Changes for v2.30 Beta are:
- Multiprocessor systems support.
- Improved antialiasing for reflected/refracted images.
- RPC objects support.
- Support of bleeding by material.
- Atmospheric effects support.
- 2-sided materials support.
- Fuzzy reflections support.
- Fuzzy shadows support based on shadow maps.
- Pick feature (interrogating luminance or illuminance values in arbitrary points of a scene).
A Full list of changes is available here.

Integra is now available for Max 3 and 4, and costs $298. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v4.2 are:
- Max 4.x is now supported.

The plugin itself hasn't really changed, almost all of the changes are in the browser, which is no longer a demo version. 3D Browser v4.2 is now freeware. Register here to get a free serial number.

Changes over the Beta version are:
- Better user interface
- We have combined the circle and ellipse
- Added fillet and segments to smoothen the edges of back and seat
- Added castor wheels which can be modified

You can find a few examples of uses for this plugin here.

A complete list of changes and new features for RealiStorm MAX and the related RealiMation products is available here.

Next Limit S.L. have released a demo version of their LW 2 MAX converter plugin. It converts animated geometry (transformations and deformations of objects) from Lightwave 5.6 to Max 3, exporting the motion of each object as a series of files to disk. The motion of objects and cameras are 100% translated to Max.

The demo version is restricted to exporting 3 objects. A demo version is available here.

Tree C Technology B.V. have announced the upcoming release of VR4MAX v2.0. This new major release of VR4MAX, the high performance real-time virtual reality environment for Max 4, will add even more impressive new features to the already advanced functionality that takes you from your Max design to virtual reality in seconds. VR4MAX Release 1 users get a free of charge update to VR4MAX Release 2.

The VR4MAX Generator will be the top-level product that produces the .vmx real-time format and includes the interface to Max and all features available in the other packages giving the creator the freedom to share Max designs with anyone anywhere. VR4MAX Generator will support a variety of professional peripherals for stereo viewing and 3D navigation, such as ProSystems Passive Stereo projection, Stereographic's Crystal Eyes, and LogiCad3D's SpaceMouse.

The VirtuaLight VIB Exporter allows you to export your scene directly from Max to the VIB format used by the VirtuaLight GI Renderer. The plugin supports export of scene files (*.VIB), shader files (*.VS) and geometry (*.MSH).

The following features are supported:
- Colours and bitmaps can be used for the background.
- All objects are converted to VirtuaLight binary meshes.
- UV mapping supported.
- Smoothing groups are NOT yet supported.
- Target spots and omni lights are supported.
- If no lights are in the scene, Sunlight and Skylight are automatically added.
- Target cameras are supported. Free cameras must be changed to target cameras before exporting.
- Particle systems are NOT supported at present.
- Standard materials are supported.
- Diffuse, reflection, opacity and bump maps are exported.
- Bitmaps and AVI mappings are supported.
- Procedural textures are supported.
- Blinn and Phong shaders are supported, all other get converted to Cook.

A full description of the renderer can be found here.

Walkabout is a robust and ground-breaking plugin which allows 3D content creators to seamlessly add interactivity to scenes and objects from within either Max or Maya, then output Walkabout web files which can be rendered on either Internet Explorer or Netscape using the free Walkabout Player.

Walkabout is a full development system and includes licenses for unlimited runtime streams of Walkabout content.

The plugin is available for Max 4 and costs $495. A demo version is available here.

Moppi Demopaja is a demo authoring tool. It has a interface similar to the popular 2D animation tools such as Macromedia Flash and Adobe After Effects (I hope they don't have any patents on their User interfaces). Many of the user interface functionality is imitated from After Effects.

The export plugin is simply an extended ASCII exporter, enabling you to use 3D content from Max in your demos.

The plugin has been updated to work with the Fly3D SDK 2.0 beta7.

The plugin has been updated to work with the Fly3D SDK 2.0 beta7.

The plugin has been updated to work with the Fly3D SDK 2.0 beta7.

VISUALRAYS is a scripted RenderEffect plugin for Max 4. Very realistic renderings can be created with VISUALRAYS, which uses our advanced algorithm to simulate human visual systems and render realistic images.

The plugin is available for Max 4 and costs $195 (this is a special promotion price, normal price is $295). There are some example images here. A demo version is available here.

SegmationMax provides a unique image to geometry transformation that is found in no other products. This versatile plugin converts photographic quality images into splines and meshes with amazing speed and detail. An assortment of artistic controls fine tunes the process, giving the user full creative control. Take a look at some examples of what the plugin can do.

Features:
- Quickly generates Splines, Shapes, and Mesh Geometry.
- Allows for level of detail control ranging from accurate tracing to abstract representation.
- Includes 180 malleable, Escher-like pattern presets in 19 categories.
- Provides 20 different edge effects including jigsaw puzzle and other fun styles.
- Create, Import, and Export custom color palettes, 40 thematic palettes, get you started.

SegmationMax is available for Max 3 and 4, and costs $125. A demo version is available here.

SplutterFish LLC. has announced that Brazil R/S will be released next month, and have also released a feature list and pricing information.

SplutterFish will offer an 'Artist Bundle' that includes one Brazil r/s workstation license and two rendering slave licenses for $1500, as well as a very cost-effective 'Renderfarm Bundle' which includes four render slaves for $1000. Licensing is per computer, and covers a computer with up to four CPUs. A Student licensing policy is now being finalized and once complete will be announced at the SplutterFish web site.

From now until December 31, 2001, SplutterFish will be offering an Introductory Price for the Artist Bundle of $1200, and the Renderfarm Bundle for $750.

Eovia have released an Importer / Exporter for registered users of Amapi3D. The Amapi3D Plugin for Max establishes a direct link between Max 4 and Amapi3D. The two programs are then able to exchange objects and modify them, thus taking advantage of both softwares capabilities. This version does not work with Amapi3D V6.0. you first need to upgrade to Amapi3D V6.1 in order to use it.

There are no changes for v 1.12b, but the ZIP-file was missing one of the SDK files. This has now been added.

3D Pipeline has developed simple to use import and export plugins for content creation and modification of OpenFlight format databases. These plugins make for an easy, accurate two-way transition between the format of choice for the DoD and Max. An industry standard in the vis-sim field, OpenFlight had previously been difficult to use with Max.

The import plugin flexibly preserves all the relevant OpenFlight data, including:
- Geometry
- Lighting
- Textures

The import plugin allows for the editing and modification of OpenFlight files using powerful and relatively inexpensive art creation tools and options included in Max. The export plugin, on the other hand, allows whole worlds to be created in Max and exported to OpenFlight format for use on vis-sim and DoD applications.

The plugins are available for Max 3 and 4, and cost $695.

ActorX enables Max to export skeletal animation and models for use in Unreal Tournament. ActorX will look for any hierarchy which has either Physique meshes or other meshes attached to it, and export either the skin + reference skeleton ('model' - *.PSK files) or the animation (*.PSA files), using the filenames given in the main exporter utility pane. More information and some demo files are available here.

This version includes support for Character Studio v3.x.

Changes for v1.12 are:
- Texture resizing has been improved.
- The ASCII exporter was not correctly exporting vertex colors - Fixed.
- The last sampled frame was not being exported. - Fixed.
- More keyframe controllers are exposed (linear, TCB, hybrid Bezier, for position, rotation and scale tracks).
- and much more...

ActorX enables Max to export skeletal animation and models for use in Unreal Tournament. ActorX will look for any hierarchy which has either Physique meshes or other meshes attached to it, and export either the skin + reference skeleton ('model' - *.PSK files) or the animation (*.PSA files), using the filenames given in the main exporter utility pane. More information and some demo files are available here.

This version only supports Character Studio v3.x.

ActorX enables Max to export skeletal animation and models for use in Unreal Tournament. ActorX will look for any hierarchy which has either Physique meshes or other meshes attached to it, and export either the skin + reference skeleton ('model' - *.PSK files) or the animation (*.PSA files), using the filenames given in the main exporter utility pane. More information and some demo files are available here.

This version only supports Character Studio v2.x.

Digimation has announced that the new version of Stitch will be released this month, and will be a free upgrade for registered users.

This upgrade includes many new features such as:
- Many new types of group constraints
- Cloth Properties on group by group basis
- A new cloth to cloth collision engine
- Can now collapse stitch simulations to vertex animation and bake the animation into the mesh
- Groups can now work with Soft-Selections
- Garments can now have seam relations defined in 3D instead of 2D
- Cloth objects can have two sets of cloth properties assigned and you can animate between them
- Real time cloth simulation. You can now interactively drag cloth objects in your scene. For example, you can place a scarf on your character through real time dragging.

CoreVision has released some more information about their new scripted render effect called VisualRays. The site now has a few images showing what this image-enhancing plugin can do, and they have also released a Beta version for download.

There are no changes in this re-released version of RayMax, it just extends the trial time for 50 days.

View Tools is a Max utility that uses some properties of the viewports to achieve modelling or visualization tasks. The main task of View Tools is to help Max users to create 3d models starting from photographs and cameras created with Camera Match.

The SceneExplorer is being offered for a limited period at the introductory price of $69 instead of $95.

The plugin is available for Max 4.2. A demo version is available here.

This is a utility that enables Max to use the Magellan/SpaceMouse, Cadman, or Puckman as an input device.