by NRGSille·Workflow
Images © NRGSille. Used for product review; image policy.
A staple among Blender artists working with 3ds Max files, it earns its place in the Blender Extensions library for its broad material coverage across Legacy, V-Ray and Corona setups, and has passed 236,000 downloads.
Maintained by Sebastian Sille (NRGSille) and originally authored by Sebastian Schrand, Jens M. Plonka and Philippe Lagadec, this extension reads Autodesk 3DSMax (.max) files and imports their meshes, materials and texture coordinates in Blender via File → Import → Autodesk MAX (.max).
Material coverage is wide: Legacy, StandardMtl, Standard Surface, PhysicalMtl, Multi-Sub, RaytraceMtl, Shellac, V-Ray, VRay2Sided, Arch & Design and CoronaMtl, including Corona HairMtl, SkinMtl, LayeredMtl and CoronaPhysicalMtl. It reads basecolor, roughness, metallic, specular, alpha and refraction parameters, plus textures for basecolor, roughness, specularity, transparency and normalmap. Only linked textures are supported, and they must sit in the same folder as the .max file or a subfolder of it.
Compressed and partially compressed files work only when the format is .zip and the 3dsMax version is not newer than 2023. The add-on runs on Blender 4.2 LTS and newer and is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. On Blender Extensions it holds popularity rank 19.
Import Autodesk MAX (.max) is best for blender users who need to bring meshes, materials and textures from Autodesk 3DSMax (.max) files into Blender.
Import Autodesk MAX (.max) is completely free to download and use.
Import Autodesk MAX (.max) is compatible with Blender 4.2 LTS and newer, so it works on the current long-term-support release and later versions. The extension is at version 1.9.2 and is released under the GNU General Public License v3.0 or later. If you're running an older Blender build, it may not be supported. Check the developer's page at github.com/nrgsille76 for version history and requirements before installing.
Import Autodesk MAX (.max) supports a broad set of material types: Legacy, StandardMtl, Standard Surface, PhysicalMtl, Multi-Sub, RaytraceMtl, Shellac, V-Ray, VRay2Sided, Arch & Design and CoronaMtl, including Corona HairMtl, SkinMtl, LayeredMtl and CoronaPhysicalMtl. For parameters it reads basecolor, roughness, metallic, specular, alpha and refraction. Texture support covers basecolor, roughness, specularity, transparency and normalmap, so material data carries across alongside the mesh and texture coordinates.
Import Autodesk MAX (.max) supports only linked textures, and they must be located in the same folder as the .max file or in a subfolder of it. If textures sit elsewhere, they won't be picked up during import. Supported texture types include basecolor, roughness, specularity, transparency and normalmap. Keeping the .max file and its texture files together in one folder structure is the safest way to get materials to import correctly.
Import Autodesk MAX (.max) handles compressed and partially compressed files only when the format is .zip and the 3dsMax version used to save the file is not newer than 2023. Files packed in other archive formats, or .zip files from 3dsMax versions after 2023, aren't supported. For uncompressed .max files this limitation doesn't apply. Check the developer's page at github.com/nrgsille76 if you run into issues with a specific file.
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