Viewports

When you start 3ds max, the main screen contains four equal-sized viewports. The one in the lower right is a perspective view, and the others correspond to the three views: top, front, left. By default, the perspective view is Smooth and Highlights.

You can choose different views to display in these four viewports as well as different layouts from the viewport right-click menu.

Viewport Layouts

You can choose from other layouts different from the default configuration. To choose a different layout, right-click the viewport label, and click Configure. Choose the layout tab of the Viewport Configuration dialog to see and select the alternative layouts.

Typical viewport layout

Active Viewport Borders

When four viewports are visible, one viewport, marked with a highlighted border, is always active. This is where commands and other actions take effect. Only one viewport at a time can be active. Other viewports are set for observation only; unless disabled, they simultaneously track actions taken in the active viewport. When the Auto Key button is on, the active viewport border changes from white to red.

In general, a viewport becomes active as you work in it. You can move an object in one viewport, then drag the same object in another viewport to continue the move. Right-click viewport to activate it without changing the selection. If you left-click a viewport, the viewport is activated and whatever you click is selected. The previous selection is discarded.

Viewport Labels

Viewports are labeled in the upper-left corner. You can control many aspects of a viewport by right-clicking the viewport label to display the viewport right-click menu.

Dynamic Resizing of Viewports

You can resize the four viewports so they are not of equal proportions. To resize the viewports, press and drag in the center of the four viewports on the splitter bars. Move the center to change the proportions. To return to the original layout, right-click the intersection of the dividing lines and click Reset Layout from the right-click menu.

The new viewport proportions are saved in the scene. However, they always reset when you change the viewport layout.

World Space Tripod

The three-color world space tripod is visible in the lower-left corner of each viewport. The colors correspond to the three axes of world space: red=X, green=Y, and blue=Z. The axes are labeled in these same colors. The tripod always refers to world space, regardless of the current reference coordinate system.

The world space tripod is on by default. To turn off this feature, see “To turn off the world space tripod in all viewports” in the following procedures.

Viewport Tooltips for Object Names

When you’re working with objects in a viewport and pause the cursor over any unselected object, a tooltip appears with the name of that object. If you need to select something or link to something, wait until you see the tooltip to be sure you have selected the object you want. These tooltips are disabled when you work in sub-object mode.

Tooltips are on by default. To turn off this feature, see To turn off object name tooltips, below.

Procedures

To make a viewport active, do one of the following:

Click any viewport.
If you click an object in the viewport, it is selected. If you click a space where there are no objects, any selected objects are deselected.
Right-click any viewport.
Right-click activates a viewport without changing the selection state of objects. (You can also do this by left-clicking the viewport label.)

To switch between single and multiple viewports:

Activate the viewport you want to minimize or maximize, and do one of the following:

On the keyboard, press ALT+W.
Click the Min/Max Full Screen Toggle button in the lower-right corner of the 3ds max window.

To resize the viewports:

Press and drag at the center of the four viewports on the intersection of the horizontal and vertical splitter bars.
Move the center to any new location.
To reset the viewports, right-click the same point again and choose Reset Layout from the right-click menu.

To change the number of viewports and their arrangement:

Right-click any viewport label. Select Configure from the right-click menu.
In the Viewport Configuration dialog, click the Layout tab.
Select a layout from the 14 choices at the top of the dialog.
Assign what each viewport will display in the lower window of the dialog.
Click OK to make the change.

To turn off the world space tripod in all viewports:

Choose Customize menu > Preferences to display the Preferences dialog.
Click the Viewports tab.
In the Viewport Parameters group, turn off Display World Axis.
Click OK to make the change.

To turn off object-name tooltips:

Choose Customize menu > Preferences to display the Preferences dialog.
Click the General tab.
In the UI Display group, turn off Enable Viewport Tooltips.
Click OK to make the change.