InstaLOD for Autodesk 3ds Max enables you to optimize 3D meshes without having to leave your favorite DCC tool. The integration features a graphical user interface, supports complex batch operations and can be scripted with its MAXScript scripting-based API. Great care has been taken to ensure a high degree of usability and productivity, even when using InstaLOD for Autodesk 3ds Max for the first time.
Please refer to the InstaLOD Pipeline documentation for an overview of all features.
The following versions of Autodesk 3ds Max are supported: 2020, 2021, 2023 and later.
InstaLOD for Autodesk 3ds Max uses InstaLOD Pipeline as backend for optimization operations. InstaLOD Pipeline must be installed before you can start using InstaLOD for Autodesk 3ds Max. Please refer to the InstaLOD Pipeline documentation on how to install InstaLOD Pipeline on your workstation.
InstaLOD for Autodesk 3ds Max supports authorizing licenses and displaying license info from within 3ds Max.
The latest version of InstaLOD for Autodesk 3ds Max and InstaLOD Pipeline can be found in the InstaLOD License Management Web App under the Your Files
section of the home page.
Once you have installed and authorized InstaLOD Pipeline on your workstation, unzip the InstaLOD for 3ds Max file.
Copy the InstaLOD_3dsMaxIntegration.ms
and InstaLOD_3dsMaxIntegration.cs
files into your 3ds Max startup scripts folder \scripts\startup
, normally found within your 3ds Max user folder at \Users\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMax\<3dsmax-version>\<3dsmax-language>
.
More information on how to install startup scripts can be found in the Autodesk 3ds Max Documentation for Startup Scripts.
If your machine has already been authorized for InstaLOD you can start using InstaLOD for 3ds Max without further action.
If your machine has not yet been authorized, you will be required to enter your license information in the dialog box to authorize your workstation.
Once the integration's script file is copied to your 3ds Max's scripts folder, you can start 3ds Max.
The script will automatically create an InstaLOD menu item which can be used to spawn the InstaLOD window.
If the InstaLOD window has been closed, it can be spawned again by selecting InstaLOD->Open Window...
from 3ds Max's main menu.
On the first start of InstaLOD, it is necessary to point InstaLOD for 3ds Max to the installation directory of InstaLOD Pipeline. Click the Browse...
button and browse to the InstaLOD Pipeline installation directory on your workstation.
If InstaLOD Pipeline was found in the specified directory, the window contents will change. If your machine has already been authorized for InstaLOD, you can start using InstaLOD for Autodesk 3ds Max now. If your machine has not been authorized for InstaLOD yet, you can enter your license information in the dialog to authorize your workstation.
Please refer to the InstaLOD Pipeline documentation for an overview of all features.
To optimize a mesh select the mesh in the viewport or hierarchy. Select the Optimize
tab in the InstaLOD window and enter the percentage of triangles for the output mesh in the Percent Triangles
text field.
Click the Optimize Selected Meshes
button to optimize the mesh. 3ds Max will export the geometry for InstaLOD and start the optimization.
Once the geometry has been exported, InstaLOD will execute the mesh operation asynchronously.
Both skeletal and static meshes are supported by InstaLOD for 3ds Max.
The image above shows the UI of InstaLOD for Autodesk 3ds Max docked to the right side of the window. The InstaLOD window can be docked and undocked like other native 3ds Max windows.
Optimizing multiple meshes in a single operation with global optimization enabled allows the optimizer to consider all input meshes when executing the operation. This results in the lowest visual deviation for the input meshes as a whole.
Global optimization is enabled by default, but can be disabled by unchecking the checkbox in the Advanced Settings
found on the Optimize
tab.
Optimizing multiple meshes works identical to the optimization of a single mesh. Select all meshes to be optimized in the viewport or hierarchy, enter the optimization target value and click the Optimize Selected Meshes
button to optimize all currently selected and visible meshes.
By right-clicking the mesh operation execution button and selecting Save as Batch-Profile...
, the current mesh operation settings will be saved as batch profile inside the directory of your InstaLOD Pipeline installation. On the Batch
tab saved profiles can be selected and executed on the current mesh selection in parallel. This is a great way to create a complete LOD chain with a single click.
To delete a saved batch profile, open the Batch
-tab. Right click the Execute Batch
button and select Delete Selected Batch Profiles
to delete all selected profiles.
To export a profile that can be used with InstaLOD Pipeline without modification, configure your mesh operation and right click the mesh operation execution button and select Export As InstaLOD Pipeline Profile...
.
Another great feature of InstaLOD for Autodesk 3ds Max is the ability to create and export multi operation batch profiles for InstaLOD Pipeline.
To export a multi operation batch profile, open then Batch
tab and select all saved batch profiles that will be included in the multi operation.
Right click the Execute Batch
button and select Export As InstaLOD Pipeline Profile...
to export the profile for InstaLOD Pipeline.
Profiles exported with InstaLOD for Autodesk 3ds Max have a hard-coded profile name of 3dsMax
. When queuing files with InstaLOD Pipeline, the profile needs to be specified:
InstaLODCmd -profile ExportedWithMax.json -file Data/SM_Zetsuda_130k.fbx Build/SM_Zetsuda_Optimize.fbx 3dsMax
InstaLOD for Autodesk 3ds Max can be scripted using both Python and MAXScript. The integration's callback system enables developers to prepare texture and geometry data before submitting it to InstaLOD for optimization.
One such example would be custom materials that are flattened and converted to layered standard materials during the pre-optimization callback and converted back into a custom material in the post-optimization callback.
InstaLOD for Autodesk 3ds Max provides two callbacks that are invoked pre- and post-optimization for each object used in the operation.
To hook into these callbacks, simply implement the MAXScript functions listed in the table below in the global namespace.
Callback Name | Argument 1 | Argument 2 |
---|---|---|
InstaLOD_Event_WillExecute |
(string) operation type | (node) object |
InstaLOD_Event_DidExecute |
(string) operation type | (node) object |
The
InstaLOD_Event_WillExecute
callback will be invoked during an undo chunk, so it is recommended to perform operations only on objects that fully support undo. Once control returns back to 3ds Max, the undo chunk will be rolled back and the object will be reverted to its original state before running the optimization.
When using InstaLOD for 3ds Max via Script (MAXScript or Python) it is necessary to invoke the MAXScript function InstaLOD_InitializeGlobals()
prior to using any of the optimization functionality.
InstaLOD for Autodesk 3ds Max saves all settings that are relevant to building optimization profiles in a .NET dictionary which can be accessed through MAXScript.
The settings identifiers used by InstaLOD for Autodesk 3ds Max are listed in the FieldDictionary
within the static Settings
class inside the InstaLOD_3dsMaxIntegration.cs
file.
The naming convention for the settings is INSTALOD_ID_[type]_[field]
where [type]
is the mesh operation type and [field]
is a corresponding settings field e.g. INSTALOD_ID_OP_PERCENTTRIANGLES
.
The [field]
names are matching the names of variables defined in the InstaLOD C++ SDK.
function InstaLOD_InitializeGlobals
Initializes the integration.
function InstaLOD_IsCurrentInstaLODCmdPathValid
Determines whether the current InstaLOD Pipeline Path is valid.
function InstaLOD_GetLicenseInfo
Returns a string containing InstaLOD license information. This function requires the InstaLOD Pipeline path to be setup.
function InstaLOD_OptimizeMesh modelObject optimizationType externalProfilePath:"" synchronous:false
Optimizes the specified modelObject
. Optionally, an externalProfilePath
file path can be specified to load a JSON profile from disk.
If no externalProfilePath
is specified, a profile will be built from the settings.
function InstaLOD_OptimizeMeshes selectedMeshes optimizationType externalProfilePath:"" synchronous:false
Optimizes the specified selectedMeshes
. Optionally, an externalProfilePath
file path can be specified to load a JSON profile from disk.
If no externalProfilePath
is specified, a profile will be built from the settings.
Before an optimization can be started via script, the InstaLOD settings need to be setup to match the desired operation.
The following MAXScript example sets the mesh operation type to Optimize
and optimizes a mesh with the name Sphere
to 50% triangles.
::InstaLOD_ResetSettings();
::InstaLOD_SetSettingValue "INSTALOD_ID_OP_PERCENTTRIANGLES" 50.0;
meshObject = getNodeByName "Sphere";
::InstaLOD_OptimizeMesh meshObject "Optimize";
InstaLOD for Autodesk 3ds Max does not provide a native Python API. However, invoking the MAXScript API from Python works as a quality workaround.
The following Python-example sets the mesh operation type to Optimize
and optimizes two meshes with the name Sphere001
and Sphere002
to 50% triangles.
import pymxs
# querying a setting value as FPValue type
currentPercentTriangles = MaxPlus.Core.EvalMAXScript('::InstaLOD_GetSettingValue "INSTALOD_ID_OP_PERCENTTRIANGLES"')
print("Percent Triangle is set to: " + str(currentPercentTriangles.GetFloat()))
# reset all settings to their defaults
pymxs.runtime.execute("::InstaLOD_ResetSettings();")
# set Optimize settings
pymxs.runtime.execute('::InstaLOD_SetSettingValue "INSTALOD_ID_OP_PERCENTTRIANGLES" 50.0;')
# execute optimization on object (without async)
# pymxs.runtime.execute('::InstaLOD_OptimizeMesh (getNodeByName "Sphere001") "Optimize" synchronous:true;')
# execute optimization on multiple objects (without async)
pymxs.runtime.execute('::InstaLOD_OptimizeMeshes #((getNodeByName "Sphere001"), (getNodeByName "Sphere002")) "Optimize" synchronous:false;')
There are currently no known limitations.
Please visit http://www.InstaLOD.com to stay up to date!
Thank you for using InstaLOD.