Hypercosm, LLC. have released a free version of their Hypercosm Teleporter Pro plugin for exporting Max scenes to encrypted Hypercosm applets for viewing on the web. The Pro version has a load of extra functions, but the free version is fully functional with no restrictions.

Changes for v5.5.3.2642 are:
- New import option for Cadbase (method) UG: Weld
- Deep Exploration no longer crashes when saving from a *.stp to *.rh file
- Measurements no longer disappear after resetting the view to Home
- Measuring tools now correctly measure direction when units of measurement are changed
- Randomize settings can now be saved to the actual file
- Camera animation error has been corrected
- Deep Exploration no longer crashes when scrolling Steps & Procedures
- Adds a new version of Catia 5 Method B
- The 'Custom' option in the installer now works
- Step description is no longer deleted on update
- Deep Exploration no longer crashes when healing a sample model
- Fixes notes moving with parts (vectorized)
- Fixes the CADBase license problem - import works when DE in trial period

Deep Exploration CAD Edition is available for Max 4 to 2009 and costs $1995. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.84 are:
- Adds support for Max 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Fixes a crash when creating new vertex groups

iCube Visualization have announced the upcoming release of VRay Scatter, a plugin that enables the creation of VRayProxy arrays. With a few clicks you can create forests or cities to cover your landscapes. Optimized RAM mangagement ensures that your images render despite billions of polygons. You can also use bitmaps or procedural textures to control the distribution and transformation of the proxy objects. The procedural map VRayScatterTexture can be used to create color variations within the array of scattered objects, increasing the realism.

Pricing information hasn't been made available yet, but it will be available for Max 9 to 2009, both 32-bit and 64-bit. VRay.info has got some videos of the plugin in action, and a link to a demo version.

Changes for v1.0.370 Beta include:
- Fix to support visible geometric lights
- Generalised triangle hit test system
- Adds support for user-defined area light sources
- Optimised geometric tesselation process
- Adds progress indication for geometric tesselation process
- Fixes NURBs box structure creation to correctly define derivatives
- Reduced memory footprint of scene instances
- Fix to validity of hit detection during tracing
- Fix to normal calculations for NURBs surfaces at poles

Changes for v1.1 are:
- Fixes a bug with multi/subobject materials
- Fixes a bug with blend materials
- Fixes a problem with SunSky systems

Changes for v1.1c are:
- Fixes a bug with map names not being saved properly
- Adds 'Linear' wood type

When applied to a color swatch in Max, this texture automatically uses the viewport wire color of the object. Due to the fact that it makes use of user data from Max, it won't work in other DCC applications.

TurboSquid have finally managed to release the Max 2009 64-bit version of Hairtrix. Registered users should already have received an email from TurboSquid, if you haven't got yours yet, get in touch with their support.

Hairtrix is available for Max 8 to 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit), and costs $695.

Changes for v1.4.11 are:
- Adds support for Max 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Adds support for ParticleFlow
- Adds support for mental ray
- Adds support for SoftBody objects
- Adds support for motion blur
- UVW texture coordinates are now imported / exported correctly
- There is no longer a filesize limit on imported .BIN/.SD files
- Adds MAXScript support

Changes for v1.07 are:
- PWrapper can now reference scale values from PFlow

PWrapper is available for Max 9 to 2009 and costs $295. A demo version is available here.

Roof Designer makes the process of building a 3D roof easier by allowing you to constrain vertices in your mesh to lie on geometrical 3D planes. The shape of the roof can easily modeled using the top view of your sketches, and texturing is done automatically, based on parameters which can be quickly manipulated.

The plugin also gives you the ability to put 3D mesh shingles on the planes you create by constraining. Parameters give you flexibility over the shape, size and placement of the shingles. The shingles can be cut along the roofs outline and inner edges of your choice.

Roof Designer is available for Max 9 to 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit) and costs $100. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.06 are:
- Adds a control to override the lifespan value

PWrapper is available for Max 9 to 2009 and costs $295. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.0.369 Beta include:
- Fixes filter clipping to handle non-RGBA channels
- Fix to ensure BSP is recomputed if groups change
- Fixes ward_aniglossy to stop values greater than 1.0 being returned

Blur Studios have re-activated BlurBeta, and have released a load of tools for Max and XSI. Most of the tools are scripted, with a few MAXScript extension plugins needed to use the tools. For more information on the tools and their usage, check out this CGTalk thread.

TOCollectoREX is a replacement utility for the standard (fairly useless) Resource Collector. It doesn't just collect bitmaps in your scene, it can also collect HDR-images, V-Ray meshes, IES files, shaders, and more. Now all is under control. It can also resolve links to your assets, and re-assign them if necessary, as well as converting your bitmaps to JPG or TGA files, and identifying all missing files.

TOCollectoREX is available for Max 9 to 2009 and costs 500 RUB (approx. $21). A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.02 are:
- Adds support for Max 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit)

GrowFX is available for Max 8 to 2009 and costs $499. A demo version is available here.

Zulus & Fly are running a special offer on their landscaping plugin MegaTerrain MAX this week. You can buy the plugin for $25 instead of the usual price of $75. You can find more information at their website.

MegaTerrain MAX is available for Max 9 to 2009 and normally costs $75. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.0c are:
- Adds support for Max 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit)

RTTGroup is available for Max 6 to 2009 and costs €250. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.4 are:
- Adds support for Max 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Adds 64-bit support for Max 9 and Max 2008
- Fixes a problem with render preset creation and multi-pass rendering objects
- The default setting menu of the Liquid+ Material paint rollout now displays correctly
- Fixes keyframe display of Liquid+ Material brush animation
- Fixes display of Liquid+ Material basic parameters in track view

This version of Liquid+ is available for Max 9 to 2009 and costs ¥45,780. A demo version is available here.

Eight years ago, on the 12th of July 2000, MAX Plugins.de went online after a month or so of getting everything set up. Since then the site has been getting more and more popular, and it doesn't show any signs of slowing down.

Up to the end of June, the site has had 12,411,148 pageviews. The database has a total of 5,984 free plugins and shaders, as well as 493 commercial plugins. The free plugins total looks a bit 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 and Max 2008.

I'd like to say a big thank you to the few people who have actually helped support this site, and the rest of you shouldn't be so shy about clicking on the PayPal button :o) I am always very grateful for anything that helps keep the site going.

All the best, Dave

Changes for v5.3 are:
- Introduces the Lua script language
- New Logic System items
- Adds new Zone and Zone Sensor objects
- Adds automated environment generation preview
- Adds the new Stats monitor
- MetaConnections optimization
- AI.DE now supports rotation and uniform/non-uniform scaling from its visualisation panel
- AI.DE regroups its geometric tools into a new top level 'Geometry' menu
- STAGE Scenario now has a more complete AI.implant integration

AI.implant is available for Max 7 and 8 (if anyone knows of other Max versions, please let me know), and costs $4995. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v2.2 are:
- Adds support for Max 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Changes for v1.0.368 Beta are:
- Fixes Maya plugin to correctly support lens shader list
- Fix to ensure priority rectangle is reset on canvas changes
- Fixes Maya plugin to support post projection matrices for cameras
- Fixes raytracing to support a scaled camera matrix
- Adds Final Gather environment cache to speed up / smooth HDRI illuminated scenes
- Fixes mi_luminance() to correctly support options structure weighting
- Minor fix to mi_api_parameter_lookup()
- Exposes more database and UI elements to script
- Fixes support of 3ds Max HDR bitmaps to correctly update image real_name
- Fix to correctly support image type created via image decompression
- Fix to mi_trace_finalgather for better average result
- Cosmetic fix ensures pause button is correct after priority rectangle definition

Feversoft, SL have released version 1.0 of their unbiased and physically-based renderer fryrender. To celebrate the release, they are running some special launch offers, both for new and existing users. All of the information can be found on the fryrender homepage.

fryrender is available for Max 6 to 2009 and costs €795 for 1 master license and 2 slave licenses. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v0.52 Beta are:
- Fixes problems with the 'gamma correction' tool
- The refl/refr max depth is now 3 for minipreview, preview and draft
- Fixes the intermittent 16*16 pixels bug
- The GI button now works properly

SolidRocks is available for Max 8 to 2009 and costs €14. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.0.366 Beta are:
- Adds rendition_example_shaders library for examples.mi test scene
- Fixes mi_query, improved support for miQ_FUNC_IS_ROOT
- Fixes mi_api_parameter_size to correctly handle string parameters for 64-bit versions
- Optimization to filtering process
- Fixes recursive phenomenon shader networks to support PRO materials

Changes for v7.8 are:
- Geometrical optimization quality improved
- UV optimization greatly improved when texture breaks exists
- Symmetry has been improved
- Last settings are now kept for better ergonomy
- Merge Coplanar Faces now correctly handles UVs
- Wavefront I/O can now read several UVs for a given vertices
- STL import now welds confused vertices
- Normals are no longer incorrect after optimization
- Print scene: Printer Paper names are now correct
- Corrects 3D I/O for C4D, COB, DXF, VRML file formats

Polygon Cruncher is available for Max 4 to 2009 and costs $129. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.1b are:
- Enables the 'Show Map in Viewport' button

Changes for v1.1 are:
- Adds Stack Bond style to Tile
- Adds fBm Turbulence fractal type to Noise
- Removed 0.0 - 1.0 limit from low and high threshold in Noise
- Limited Skew parameter correctly in Wood
- Fixes Tab Order (when you switch fields with tab)
- Fixes Tile bug with tile map when it's used as bumpmap
- Fixes bug in Fractal fractal type in Noise
- Fixes typo in Tile
- Fixes disabling maps with Color variation style in Tile

Changes for v9.3 are:
- Adds support for Max 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Merge Coplanar Faces now handles UVs correctly
- Wavefront I/O now reads several UVs for a given vertices
- Lightwave Scene 9.2 format is now supported
- Maya I/O keeps map names
- STL import now welds confused vertices
- Improved materials support when exchanging scenes with Max
- Geometrical optimisation quality improved
- UV optimisation greatly improved when textures breaks exist
- Symmetry has been improved
- Last settings are kept for a better ergonomy
- Scene List panel no longer scrambles thumbnails after a file save
- Non-standard MP3 files no longer crash the application
- Application no longer crashes on particular images (ie. some png with exif)
- IFF files no longer crash the application
- HDRI files no longer crash the application
- Print catalogue: Printer Paper names are now correct
- Application no longer crashes when Corel X3 is setting up
- Corrects 3D I/O for C4D, COB, DXF, VRML file formats

3D Photo Browser for 3D Users is available for Max 4 to 2009 and costs $69. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v2.8.2.0 include:
- Fixes a memory leak in the SPU animation paths
- Fixes an ordering bug with triangle annotations in the exporter
- A full list of changes can be found here

Granny Exporter is available for Max 6 to 2009, and is part of the Granny Toolkit which costs $12500.

Changes for v2009.1 are:
- Support for Autodesk Revit 2009 to Max 2009 workflows
- Revised documentation
- Revised UI
- Legacy defect fixes
- Bake animation in Max exporter
- Memory footprint enhancements
- IPV6 support
- HLSL support

Changes for v1.0.364 Beta are:
- Fixes parser to correctly handle default values for phenomenon declarations
- Maya plugin now correctly outputs lights array for certain shader types
- Fixes Maya plugin to evaluate all animated shader bridge components and handle other connections

Changes for v1.2 are:
- Fixes a bug in the Gain function

Changes for v1.0.363 are:
- Adds Max 2009 acceleration shaders inline with Max 2008
- Fix to ensure environment_color for mib_glossy_reflection is included in specular pass
- Fix to ensure correct index of refraction between split diffuse and specular passes
- Maya plugin adds support for include mapping of phenomenon shaders
- Maya plugin now evaluates all shader bridge components if animated

Changes for v5.5 are:
- Adds support for Max 2009 (32-bit only)

Illustrate! is available for Max 2 to 2009 and costs $395. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.6.18 are:
- The default light specular color settings are now white
- Mesh generation for the material viewer now includes random vertex colors
- Modified the buttons on the texture unit page to allow the Max right click menu
- The user data class parser now removes invalid name characters
- Fixes a bug with the skeleton name not being saved in the Object Settings dialog
- Fixes a bug with floating point shader program parameters having incorrect spinner ranges

Changes for v1.1 are:
- Fixes a bug when using texture maps in color_compose
- Fixes a bug with the alpha setting in color_compose

Changes for v1.1 are:
- Fixes a bug with HSV conversion in the color_correct shader