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So I've looked around, and since I have found no information on the subject, I assume 3DSMax does not support GLSL shaders? Is this correct?

I am using 3DSMax 2010 and 2011, and am sick of writing two versions of the same sets of shaders - one for my application and one for 3DSMax. So much gets lost on the crappy workflow :(

Does anyone have any information on how to render with GLSL shaders in 3DSMax 2010 or 2011?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Liam de Koster-Kjaer
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3 Answers3

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For 2010 and higher the directX material also supports CGFX shaders as well as HLSL. Both formats might require slight tweaking to support 3ds max's parameter system as well as a game engine.

In 2011 and 2012, Autodesk added support for metaSL, a format from NVIDIA (formerly mental images). MetaSL shaders can export into CG, HLSL, GLSL, and also MentalRay Shaders.

  • The metaSL export or compliation engine is available via the mental mill integrators edition (expensive). This is for game engine writers that want users to author additional shaders. eg. UnReal, Unity3d etc.
  • Content (ie. metasl, glsl,hlsl, etc,) can be created via mental mill standard edition which is free with a license of 3ds max 2011 and higher. (500$ without 3ds max)
  • There is also a way to author metaSL shaders directly in the 3ds max 2012 schematic material editor removing the need for mental mill as a standalone product.
Ben L
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it supports DirectX shaders and metasl shaders.

You can code your own shaders (maxscript, c++ plugin, metasl) to fill the gap. But you will not be able to see a unsupported material in the viewport.

IAmNoone
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Vray 2.0 supports rendering of GLSL shaders on 3dsmax 2011 and above, though it is by no means a free rendering engine.

Vray: http://chaosgroup.com/en/2/vray.html

GLSL Documentation: http://www.spot3d.com/vray/help/200R1/vrayglsltex.htm

Rotem
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