External References (XRefs)
 
 
 

You can use two kinds of externally referenced files (XRefs): XRef Objects and XRef Scenes. Using these external references allows for a team approach to animation, where the modeling, materials, transform controllers, and animation can be handled in separate files by different artists. It can also make large files much easier to deal with through the use of proxy objects.

You access the XRef Objects and XRef Scenes commands from the Application menu.

The two types of references have distinct purposes:

The use of referenced objects and scenes allows several people to work collaboratively on the same objects as the work progresses, without having to wait for the objects to be finalized. You can choose to have the objects update automatically, as soon as changes are saved to the original file, or to update manually, on demand.

There are also tools for easy conversion of scene objects into referenced objects, and a button to merge referenced objects into the scene as normal objects.

Objects in a scene can be externally referenced, created and maintained by other users.

  • XRef Objects

    Externally referenced objects, XRef objects, appear in your master (current) scene, but are actually referenced from external 3ds Max files. As a result, the source objects are protected from modifications you make to the XRef objects. Updates or changes made to the source objects are also updated in the master file when the source scene is reloaded. However, if an XRef object’s entities are merged, the controls are local and can be modified. Therefore, they no longer reference the original attributes.

  • XRef Scene

    An externally referenced scene, or XRef scene, appears in your current file, but is actually loaded temporarily from another MAX file. As a result, the source scene is protected from any modifications you might make to the XRef scene via the master scene. Updates or changes made to the source scenes are also updated in the master file once the changes are made and saved to the source file.

  • Missing XRef Paths Dialog

    If you load or render a scene with XRefs, but the originally specified path of the XRef object or scene can’t be found, or if the XRef object name doesn’t match the object name in the source file, an alert appears telling you this. The alert works in the same way as the missing bitmap dialog, and provides you with two options, described below.