This plugin allows you to read mesh geometry from a Rhino 3DM file directly into Max 4. This plugin will NOT read in NURBS geometry.

Allows you to export Max files to .md2 files for Quake2.

Changes for v1.7 are:
- Object Archiving has been implemented, where entire hierarchies can be output as single archives for use with RenderMan's delayed read archive mechanism. An archiving script has been included to simplify the use of this feature.
- If an alfred script is being created and generate-rib-only mode is on the script is just written... it is no longer automatically sent to alfred.
- MaxMan now avoids the slow 'geometry grabbing' and 'archive creation' operations for objects that are not going to be rendered due to selection of 'render selected only'
- When generating ribs for alfred the output images have to have a full path name so when the requested output image name has no directory component the rib base name is prepended. An implementational error resulted in the base directory name always be prepended which resulted in a double directory name in the rib.

Please note that the Lite version has replaced MaxMan_BMRT, and is a trimmed down version of the full version of MaxMan. Briefly, the limitations and disabled features include:

- No more than 50 objects can be rendered
- No more than 10 automatically generated MaxMan Magic Shaders can be used
- Object Archiving is disabled (see release notes below)
- User Defined RIB Statements are disabled

Changes for v1.7 are:
- Object Archiving has been implemented, where entire hierarchies can be output as single archives for use with RenderMan's delayed read archive mechanism. An archiving script has been included to simplify the use of this feature.
- If an alfred script is being created and generate-rib-only mode is on the script is just written... it is no longer automatically sent to alfred.
- MaxMan now avoids the slow 'geometry grabbing' and 'archive creation' operations for objects that are not going to be rendered due to selection of 'render selected only'
- When generating ribs for alfred the output images have to have a full path name so when the requested output image name has no directory component the rib base name is prepended. An implementational error resulted in the base directory name always be prepended which resulted in a double directory name in the rib.

Changes for v1.0b2a are:
- Fixes a bug where Max crashes when double-clicking on the SceneRoot node.

Changes for v1.0b2 are:

New Features:
- Select Entire Hierarchy with double click on node.
- SceneExplorer remembers expand/collapse state of nodes.
- Font selections via property window.
- Can use object wire color in SceneExplorer.
- More extensive manual.

Bugs fixed:
- Menus now register.
- Scrolling bug with deep hierarchies fixed.
- Filtering action bugs fixed.
- Several filtering bugs fixed.
- TARGETs are filtered based on the node that is looking at it.
- Popup Max Views menu when the user right clicks outside the toolbar area.
- Fixed a 'dll not loading' bug under Windows NT 4.

This build expires 5 September 2001.

maxBrain is a Utility plugin that helps you edit 3D scenes in conjunction with alienbrain. alienbrain is a client/server solution for digital media management and team collaboration in computer game projects. It combines file management, version control, process automation and project tracking facilities to improve the productivity, security and transparency of content development, at a fraction of the cost of in-house solutions. alienbrain allows artists, level designers, programmers and project managers to work together from a secure central database.

Snoswell Design are getting ready to release their Absolute Character Tools plugin for Max. ACT features an advanced and comprehensive set of objects and tools for the creation and animation of muscles and skin deformation by muscles. There is no news on pricing yet, but more information can be found here.

SplutterFish, LLC. have officially announced the Brazil Rendering System v1.0, a new, advanced, fully-integrated rendering suite for Max. Brazil r/s is a full-latitude, floating-point renderer, built on a fast, efficient raytracing engine. It boasts an arsenal of advanced features: camera and film effects, motion blur, depth of field/bokeh lens simulation, sophisticated filtering, anti-aliasing, and highly-evolved illumination and shading models including raytracing, caustics, global illumination, non-photoreal capabilities, and support for all the standard artistic 'fakes'. It is also compatible with a variety of volumetric and hair rendering systems.

This commercial version of Brazil r/s will be available in Fall 2001. You can read the full press release here.

Changes for v5.0.1.3749 are:
- Object names w/ tabs are replaced with '_'. This used to crash Producer.
- Locked setting for materials has been removed.
- Non-mesh objects no longer have the default light map assigned to them.
- Added support for Mono Channel Output in Material Editor.
- Light map preview has been added.
- Illegal file characters, such as & () # {} [] are automatically removed from object, behavior, material and build file names to avoid any runtime conflicts.

Sitni Sati d.o.o. have released a few details about their new plugin for Max 4. DreamScape is an integrated tool for creating dynamic natural scenery. It enables the building of memory efficient terrains, creation of outdoor lighting with only one source (the Sun), setting of atmospheric effects such as haze or cloud covers, laying of oceans which visually match perfectly with the world above the sea level. Natural phenomena in DreamScape are based on the latest research in the field of computer graphics. Just animate the Sun movement and watch the world respond in vibrant colors.

David Gould has released an update for his Illustrate! NPR (Non-PhotoRealistic) renderer. The plugin has been rebuilt and tested to run under Max 4.2, provides a completely new Windows compatible setup program, and will require a new authorisation code.

Illustrate! costs $395 and is available for R3.x (v5.0), R4.0 - 4.02 (v5.1) and R4.2 (v5.2). A demo version is available here.

Beta Release >>ENGLISH ONLY<< Compatible ONLY with a registered version of Max 4.2. This Performance Pack provides optimizations for Pentium 4- and Pentium III -based Max 4.2 users. Performance increases on other platforms, including AMD, are possible. Performance increases on the Pentium 4 using this Performance Pack range from 5 to 30 percent.

NOTE: Make sure you read the ReadMe file before installing this! The Performance Pack is available here.

No new version number, but a newer version nevertheless. This fixes a bug that was crashing Max at startup, as well as fixing a couple of icon and redraw issues. This Beta version still expires 21 August 2001!

Changes for v4.05 Beta are:
- Raytrace Material doesn't crash Max any longer. It is not fully fixed, but renders a little bit
- Backface problem solved when preprocessing the GI-Solution
- Bump Maps didn't effect Refraction/Reflection - fixed
- Image/Pixelaspect corrected (eg NTSC renderings)
- Netrendering is working now - really!
- RayMax Message Box not visible anymore - really!

Di-O-Matic have released details of their upcoming plugin for Max. Facial Studio is the most complete parametric head modelling tool available, with more than 400 controls over the heads, a Sub-Surface Scattering Shader to let you simulate skin, and way more.... For more details head over to Di-O-Matic.

Digimation have reduced the prices of a large number of their plugins until the end of August. A complete list of the plugins and prices is available here.

The SceneExplorer consolidates various max functionality into one window and thereby simplifies and speeds-up the day-to-day workflow. This Beta version expires 21 August 2001! The individual features are:

Max Functionality
- Graphically indicated object type
- Select/Deselect objects
- Hide/Unhide with state shown by icon - object can remain visible based on filter settings
- Freeze/Unfreeze with state shown by icon - object can remain visible based on filter settings
- Group open/close - independent of collapse/expand
- Show hierarchy with selective collapse/expand
- Hide/Show by Type

Scene Explorer Funtionality
- Multi column layout
- Flattened or Hierarchial layout
- Alphabetical or Max sorted layout
- Filtering of contents of SceneExplorer
- Filter sets for multiple instances of SceneExplorer with Undo/Redo
- SceneExplorer as a floating window or in a Max viewport
- Action for hide/show of a floating SceneExplorer to replace the SelectByName Max build-in
- Mouse as well as keyboard based scrolling/paging through contents
- Collapsable toolbars for space saving
- Saves layout of all open explorers and filter set states at exit

This plugin allows Max to export projects into Curl Source Code. Curl technology enables the development and deployment of the next generation of Web pages and applications by providing full application-level functionality and a substantially richer, more interactive user experience. Specifically, Curl Corporation offers the Surge plugin and the Surge Lab IDE, for viewing and creating content written in the Curl Content Language.

ADG Exporter 4.0 enables file export from Max 3 to ADG File Format for WEB Publishing (Albatross Design Group, Inc. File Format, Copyright © 1999-2000.) ADG Exporter 4.0 has a built-in ADG Viewer 4.0 for fast viewing of 3D scenes in ADG File Format.

Supported Properties:
- Multiple meshes within a scene.
- Standard materials.
- Diffuse, Ambient and Specular color.
- Multiple non-procedural texture maps.
- Contour transparency texture maps.
- Reflection texture maps.
- Key-framed animation.
- Color Fog support.

Viewer Properties:
- Gouraud shading Z-buffer.
- Color fog generator.
- Animation tracks support.
- Manual 3D objects manipulation (keyboard, mouse, joystick).
- Networking support for Remote Control.
- Direct3D support (full screen and in a window).

The plugin is available for Max 3 and costs $249 for commercial use. It is free for non-commercial use. A demo version is available here.

ADG Exporter 3.0 enables file export from Max 3 to ADG File Format for WEB Publishing (Albatross Design Group, Inc. File Format, Copyright © 1999-2000.)

Supported Properties:
- Multiple meshes within a scene.
- Standard materials.
- Diffuse, Ambient and Specular color.
- Multiple non-procedural texture maps.
- Contour transparency texture maps.
- Reflection texture maps.
- Key-framed animation.

The plugin is available for Max 3 and costs $149 for commercial use. It is free for non-commercial use. A demo version is available here.

Nverse Terra is a plugin that loads USGS digital elevation models in SDTS format. SDTS DEMs are available free on the USGS website, which has coverage of most of the United States at 30m resolution. You can control the level of detail of your terrain, as a regular grid, or as a TIN. Neighboring cells are fused automatically, for a seamless surface.

Nverse Terra builds the landscape from freely available elevation data. Terra loads and joins USGS digital elevation cells, and lets you adjust the level of detail to meet your polygon budget.

Nverse Terra is great for:
- Flight sim terrain
- Ski maps
- Resort area visualizations.

The plugin is available for Max 4 and costs $149.

Nverse Photo brings image-based modeling to Max. Now you can work with big, beautiful, full-resolution raster images (8000 x 8000 pixels, or even larger!) right in a max viewport. All you do is define the features you want modeled. Nverse Photo does the camera matching, constructs the 3D models, and automatically builds texture maps for you. You decide what gets modeled, and with how much detail. Nverse Photo makes it the right height and puts it in the right place.

Nverse Photo is great for:
- Low-polygon urban scenes
- Reality-based games
- Architectural visualization
- Urban backdrops
- Line-of-sight analysis
- Travel industry applications
- Civil engineering project visualization.

The plugin is available for Max 4 and costs $795.

ADG Exporter 4.0 enables file export from Max 3 to ADG File Format for WEB Publishing (Albatross Design Group, Inc. File Format, Copyright © 1999-2000.) ADG Exporter 4.0 has a built-in ADG Viewer 4.0 for fast viewing of 3D scenes in ADG File Format.

Supported Properties:
- Multiple meshes within a scene.
- Standard materials.
- Diffuse, Ambient and Specular color.
- Multiple non-procedural texture maps.
- Contour transparency texture maps.
- Reflection texture maps.
- Key-framed animation.
- Color Fog support.

Viewer Properties:
- Gouraud shading Z-buffer.
- Color fog generator.
- Animation tracks support.
- Manual 3D objects manipulation (keyboard, mouse, joystick).
- Networking support for Remote Control.
- Direct3D support (full screen and in a window).

The plugin is free for non-commercial use only!

ADG Exporter 3.0 enables file export from Max 3 to ADG File Format for WEB Publishing (Albatross Design Group, Inc. File Format, Copyright © 1999-2000.)

Supported Properties:
- Multiple meshes within a scene.
- Standard materials.
- Diffuse, Ambient and Specular color.
- Multiple non-procedural texture maps.
- Contour transparency texture maps.
- Reflection texture maps.
- Key-framed animation.

The plugin is free for non-commercial use only!

Digimation have released the Max 4 patch for SeaScape.

The patch also fixes the following problem:
- This version fixes a network rendering bug that prevented slaves from starting automatically on jobs submitted that used SeaScape.

Changes for v4.0.0.4 are:
- The LP file is written correctly for international langauge settings.
- Fixed a texture problem in the exporter.
- Made files from earlier versions of Max load compatibly into Max 4. The files do not add an Exposure Control and keep the same Radiance map in the Lightscape material from earlier Max versions.
- When importing files into Max 4, you can chose to create an exposure control or use the radiance map in the Lightscape materials.
- When using the LS Colors modifier, you can either use the exposure control or the internal radiance map to create the vertex colors.
- The Lightscape material will use the exposure control defined in the Environment panel, if there is one and it is active. Otherwise, it will use it's internal radiance map.
- Fixed a texture problem in the Lightscape modifiers.

Flexible Pot (F-Pot as we call it) is an object creating tool for Max which creates multi surface objects. The initial object created by F-Pot looks like a pot (hence the name). This object is a hollow object. The thickness feature of F-Pot which controls the thickness of the object created is a parameter which will be added in the next version. Known possibilities of objects which can be created with F-Pot are pots, fountains, vases, lampshades, pillars, stools and many more.

Digital Element have released a demo version of their Animatek World Builder plugin.

The demo version includes all the features of the Professional Edition of the World Builder 3.0. It contains the Max-Communication plugin, so it's possible to test the communication between the Animatek World Builder 3.0 and Max 2.x, 3.x and 4.x. You'll find the tutorial for AWB-MAX Communicator in the tutorials section of their website.

The limitations of the Demo version are the following:
- Demo version doesn't let you save projects and export models from World Builder.
- The Camera window resolution is limited to 400 x 300.
- Online version of World Builder 3.0 Demo doesn't include the full helpfile, due to it's size (27MB).

The landscape material is intended for quick texturing landscapes and the like. It assigns from 2 to 10 different materials between the bottom and top portions of an object. You can determine Position, Blend and Noise Parameters for divisions between the sub-materials.

The plugin is available for Max 4 and costs $25. A demo version is available here.

The Planet Object is intended for creating the surface of real planets from a database grid. It produces a full sphere, or a portion of a sphere. You can get a 1/8 degree Earth database file here. At this time only the Earth database is available. Moon, Mars and Venus databases are in progress.

The plugin is available for Max 4 and costs $30. A demo version is available here.

The landscape material is intended for quick texturing landscapes and the like. It assigns from 2 to 10 different materials between the bottom and top portions of an object. You can determine Position, Blend and Noise Parameters for divisions between the sub-materials.

This is shareware, and will run for thirty days without a license.

The Planet Object is intended for creating the surface of real planets from a database grid. It produces a full sphere, or a portion of a sphere. You can get a 1/8 degree Earth database file here. At this time only the Earth database is available. Moon, Mars and Venus databases are in progress.

This is shareware, and will run for thirty days without a license.

Here's an old one that I seem to have missed... MorpherView is a utility that can show information about a morph channel, as well as edit and change it. Includes source code.

AlteredSaver is an interactive 3D screen saver for Windows and Linux, and includes a Max Export plugin, allowing users to create their own AlteredSaver scenes. The exporter saves your Max scenes as *.TNT files which can be read by the screensaver. The screensaver itself is shareware, and will run unrestricted for 30 days.

Be warned, the download is 15.3 MB...