Select Bitmap Image File Dialog

The Select Bitmap Image dialog allows you to choose a file or sequence of files for a map. If a sequence of files is selected by turning on Sequence, the Image File List Control dialog is opened when you click Setup or Open.

Procedures

To select a bitmap image for a map:

  1. In the Material Editor, open the Maps rollout.
  2. Click any button in the Map column.

    This adds a map to the component you chose. For example, clicking the Map button of the Diffuse channel creates a diffuse or texture map.

    3ds Max opens the Material Map Browser.

  3. In the Material/Map Browser, double-click Bitmap.

    3ds Max opens the Select Bitmap Image dialog.

    Alternatively, in the Slate Material Editor you can wire a Bitmap to the material component. When you choose Bitmap as the map type, 3ds Max opens the Select Bitmap File Image dialog at once.

  4. In the Select Bitmap Image dialog, use the Look In field to navigate to the appropriate directory.
    Note: The Select Bitmap Image File dialog uses the last location where a bitmap was chosen, rather than the default bitmap path defined in Customize Configure User Paths.
  5. Highlight the file name in the file list window.
  6. Click Open to close the dialog.

To select a set of still images as a bitmap sequence:

  1. In the Select Bitmap Image dialog, use the Look In field to navigate to the directory containing the sequence of files.
  2. If necessary, change Files Of Type to match the file extension of the sequence, or choose All Formats.
  3. Turn on Sequence, and choose the name of the first file in the sequence.
  4. Click the Setup button.

    3ds Max opens an Image File List Control dialog.

  5. Click the Browse button and set the Target path to a writable directory on your hard disk. Do not set the path to a CD-ROM drive.
  6. Choose the options you want and click OK.

    3ds Max writes the IFL file to the target directory.

Interface

Tip: You can resize the dialog by dragging an edge or a corner.
History
Displays a list of the most recent directories searched. Whenever an image is selected, the path used is added to the top of the history list as the most recently used path. The history information is saved in the 3dsmax.ini file.
Look in
Opens a navigation window to browse other directories or drives.
Go To Last Folder Visited
Click to return to the folder you previously browsed to.
Up One Level
Moves you up a level in the directory structure.
Create New Folder
Lets you create a new folder while in this dialog.
View Menu
Lets you choose the level of detail to display in the file list.
  • Thumbnails: Displays the contents of a directory as thumbnails, without the details.
  • Tiles: Displays the contents of a directory as large icons, without the details. If you widen the dialog, these tile across the width.
  • Small Icons: Displays the contents of a directory as small icons, tiled across the width, without the details.
  • List: Displays the contents of a directory without the details.
  • Details: Displays the contents of a directory with full details such as size and date.
[file list window]
Lists the contents of the directory, in the format specified by the View menu.
Tip: When View Menu Details is chosen, the contents of the directory are displayed with Name, Size, Type, Date Modified, and Attributes. You can sort based on each of these columns by clicking the column label.
File name
Displays the file name of the file selected in the list.
Files of type
Displays all the file types that can be displayed. This serves as a filter for the list.
Name template
This is unavailable in Select Bitmap Image File.
Open
Selects the highlighted file and closes the dialog.
Cancel
Cancels the selection and closes the dialog.
Devices
Lets you choose the hardware output device; for example, a digital video recorder. The device, its driver, and its 3ds Max plug-in must all be installed on your system to use the device.
Setup
When Sequence is turned on, and there are sequential files in the directory displayed, clicking Setup displays an Image File List Control dialog to create an IFL file.
Info
Displays expanded information about the file, such as frame rate, compression quality, file size, and resolution. The information here depends on the type of information that is saved with the file type.

If the file has an embedded value, this dialog displays that value. Otherwise, it displays "N/A".

View
Displays the file at its actual resolution. If the file is a movie, the Windows Media Player is opened so the file can be played.

Gamma group

To set up gamma options for the output file, Enable Gamma Correction must be on in the Gamma panel of the Preferences dialog (Customize Preferences Gamma). Otherwise, the Gamma controls are unavailable on the Select Bitmap Image File dialog.

Gamma
Specifies how to handle gamma with the bitmap image.
  • Automatic (Recommended) (The default.) Uses the gamma value embedded in the incoming bitmap. If there is no embedded gamma value, 3ds Max makes an intelligent decision based on the image's bit depth. Low-dynamic-range images (8- or 16-bit) are assumed to have the standard sRGB gamma of 2.2, and high-dynamic-range (floating-point or logarithmic) images are assumed to be linear and use a gamma of 1.0 (no correction).

    For most scenes, you should leave the gamma-handling set to Automatic.

  • Override Sets a user-defined gamma value as an override.
    Note: Use override only if your scene uses bitmaps created (or edited) by a variety of other programs, and you need to adjust the gamma differently for each program.

[sequence or preview]

Sequence
If there are more than one files that have the same root name and end in sequence numbers, turning on Sequence creates an Image File List (IFL). Default=off.

Each time you choose an image, 3ds Max checks to see if an IFL sequence can be created. If the selected image does not yield a list, this option is unavailable.

You can use wild-card characters to filter image files. When sequence is turned on, you can click Setup to configure the IFL file.

Preview
Displays the image as a thumbnail in the image window. Default=on.
Image Window

Displays a thumbnail of the selected file.

If gamma correction or look-up table (LUT) correction is active, 3ds Max applies the correction to this thumbnail image.

Statistics
Displays the resolution, color depth, image type, and number of frames of the selected file.

A full-color image with an alpha channel will show “RGBA Color 16 Bits/Channel”; a bitmap with a limited color depth might show “Indexed Color 8 Bits/Pixel,” and so on.

Location
Displays the full path for the file. With this information at the bottom of the dialog, you always know exactly where you are.
Parent topic: Bitmap 2D Map