About

With standard (free) version of the script you can create all kind of objects with repeatable geometry by defining their size and offset between individual tiles. Also instead the offset you can define count of the tiles and they will be equally distributed according to the entered dimensions. User can define angle of the object (useful for roof-tiles), region constrain and many more options in the ATiles object’s parameters.

ATiles Pro

Pro version includes all the features of the free version plus:

• Create ATiles object with one click from roof plane, geometry or spline.
• Cache mesh for speed. Store inside ATiles object generated geometry for viewport and render.
• Re-create mode. Rebuild objects without losing material or connection to other objects.
• More advanced tools – Volume, Path(beta) and Surface(beta) tools.
• Random transformations of the tiles – Rotate, Move and Scale.

Download & Install

This script works with 3ds Max 7 or later. Standard version of the script is free for commercial and non-commercial projects. You are not allowed to sell or distribute this script or any parts of it. We are not responsible for any damages or incompatibilities that may result by using this script.

Versions :

• AvizStudioTools_ATiles_v2.62.zip

How to install:

• Download, extract and install the latest version.
• Restart 3ds Max.
• To create ATiles objects go to Create Panel (where you create boxes, planes and so on), from drop-down menu select AvizstudioTools and then press ATiles button.

Manual Start & Installation:

• Download and unzip the desired version. If the version has an installer, install it in empty folder.
• From 3ds Max menu select:
  MAXScript> Run Script …>AvizStudioTools_ATiles.mse
• If you want to load script automatically, copy “AvizStudioTools_ATiles.mse” file from the archive
  in 3ds Max root folder\scripts\startup\

UI Buttons and Shortcuts:

• To add a keyboard shortcut or toolbar button for ATiles ToolBox go to 3ds Max menu, select: Customize > Customize User Interface… > in “Keyboard” or “Toolbar” tab select Group: Main UI and Category: AvizStudioTools. Assign keyboard shortcut to “ATiles Tool” from “Keyboard” tab or from “Toolbar” tab drag and drop “ATiles Tool” to a new or existing toolbar to create UI button for the script (for Windows 7 or Vista you may need to run 3ds max as administrator).

Videos

Interface

Parameters

{T} Y, XY, XZ – Set the type of the ATiles object – Straight Line, Horizontal Plane or Vertical Plane.
Size X,Y,Z – Set the size of the ATiles object for local X,Y or Z. When set to zero, script use corresponding “Count” and “Offset” values to calculates the object’s size.
Count X,Y,Z – Set the count of the elements in the ATiles object for X, Y or Z. When set to zero script bypass this value and use corresponding “Size” and “Offset”. If type of the ATiles object is XY or XZ and “Count Y” or “Count Z” is set greater then zero, script will not ask user for third point when creating new object.
[Fit] Buttons – Fit tiles in the size of the object. Corresponding count should be more then one. (New in version 2.0)
Offset X,Y,Z – Set the offset of the elements in the ATiles object for X, Y or Z.
Offset R – Set the offset for every even row. (New in version 1.2)
[Abs] Buttons – Set absolute offset of the elements in the ATiles object ON and OFF . When ON, corresponding offset is exact distance between elements. When OFF, offset is percent of the element’s size. (New in version 1.1)
Tilt Angle – Set local rotation by X axis of the elements in the ATiles object.
Cut Start – Set the angle of cutting plane starting from first point of ATiles object. On/Off check box.
Cut End – Set the angle of cutting plane starting from second point of ATiles object. On/Off check box.
Cut Top – Set the angle of cutting plane at the top of ATiles object. On/Off check box. (New in version 2.0)
Cut Base – Set the angle of cutting plane at the base of ATiles object. On/Off check box. (New in version 2.0)
[Add New…] [R] [U] [X] Buttons -Add, Redefine, Update and Delete custom tiles. Script store only the name of the picked object. If you rename or delete original object in the scene ATiles update button will not work. (New in version 2.0)
{M} Main Drop-down – Select main tile for the object. (New in version 2.0)
{F} First Row Drop-down – Select first row tile type for the object. (New in version 2.0)
{V} Viewport Drop-down – Select tile to be shown only in the viewport. (New in version 2.0)
Auto Align Custom Tiles – When ON, script applies auto align function to custom tiles. When OFF, script use pivot point of the original object.

Advanced Parameters

Max Count – Set the maximum tiled elements in the object. Use it to limit the script to create too big objects that may exceed Max Script memory or crash the program.
Cut Offset – Set the offset of the cutting planes.
Opt. Create – Set maximum face count after which script will temporary replace sub elements with selected optimized tile below when creating or modifying object.
To disable this option set high value. (New in version 1.4)
{O} Optimized Drop-down – Select the tile to be shown in the view-port when creating or modifying objects. (New in version 2.0)
Cache Mesh For Speed – Store view-port and render meshes into the object to reduce unnecessary rebuilds of the object. Improve general speed and open file speed. Increase file size. (New in version 2.0)
Scale – Element – Set the scale of the chosen element in the object. When set to 1.0 element is the same as the original, when set to 0.5 element is half the size of the original, when set to 2.0 element is twice bigger than the original and so on.
Scale – Offset – Set the scale of the offset values in the object. When set to 1.0 offset values are the same as shown in dialog box, when set to 0.5 offset values are 50% of the original, when set to 2.0 offset values are 200% of the original and so on.
Scale – Local X,Y,Z – Set the internal scale of the sub elements for X, Y and Z. (New in version 1.4)
Align – Rotate X,Y,Z – Rotate tiles to specified angle for X, Y and Z. (New in version 2.0)
Align – Offset X,Y,Z – Move tiles to specified offset for X, Y and Z. (New in version 2.0)
Align – Mirror XY,YZ,ZX – Mirror tiles across selected plane. (New in version 2.0)
[Reset] Button – Reset to default value Advance Parameters settings. (New in version 1.2)

Advanced Tools

[ToolBox] Button – Start new floating window in which user can control all preferences of ATiles object for selection of one or multiple objects.
Advanced Tools – Region – Define region to interact with the ATiles object. Use [Pick Region…] button to pick custom shape from the scene. With [X] button user can delete selected custom shape and with [U] button user can update selected custom shape. Script store only the name of the chosen shape. If you rename or delete original object in the scene, update button will not work. Script use standard Boolean operations with the defined region – Subtract and, Intersect. Select None to ignore the region.
Advanced Tools – Volume – Same as region but instead of shape you can define closed mesh as volume. (New in version 2.0)
Advanced Tools – Path (beta) – Define path for the object. Still in beta. (New in version 2.0)
Advanced Tools – Surface (beta) – Define surface for the object. Still in beta. (New in version 2.0)
Path/Surface Options: Align – Set custom point of alignment for Path and Surface Tools. (New in version 2.0)
Path/Surface Options: Align Point X,Y,Z – Use to shift the point of alignment. When X=0, Y=0, Z=0 the align point is the closest point to origin and when X=100, Y=100, Z=100 is the farthest point. (New in version 2.0)

Variations

Random Material ID – Apply random material ID for each tile form- to value. If “Only For ID” object is selected script will randomize only ID of faces with specified ID number. (New in version 2.0)
Random Transforms – Random transformations of the tiles – Rotate, Move and Scale.
Trans. Center X, Y, Z – define the center of the transformation, where X=0, Y=0, Z=0 is closet point to origin and X=100, Y=100, Z=100 is the farthest point. (New in version 2.0)

About

About This Object – Statistic about used tiles count, face count and time it took to build this object. Tiles count show how many tiles were used to create this object and in most cases is greater and not equal to the count of the tiles you see in the view-port.

Tips & Shortcuts

Control the tilt angle when creating ATiles object – Turn on 3D snap. While picking third point hold ALT to automatically change the tilt angle base on the snapping point, hold SHIFT if you want the tilt angle to be set to zero. Make sure Count Y or Z is set to zero, otherwise script will not ask user for third point.

Reset All – Hold SHIFT and press [Reset] button in Advanced Parameters to reset all parameters of the ATiles object to default values.