Switch between Painting and Selection modes

Press the B hotkey while in Painting mode to change the selected bone in the Viewport. Press B again to return to Painting.

The B hotkey lets you toggle Painting mode off and on, streamlining skin weight painting to let you work seamlessly between these two modes.

This way, you can select bones within the Viewport by quickly toggling Painting mode, selecting a different bone, and quickly returning. You can also exit Painting mode by right-clicking instead of navigating menus and buttons.

Sample Skin Modifier Macro

Using the B hotkey to toggle between Painting and Selection modes is the recommended method, but this sample Macro is included in case you want to use a macro to let you toggle between Painting and Selection modes. This was the method used before the dedicated hotkey existed.

Copy this macro into the MaxScript Editor ( Utilities panel > Utilities rollout > MAXScript button > MAXScript rollout > Open Script button):

MacroScript SkinPaintModeToggle
	ButtonText:"Skin Paint Mode Toggle"
	Category:"Skin"
	internalCategory:"Skin" 
	Tooltip:"Toggle the current skin modifier"
	SilentErrors:(Debug != false)

(
	on isVisible return ( (classof(modPanel.GetcurrentObject())) == Skin)
	on isEnabled return ( (classof(modPanel.GetcurrentObject())) == Skin)
	on execute do 
	(
		skinmod = modPanel.GetcurrentObject()
		if (skinops.GetNumberBones skinmod) != 0 then
		(
			if subObjectLevel == 0 then
			(
				subObjectLevel = 1
			)
			skinOps.paintWeightsButton skinmod
			if skinOps.isInPaintWeightsMode skinmod then
			(
				skinmod.filter_vertices = on
			)
			else
			(
				skinmod.filter_vertices = off
			)
		)
	)	
)

Switch between Painting and Selection modes

Sample Skin Modifier Macro

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