read the black and white image file to set the transparency of the
icon.
It is recommended that you save the icons as bitmap (.bmp)
files.
Be sure to correctly name your icon file. As an example, let’s
use “IconName” for our new icons:
IconName_24i.bmp — for the 24x24-pixel color icon
IconName_16i.bmp — for the 16x16-pixel color icon
IconName_24a.bmp — for the 24x24-pixel mask icon
IconName_16a.bmp — for the 16x16-pixel mask icon
Notice that color icons have an “i” after the number of pixels and
the mask, or alpha, has an “a” to indicate it’s the transparency ori-
entation reference. The black represents what will be invisible and
the white indicates what will be visible. Grayscale tones indicate
semi-transparency.
You can also make new icons and place them side by side to create a
set of four 24x24 icons that is 96x24 pixels.
When you’re done with the new icons, place them inside the
discreet and Icon folders inside the UI folder on the root 3ds Max
installation folder.
If you have questions about the general aspects of 3ds Max
icons, be sure to check the UIIcons folder and take a closer look at
the examples there.
Now we can place the icons inside our toolbar. Right-click on
the text you want to change to an icon and choose Edit Button
Appearance. Select the Image Button radio button, and in the Group
list box select the set of icons you’ve created and then choose the
icon.
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Appendix A – 3ds Max Polygonal Modeling Quick Start Guide
Figure A-5: Icons for the color mode example.
Figure A-6: Icons for the mask/alpha example.