3ds Max Cheat Sheet

Most Commonly Needed Keyboard Shortcuts (Hotkeys)

Important: 3ds Max has multiple sets of keyboard shortcuts. If your hotkeys don’t seem to be working, click the button on the Main Toolbar labeled “Keyboard Shortcut Override Toggle.”

Viewport Navigation

“Pan” (track left-right, pedestal up-down)...............................................................................middle mouse buttonOrbit (tumble)...........................................................................................hold ALT and drag middle mouse button“Zoom” (dolly forward-back)..............................................hold CTRL, hold ALT, and drag middle mouse button................................................................................................................................................or spin the mouse wheelMaximize Viewport Toggle..............................................................................................................................ALT-wZoom Extents All Selected..........................................................................................................................................zUndo Viewport Operation............................................................................................................................SHIFT-ZRedo Viewport Operation.............................................................................................................................SHIFT-Y

Viewport Display

Toggle Wireframe-Smooth........................................................................................................................................F3Edged Faces................................................................................................................................................................F4Show Grids....................................................................................................................................................................gShow Safe Frames...........................................................................................................................................SHIFT-FShow Selection Brackets...............................................................................................................................................jShade Selected Faces..................................................................................................................................................F2Show Statistics..............................................................................................................................................................7Camera view.................................................................................................................................................................cPerspective view..........................................................................................................................................................pFront view......................................................................................................................................................................f

Camera Walkthrough Mode

Forward........................................................................................................................................................................wBack................................................................................................................................................................................sUp...................................................................................................................................................................................eDown..............................................................................................................................................................................cAccelerate......................................................................................................................................................................qIncrease Step Size..........................................................................................................................................................]Decrease Step Size.........................................................................................................................................................[

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Transforms

Move.............................................................................................................................................................................wRotate.............................................................................................................................................................................eScale................................................................................................................................................................................rTransform Gizmo Size Up.....................................= (equals sign on the alphabetic keypad, not the numeric keypad)Transform Gizmo Size Down................................- (minus sign on the alphabetic keypad, not the numeric keypad)Show Transform Gizmo..............................................................................................................................................xSnaps..............................................................................................................................................................................sAngle Snap....................................................................................................................................................................aRestrict to X.................................................................................................................................................................F5Restrict to Y.................................................................................................................................................................F6Restrict to Z.................................................................................................................................................................F7Restrict to XY-YZ-ZX.................................................................................................................................................F8

Commands

Select Tool, cycle Selection modes.............................................................................................................................qSelect from Scene.........................................................................................................................................................hSelect All............................................................................................................................................................CTRL-aSelect None.......................................................................................................................................................CTRL-dClone..................................................................................................................................................................CTRL-vExpert Mode.....................................................................................................................................................CTRL-xUndo..................................................................................................................................................................CTRL-zRedo...................................................................................................................................................................CTRL-yMaterial Editor............................................................................................................................................................mRender Last.................................................................................................................................................................F9

Editable Poly

Vertex.............................................................................................................................................................................1Edge................................................................................................................................................................................2Border.............................................................................................................................................................................3Polygon..........................................................................................................................................................................4Element..........................................................................................................................................................................5Object.............................................................................................................................................................................6

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Animation

Play-Pause...................................................................................................................................................................../ Previous Frame (or Previous Key).......................................................................................................< or , (comma)Next Frame (or Next Key).......................................................................................................................> or . (period)Go to First Frame...............................................................................................................................................HOMEGo to Last Frame...................................................................................................................................................ENDSet Key Mode............................................................................................................................................’ (apostrophe)Set Keys (create keys)....................................................................................................................................................kAutokey Mode..............................................................................................................................................................n

Digital Arts Guild™ is a trademark of Realtime Arts, LLC. 3ds Max® is a registered trademark of Autodesk, Inc. All other trademarks are acknowledged as belonging to their respective owners.

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