewport to make a stroke. If the stroke hasn't been defined, a dialog appears where you can click Define to define the stroke. If the stroke has already been defined, the corresponding function is executed.
See Defining Strokes for information on defining and editing strokes.

Example: To assign Object Properties to a stroke:

Use one of the first two procedures to activate strokes.
Hold down Ctrl, and drag from top to bottom and then back up to the starting point.
The Define Stroke dialog appears, and the name of the stroke is "HKKH."
NoteDepending on how you drew your stroke sequence, it might be defined by different letters. This is fine, as long as you use the same sequence to enact the stroke after you have finished defining it.

If an alert appears, you've either drawn the stroke incorrectly, or this stroke has already been assigned. Continue with the following steps to replace the defined stroke.
Choose the Properties command from the Command To Execute list.
The option enabled is Single Object At Start Of Stroke, because that's the logical choice for the Object Properties command.
Click OK.
Drag vertically down and back up over any object in the scene to display the Object Properties dialog for that object.

Example: To assign Hide Selection to a stroke:

Use one of the first two procedures to activate strokes.
Hold down Ctrl, and drag vertically from top to bottom.
In the alert that appears, click Yes to redefine the stroke and display the Define Stroke dialog.
The name of this stroke is HK.

NoteDepending on how you drew your stroke sequence, it might be defined by different letters. This is fine, as long as you use the same sequence to enact the stroke after you have finished defining it.
Choose Hide Selection from the list.
Choose All Objects in the Selection Set.
Click OK.
Load a scene containing several objects, and select two or more objects.
Drag vertically from top to bottom in the viewport.
The selected objects are all hidden.

Defining Strokes
You define a stroke by creating the stroke in a viewport, then choosing the command that the stroke defines. The next time you perform the stroke, the command will be executed. You can define strokes to work in conjunction with the Shift key, the Alt key, or both Shift and Alt.
Reviewing and Editing Strokes
You can view defined strokes in the Review Strokes dialog. Depending on how you display this dialog, you can also change or delete defined strokes.
Stroke Preferences Dialog
With the Stroke Preferences dialog you can save sets of strokes and set other stroke properties.
Strokes Utility
The Strokes utility lets you launch commands by dragging left-button mouse patterns in a viewport. When you launch the Strokes utility, a modeless dialog appears containing a single Draw Strokes button. When the Draw Strokes button is active, you can define and use strokes with the left mouse button.

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