Khronos Group sponsors free glTF importer/exporter for 3ds Max
Standards body Khronos Group has released glTF 2.0 Importer/Exporter for Autodesk 3ds Max, a pair of free plugins for importing and exporting data from 3ds Max in glTF format.
The tools – previously a commercial add-on, but open-sourced through Khronos Group’s sponsorship – finally give 3ds Max users a free way to get glTF files into the software.
A lightweight 3D file format supported in most DCC applications and game engines
Designed as a lightweight file format for 3D assets, for use in web and real-time applications, glTF is one of the open graphics standards overseen by the Khronos Group.
It is now widely supported in DCC applications and game engines, including Blender, Cinema 4D, Houdini, Unity and Unreal Engine.
The major applications missing from that list are those developed by Autodesk.
3ds Max has been able to export glTF files since 2022, but does not import them natively, while Maya doesn’t do either.
An open-source, Khronos-supported 3ds Max importer and exporter for glTF and GLB files
Although there are a number of commercial third-party glTF importers for 3ds Max, users now have a free, Khronos-backed option.
glTF 2.0 Importer/Exporter for Autodesk 3ds Max was previously an $80 commercial plugin, but Khronos contracted its creator, Satoshi Hayashi, and developer Josef Wienerroither, who maintains a number of other 3ds Max import and export tools – to make it open source.
It brings in the “full range of scene content … that artists expect” from imported .glTF and .glb files, including meshes, cameras and lights, supports glTF extensions for PBR materials, and Khronos extensions for animation, lighting and instancing.
Khronos says that it intends to continue backing the project, and will add support for new glTF technologies in future, including the interactivity extension, which makes it possible to embed behaviors in glTF files, and the upcoming glTF 2.1 spec.
Doing what Autodesk itself has not
It’s noteworthy that Khonos has felt the need to sponsor an open-source project rather than relying on Autodesk itself to implement full native glTF support in 3ds Max.
Autodesk is a Khronos Group member, and when it joined in 2019, one of the stated reasons was to support the glTF file format.
Khronos Group President Neil Trevett told CG Channel that the project had been a “unique opportunity to [make] established 3ds Max plugins open source, while upgrading their support for the latest glTF functionality”, and that “many creators appreciate open-source toolchains”.
Autodesk “continues to be a Khronos member and supportive of glTF”.
Khronos currently has “no project plans” for an equivalent Maya glTF importer/exporter.
License and system requirements
glTF 2.0 Importer/Exporter for Autodesk 3ds Max is compatible with 3ds Max 2020+. It’s a free download. The source code is available under an open-source Apache 2.0 license.
Read more about the 3ds Max glTF plugins on Khronos Group’s blog
Download the free glTF 2.0 Importer/Exporter for Autodesk 3ds Max from GitHub
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