Interoperability between 3D modeling software has always been a challenge for artists, designers, and game developers. With the Autodesk MAX Importer for Blender, users can now import .max files directly into Blender without external conversions, streamlining their workflow.
The necessity of transferring assets from one platform to another is crucial for workflow optimization and sometimes it brings compatibility issues, data loss and broken assets.
One of the tallest mountains for 3d modelers is transitioning a model from Autodesk 3ds Max to Blender since the latter does not natively support the .max format. This is a common situation with proprietor file formats such as the .max and only a few middleware such as Unity can access the content, by using a smart workaround.
The recently released Autodesk MAX Importer is an add-on for Blender that allows users to import directly .max files without external conversions. This plugin was developed to solve any compatibility problem between 3ds Max and Blender, without the use of external formats like .fbx or .obj, which may fail to preserve some details of the models, especially materials and textures.
This plugin improves interoperability between 3ds Max and Blender, allowing to import models with all of the original information like: geometry, materials, textures, and lights (plus rig, and skinning coming soon).
MAX Importer is very useful for rendering workflows from engines like V-Ray and Corona, to Cycles or Eevee because it keeps the used texture path and material structure. Instead of manually setting up materials and textures after importing, Autodesk MAX Importer keeps untouched the coordinates of advanced materials and textures, drastically reducing work times and preserving a seamless workflow.
Autodesk MAX Importer is helpful for professionals in any field of computer graphics including architectural visualization, CGI, and game development.
With the increasing audience who implemented Blender in their pipeline, this extension can facilitate cooperation with teams that use the outstanding 3dsMax in their production. In the current times of smart working, this extension may help remove technical barriers simplifying the transfer of the asset from one DCC to another.
Asset stores are another important aspect to consider when talking about high-quality arch-viz, as many artists are purchasing assets online.
The renowned Evermotion today includes both the .blend files together with the .max but other great stores such as 3DSky or Design Connected may offer only the .max for certain elements in their catalog. Finally, the Italian 3D Model Unity may have a plethora of formats, including the .max among them. This is another practical example of how an importer can extend the production.
Autodesk MAX Importer for Blender was initially developed by a team of experts composed by Sebastian Schrand, Jens M. Plonka, and Philippe Lagadec.
The after-release support and updates are entrusted to Sebastian Sille (NRGSille). As always, the Blender community is very supportive of the project, giving feedback and reporting bugs via the GitHub page.
As said before, the plugin was made to compensate for the lack of native support of Blender for the .max format. Thanks to the incredible work of the developers and the contribution of the community, Autodesk MAX Importer is being constantly updated and improved for better compatibility and performance.
The latest stable version 1.6.0, released in November 2024, introduced noticeable upgrades in managing texture and a reduction of loading times for bigger scale models.
As with any other Blender Extension, it is very easy to install the importer, and the UI is meant to be intuitive and essential.
In the future, Autodesk MAX importer could add support for animations and rigging.
This update could take the add-on to another level making it even more useful for professionals who work with dynamic scenes and animated models.
It is also expected that the extension will be updated further, improving the performance and speeding up the parsing process. 3D Assets nowadays are getting richer and richer of content making a .max file quite big in certain productions.
The possibility of using directly 3ds Max models in Blender without losing information represents a big step ahead for the 3D industry. With community support and constant updates, Autodesk MAX Importer has the potential to become the standard in a lot of companies’ workflow.
More information on the official Blender Extension page and the official Github page
– article by Canterino F.
