Getting a vector3 world coordinate by clicking in the viewport and misc.

 
 
 
Posted by:tobbeo
Data created:10 December 2013

I was thinking if it would be possible to create a retopologize plugin using Lab but one of the main things I'd need for that would be the ability to get a vector 3 coordinate by clicking in the viewport.

I've also been wondering about how you get access to spline vertices interpolation mode. When I create a spline (polyline), there doesn't seem to be any way to change the vertices to "smooth" for an example. I was thinking I could access Maxscript using C# and reference Autodesk.Max.dll but I don't really know how to accomplish this. I think that would make a great video tutorial.

Thoughts?

Could you elaborate a bit on the idea about picking vector3 coordinates by clicking in the viewport? How many such clicks do you need, at what time? IOW, in what steps would your plugin work? Normally Max uses a few initial clicks in the viewports to create an object, or a few clicks to set-up some parameter of a modifier, after clicking a specific button.

In Lab so far we haven't touched the topic of "interactivity", i.e. we haven't provided yet any way to get data by clicking in the viewport. We're considering it, but haven't shaped any solid proposal. For now the suggested way to achieve this is to always use the "interactivity" built into Max for creating helper objects, which then to plug as inputs to the Lab graph. In this manner we get away with the need to add interactivity to Lab itself. But I guess one day it will be inevitable to add.

As for your other requests about splines and Maxscript access, we're thinking about them.

 

Ivan Kolev (Software Developer, EPHERE Inc.)

E-mail: ivan.kolev at ephere dot com

Discord: ikolev

 

The reason why I'd want to get vector3 coordinates by clicking in the viewport would be to create things like my own paint geometry tools, topology tools, terrain etc.

Thanks for the answer and explanation!

OK, so you're talking about an all new level of functionality.

We have that in mind, but we have many short-term tasks, so it probably won't happen soon.

Ivan Kolev (Software Developer, EPHERE Inc.)

E-mail: ivan.kolev at ephere dot com

Discord: ikolev