Layer Properties Dialog

Displays layers, their associated objects, and their properties. To expand or collapse the object list for each layer, click ‘+’ or ‘-’, respectively. To modify a property, click its icon. To quickly select all layers, right-click and choose Select All.

Name—Displays the names of the layers/objects. Click a name to select the layer, or to rename the layer.

Check mark—The unlabeled column to the right of the layer name indicates which layer is the current layer. There is a check mark next to the current layer. Click next to another layer name to make it current.

On—Turns layers on and off. When a layer is on, it's visible. When a layer is off, it's invisible. You might want to turn off layers that contain construction or reference information.

Lock—Locks and unlocks the layers. You can't select or edit objects on a locked layer. Locking a layer is useful if you want to view information on a layer for reference but don't want to edit objects on that layer.

Render—Makes objects on the selected layer appear or disappear from the rendered scene. Nonrenderable objects don't cast shadows or affect the visual component of the rendered scene. Like dummy objects, nonrenderable objects can manipulate other objects in the scene.

Shape objects have the Render option turned on by default. In addition, they have a Renderable check box in their creation parameters. When both check boxes are on, the shape is renderable. If either check boxes are off, the shape isn’t renderable. If you apply a modifier that converts the shape into a mesh object, such as a Lathe or Extrude modifier, the shape automatically becomes renderable regardless of the state of its local Renderable check box.

For shapes, the Renderable toggle in the Object Properties dialog affects the main object, so it also affects all instances of and references to the shape.

Color—Changes the color associated with the selected layers. You can select another color by clicking the color to display the Object Color dialog.

You can set an object’s color independently, or select ByLayer from the Object Color dialog to use the associated layer’s color.

Note: By default, layer 0 assigns a different random color to each object. This is demonstrated by the random color icon .

Radiosity—When this is on, objects are included in the radiosity solution. Objects not included in the radiosity solution do not contribute to indirect illumination. If these objects are lights, their direct contribution will only be used for rendering.

Note: Removing objects from the radiosity solution can significantly decrease radiosity processing and rendering time, however it does sacrifice some accuracy in the solution. It can be very useful for creating quick test renders.

OK—Applies all changes and closes the Layer Properties dialog.

Cancel—Closes the Layer Properties dialog without applying any changes.

New—Creates a new layer. If layer 0 is the only layer, 3ds max creates a new layer named Layer01. You can edit this layer immediately. 3ds max numerically names subsequent new layers: Layer02, Layer03, Layer04, and so on. To create multiple layers more quickly, you can select a layer name for editing and enter multiple layer names separated by commas.

When you create a new layer, 3ds max assigns it a random color, but it inherits the properties of the currently selected layer in the layer list. To create layers with default settings, make sure that there are no selected layers in the list or that you select a layer with default settings before beginning layer creation.

Delete—Deletes selected layers. You can only delete unused layers. You can't delete layer 0, layers containing objects, or the current layer.

Warning: Be careful about deleting layers if you're working on a scene in a shared project or one based on a set of layering standards.

Details—Controls the display of the Details section at the bottom of the Layer Properties dialog.

Note: The details section of the dialog is hidden, by default.

The Details section of the Layer Properties dialog contains the Layer Information group and two panels: General and Adv. Lighting. The General panel lets you change the rendering, motion blur, and display settings of a selected layer. The Advanced Lighting panel lets you change the radiosity settings of a selected layer.

Note: The options in the Details section are only available to layers. If an object is selected in the layer/object list, these options will not be available.

Controls layer information for objects on the selected layer.

Name—Displays the selected layer name. You can edit the name. The name can have up to 255 characters, containing letters, digits, blank spaces, and the special characters dollar sign ($), hyphen (-), and underscore (_).

Active Color—Displays the color of the selected layer. You can select another color by clicking the color to display the Object Color dialog.

Display—Controls the display of the objects on the selected layer.

Viewport—Displays the objects on the selected layer using the current settings under Views on the Viewport Properties menu.

Bounding Box—Displays the objects on the selected layer as a bounding box.

Wireframe—Displays the objects on the selected layer in wireframe mode.

Shaded—Displays the objects on the selected layer in Smooth+Highlight mode.

Controls rendering settings for objects on the selected layer.

Visibility—Controls the rendered visibility of the object. At 1.0, the object is fully visible. At 0.0, the object is completely invisible when rendered. Default=1.0.

Renderable—Makes objects on the selected layer appear or disappear from the rendered scene. For more information, see Renderable.

Note: This has the same functionality as the Render toggle in the layer list.

Inherit Visibility—Causes objects on the selected layer to inherit the visibility of their parents (as determined by the parent's Visibility track in Track View). When a group parent is assigned a visibility track, Inherit Visibility is automatically turned on for all children in the group. Transparent materials and hidden objects have no effect on this function.

Visible to Camera—When on, the object is visible to cameras in the scene. When off, cameras do not view this object.

Visible to Reflection/Refraction—When on, the object is used in calculating reflections and refractions. When off, the object does not appear in reflections or refractions.

Receive Shadows—When on, objects on the selected layer can receive shadows.

Cast Shadows—When on, objects on the selected layer can cast shadows.

Apply Atmospherics—When on, atmospheric effects are applied to the object. When off atmospheric effects do not change the rendered appearance of this object.

Render Occluded Objects—Allows special effects to affect objects in the scene that are occluded by this object. The special effects, typically applied by plug-ins such as Glow, use G-Buffer layers to access occluded objects. Turning on this control makes the object transparent for the purposes of special effects. This makes no difference when you render to most image files. When you render to either the RLA or RPF file format, however, occluded objects appear with the effect applied on their designated G-buffer layer.

Controls motion blur for objects on the selected layer.

Multiplier—Affects the length of the motion blur streak.

Enabled—When on, enables motion blur for this object. When off, motion blur is disabled regardless of the other blur settings. Default=on.

None—Turns off the state of motion blur for objects on the selected layer.

Object—Object motion blur provides a time-slice blur effect for objects on the selected layer.

Image—Image motion blur blurs the image of each object on the selected layer, based on the velocity of each pixel.

Provides controls that alter the display of objects on the selected layer.

Off—Turns layers on and off. When a layer is on, it's visible. When a layer is off, it's invisible.

This control has a corresponding toggle in the Layer List.

Lock—Locks and unlocks the layers. You can't select or edit objects on a locked layer.

This control has a corresponding toggle in the Layer List.

Display As Box—Toggles the display of objects on the selected layers, including 3D objects and 2D shapes as bounding boxes. Produces minimum geometric complexity.

Backface Cull—For objects on the selected layer, toggles the display of faces with normals pointing away from view. When on, you see through the wireframe to the back faces. Applies only to Wireframe viewport display.

Edges Only—For objects on the selected layer, toggles the display of face edges. When set, only faces appear. When off, all mesh geometry appears. Applies only to Wireframe viewport display.

Vertex Ticks—Displays the vertices in objects on the selected layer as tick marks.

If the current selection has no displayed tick marks, the check box is clear. If some of the vertices in the current selection display tick marks, the check box contains a gray X. If all vertices in the current selection display tick marks, the check box contains a black X.

Trajectory—Toggles trajectory display for objects on the selected layer. You can display an object's trajectory wherever you are in 3ds max.

See-Through—Makes objects on the selected layer translucent in viewports. This setting has no effect on rendering, it simply lets you see what's behind an object in a crowded scene, and especially to adjust the position of objects behind or inside the See-Through object.

Ignore Extents—When turned on, objects on the selected layer are ignored when you use the display control Zoom Extents.

Show Locked in Gray—When on, the object turns gray in viewports when you freeze it. When off, viewports display the object with its usual color or texture even when it is frozen.

Vertex Colors—Affects editable mesh objects on the selected layer. Displays the assigned vertex colors in the viewport. You assign vertex colors at the vertex or face sub-object levels.

Shaded—Affects editable mesh objects on the selected layer. When on, if the editable mesh has vertex colors, shaded viewports use vertex colors to shade the mesh. When off, colors are unshaded.

Exclude from Radiosity Processing—When on, objects on a selected layer are included in the radiosity solution. Objects not included in the radiosity solution do not contribute to indirect illumination. If these objects are lights, their direct contribution will only be used for rendering.

Note: This has the same functionality as the Radiosity toggle in the Layer List.

Cast Shadows—Determines whether objects on the selected layer will cast shadows.

Receive Illumination—Determines whether objects on the selected layer will receive illumination.

Diffuse (reflective & translucent)—When on, objects on the selected layer are treated as diffuse (rough) in the radiosity process.

Specular (reflective & translucent)—When on, objects on a selected layer are treated as specular (smooth) in the radiosity process.

Exclude from Regathering—When on, objects on a selected layer are excluded from the regathering process of the radiosity solution.

Use Global Subdivision Settings—When on, global subdivision settings are used for objects on a selected layer. When off, you can change these settings for each layer.

Subdivide—When on, a radiosity mesh is created for the objects on a selected layer.

Meshing Size—Sets the size of the radiosity mesh in world units.

For more information on the Radiosity Properties group, see Radiosity Control Panel.