Connecter’s 3ds Max Integration 3 Is Here!
There was hardly a time when Connecter wasn’t accompanied by at least one integration — starting with the real OG, the 3ds Max one. Thus, each script, plugin, add-on, etc., has followed its own journey and at its own pace. Some are heading to their mature states, and others are waiting for the first digit to reach one.
That’s natural, especially for software like Connecter that takes huge inspiration from the community. Speaking of which, version 3 of the 3ds Max integration shoots right at the heart of some known limitations. Check out the video for a short overview, and then read below for the details.
Complete rework of “Merge as Proxy”
Now you have complete control over the workflow. By default, you’ll get a dialog box that allows you to adjust the following:
- Proxy type.
- Where to create the proxy.
- How to name it.
- Whether to create a .max file, a separate proxy from each object, or overwrite if there’s an existing file.
Of course, you set your settings from Connecter Preferences in 3ds Max and enable the “Auto-merge…” option. This way, you’ll skip the dialog box on each merge. Pretty neat, right?
IMPORTANT: In the current version of Connecter, the Corona Renderer proxy (.cgeo) isn’t part of the default asset types. You’ll have to add it — it’s quite easy, as shown in the video below.
Support for parametric & rigged assets
Forest Pack/RailClone/Multiscatter/Chaos Scatter users rejoice! The 3ds Max integration fully supports all kinds of parametric assets. Your forests, grass fields, or tons of rocks won’t “break” when merging with drag & drop from Connecter.
The same goes for all kinds of rigs and assemblies. All specific features of the assets will remain untouched by the integration and at your disposal after the merge.
New global settings
A small dialog box hidden in the Connecter Preferences in 3ds Max can heavily impact your workflows. It gives you control over the file numbering, and you can set your preferred format and forget about it.
That’s quite useful, especially if you add a lot of assets with the same name through the integration.
Other fixes
We did our best to resolve all legacy issues and bugs that remained after the latest update in March 2023. You can find a complete list of the fixes in the changelog.
How to get 3ds Max integration 3?
Just restart your Connecter, and it’ll be automatically downloaded. Then drag & drop a .max asset in the 3ds Max viewport to complete the integration installation.
What’s ahead?
Connecter 6 with all bells and whistles, and then more work on polishing each and every feature. We feel that the 3ds Max integration is in a very mature state with version 3, and in the near future, the main goal will be boosting the performance and expanding some of the existing options.
If you have feedback or ideas for future development, please, share them with our support team.
