Changes for v2.3.3 are:
- Adds builds for Ogre 1.8
- Adds support for mesh animated normals for pose and morph animations
- Adds 'Animated Normals' setting to the scene and object settings dialog
- Adds 'Entity' page to object settings dialog
- Adds support for 'external source' settings in the OgreMax texture unit
- Modified light diffuse color export to allow negative values
- Modified the OgreMax texture unit to work with Max 2010/2011's asset manager
- Removed builds for Ogre 1.6
- Fixes a bug with the 'Check Mesh Instance' object setting not being copied
- Fixes a bug with bone scaling being computed relative to its parent
- The default export file is now used when starting an external OgreMax viewer
- Fixes OgreMax material changes not being reflected in the Max 2011 viewports

OgreMax is available for Max 8 to 2011 and costs $250. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v2.8.40.0 are:
- Major restructuring of Granny's SPU support
- SPU code layout changed to reflect the new structure
- SPU Curve size limits changed so that an animation may be arbitrarily sized
- Animation mirroring now supported on the SPUs by GrannySetSPUTrackGroupMirrorSpecification
- Adds GrannyUseTelemetry / GrannyUseTmLite to access Granny's Telemetry profiling information
- MakeSPUAnimation now creates a file in PS3 native byte ordering
- ExtractStrings/RemapStrings now errors correctly if passed an already remapped file
- Fixes the way string blind data is indexed in Maya
- Adds a new preprocessor sample: DecompressTextures
- Removed Bezier Granny head from the exporter
- Renamed the 'Reserved' member of granny_spu_transform_track
- Altered the way auto-documentation macros work for better Telemetry integration
- Environment detection cleaned up by removing ancient compilers

Granny Exporter is available for Max 6 to 2011, and is part of the Granny Toolkit which costs $12500.

Changes for v0.2.78 alpha are:
- Render settings are now functional
- Fixes an issue with real world scale maps
- Adds support for environment maps (both EXR and HDRI)
- Fixes some minor things, among them interactive mode

Changes for v1.1 are:
- Adds support for Max 2011 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Memory usage has been optimized to allow handling of larger and more complex models
- The plugin now remembers the last import directory
- You can now set an optional scale factor to automatically scale imported files

SolidWorks Importer is available for Max 2009 to 2011 and normally costs $150. Until the end of August you can buy the plugin for $97 (more information here). A demo version is available here.

Materialwerk GbR are running a Summer special offer on their BRIX Complete bundle. If you buy a license up to the 15th of August, you only pay $259 instead of $379.

BRIX Complete is the BRIX full version plus unlimited rendernodes. The BRIX Full Version is also reduced from $299 to $199, and the Unlimited Rendernodes pack is reduced from $119 to $89 (in case you've already purchased the Full Version).

BRIX Complete is available for Max 2009 to 2011 and normally costs $379. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v2.0 are:
- A new dotNet interface
- 1283 materials and templates
- All materials have been tested by professionals on real projects
- Most of the textures and materials have been corrected
- All textures used are seamless
- The majority of the materials have been updated and many new ones added
- The code has been completely rewritten
- Optimised memory usage
- Adds the ability to change maps directory location
- And more...

V-Ray Material Presets Pro is available for Max 2009 to 2011 and costs €110. All registered V-Ray Material Presets Pro v1.5 users will receive the upgrade for free.

This shader can be used to correctly map, color and texture the implicit surfaces created by BerconMetaBalls. It was developed for use with the Colorflow operator for Particle Flow Tools: Box#3, which was developed as part of the SuperFlow project.

The guys behind SuperFlow have also made some other great Box#3 operators freely available, which you can get from their Mindflow website.

This plugin only works together with V-Ray, you need to put it in the 'vrayplugins' folder.

Changes for v3.7.3 are:
- Fixes an incorrect alpha channel when saving the trail image to a separate file

Changes for v1.0 are:
- Adds support for Max 2011 (32-bit and 64-bit)

3ds Max to 3D PDF is available for Max 2009 to 2011 and costs $95. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.0 are:
- Adds support for Max 9 and Max 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit)

SuperMesher is available for Max 9 to 2011 and costs $100. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v0.2.74 alpha are:
- Adds native Indigo material and Indigo Spectrum Map support
- Max units now default to Indigo cm
- Adds a new GUI tab: Advanced + some controls reorganization
- Fixes an issue with redundant normal smoothing
- Fixes standard material support
- Material preview has been removed for the time being
- Fixes an occasional crash on closing the render settings dialog

Changes for v3.17.2 Beta 4 are:
- Fixes a bug in the installer that was aborting the installation in Windows 7
- Reduced the size of the installer by removing the VS2005 SP1 runtime (no longer needed)
- Recompiled using the latest libraries

Changes for v3.2.55 are:
- Fixes a bug with file collection introduced in v3.2.53
- Fixes issues with collection of files without extensions
- Adds the ability to check for updates at startup

FilePathFinder Pro is available for Max 9 to 2011 and costs $30. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v5.0.0 are:
- New algorithm in Advanced (Adv) chamfer
- Fixes Standard chamfer direction going wrong in some cases
- Adds a new Quad angle parameter to Advanced chamfer

Edge Chamfer/Extrude is available for Max 8 to 2011 and costs $40. Upgrades from older versions cost $20. A demo version is available here.

Sitni Sati d.o.o. and cebas VISUAL TECHNOLOGIES Inc. are running a bundle deal on thinkingParticles R4 and FumeFX 2.0 at the moment. You can purchase the bundle from the Cebas Shop for $2,376, which is a $270 discount.

Althiar Stage Director is a 3D game engine and authoring tool that plugs straight into Max, giving an instantaneous 3D game-view of your scene. The view it provides appears in the 'Perspective' viewport, and the plugins editing tools are fully integrated so you can work with the Max commands you are familiar with.

Althiar Stage Director is real-time, and there is no lengthy calculation process required before the viewport is updated. Modifications made to the project in the Althiar Stage Director window are replicated in real-time in the other Max viewports.

Althiar Stage Director is available for Max 2009 to 2011 and costs $2,980.

Changes for v1.5.7.15935 are:
- Renderer settings held in parameter blocks are now properly captured in state sets
- Fixes an exception when dragging a node from one view into another existing view
- Fixes nested composite inputs not being created (WIP)
- Updated version info

Zookeeper is available for Max 2009 to 2011 and costs $249. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v3.4.2.4632 are:
- Adds support for 64-bit Max 2011

Thanks to jhend60 for recompiling the plugin.

Changes for v3.7.2 are:
- Adds support for Max 6, 7 and 8 to the latest version

SuperMesher allows you to cache animated geometry regardless of its topology and number of objects including pFlow particles. The cache is baked out to a separate file which can be loaded into Max 2009 or higher. No reference is held to the original objects so they can be deleted or modified without consequence. Because the result is one single mesh, SuperMesher automatically generates appropriate material IDs and Multi-Sub materials.

SuperMesher also provides a free loader plugin, so that anybody can load or render SuperMesher files. If you've used commercial geometry plugins and need to render offsite, just cache all your render scenes and provide a copy of the free SuperMesher reader to the offsite renderfarm.

SuperMesher is available for Max 2009 to 2011 and costs $100. A demo version is available here.

Changes for SP1 are:
- Improves overall program stability
- Enhances workflow and physics simulations in several areas

ThinkingParticles is available for Max 2008 to 2011 and costs €1595. This Service Pack is a free download to all registered customers.

Changes for SP3 are:
- Overall product stability has been enhanced
- Fixes problems in geometry with defective triangles and open edges

volumeBreaker is available for Max 2008 to 2011 and costs €395. This is a free download to all registered customers.

Changes for v2010.07.17 are:
- Adds environment mapping to the camera
- Adds diffuse colors to the materials (which also work in the viewport)
- Most materials have been tested with Luxrender 0.7
- Lights no longer export if hidden
- Various other bug-fixes

Changes for Build 1739 are:
- Adds a 64-bit exporter and shader
- Bug-fixes

This library of shaders brings a number of useful new shaders to Max, including such things as multidimensional adaptive sampling, image based lighting (IBL), volumetric particle rendering and a microfacet model for glossy sampling.

Nanhua has written a very informative description of all of the features at the link above, and has also released the source code under the GNU General Public License.

Changes for v3.2.50 are:
- Adds the ability to auto-fix Texture paths for new merged objects on the fly
- Adds a 'Post-Open Script' section in Batch Mode
- Adds a hotkey for removing links from the scene using the Delete key
- Fixes some issues with replacing objects
- Fixes some other minor issues

FilePathFinder Pro is available for Max 9 to 2011 and costs $30. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v5.0.1 are:
- Too many to write here, take a look at the Release Notes (PDF)

RealFlow is available for Max 7 to 2011 and costs €2995. A demo version is available here.

cebas VISUAL TECHNOLOGY Inc. have announced that at Siggraph 2010 they will be demonstrating for the first time their advanced, fully integrated, hardware accelerated global illumination rendering solution based on their production proven finalRender rendering system.

This future version of finalRender, R4 SE, is due to be released in Q1 of 2011 and will be available as a major upgrade to registered customers of finalRender. It will incorporate enhanced CUDA GPU acceleration as well as full OpenCL support, without restricting the feature set and functionality of finalRender for Max.

Of interest is the list of things that the hybrid renderer will support in Max:
- Render elements
- Render passes
- Support of advanced highly optimized non path tracing GI-Engines
- Soft-shadows
- IES lights
- Displacement
- Subsurface scattering
- All compatible Max materials
- Support for atmospheric rendering engines like pyroCluster and FumeFX
- Volume-light effects
- Distributed rendering
- Stereo-camera compatible

You can find the press release here.

Because the Spanish football team won the 2010 World Cup, Next Limit are celebrating by offering a 50% discount on Maxwell Render until Monday the 19th of July, which takes the price down to €447.50. The discount only applies to new purchases or upgrades of Maxwell Render Standard or RenderNode licenses (not Educational licenses). All of the relevant information can be found here.

Maxwell Render is available for Max 7 to 2011 and normally costs €895. A demo version is available here.

Pavel Kuznetsov from Last Jedi Outpost has posted an announcement about the upcoming commercial version of his very useful Trail plugin. Ky_Trail Pro, as it will be called, will be available soon, and has the following new features (not a complete list):
- Adds multithreading support
- Optimized algorithms for rendering
- Expanded and refined interface
- You can independently control the balance of parameters of the rails
- Adds a Vertex Emitter
- Adds different types of particles for the trails
- Adds enhanced time management
- Particle parameters can be changed depending on the emitter properties
- Fixes some bugs from the previous version

There are no details on pricing yet, and the release date is also unknown at the moment.

Continuity is a powerful communal content development, task assigning and management tool that also solves all internal communication requirements, provides shared wikis, instant messaging, repositories for content organization and exchange, shared scheduling, shared spreadsheets, etc all in one simple package.

Continuity is an easy to use server-client system that requires no dedicated admin or admin skills and no powerful server system - the server can even operate from a common Windows workstation. Each Continuity client module interacts with a dedicated server service. The server services exchange data with the MySQL database which stores all critical information.

The demo version of Continuity allows up to 8 users to trial Contiuity for as long as they like.

Continuity works together with all versions of Max and costs $375 for a 15 user license. A demo version is available here.

3Point Shader is a toolset for creation and presentation of high-quality real-time rendered materials in the Max viewport. A user-friendly GUI helps meet and exceed what is expected of a master shader and its companion tools.

The toolset is comprised of the following:
- 3ds Max 3Point Shader Material
- Modifier to enable Quality Mode
- Tool to convert Lite materials to full GUI materials
- Sample content that demonstrates 3Point Shader features
- Documentation

3Point Shader is available for Max 2008 to 2011 and costs $48 (that's the launch price, the regular price will be $98). A demo version is available here.

Changes for v6.2.2.7429 / 7430 are:
- Adds a warning to STEP export when no solid geometry is found
- CAD part files no longer have 'Assembly' and 'Asset' import options
- Assignment layer selection now selects objects in the scene
- Thmsrv.exe processes now end when Deep Exploration is closed
- Thmsrv.exe can now handle two instances of Deep Exploration
- Deep Exploration no longer crashes when trying to 'remove used scene objects'
- Fixes a crash when clicking the display button in the navigation toolbar
- Media playback now works in the Advanced tab of steps properties
- Help can now be launched from the Assignment properties dialog
- Fixes a crash when loading a second cgm file when the part list pane is active
- Fixes fly mode remaining on when hitting F9 a second time
- The Decal Map tool now consistently returns to same directory when loading images
- Fixes an issue with the Decal map applying Decals to hidden objects
- The URL link for the notes tool is no longer broken
- The HTML Template '3D steps and procedures' now works
- JT assemblies are no longer loaded with the camera FOV set to 90
- Callout text for JT assemblies is no longer too small
- You can now search for variables that are not defined in the scene
- Creating a step with dummy sequence on now advances the animation timeline to frame 30/30
- Fixes a crash when trying to load a specific Solid Edge assembly
- 'Reset' now works for Solid Edge import setting
- You can now save valid VZXML/RHZ files
- Fixes assignment selection turning hidden objects back on

Deep Exploration CAD Edition is available for Max 6 to 2011 and costs $2995. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v2.8.39.0 are:
- Fixes an error in GrannySetChannel where the tangent generator read off the end of a vertex array
- Fixes a problem that prevented export of compound array animated attributes in Maya
- The default file handlers in Granny have been switched over to fopen/fread
- Adds missing DLL version check to the preprocessor
- Adds new MaskedMirrorPoseTransforms function
- Adds new GrannyGetRetargeterSourceIndices function
- Adds new GrannyGetRetargeterSourceModel function
- Adds new GrannyGetRetargeterTargetModel function
- Adds axis mirroring functions to the viewer
- Adds new GrannyGetSPUControlTrackGroupTrackMask function
- Adds some experimental controls to the granny_camera
- SPU Controlled Animations now properly respond to type requests
- Altered the xenon accelerated deformers for new types in latest XDK
- Adds support for MacOSX x64
- Removed GrannySleepForSeconds function

Granny Exporter is available for Max 6 to 2011, and is part of the Granny Toolkit which costs $12500.

On the 12th of July 2000, MAX Plugins.de went online after a month or so of getting everything set up. 2000 seems to have been a good year for Max sites, because both MaxUnderground and ScriptSpot also started in that year. Since then the site has been getting more and more popular, but I am the first to admit that it is starting to show its age. I had planned to have a new version of the site up and running for the 10th anniversary, but unfortunately I didn't get it finished. At some point this year it will go online with all sorts of new features, but at the core of it all it will remain the same simple site without loads of flashing bits and pieces.

Up to July 10th, the site has had 15,586,367 pageviews (2009 - 13,988,498, 2008 - 12,411,148, 2007 - 10,791,278). The database has a total of 7,813 free plugins, 240 mental ray shaders, and 446 commercial plugins. The free plugins total looks high because many of the Max 4 plugins also work in Max 5, so they've been counted twice. The same goes for Max 9 / Max 2008 and Max 2010 / Max 2011.

I'd like to say a big thank you to the very few people who have actually helped support this site. This time last year I got one birthday donation (thanks Carlos!), and since then only one person has clicked on the donate button to make a grand total of 1 (one!) Euro in donations in a year. Even that one Euro is very gratefully received, because all donations, no matter how small, help to keep the site going. So if this site has helped you out at all in the past, or if it helps you out in the future, please think about clicking on the PayPal button.

Time to get started on the next 10 years! All the best, Dave

Microfacet Glass is a shader that simulates the appearance of a rough glass surface. It is mostly based on the GGX microsurface model published by Walter et. al at the Eurographics Symposium on Rendering in 2007. This means that compared to most of the other glass shaders, this one actually tries to physically and plausibly model the optical effect of a rough reflecting and refracting surface, including self occlusion and shadowing due to the individual micro facets.

This shader has been out for a few months now, but I only just discovered it.

Changes for v0.71b are:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit) which should also work in Max 2011

The Power Body Object Toolkit provides a great set of complimentary tools for working with the new 3ds Max Body Objects. The creators of the Body Object (nPower Software) have packaged a set of tools to help you get the most out of the new Body Objects.

Features include:
- Export to STL format for rapid prototyping
- Export Power NURBS CAD compliant objects into STEP and SAT formats
- Power Join combines Power NURBS Objects into a single Power NURBS object
- Power Detailer lets you to apply features such as labels, text, logos, holes, etc
- Direct editing of NURBS objects similar to the Editable Mesh tool
- Construct 3D blend curves tangent to existing curves or surfaces
- Create blended surfaces between multiple curves and surface edges
- Create corner blends or n-sided blends between multiple curves or edges
- Power Composite Sketch composes existing curves and edges into a sketching environment
- Power Edit Sketch collapses Max shapes and other Sketches into an Editable Sketch object
- Power NURBS lets you apply display and render settings to multiple Body Objects
- Power UVW Unwrap lets you unwrap the Body Objects into a 2D working environment

Power Body Object Toolkit is available for Max 9 to 2011 and costs $200. A demo version is available here.

BRIX is an innovative texture plugin for Max and Maya that creates brick wall or wood parquet textures based on individual tile bitmaps. This free Lite Edition has a few restrictions compared to the full commercial version:
- No bitmap import
- No creation of new materials
- No network rendering
- 8 ready-to-use V-Ray and Standard materials (commercial version: 100 materials)
- 70 bricks and tiles included (commercial version: > 1,100 bricks and tiles)
- 223 bitmaps included (commercial version: > 5,100 bitmaps)
- A 50 MB material library (commercial version: 1.37 GB)

IntegrityWare, Inc., the parent company of nPower Software, have revealed a new technology product called SubD-NURBS, which unites the modelling methods of Sub-division Surface modelling and NURBS based modelling. This allows a workflow where conceptual designs can be quickly generated using simple Sub-D modelling operations, and can then be modified with fillets, shelling, Boolean operations, or other advanced surface construction tools from the NURBS world.

There is no information at the moment about when or even if this technology will show up in the nPower products, but it certainly looks good and opens up a lot of new possibilities in modelling pipelines.

Changes for v1.3 are:
- Adds support for Max 2011 (32-bit only)
- Major changes to the Material Editor interface
- The 'ErpShader.dlu' utility is no longer necessary
- Major changes to the export dialog

Changes for Build 1738 are:
- Infinity shader bug fixes

cebas VISUAL TECHNOLOGY Inc. have released a new fully functional Personal Learning version of finalRender R3 SE for students (you need to supply proof of enrolment as a student in an educational program).

It includes:
- All features and functions of finalRender R3 SE
- pyroCluster 3.5 (without mental ray shaders)
- finalToon R3
- finalShaders (formerly sold separately, now part of finalRender)

finalRender R3 SE Personal is feature-complete except for a few minor restrictions related to network rendering with a render farm and disabled support for distributed network rendering. The license also prohibits the following:
- Using the software on any kind of commercial productions
- Providing, or offering to provide any service using the software
- Using the software to provide web designs or other services to commercial / non-commercial entities
- Receiving compensation from others for copies or modified copies of the software
- Hosting, or offering to host the software on any basis
- Receiving compensation for any service that uses the software, including support services
- The new Non-Commercial User License Agreement allows the owner to install finalRender R3 SE Personal on a single PC for personal, non-commercial use only

Pricing has been set at €145, and the license doesn't include any rights to software upgrades or updates. Service packs might be included in the license, according to the cebas website, but only at their discretion. This last bit puzzles me, why don't they just say that service packs are included (or not)?

Changes for v3.3.4 beta are:
- Fixes a crashing bug when loading scenes with XRef objects

Forest Pack Pro is available for Max 7 to 2011 and costs €200. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.0.455 include:
- Adds tiled render UI panel, giving users a simpler interface to render high-res images
- Fixes an error in Max when the viewport is changed
- Fixes the 'sun_direction' parameter in Max for the 'mia_physicalsky' shader
- Fixes the 'lens' parameter for the camera in the Max plugin
- Declaration files are now embedded inside the Max .dlu
- Implemented mr Sky light in the Max plugin
- Updated the plugin manager to remove declaration files installation

Rendition is available for Max 9 to 2011 and costs $395. A demo version is available here.

n-Tracer is a GPU-based ray tracing renderer which supports photon mapping to simulate global illumination. It supports both standard and V-Ray materials, and standard, photometric and V-Ray lights. At this time only 32-bit Max 2009 is supported.

Craft Animations are running a special Autodesk promotion until the 30th of September 2010 for users of Max 2011, Max Design 2011 and Softimage 2011.

The offer allows you to upgrade the cut-down version of Craft Director Studio (CDS) that ships with Max to one of a selection of special editions of CDS, giving up to a 40% saving over the regular price. More information can be found at the link above.

Changes for v10.6 are:
- Adds 'Compact' display mode which shows thumbnails without file names
- The fast application access bar has been improved
- Adds a new dialog for defining the current catalogue settings
- The previous display position is now restored when opening a recently browsed folder
- Right-click on a favorite folder now shows its sub-folders
- Windows task bar application icon now shows the state of progression
- Fixes the Split / Glue file command
- The application is now more responsive when browsing slow devices
- Thumbnails generated by the shell now have the correct aspect ratio
- Image names containing unicode characters can now be read

3D Photo Browser is available for Max 4 to 2011 and costs $69. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.23a are:
- Adds support for Max 2011 (32-bit and 64-bit)

CityTraffic is available for Max 9 to 2011 and costs €360. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.0.18a are:
- Fixes a minor network rendering bug

MultiScatter is available for Max 2008 to 2011 and costs €200.

Changes for v3.3.3 beta are:
- Solves crashing bug with lost XRef references
- Clear exclude button and Random translation now work properly
- All items that don't intersect with a surface are discarded
- Fixes issues with transparent and wireframe modes

Forest Pack Pro is available for Max 7 to 2011 and costs €200. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.2 are:
- No idea, but if I find out I'll post it here

Overlay is available for Max 2008 to 2011 and costs $15.30. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.5.5.37169 are:
- Fixes schematic view wires jumping when dragging an input connection
- Schematic inputs now update properly when dragging out an output node
- Upgraded to Max.NET 1.2.2

Zookeeper is available for Max 2009 to 2011 and costs $249. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v3.17.2 Beta 3 are:
- Adds support for Growl notifications
- Fixes some compatibility problems with OpenGL 3.2 in the Optix renderer
- xNormal now requires SP2 if you use WinXP
- Fixes a rare problem in the Default Bucket Renderer which could slow/hang the render
- Optimized the normal map's CPU rendering by 5%
- The Optix renderer now uses better sampling to reduce banding artifacts
- Fixes a problem loading .DDS files with mipmapping
- Fixes a very rare potential problem computing the tangent space for opposite faces
- Fixes the OBJ mesh importer using more RAM than it should
- Recompiled using the lastest libraries (DX June 2010)

Changes for v3.10.0 are:
- Adds support for KlayGE v3.10.0

Changes for v1.41 are:
- Improved algorithms for better results with PhotoStruct
- The application would sometimes crash when a pick point was being set
- The default layer in the Editor would disappear when layers were cleared

Studio Clouds is available for Max 2009 to 2011 and costs €1999. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.2.2.0 are:
- Autodesk.Max.dll assembly is no longer signed, assuring backward / forward compatibility
- MNFace vertex and edge data is now available as arrays
- Operators +,-,*,/, and many others are now available for all classes
- Many previously non-creatable classes can now be properly created
- Many other functions not previously available are now exported

MaxDotNet is available for Max 9 to 2011 and costs $675 for commercial use. For non-commercial use the plugin is free.

Changes for v0.5.2 are:
- Adds support for Maya
- The offline installer now works properly

Changes for v2.0 are:
- Adds support for 64-bit Max 2010