Di-O-Matic, Inc. have announced the official release of its complete product line for Max 9. Some of the plugins have also been improved: Morph ToolKit v1.51, Hercules v1.02, and Voice-O-Matic v2.1.

Di-O-Matic plugins are not available for 64-bit Max. At the moment only 32-bit versions are available free to registered users, who can get them here.

Changes for v1.0 are:
- No changes, just a recompile for Max 9 (32-bit)

A small MAXScript extension for getting the current date and time. The interesting thing is that it works in all versions of Max from 3 to 9.

Changes for v3.0.1 are:
- Adds support for Max 9 (32-bit)
- Fixes a problem where texture parameters might dissapear

Itoo Software have updated all of their plugins to work with Max 9 (32-bit and 64-bit). Head over to the download page to get them.

Changes for v2.1 are:
- No changes, just a recompile for Max 9 (32-bit only)

The commercial Pro version has also been updated, and can be downloaded from the same link as above.

Changes for v1.0 are:
- No changes, Pavel just recompiled it for Max 9 (32-bit and 64-bit)

This plugin allows Max to export IVC files for use in TerrainView, a Virtual Reality based software solution that facilitates the interactive visualization of high-resolution 3D terrain data over the inter- and intranet.

The plugin can only be installed if TerrainView is also installed.

Click-VR Visualizer is a 3D real-time rendering system, which enables you to create high quality realtime applications, presentations or visualizations from your Max scenes and models.

Click-VR Visualizer is completely integrated in Max. You do not need to waste time exporting data or learning a new 3D software. With just a few simple mouse clicks from inside of Max you can walk through your scene in realtime. Furthermore, you can easily add exciting functionality to your 3D scene, creating your own interactive 3D presentation or application. Doors can swing open as you approach them, radios can play your music and any other element of the presentation can react to the user - no programming skills required.

Finally you can publish your work and send it to your customer or audience by creating single file, interactive, distributable 3D scenes without the need for any separate client application.

Click-VR Visualizer will be available for Max 5 to 8 in November and costs €980. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v3.0.4.9b are:
- Just a recompile for Max 9 (32-bit only). Still beta, so be careful.

Changes for v22.0.4 are:
- DOF, a new depth of field shader
- New Oily_Specular with physical iridescence, illumination by reflection, Lafortune specular intensity
- A new shadow shader with falloff
- Raylength now has a new sampling method
- Fixes fractal noise sometimes 'shifting' on network renderings
- Several other new shaders
- All shaders also as 64-bit versions

For a full list of changes in this version look here.

I've also updated all of the Include files for Max, you can downloaded them here.

GHOST 3D have announced the release of Max 9 versions of all of their plugins (Scribe-iT, Surf-iT and ResErect). I don't know at the moment if there are also 64-bit versions available, I'll try to find out.

Bionatics have released EASYnat v2.5 for Max 9 (32-bit and 64-bit).

Sitni Sati have announced that all of their plugins are now available for Max 9. ScatterVL Pro and Enlight users can download files from the Sitni Sati members area. Owners of AfterBurn and DreamScape will be able to get the update from TurboSquid.

nPower Software have released a beta version of their upcoming Power NURBS 2.0 plugin for Max 7, 8 and 9 (32-bit and 64-bit).

This plugin gives you an easy way of creating low-poly trees in your scene. You can paint the trees where you want them, and you can also use any other mesh object in place of the tree. It's available in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

Vladislav Gavrilov has updated all of his plugins for Max 9. Most of them are available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

Changes for v1.3.2 are:
- Adds support for Max 9 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Switcher is available for Max 6 to 9 and costs $49.99. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.1 are:
- Adds support for Max 9 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Changes for v2.1 are:
- Fixes a bug when using mental ray and sub-materials

Z-Depth Plus is an improved version of the Z-Depth render element that ships with Max.

Changes include:
- Z-Min and Z-Max parameters are animatable, and have higher maximum values (99999999)
- 'Use Camera Environment Ranges' uses the near and far camera ranges for Z-Min and Z-Max
- The Update option modifies both the Z-Min and Z-Max parameters (buggy in the Max version)
- If you render an animation Z-Min and Z-Max are set so all rendered frames are accounted for
- The Update option always changes Z-Min and Z-Max values at frame 0

Changes for v1.3 are:
- Improved global illumination
- Adds motion blur
- Adds area lights
- Adds blurry reflections
- Adds support for render elements
- New more intuitive interface
- Adds a real time camera preview

RTSquare is available for Max 6 to 8 and costs $560. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v0.1.13 are:
- Better mesh optimization
- Support check box in maps slots

This importer makes it much easier to combine Terragen renders with Max 3D-objects. Animation script import has not been implemented yet, but time permitting, will be added at a later date.

Imports files in the Stanford University PLY file format.

An importer/exporter for the OBJ file format that doesn't make a mess of texture coordinates and normals on import, and has a load of presets for exporting to other programs. At the moment, the exporter only supports Max standard materials, bitmaps and procedural textures.

Changes for v0.1.12 are:
- Adds support for Quest v3.5.5
- Fixes a conflict with the Panda Exporter

Changes for v1.02 are:
- Adds support for Max 9 (32-bit). 64-bit support is coming soon

Transmographier is available for Max 5 to 9 and costs $20. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v0.2 are:
- Adds support for Max 9 (32-bit). 64-bit support is coming soon

Tension Modifier is available for Max 6 to 9 and costs $20. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v2.5 are:
- Support had been added for Max 9
- Adds PolyShift, an interactive transform tool to freeform shape an object
- Adds Quadrify, which removes triangulation to achieve foursided polygons
- Adds additional Align Pivot options
- Faster load time
- ShrinkRing added
- Adds shortcuts for initializing the PolyDraw Edit tools
- PolyDraw now works on any geometric object, not only Editable meshes
- PolyDraw speed optimizations
- Improved accuracy when placing loops with SwiftLoop
- SolveSurf now has its own dialog
- Shaded/Wireframe toggle added to the PolyDraw interface
- PolyShapes pixel distance bugfix
- BuildCorner, CornerLoop, PerspectiveSelect and RandomGrow rewritten

PolyBoost is available for Max 5 to 9 and costs $96. A demo version is available here.

Yang Zhang has compiled his plugin PFlow Spline Vortex v1.0 to work with Max 8 and Max 9 (64-bit).

Changes for v1.0.3 are:
- Adds support for Max 9 (32-bit and 64-bit)

f-Edge is available for Max 3 to 9 and costs $39. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.6.0.66 are:
- Density surface distribution is displayed in the viewports
- Model Hair local influence and Vertex CS gizmo are displayed only for the currently selected instance
- Improved speed when adding multiple objects with Select button
- The validity label in dynamics rollout gets updated when a dynamic object changes
- Fixed crash at copy/paste of hair parameters
- Fixed hanging when loading scene with deleted hair emitter
- hairfx_mr.dll no longer depends on Core.dll
- Adds support for Max 9 (32-bit and 64-bit)

hairfx is available for Max 5 to 9 and costs $395.

Changes for v0.1.2 are:
- No changes, it's just been recompiled with the final Max 9 SDK as 32-bit and 64-bit versions

Coolpicker was originally written by Daniel Rind, and has been updated by Chris Johnson. This version only works in Max 9 (32-bit and 64-bit), and contains many internal code improvements that were made necassary by the upgrade to the Visual studio 2005 compiler. Included with the dll are all the intermediate build files, including PDB files.

Changes for v3.0 are:
- Adds 'Self Shadow' option for p_shadow shader
- Recoded Reflect/Refract part of p_MegaTK
- Supports fur effect on polygon objects in Max
- Recoded 'Cone' parameter of p_SpotTK, it's now estimated in degrees and named 'Soft Cone Angle'
- p_PointTK and p_SpotTK shaders now use 'Start' parameter to define where attenuation begins
- Adds bump slot for p_maya_shadingengine shader
- Adds p_float4_to_color shader
- Adds 'Russian Roulette Optimization' option to disable it in p_MegaTK shader
- Adds SpecialC3 and SpecialC4 channels to p_MegaTK shader
- Adds 'Gamma' for Occlusion in p_MegaTK shader
- Adds 'Samples Decrease Factor' to p_MegaTK shader
- Adds 'Path Indirect Diffuse' to p_MegaTK shader
- Adds 'Shadow Transparency' to p_scatter_wrap shader
- p_scatter_wrap shader now returns 'color' type, fixed bug with wrong light counter
- Adds 'scatter_color', 'wrap_color' and 'terminator_color' parameters to p_scatter_wrap shader
- p_OpenEXR_saver shader now uses 'OpenEXR 1.4' library
- p_MegaTK_pass shader now supports saving passes to single OpenEXR file
- Fixes bug with alpha value more than 1 in p_MegaTK shader
- shaders_p.dll and p_EXR_saver.dll (win version) have been combined to a single dll file

This is a Particle Flow operator for creating vortex (tornado) effects controlled by a spline. There is also a video available here that shows how to use the operator. This is only for 32-bit Max 9.

Changes for v3.5904 are:
- Adds support for Max 9 32-bit
- Adds option to control if visibility of objects in Xref scenes is controlled per pass
- Vray 1.5 support now has 'Put' and 'Get' buttons next to the environment map slots
- Some minor (and 1 major) bug-fixes
- A few Object Property spreadsheet tweaks

RPManager is available for Max 6 to 9 and costs $300. A demo version is available here.

Archvision have released a 32-bit and 64-bit version of their RPC plugin for Max 9. You can download the 32-bit version here and the 64-bit version here. The mental ray shader for RPC content, previously a commercial plugin, is also now included for free.

This is just a recompile for Max 9. The ZIP file contains versions for Max 32-bit and 64-bit.

Oleg Bayborodin from Orbaz Technologies, Inc. has announced that the Particle Flow Tools plugins are essentially Max 9 ready, they are just missing the installers. The other Orbaz plugins are still being recompiled, and the Max 9 plugin recompiles are free of charge.

I've had this plugin in the database for ages now, but Turbosquid have only just got around to officially announcing it...

The Particle Flow Tools: Box 3 Pro plugin has been created to extend the capabilities of the built-in Particle Flow system in Max with many new and sophisticated operators. Particle Flow Tools: Box 3 Pro is primarily a toolset for creating your own custom Particle Flow operators, although it does come with several exceptionally useful presets.

This robust set of tools gives users the ultimate control over particle systems by allowing for low-level creation of highly complex custom particle data streams, while eliminating much of the need for scripting. The new Data View allows the user to take full control of Particle Flow and utilize its 23 new data sub-operators. Cache Disc and Cache Selective have been added for even more speed and efficiency.

Particle Flow Tools: Box#3 Pro is available for Max 6 to 9 and costs $495. A demo version is available here.

P SOFTHOUSE Co., LTD. have started an open beta test of their upcoming plugin Pencil+ v2.0 (due for release March 2007). Finders of bugs will receive tickets for a discount on the final product. Unfortunately, the information on the beta is only available in Japanese at the moment, but you can find it all here.

Chaos Group have announced that V-Ray 1.5 RC3 for Max 6, 7, 8 and 9 (32-bit and 64-bit) is available for download to registered users. For detailed information on the changes made in V-Ray 1.5 RC3 take a look here (forum registration required).

I've just uploaded a new version of the site (it looks like the old one, but it's easier for me to update), so if anything doesn't seem to work properly, please let me know! Dave

Carl-Mikael Lagnecrantz has announced the upcoming release of PolyBoost v2.5. Among other things it will include support for Max 9, and will be a free upgrade for existing users.

Changes for v0.1.11 are:
- Loading dll error fixed
- Version for Max 9 (32-bit) available

GPUTECH Software have announced the upcoming release of RTSquare v1.3 on the 20th of October 2006. Among the new features are area lights, blurry reflections and render elements.

RTSquare is available for Max 6 to 8, and costs $560. A demo version is available here.

Lumonix have released an update for Skin FX, enabling it to run on Max 9 (32-bit only). You can find the update details here.

Skin FX is available for Max 6 to 9, and costs $189. A demo version is available here.

cebas Computer GmbH have announced their update policy for the Max 9 versions of their plugins.

For each plugin there will be a small update fee (between $50-$95) in order to upgrade plugins to work with Max 9. Some products like finalRender and Thinking Particles will likely have a completely new release for 3dsmax 9. Updates should become available within the next month or two.

Changes for v1.06 are:
- There are too many to list, you can find the ChangeLog here

Changes for v0.1.10 are:
- Network texures path supported
- Crash bug during export mapping channel fixed

Changes for v0.2.9 are:
- Add BSX flags for NIF exports when animation is involved for Oblivion
- Worked around what appears to be a bug in the Bezier Scale controller
- Change time intervals when exporting MW style animation
- Fixed bug with missing reference in Footer in MW exported .KF files
- Call routine to apply skin offsets to Skin data
- Invoke MAXScript in Max 5 so that we can import Note Tracks

Autodesk have started shipping Max 9. You can find the product page here and the demo version is available for download here.

Changes for v1.2.3 are:
- Improves the multi-knife slice feature

hbBool is available for Max 7 and 8, and costs $295. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.19 are:
- More MAXScript memory is assigned when skinFX loads
- Selected volume wasn't properly registered when using Paint / Weight tools
- Fixes several workflow bugs with modifiers on top of Skin FX
- Fixes a bug in toggling painting between 'Skin' modifier and 'SkinFx'

Skin FX is available for Max 6 to 8 and costs $189. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v3.12 are:
- Fixes a small issue in the license code

Puppetshop is available for Max 8 and costs $199 until October 31st 2006, after that it will cost $249. A demo version is available here.

Skin FX is a Max based modifier (deformer) that gives the artist the ability to simulate mesh being deformed or 'sliding over' other objects such as skin sliding over bone or muscle. Skin FX can also help to control 'volume loss', which is a common problem with regular skinning techniques.
Taking advantage of parametric objects, Skin FX will make it possible to simulate effects such as skin sliding at very little performance cost.
Skin FX can be used for many types of effects from muscle deformation to foot prints in snow to faking soft-body deformations.
Finally, Skin FX is an artist driven muscle and skin deformation plugin. It is not a scientific muscle simulation tool. Instead it gives artists the control and workflow they need to take the next step in skin deformation.

Skin FX is available for Max 6 to 8, and costs $189. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v0.9.3 are:
- OSGExp now compiles for OSG 1.2
- It is possible to select all kind of nodes for LODHelpers

Changes for v2.7.0.9 are:
- Exporter now dumps Max visibility tracks as vector tracks
- Exporter no longer causes the 'Export Module Failure' dialog in Max
- Stopped building Max 5 plugin by default
- Works around a problem using the Max MeshNormalSpec interface
- and much more...

Granny Exporter is available for Max 5 to 8, and is part of the Granny Toolkit which costs $12500.

Changes for v3.0.0 are:
- Fixes parameters not being copied to new object when cloning objects

Puppetshop is a rigging and animation plugin which offers a blend of easy to use animator tools while keeping the 'backdoor' open for technical directors. Features include:
- infinite number of rigs
- drag and drop library system
- a single Max file can store any number of clips
- easy blending of animation / time layers
- optimised Trackview
- export to Max bones, BVH, or direct to a game engine
- unique hierarchy tools

Puppetshop is available for Max 8 (free upgrade to Max 9 when it ships) and costs $199 until October 31st 2006, after that it will cost $249.

Maxon have announced the upcoming release of BodyPaint 3D R3. New features include 32 bit colour depth workflow, LSCM unwrapping, new selection tools, new interface and much more. More information can be found here.

Changes for v2.7.0.8 are:
- Pushed back the practical limit on mesh size in the exporter again
- New script commands "GrannyLockValue" and "GrannyUnlockValue" added
- Optimized the granny_track_samplers
- Fixed a missing flag in GrannySampleTrackUUULocal

Granny Exporter is available for Max 5 to 8, and is part of the Granny Toolkit which costs $12500.

Changes for v2.07 are:
- Fixes an XRef problem with all of the plugins
- Fixes a problem converting to PRS keys
- Adds automatic update capability
- New countdown-tool lets you set a time before recording starts
- (Re)Simulate lets you update a sequence with different configuration settings
- Chassis Relocator added to Craft Car

Craft Director Tools consists of a number of different plugins (Car, Helicopter, SteadyCam, etc.) which can all be purchased separately. The plugins work with Max 6 to 8, and prices range from $49 to $495. A demo version is available here.

RenderDancer is a toon shader / render effect for giving your renders a hand-drawn look.

Changes for v0.2.7 are:
- Adds options to disable parts of plug via INI
- Enhancements from NifLib including support for Freedom Force
- Max 5 build is available but untested
- Fixes bug with NiTriShape export
- Adds option to update Tangent Space (for Oblivion)
- Adds option to Collapse Transforms on meshes

Changes for v1.0.7.1 are:
- Adds option to export terrains for Command & Conquer: Renegade
- Adds AABox option to W3D Tools dialog
- Adds example Dazzle.ini file to the 3dsmax7/plugins directory

Changes for v8.0 are:
- Adds support for Max 8 including Service Pack 3

DepthCAM is available for Max 6 to 8, and costs $349. A demo version is available here.