Overview

The Megascans Plugin for Autodesk 3ds Max allows you to connect Quixel Bridge and 3ds Max, giving you a one-click solution for importing your Megascans, Mixer and custom assets straight into 3ds Max within seconds.

This tool relies on Bridge’s robust architecture to give you the best asset management experience, and the Python implementation inside 3ds Max to create materials, textures and geometry automatically, giving you photorealistic results on the go.

It currently supports only the very latest versions of the following render engines for 3ds Max: 

• Arnold
• Redshift
• V-Ray Next
• V-Ray
• Corona
• Octane
• FStorm

Installation

Plugin installation is part of Bridge Export Settings. These settings are global and once set up, will not need to be changed too often.

You can install the plugin using any one of these methods:

1. You can set up the plugin when you launch Bridge after installing it for the first time on your machine.
2. Through Export Settings.
3. Through the Manage Plugins option in the Edit menu.

Installation during initial setup

1. When you launch Bridge after installing it for the first time on your machine, you will see initial setup options. Click the Library Path to choose the folder on disk where you would like your asset library to be.

The Library Path is important because this is where Bridge will store your assets and plugins. If you don’t already have a folder for this purpose Bridge will create it for you.

2. Click Next.
3. From the Export Target drop-down, select 3ds Max.

4. Click Download Plugin to begin downloading the plugin.

Once the download is done you’ll see a confirmation message in Bridge.

5. Click Install Plugin to install the plugin in 3ds Max.
6. Once the plugin is installed you should see the Installed status on the pop-up. Click Done to complete the set up.

7. Start up 3ds Max and you should see a Megascans menu in the toolbar confirming that the plugin was installed successfully. You can also expand the small script listener window in the bottom left corner of the app to see if the plugin has been installed.

In 3ds Max, Bridge will create a Quixel.ms file at the following location that references the plugin from your library:

Windows: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax\20XX - 64bit\ENU\scripts\startup

If you open this file it will have the path to where the 3ds Max plugin resides on your machine:

Installation via Export Settings

1. To access the settings, click the gear icon on the bottom left corner of the asset’s right panel or go to Edit > Export Settings. 

2. Click Export Settings in the pop-up menu to view all the export options. You can tweak your settings, like texture format, LODs, mesh format (FBX or OBJ), etc.

Exporting Assets

1. In Bridge, go to the Local filter in the left panel to export a downloaded asset. Make sure 3ds Max is running.
2. Click the Quick Export icon   or hit the Export button.

As soon as you click on Export in Bridge your asset should pop up in your 3ds Max scene.

The plugin will automatically detect the render engine from your 3ds Max render settings and set up your assets accordingly.

Plugin Interface

You can verify if the latest version of the Plugin is installed by opening 3ds Max > Megascans > MSPlugin.

The plugin has a minimal interface, exposing the following options which are enabled by default: 

• Apply Material to Selection: When checked, the plugin will automatically apply imported surfaces on the selected object(s) in the scene.
• Enable Displacement for 3d Assets: When checked, material setup for 3d assets will have displacement incorporated in it.

Custom Installation

If the current installation process in Bridge isn’t suitable for your pipeline, you can download and install the plugin manually as follows.

1. Download the plugin from here.
2. Extract the MSLiveLink folder from the .zip file and store it somewhere on your disk. Make sure you don't delete the folder from that place.
3. Next, create a Quixel.ms file at the following location:

Windows: C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax\20XX - 64bit\ENU\scripts\startup

4. In the file, specify the path of the plugin folder (Step 2) as follows:

5. Open Bridge, and in the Local filter click on the asset you want to export.

6. Go to the asset’s Export Settings, select Custom Socket Export from the Export Target drop-down.
7. Set the Socket Port field to 13292.
8. Go back to the asset details panel, click Export and your asset should appear in 3ds Max.