Load Custom UI Scheme

Customize menu > Load Custom UI Scheme

Load Custom UI Scheme displays the Load Custom UI Scheme dialog to load all of the UI customization file types for a given filename at one time. You can select any type of customization file from the dialog, and the software will search for (and load) any other type of customization file with the same name.

The following file types are loaded in a scheme:

.cui: Stores UI layout, tab panel, and custom button information.
.clr: Stores all color settings (except for quad menu colors).
.mnu: Stores menu bar and quad menu contents.
.qop: Stores quad menu colors, layout, and behavior.
.kbd: Stores keyboard shortcut assignments.
.ui: Specifies which directory to search for icon and button bitmaps.

You can load each of these files individually from their respective panels in the Customize User Interface dialog, however loading schemes makes changing your entire UI much faster and easier.

You can also load a user interface on startup from the desktop by using 3dsmax.exe −c in the Windows Start > Run command line, followed by the name of the customization file.

Procedures

To load a custom UI scheme:

Choose Customize menu > Load Custom UI Scheme.
In the Load Custom UI Scheme dialog, select a type of customization file (.cui, .mnu, .clr, .kbd, or .qop) from the Files of Type drop-down list.
Choose any file with the appropriate extension. The software will search for (and load) any other type of customization file with the same name.

To return to the default scheme:

If you start 3ds maxand its user interface has an unfamiliar layout, you can always return to the default.

Choose Customize > Load Custom UI Scheme.
From the Load UI File dialog that displays, choose defaultui.cui, and then click Open.
All of the default files are called defaultui.*, so when you select this file, it will load the defaults for each type of customization file.
Choose Customize > Save Custom UI Scheme, pick maxstart.cui, and click Save. This overwrites all of the current customization files. The original settings will be used the next time you restart .

To start the software with your own custom UI:

Save your custom UI to a .cui file.
Right-click the 3ds max icon on the Windows desktop and choose Properties.
In the Target field, change 3dsmax.exe to 3dsmax.exe −c, followed by the name of your .cui file.
Example: 3dsmax.exe −c myfile.cui. Be sure to leave a space between the −c and the file name.

If you are moving to a different machine, copy your .cui file to the local 3ds max \ui directory.

Alternately you can add the path name in the command line.

Example: 3dsmax.exe −c d:\myUI\myfile.cui

Another option is to just start 3ds max normally, then load your .cui file with Load Custom UI.