3ds Max 2010 Readme
This document contains information about Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2010 software. For new and updated information about Autodesk products, visit our website at:  
http://www.autodesk.com/
Installing and Uninstalling Autodesk 3ds Max 2010
The processes for installing and uninstalling Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 are described in the Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 and Autodesk® 3ds Max® Design 2010 Installation Guide.  You can access this guide by clicking Read The Documentation when the installer launches.  The following are a few points related to installing and licensing of Autodesk 3ds Max 2010:
•	Before an end-user with restricted Windows® operating system privileges can use Autodesk 3ds Max 2010, an administrator, with full privileges, must install and start the software one time in order to generate the Windows® operating system registry information needed to complete the installation.

•	Before installing any third-party plug-ins for Autodesk 3ds Max 2010, an administrator, with full privileges, must install and start 3ds Max 2010 at least one time to generate the necessary folders for these third-party plug-ins.

•	On Windows Vista® operating system: User Access Control (UAC) must be temporarily disabled before attempting to install 3ds Max 2010.

•	On Windows Vista operating system: The InfoCenter feature requires that 3ds Max 2010 be started once with UAC turned off.

Release Version with Beta
If you previously installed any beta version (including Release Candidate (RC) versions) of Autodesk 3ds Max 2010, you must uninstall and delete all system folders pertaining to these prerelease versions before you can install the commercial version.  Instructions on how to uninstall the software are posted on the beta portal in the Beta and RC Readme files.
Customer Error Reports (CERs)
We are able to improve the stability of Autodesk 3ds Max largely because of the CERs that end-users submit.  We thank you for taking the time to fill out these reports and ask you to include as much information as possible about what actions you were performing at the time the error occurred.  These details raise the value of the report immensely and are very much appreciated by the Autodesk 3ds Max Quality Engineering team.  For further information about Customer Error Reports (CERs) refer to www.autodesk.com/cer/.

Known Problems and Limitations in Autodesk 3ds Max 2010
Biped

•	Biped finger animation is not correctly retained when you import or export to Autodesk® FBX® using the included Autodesk FBX 2009.4 Plug-in.  This has been fixed with the Autodesk FBX 2010.0 Plug-in, available on http://www.autodesk.com/fbx.
Bitmap Pager

•	In 3ds Max 2010, we have enabled the bitmap pager by default to make possible the rendering of large images. However, the side-effect of this is that scenes that contain multiple large textures (approximately 2k x 2k and larger) will possibly cause a rendering slowdown in 3ds Max 2010.
The bitmap pager can be disabled through MAXScript by entering the following command into the MAXScript listener:  ibitmappager.enabled = false.

This change takes effect when you save and reload the scene.  The setting is saved with the scene, so the bitmap pager can be disabled on a scene-by-scene basis.

Cloth

•	When you have two or more Cloth objects in a scene, some problems can occur. First, turning on Selected Objects rollout > Force UNC Path can cause 3ds Max to crash. Second, setting the Selected Objects rollout > cache path field for one object causes the other Cloth objects to use the same path, whether it is appropriate, or not.  As a workaround, apply the Cloth modifier to only one object in the scene. Add other objects to the Cloth simulation by using the Add Objects button in the Cloth modifier Object Properties dialog.
Container

•	Ungrouping a Container removes nodes from the Container.  It is not recommended to Group content for Containers as this is a limitation of the Grouping feature.
•	Container Scene Explorer Toolbar buttons sometimes appear to be available when they should be unavailable (grayed out).
•	Container toolbar buttons are not initially enabled as they should be.  If this occurs, move the mouse over them to redraw them correctly.

Documentation and Learning Resources

•	Visual Studio® 2008 is required for compiling 3ds Max plug-ins for 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design 2010 and for viewing the 3ds Max 2010 SDK Help for Visual Studio.  Though Visual Studio 2005 is listed as compatible in certain places in the documentation, it is not.
•	In the 3ds Max 2010 Help there are links to Procedural Movies (found by searching for “Watch a Movie.”)  The links from the Help to these movies will not work in the 64-bit version of 3ds Max 2010.   You can still view the movies by navigating to: 
\\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2010\html\procedural.movies 
and clicking the HTML file name to view a movie.

Graphite Modeling Tools

•	If the modeling ribbon interface becomes corrupted, float the ribbon if necessary, and then drag either end of the ribbon a short distance. This refreshes the interface so that it then appears intact.
•	The Graphite Modeling Tools and the Modify panel are not fully synchronized, in that changes to some Modify panel settings do not update their equivalents in the Graphite Modeling Tools user interface.  Using a button on the main toolbar, menu bar, or the Graphite Modeling Tools will update the user interface.
•	Hiding and unhiding Graphite Modeling Tools panels with the right-click menu does not support multiple object selection.
Licensing
•	Occasionally, if you terminate 3ds Max 2010 during its startup process, it is possible for your computer to enter a state in which 3ds Max 2010 will no longer start.  There is no Customer Error Report (CER) and no visible user interface generated to indicate the source of the problem.  On the second startup of 3ds Max 2010, the process will come up and then stop after a few moments without showing the splash screen.  To work around this issue, use the Windows Task Manager to stop the FNPLicensingService process.

mental mill

•	MetaSL Phenomena:  The final node in a  MetaSL Phenomena can have only one output.  It is recommended to use a Color Brightness node as the final node in the tree.
•	To render multiple MetaSL materials with mental ray®, the Phenomena’s class names need to be named differently in mental mill®.  To change this, right-click the Phenomena’s title and choose “Rename Node Class”.

OpenGL

•	When using OpenGL®, the viewport labels might not draw correctly.  DirectX 9 display mode is preferred.

Scene Explorer

•	The Hide/Unhide and Freeze/Unfreeze By Name dialogs (right-click in viewport > Unhide by Name) will always use the default layout when you open them. Any customizations you make to the Columns will not be saved when you re-open the Dialog.
•	Toolbar buttons do not show tooltips when you open Scene Explorer or Material Explorer in a viewport.

Unwrap UVW

•	When an Unwrap UVW modifier is applied to an object, the modifier’s checker map is displayed in the Material Explorer.

Viewports

•	Ambient Occlusion is not supported in Orthographic views.
•	For additional hardware specific information, see www.autodesk.com/max-hardware.

Autodesk, FBX, and 3ds Max are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/or affiliates in the USA and/or other countries.  mental ray and mental mill are registered trademarks of mental images GmbH licensed for use by Autodesk, Inc. All other brand names, product names, or trademarks belong to their respective holders. Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that might appear in this document.

© 2009 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.