Isolation Levels

Is there any way I could donate you for this script? (Paypal/revolut)
This is one of the things that i cannot imagine to live without, and I am afraid that it will stop working someday, which is worst case scenario for me.

Hey, glad you like the script! It should continue to work stably. Because it only uses simple functions. I'm glad if it helps you with your work <3

Here is my paypal if you wanna buy me a coffee, cheers! gg9943@yahoo.com

This functionality should be 3ds max native, after two years I can not imagine working wihout this one.

Haha I think so too! Default isolation mode sucks.

One of the 10 best scrips that save hours on a daily basis!

Thanks alot <3

Can anyone help please ?

This is my most used script, I use it every single time I open and use 3DS Max.

It installs okay, just doesn't do anything when you click the buttons.

Will donate to get it to working.

Thanks.

**** Now working correctly in 3DS Max 2021 - I simply hadn't installed script fully/correctly ****

Hi, i´m getting this error sometimes - http://prntscr.com/bluub1
Just to let you know, thanks!

Jsrocha

Hi Andreas, great script, i´m using it instead of max native isolate, can´t go back now :)
i have a suggestion, but i don´t know if can be done. Is there a way to put a hide selection to the isolate levels? I did a trick through macro recorder, i select the objetc (or objects) that i want to hide then select invert, and then create a new isolation level and so on. It works, but not always and not in the better way. Do you think it can be added to the script?
Thanks man,

Jsrocha

Oh by the way, the isolation level is shown in the title of the window, at the end behind the scenename.

Even better. I miss that:)
Cheers!

Update:

Due to the problems with the extra dialog, the script interface has been simplified alot to remove possible causes for malfunction. If you install the latest version, now you need to create a toolbar first and add the macros of the script to it.

Script is now much more reliable and stable.

Also the handling of Xrefs has been improved alot. If you have a scene with Xrefs and you want to preview render an isolated object, then Xrefs wont be hidden with the standard 3ds Max isolation mode. With Isolation Levels Xrefs wont be rendered when using isolation.

Nice works Andi.
A suggestion:
You can add one more button (toggle on/off) in the toolbar which can show info of "isolevel" number as "gw.text" in viewport

1) When opening isolevels dialog it instantly disappears. This happens only on my computer yet. I recently reinstalled Windows and the same 3ds Max version as before, so I'm not really sure why this error happens yet.

Same here, please check what happend

Thanks

I recently encountered 2 errors happening with this script:

1) When opening isolevels dialog it instantly disappears. This happens only on my computer yet. I recently reinstalled Windows and the same 3ds Max version as before, so I'm not really sure why this error happens yet.

2) A coworker has a Microsoft .Net error. A .Net error message will appear again and again on the screen.

Both errors only occured on single PCs yet, so no mass errors yet.
Can anyone report similar (or other) issues / bugs / errors with this script?

So far it's running smoothly, but I have to admit I forgot to install the latest version.
Sometimes I have to close the IL Dialog and start a new Isolation to get it working again.

Great! Thanks man!

I receive the attached error when i run the script the first time i start max. If i evaluate the script it will work for any max file opened after this.

But if i restart 3dsmax, the error appears again...

Okay, please try with version 11.

I've been using v11 for some time now, it's flawless :)

Yeah, working great so far. Thanks again!

One small nitpick: The floater stays on top not only in Max but also when I switch to other programs.

That annoyed me alot aswell, please try version 12. I tried to fix that problem.

TopMost property problem
If you want to place your dialog (form) always on top but inside of max use this fn

fn maxHW = (dotNetObject "maxCustomControls.win32HandleWrapper" (dotNetObject "System.IntPtr" (windows.getMaxHWND())))
cForm.Show(maxHW())

edit
I see that you tried this :)

For what do you used "csharp" assembly?

Getting windows foreground process handle and check if its 3dsmax.

This script has completely replaced the Max standard version for me. Many thanks again! :)
I wondered if you were still working on the task of saving the isolation with the file. When saving manually I remember most of the time to exit IL, but autobackups can be a bit of a headache.
Did you ever think about simply using the standard isolation for this?
Your script would remember the levels, but isolate the selection with max's built in system. This way one could simply exit isolation if one had to recover an autobackup file or saved the file with IL active.

I updated the script. Installation is now different, please read in description. I hope to find some more time today to test this version and also to add the ability to store the isostate in the scene.

The script runs great until i close it's window.
After that, if i run the script again, it will show the attached error.

okay try again with version 10.

It is working as expected; good job :)

I agree with headd on both accounts, though navigating through the levels with the dialog works fine.
Initially hidden objects stay hidden, now. :)

There seems to be a bug if the user deletes meshes:

-- Error occurred in shutdownScript(); filename: Z:\software\3dsmax\maxplugs_new\isolation_levels_08.ms; position: 651; line: 34
-- Frame:
>> MAXScript dotNet event handler Exception:
-- Runtime error: Attempt to access deleted scene object <<

Thx for the great work!

There is a bug if i run the script(Alt+Q) when there's a IsoLevels window already opened. It opens a new window and messes up the original one ( the isolation levels won't work, error in attachment).

Instead, if you hit the shortcut(Alt+Q) it should switch to the next isolation level or create a new one, like you'd hit the --> button.

What do you think?

Thanks

I will try to fix this. For now just click on the button to prevent the error.

Hidden objects now stay hidden, good work and thanks again :)

I tried to fix bugs and get rid of some points on the todo-list with the version 8. Hope it works, I didnt had the time to test it yet. Now it shouldnt unhide all objects when the dialog is closed and it should always stay on top. Thanks to barigazy for the code!

I agree with Herr Bert, the fact that it unhides objects hidden before running the script is tricky, especially if you work on someone else's max file and you don't know what was visible or not.

Is there any way to memorize the isolations when saving a max file? If i save the max with objects isolated, i have to manually unhide them when reopening the scene.

I think you could use selection sets, with custom names, that the script recognizes. That if no one else uses selection sets, i know i don't :D

Anyway, cool script. Maybe Autodesk will should consider this as a standard option for Isolate

This is a really great tool! Thank you!

However there is bug that makes it almost useless to me:
On closing the tool or going up to the highest level IL unhides ALL objects, even if they were hidden before using the tool.

I know what you mean, I gotta fix that.

Suggestions for 1st and 3rd "to do"
#1 With .net form U can stay Always "On the Top" :)

 (	
	if ::form != undefined do try(form.close())catch()
	local btn1, btn2, btn3
 	fn maxHW = (dotNetObject "maxCustomControls.win32HandleWrapper" (dotNetObject "System.IntPtr" (windows.getMaxHWND())))
	fn defBtn btn form x: w: txt: = 
	(
		btn.bounds = dotNetObject "system.drawing.rectangle" x 0 w 40
		btn.FlatStyle = btn.FlatStyle.System ; btn.text = txt
		btn.Margin = dotNetObject "padding" 0 0 0 0
		form.Controls.add btn
	)
 	form = dotNetObject "form" ; form.text = "IsoLevel: 0/0"
	form.AutoSizeMode = form.AutoSizeMode.GrowAndShrink
 	form.ShowInTaskbar = off ; form.autosize = form.TopMost = on
 	form.FormBorderStyle = form.FormBorderStyle.FixedToolWindow
 	form.StartPosition = form.StartPosition.Manual
	form.DesktopLocation = dotNetObject "System.Drawing.Point" 50 110
	
	btn1 = dotNetObject "button" ; defBtn btn1 form x:0 w:40 txt:"<--"
	btn2 = dotNetObject "button" ; defBtn btn2 form x:40 w:80 txt:"New Iso"
	btn3 = dotNetObject "button" ; defBtn btn3 form x:120 w:40 txt:"-->"
	
 	form.show(maxHW()) ; ok
)

#3 Why not use CA to store last state of the scene and then add CA to "rootnode"

This script really helps me so often right now so I thought I would share the latest version with you guys, as I constantly keep debuging it while using it in daily work. Some bugs are fixed and it seems pretty stable. Things I wanna add in the future are now added on todo list in description.

Also I think it works even faster than the standard isolate function of 3ds max, maybe you can share your feedback about this. Have fun guys.

Everything works now as it should in version 04. Thanks.

Please redownload version 4, I recognized another bug and fixed it.

Hi,
I am using 3ds MAX Design 2013 64 bit.
the problem:
first - i am isolating 20 objects, second i am isolating 10 from these 20 objects, third - i am isolating 5 from the 10th objects and finally - 2 from the last 5. till here everything i ok, but when i click once backward - it goes to the second isolate, not to the third or fourth - directly on second. the forward arrow remembers my isolation's, but i have to go to the second when i am going back, and then forward one by one to this one I want.

I noticed that too, I cound not figure out why it is doing it yet. Will try to fix.

Should be fixed now in version 4.

Very buggy on MAX 2014

Update: The script is now at least 120% cooler.

In the latest update it seems that you can have multiple isolations with the same selection. Is this intended? :)
Also, when exiting with an empty scene, this error appears "Error occurred in cIsoLevels.close();"

Multiple isolations with same selection should not be possible. The script checks if the number of selected objects changes, if not then there wont be a new isolation layer. The error with empty scene has been fixed. Thanks for testing.

Cool stuff :)

Started using it right away, replacing Alt+Q.
It seems bug free for now.

Thanks a lot :)

I receive this error:
"for obj in objects where not obj.isHidden and lIsoVis[nIsoLevel][obj.handle] do"

And the buttons(arrows) that are grey out(off), are hard to see that they are grey out.

I think that you could add a "exit isolation mode"

*Sorry for my english.

Got a model which is pretty complex with multiple "layers" and this script just makes it so easy to go up and down the layers! TY!

smart interface.hope soon you will post the bugfree version.

Noticed some bug in the script causing the isolation to exit with "Cannot unhide $". Will fix asap.