Environment Per Camera
Version 3.6
Full user guide
Installation
How to install EPC
- Temporarily disable Windows firewall and other software that blocks internet traffic on your computer (you can enable them after installing the script)
- Run 3DS Max as an Administrator
- Drag & drop your purchased script file into 3DS Max viewport
- In case of dropping into 3DS Max viewport is blocked – go to 3DS Max menu Scripting ► Run Script and choose your script file
- Paste your personal Serial Number
- Click Install
- Remove all other scripts and plugins for controlling Camera and it's settings
How to create EPC shortcuts
- Go to 3DS Max menu Customize ► Customize User Interface
- Go to Toolbars tab
- Create a new Toolbar and name it EPC
- Drag new EPC Toolbar to the empty space in main 3DS Max Toolbar
- Go to category HAIKO VISUAL
- Drag Open EPC Camera Switcher and Open EPC LightMix Editor to the new EPC Toolbar to create new buttons
How to set EPC hotkeys
- Go to 3DS Max menu Customize ► Hotkey Editor
- Click on any line and type «Open»
- Scroll down and click on Open EPC Camera Switcher line
- Click on the Press key... in the field, click a favorable key (for example / on the numpad) and click Assign
- Find Open EPC LightMix Editor line below
- Click on the Press key... in the field, click a favorable key (for example * on the numpad) and click Assign
- Click Done
How to use EPC Settings
- Click EPC Switcher button in the EPC Toolbar or press the assigned hotkey to open EPC Camera Switcher panel
- Click on the button with the gear icon
- Go to Camera Buttons block and set the maximum number of cameras that you usually have in your projects
- The lower the value – the faster the EPC Switcher panel content is updated
- Don't set a high value if you're not going to use that many cameras in your projects
- Go to 3DS Max Start-up block
- Activate checkbox if you want the EPC Switcher panel to open and dock automatically on 3DS Max start-up
- After all changes made – press OK and restart 3DS Max
Camera Switcher
How to use Camera Switcher
How to dock EPC Camera Switcher panel to the screen
- Click EPC Switcher button in the EPC Toolbar or press the assigned hotkey to open EPC Camera Switcher panel
- Drag panel to the left side of the screen to dock it
How to add EPC to all Cameras
- Go to EPC Camera Switcher panel
- Grey EPC icons (
) mean that EPC has not beed added to Cameras
- Click Add EPC to all Cameras – all EPC icons will turn green (
)
Switching between Cameras
- To switch to any Camera view just click on any button with Camera name
- Use the arrow buttons ▲▼ in the top of the panel to switch Cameras up or down the list
- Click Target to select Camera's target
- Click All to select both Camera and it's target
How to create new Camera view in 1 click
- Hold Shift on the keyboard and click on any button with Camera name
- New Camera with the similar name and the same EPC settings will be created
How to use color labels
- Color labels are very usefull to facilitate navigation in the Camera Switcher when your scene has many rooms with many Cameras but with similar names for each room
- One color label applies to the group of Cameras with similar names
- We suggest not to use standart Camera naming like CoronaCamera001, CoronaCamera002 – better use something like Kitchen_001, Kitchen_002 and Living_Room_001, Living_Room_002 and so on. This will create different color labels for groups of Cameras with similar names
Image Size & Camera
How to change image resolution and Camera settings
How to set image resolution
- Click on any Camera button in EPC Switcher panel
- Go to script's Image Size & Camera section
- Go to Image Size for this Camera block
- Use W and H fields to set image Width and Height
- Use Lock button to make these fields depend on each other
- Use /2 and x2 buttons to make image resolution twice smaller or twice bigger
- Hold Shift and click any of these buttons to affect all Cameras
How to change aspect ratio
- Click Swap button to swap W and H values
- Click Square button to make W and H values equal
- Click any of 16:9, 2:1, 4:3, 3:2 and 5:4 buttons to set standart aspect ratio
- Hold Shift and click any of these buttons to affect all Cameras
How to set largest side for all Cameras
- Click Set largest side for all EPC button in any Camera
- The largest value of W and H fields will be applied to the largest side of all other Cameras, maintaining aspect ratio
How to set current resolution for all Cameras
- Click Apply to all EPC button in any Camera
- Values of W and H fields will be applied to all other Cameras
How to use Resolution Presets
- Go to Resolution Presets block
- Click Add to add current resolution as a preset
- After adding presets you can select any preset from the <Select Preset> list
- All resolution presets will appear in any scene with EPC
- Click Delete to delete current resolution preset from the list
How to change FOV, Focal I., ISO, F-Stop, Shutter speed, DOF, Vertical tilt and Clipping
- Go to Camera Control block
- Click on Field Of View to control FOV
- Click on Focal l. to control Focal length
- Click on ISO to control ISO
- Click on F-Stop to control F-Stop
- Click on Shutter speed to control shutter speed
- Activate checkbox at the left of DOF to enable Depth Of Field
- Activate checkbox at the left of Automatic vertical tilt to enable automatic vertical tilt
- Click on Shift to control automatic vertical tilt shifting
- Activate checkbox at the left of Near Clip to enable Clipping control
How to align Camera and it's target by axes
- Go to Camera Align block
- Click Align X button to align current Camera and it's target by X axis
- Click Align Y button to align current Camera and it's target by Y axis
- Click Align Z button to align current Camera and it's target by Z axis
How to rotate and reverse Camera view
- Go to Camera Rotation block
- Click ◄ button to turn Camera view by 45° counter clockwise by Z axis
- Click ► button to turn Camera view by 45° clockwise by Z axis
- Click Reverse button to reverse Camera orientation
Batch Render
How to create Batch Render queue
How to set global Batch Render output file for all Cameras
- Click on any Camera button in EPC Switcher panel
- Go to script's Batch Render section
- Click on Select button in Batch Render output path block
- Choose the folder to save Batch Render output files
- Choose the type of the Batch Render output file (do not set any file name) and click OK
- Now the final forder name is displayed on the button
- Move mouse cursor above the button to see full Batch Render output path
- Once set this path and output file will be used for all EPC (you don't need to set it for each Camera)
- Click Clear if you want to clear Batch Render output path
How to add current Camera to Batch Render queue
- Go to Send to Batch Render block
- Click This EPC to add current Camera to Batch Render queue
How to add all Cameras to Batch Render queue
- Go to Send to Batch Render block
- Click All EPC to add all Cameras to Batch Render queue
- Click Clear Batch list if you want to delete all Batch Render queue
Corona Sun
How to use Corona Sun for each Camera
How to add Corona Sun for Camera view
- Click on any Camera button in EPC Switcher panel
- Go to script's Corona Sun section
- Click on any Corona Sun in the Corona Sun for this Camera list
- To use more Corona Suns for this view hold Ctrl and click on another Corona Suns in the list
How to select Corona Sun and it's target in the scene
- Select Corona Sun in the list
- Click Select Sun to select Corona Sun in the scene
- Click Select Target to select Corona Sun's target in the scene
How to add all Corona Suns to one LightMix Channel
- Go to Sun LightMix Channel block
- Select LightMix Channel, that will be used for all Corona Suns in the scene
- All current Corona Suns and all Corona Suns, that you will create, will be automatically added to selected LightMix Channel
How to link Corona Sun to HDRI Map
- Select Corona Sun in the list
- Select HDRI Map in the list
- Go to Link to Corona Sky & HDRI block
- Click Link
- Now Corona Sun position will change to match sun spot in selected HDRI Map
- Linked Corona Sun will follow HDRI Map rotation automatically
- Linked Corona Sun will change it's position automatically after selecting another HDRI Map
- Go to Position Correction and apply corrections for the distance between Corona Sun and it's target and Corona Sun angles for the best light composition
How to link Corona Sun to Corona Sky Map
- Select Corona Sun in the list
- Select Corona Sky Map in the list
- Go to Link to Corona Sky & HDRI block
- Click Link
- Now Corona Sun position will affect Corona Sky and it's clouds color
HDRI & Corona Sky
How to set individual HDRI Map for each Camera
How to load HDRI Maps into EPC
- Go to script's Corona Sky & HDRI Map section
- Click Add HDRI tab in MEditor to create new HDRI tab in Slate Material Editor
- Open Slate Material Editor (do not use Compact Material Editor)
- Load any HDRI Map via CoronaBitmap (do not use standart Bitmap map)
- Add Color Correction, CoronaColorCorrect, Mix and CoronaMix maps for each HDRI if necessary
- All maps will appear in EPC list automatically
- Click Refresh list button to update maps list manually if needed
How to set HDRI Map for Camera view
- Click on any Camera button in EPC Switcher panel
- Go to script's Corona Sky & HDRI Map section
- Select HDRI in the script's list
- Set HDRI Map rotation in Rotate (degrees) block if necessary
- Repeat for other Cameras
- Use Corona Sun and HDRI Map link if necessary
- HDRI will switch automatically every time you switch the Cameras
How to set individual Corona Sky and clouds for each Camera
How to add Corona Sky into EPC
- Go to script's Corona Sky & HDRI Map section
- Click Add HDRI tab in MEditor to create new HDRI tab in Slate Material Editor (if not done yet)
- Add CoronaSky Map
- Add Color Correction, CoronaColorCorrect, Mix and CoronaMix maps for each CoronaSky if necessary
- All maps will appear in EPC list automatically
- Click Refresh list button to update maps list manually if needed
How to set Corona Sky for Camera view
- Click on any Camera button in EPC Switcher panel
- Go to script's Corona Sky & HDRI Map section
- Select Corona Sky in the script's list
- Repeat for other Cameras
- Use Corona Sun and Corona Sky Map link if necessary
- Corona Sky will switch automatically every time you switch the Cameras
Lights
How to set Lights for each Camera
How to select Lights for Camera view
- Click on any Camera button in EPC Switcher panel
- Open script's Lights section
- Click + button in the Lights for this Camera block to manually select Lights in the scene
- Click Select from list to select Lights from lights list
How to turn on/off specific Lights for Camera view
- Go to These Lights will be turned block
- Click On to turn on only Lights from the list for this Camera view
- Click Off to turn off the lights from the list for this Camera view
Time Slider
How to set animation Frame for each Camera
How to switch Frame number for Camera view
- Click on any Camera button in EPC Switcher panel
- Open script's Time Slider section
- Click Enable and set necessary Frame number for this Camera view
- This Frame number will remain in Time Slider until another Camera with another enabled Frame number will be switched
- Attention! Do not use animation frame for switching Corona Sun, Corona Sky and HDRI Map. Use it only for object movements and other changes.
Viewport Previews
How to create Viewport Previews from all Cameras
Creating Viewport Previews from all Cameras
- Click on any Camera button in EPC Switcher panel
- Open script's Viewport Previews section
- Click Full Viewport to set destination folder and generate full viewport previews (as png) from all Cameras
- Click Geometry only to set destination folder and generate viewport previews (as png) without lights, cameras and splines from all Cameras
LightMix Editor
How to use EPC LightMix Editor
How to add lights to LightMix Channel
- Open EPC LightMix Editor panel
- Select lights in the scene
- Click on any LightMix Channel button to add selected lights to this Channel
- Number of added to this LightMix Channel lights will be displayed in LightMix Status block
How to remove lights from LightMix Channels
- Open EPC LightMix Editor panel
- Select lights in the scene
- Click Remove
- Number of deleted from LightMix Channels lights will be displayed in LightMix Status block
How to remove <deleted> lights from all LightMix Channels
- Open EPC LightMix Editor panel
- Click Clear
- Number of deleted from LightMix Channels lights will be displayed in LightMix Status block
How to create new LightMix Channel
- Open EPC LightMix Editor panel
- Hold Shift and click on any Channel button
- Enter new Channel name and click Create
How to rename LightMix Channel
- Open EPC LightMix Editor panel
- Hold Ctrl and click on any Channel button
- Enter new Channel name and click Rename
How to delete LightMix Channel
- Open EPC LightMix Editor panel
- Hold Alt and click on any Channel button
- Click Delete
Troubleshooting
HDRI Map and Corona Sky Map do not change while switching Cameras
- This situation may be caused by manual duplication of Cameras in the scene or by wrong Camera's pivot position
- First step to fix this – avoid any Cameras to have the same coordinates or duplicate Cameras only in EPC Camera Switcher (hold Shift and click on Camera button)
- Second step – select camera in EPC Camera Switcher and press Center Camera Pivot in Camera Align block for each Camera. Then use aligning by axes buttons to fix Camera orientation if neccesary.
How to fix 3DS Max interface and menus performance slowed down
- Remove all other scripts and plugins for controlling Camera and it's settings
- Disable any realtime 3DS Max anti-virus control (see Prune Scene and 3DS Max Scene Security Tools settings)
- Always run 3DS Max as an Administrator (enable this checkbox in 3DS Max desktop shortcut)
- Decrease maximum number of cameras in EPC Settings if you don't use that amount of cameras in your projects
How to install EPC after reinstalling Windows or 3DS Max
- After reinstalling Windows or 3DS Max your EPC serial number becomes inactive
- Contact me immediately to get new serial number
Quick Tips
How to ensure the script works perfectly
- Set the screen scale in the system to 100% to avoid possible distortions in the script interface (right click on the desktop ► Screen settings ► Scale and layout)
- Always run 3DS Max as Administrator to ensure that all script functionality works (enable this checkbox in the 3DS Max desktop shortcut settings)
- Start working with EPC only in a new scene, as well as in the latest version of 3DS Max and Corona Render, because old scenes created in previous versions of 3DS Max and Corona Render may not support all new script features
- Remove all other scripts and plugins that control cameras and their settings
- Disable all antivirus services in 3DS Max that are constantly running in real time (see Prune Scene and 3DS Max Scene Security Tools settings)
- Check the maximum number of cameras setting periodically to avoid wasting system resources
- Do not use cyrillic names when choosing a folder to save Batch Render files
EPC hidden features
- New view in 1 click – hold down Shift on the keyboard and click on the button with the name of the desired Camera
- Rename a Camera – hold down Ctrl on your keyboard and click on the button with the name of the desired camera
- Delete Camera – hold Alt on the keyboard and click on the button with the name of the desired camera
- Apply changes to all cameras in 1 click – hold down Shift on the keyboard and click on any of the Lock, /2 and buttons >x2, Swap, 16:9, 2:1, 4:3, 3:2and 5:4
- Use several suns for one camera – hold down Ctrl on your keyboard and click on the desired suns in the script list
- Visually organize camera buttons by room – give the cameras in each room the correct names (for example Kitchen-001, Kitchen-002 and Living room-001, Living Room-002, etc.) to visually separate these groups of buttons with automatic color labels in the Camera Switcher
- Create a new LightMix channel in 1 click – hold down Shift on the keyboard and click on the button of any channel in the Quick LightMix editor
- Rename a LightMix channel in 1 click – hold down Ctrl on your keyboard and click on the button for the desired channel in the Quick LightMix editor
- Delete a LightMix channel in 1 click – hold Alt on your keyboard and click on the button for the desired channel in the Quick LightMix editor
Any questions?
Contact me right now
Andrei Haiko
© HAIKO VISUAL • Andrei Haiko • 2017-2024
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