Take the Guess Work Out of Rendering with 3DS Max Design 2012

Tired of all the guess work with that comes with making a rendering? Look no further than 3ds Max Design 2012. With the recent addition of the iRay rendering option, users now have a much less complicated form of creating photo realistic images.
iRay Rendering functionality is great for those who don't want to spend hours waiting for an image to cook up, only having to tweak a few more settings, and start the waiting game again.

A few advantages to using iRay:

• No More Guessing - iRay is built around calculating the lights, shadows, reflection, and refraction. No more tweaking the exposure setting to get the proper lighting in your scene.

• Time Based - Have an initial presentation due in an hour? No problem! iRay allows you to set the time for it to render, and it does the rest. This works in the opposite direction as well, you can set it to render until you want it to stop.

• Autodesk Material Library - using iRay does not require you to use a special set of materials. Users have access to the 1200 unique materials found within most of the Autodesk products.

• Ability to Pause - iRay gives you the ability to pause and save an image of the rendering at its current state, then start right where the rendering process left off.
  

To find out more about iRay Rendering:

http://usa.autodesk.com/3ds-max/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81jH1p7FWRU

Image courtesy of Marriott International, Inc & Autodesk

WANTED - Missing Dialog Box

Have you ever experienced the dreaded "Missing Dialog Box"?  You know there is supposed to be a box that shows up in your program but instead the program just seems to freeze.  Or better yet, the program is telling you to enter the information in the dialog box.  You search high and low, but there's nothing on your screen.  


Don't beat yourself up, it probably a case of the dialog box slipping off your screen.  This can happen for a number of reasons.  Maybe you changed your screen resolution, or maybe you typically use dual monitors and now you have only one.  Either way its a fairly simple fix.


First - change your screen resolution to its highest setting and see if you are able to see the dialog.  It could be that it is near the edge of the screen and is not displayable at lower resolutions.  If you do see it, drag it back to the center of the screen and return your resolution to its previous setting.


If changing the resolution does not resolve the problem, here is a simple method to get it back.

1. While the dialog box is supposed to be on the screen, press <alt>  then the <space bar> then <m> all together. Pressing in this order and all together puts the dialog box in a "Move" state.
2. Press the left or right arrow keys to move the dialog box in either direction. Once you do this, the dialog box is attached to your mouse cursor.
3. Move your mouse and place the dialog box in the center of your screen.
4. Click to place the dialog

That's it. The next time a dialog box goes A.W.O.L., don't get frustrated, follow either of these simple methods and you'll be back to work in no time.