Blender UI scheme for 3ds Max (Design), by Metin Seven  http://metinseven.com


Info:

This Zip archive contains a collection of 3ds Max user interface configuration files that transform 3ds Max into an environment similar to the Blender open source 3D editor, with the following features:

 Blender's most important keyboard shortcuts (e.g. Shift + A for an object creation menu).

 Blender-like dark colors.

 MaxStart.max file, for an interface layout similar to Blender each time you start 3ds Max, featuring Schematic View as an alternative to the Blender Outliner, and a camera view with viewport safe frame as an alternative to the Blender camera view with Passepartout.

 Mouse viewport navigation controls adjusted to Blender mouse viewport navigation: MMB = rotate view, Shift + MMB = pan view, Ctrl + MMB = zoom view (note: this might only work in 3ds Max 2013 and newer versions).

Please note that this UI scheme was created using 3ds Max Design 2013, and not tested in 3ds Max 2013. There might be a UI configuration incompatibility between 3ds Max Design and 3ds Max.

The Blender UI scheme for 3ds Max is a WIP, so check http://www.sevensheaven.nl/shop/#freedownloads every once in a while for a possible update.

If you've improved the Blender UI scheme for 3ds Max, it will be appreciated if you'd share it with the 3D community and email it to me: mail@metinseven.com, thanks in advance.


Instructions:

1: Save the MaxStart.max file in your default Max scenes folder to make 3ds Max start with that scene each time. The default Max scenes location is usually C:\Users\Yourusername\Documents\3dsMax(Design)\scenes

2: Save the other files in C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max Design 201x\en-US\UI (unless your 3ds Max installation path differs from the default one).

3: Start 3ds Max, go to the Customize drop-down menu and choose "Load Custom UI Scheme...".

4: In the file window that appears, choose the "Blender-UI-scheme-for-3ds-Max.ui" file.


Troubleshooting:

 Please note that this UI scheme was created using 3ds Max Design 2013, and not tested in 3ds Max 2013. There might be a UI configuration incompatibility between 3ds Max Design and 3ds Max.

 In versions prior to 3ds Max 2013 you might want to try loading the individual UI files in the Keyboard, Quads and Colors sections of Customize > "Customize User Interface...", because I guess only the mouse viewport navigation controls have changed in 3ds Max 2013.

 If you see the dark colors and have the Blender keyboard shortcuts after loading the theme using "Load Custom UI Scheme...", but the configuration is lost the next time you restart 3ds Max, you might try this:

Go to Customize > "Save Custom UI Scheme..." when you've just loaded the Blender UI scheme, and overwrite the default "MaxStartUI.ui" UI scheme file (do a search for that file so you know the location, probably C:\Users\Yourname\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMaxDesign\2013 - 64bit\ENU\en-US\UI). That might cause Max to reload the scheme as its default scheme each time you start Max. But be sure to first backup the MaxStart.ui file and all of its companion files, so you're able to restore the default MaxStart UI scheme if necessary.