Parameter Wire Copying

Posted by on Mar 19, 2010 in Featured, Tutorials | 5 comments

Max does not allow you to copy/paste parameter wires, as it does with most other controller types. This is still capable, however, through MAXScript.

This video shows you how to go about creating an instance (cake walk) and unique copy. When creating a unique copy, it copies the controller but the wire no longer updates along with it’s targeted track. Really, all the copy needs is a kick in the butt to get it to start working again.

This can really help improve workflow, as it allows you to set up instances of wires throughout your rig and easily copy from one track to the next rather than manually connecting each time.

5 Comments

  1. Very helpful! Thanks!

  2. NICE! is it possible to Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V objects from one max to another? often I save selected to a temp file on my desktop and merge into another scene. would be cool if it was less steps like copy/paste

  3. Easiest solution I can think of for that is to just script what you are describing there to suppress any dialog boxes and extra mouse clicks/key strokes that come up during the process. Something like..

    saveNodes selection ((getDir #temp) + “\\nodesCopyBuffer.max”)

    theFile = ((getDir #temp) + “\\nodesCopyBuffer.max”)
    if (doesFileExist theFile) then
    (
    mergeMAXFile theFile #select #mergeDups #renameMtlDups #promptReparent
    )

    These would be two separate macroscripts. Just bind the “saveNodes” one to Ctrl+C and the “mergeMaxFile” one to Ctrl+V through Customize UI. Since both macros are always using the same, hardcoded, file path, it is essentially acting like a copy/paste buffer.

  4. Where is the video

  5. Hi Omar. I think Vimeo was having trouble earlier today, because I checked the video on my smartphone and it was indeed having issues. I just checked on my laptop, now that I am at home, and it is working again. Enjoy!

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