Time Function Reference
See Also: Advanced Topic Intervals, Class Interval.
This section documents the API functions related to time. For an overview of these functions see the Advanced Topics section Time.
Function:
int GetTicksPerFrame();
Remarks:
Returns the number of ticks per frame.
Function:
void SetTicksPerFrame(int ticks);
Remarks:
Sets the number of ticks per frame.
Parameters:
int ticks
The number of ticks per frame.
Function:
int GetFrameRate();
Remarks:
Retrieves the current frame rate used by 3ds max. This is the Frames Per Second (FPS) setting in the Time Configuration dialog.
Return Value:
The current frame rate in frames per second.
Function:
void SetFrameRate(int rate);
Remarks:
Sets the current frame rate used by 3ds max. This is the Frames Per Second (FPS) setting in the Time Configuration dialog. Note: This call is simply another way to adjust the ticks per frame setting.
Parameters:
int rate
The rate in frames per second.
Function:
TimeDisp GetTimeDisplayMode();
Remarks:
Returns the display mode in use for time values.
Return Value:
One of the following values:
DISPTIME_FRAMES
Frame display format.
DISPTIME_SMPTE
SMPTE time code format.
DISPTIME_FRAMETICKS
Frame:Ticks format.
DISPTIME_TIMETICKS
MM:SS:Ticks format.
Function:
void SetTimeDisplayMode(TimeDisp m);
Remarks:
Sets the display mode for time values. When this setting is changed a notification is sent to automatically update any UI controls containing time values (including plug-in custom controls).
Parameters:
TimeDisp m
The time display mode. This may be one of the following values:
DISPTIME_FRAMES
Frame display format.
DISPTIME_SMPTE
SMPTE time code format.
DISPTIME_FRAMETICKS
Frame:Ticks format.
DISPTIME_TIMETICKS
MM:SS:Ticks format.
Function:
void TimeToString(TimeValue t,TSTR &string);
Remarks:
Formats a time value into a string based on the current frame rate, ticks per frame and display mode.
Parameters:
TimeValue t
The time to format.
TSTR &string
The string to store the result.
Function:
void StringToTime(TSTR string,TimeValue &t);
Remarks:
Parses the specified time string using the current time settings (frame rate, ticks per frame, and time format) and converts it to a TimeValue.
Parameters:
TSTR string
The string to convert.
TimeValue &t
The TimeValue to store the result.
The following #defines are useful when working with time (from \MAXSDK\INCLUDE\MAXTYPES.H).
#define TIME_TICKSPERSEC 4800
#define TicksToSec( ticks ) ((float)(ticks)/(float)TIME_TICKSPERSEC)
#define SecToTicks( secs ) ((TimeValue)(secs*TIME_TICKSPERSEC))
#define TicksSecToTime( ticks, secs ) ( (TimeValue)(ticks)+SecToTicks(secs) )
#define TimeToTicksSec( time, ticks, secs ) { (ticks) = (time)%TIME_TICKSPERSEC; (secs) = (time)/TIME_TICKSPERSEC ; }
#define TIME_PosInfinity 0x7fffffff
#define TIME_NegInfinity 0x80000000
typedef int TimeValue;