.max To Maya

[psyonic]

Good day everyone.
If this has been treated in the forums before I appologyze, as I searched and couldn't get an answer.

I have a .max scene that I need to open in maya. Anyone knows if that is even possible?
If I had access to max, or any way to open .max files directly I would export them as a .obj or .fbx that I know maya could read, but it is not the case.

Any and all help on this predicament would be greatly appreciated.

[laxman]

go to the autodesk website and then download the bonustools for maya plugin. That includes a max importer.

[danlefeb]

Unless they've changed it in the latest version, .max files are only able to be opened in 3D Studio Max. The export format for 3DS is usually .3ds files or .fbx.

[Jak_Carver]

Yes, the importer in the bonus tools is for .3ds NOT .max format. Unfortunately your kinda stuck here unless you have a friend who works at a studio that has custom written tools for this they can let you borrow; which will most likely not be the case, sorry.

[laxman]

if the bonus tools importer is only for 3ds, then your only other option is to check out okino Polytrans:

http://www.okino.com/default.htm

Works extremely well between ALL software packages, but its going to cost you.

[bern_saint]

psyonic ,

I'm not a 3dMAX Guy but I just remember my friend he use this link (http://www.highend3d.com/maya/tutorials/import_export/245.html)
if i we're you go to the site which 3DMAX GURU or If you have a Motion Builder load your 3DMax scene file and after you done save as in MAYA . You should use MAYA is the best Polygon Modeling and Animation.

The following tutorial will help you when you need to import geometry from 3dmax. We have been using the deespona (http://www.deespona.com ) model collection for years and we have been able to use fully textured models in Maya although the collection provides *.max scene files. Similarly, model collections such as Dosch provide 3DS models, you might download 3DS models from Turbosquid or other sites or your pipeline at work mixes 3dMax artists with Maya artists. So here's how to bring the geometry over to Maya.

There are different ways to import geometry from 3dmax into Maya. The FBX file format is one way, exporting geometry to DXF is another. Overall I found that using the 3DS format has been the easiest and cleanest way of transfering the geometry.

First you need to make sure you have the Alias bonus tools installed. They are available on the Alias site at http://www.alias.com. Once they are installed you need to check that you can load the 3dsimport plug-in. Choose Window > Settings/Preferences > Plug-in Manager and make sure the 3dsimport.mll or lib line is checked.

If you already have a *.3ds skip this step. Open your scene in 3dmax. In this example we are using a scene from the De Espona collection.

click for larger version

The first step in most cases is to select the geometry in 3dmax. Ungroup the geometry in 3dmax if it is grouped (it might not be a necessary step but I got in the habit of doing it) by choosing Group > Ungroup. Then export the geometry by choosing File > Export Selected and choose 3DS as the format. You are going to be asked, "Preserve Texture Coordinates". Yes of course.

click for larger version



In Maya now that you have made sure that the 3ds import plug in is loaded, choose File > Import and load the 3DS file you have exported from 3dmax. The first thing you will notice in Maya is that your geometry is huge. You might not even see it and might need to adjust your camera clipping planes. This could be due to a difference in the units used between 3dmax and maya. Just make sure you select the top transform node in the outliner in Maya and scale the object down uniformely.

click for larger version


click for larger version

Your exported object can now be resized to your scene proportions. You might want to freeze the transform at this point (Modify > Freeze Transformations). Examine your model and look for surfaces that look different in Maya. In our case here the statue looks fine. But I dug out an example where I know we had problem.

click for larger version

It could be that you see sharp edges like on the cartoon hand above. You could also see more spread out facetted geometry. To eliminate this choose Edit Polygons > Normals > Soften / Harden and open the options dialog. Choose All Soft and the faceted look should disappear.

click for larger version

Coming out of 3dmax there could be other issues with the exported geometry. There could be parts of your model that end up being not aligned in Maya. For this you can try to reset the transforms in 3dmax. Finally when you realize that your geometry will not transfer your options become restricted to translating the geometry through FBX or Polytrans.

[psyonic]

Whoa. That was a very complete and thourough explanation.
I really appreciate the time you took in typing all that as well as everyone's efforts to help.
What I ended up doing is borrowing the computer from the client that originally sent it to me, and exported it to an .obj file.
Tomorrow I will import that .obj file to maya and hope for the best.
Again, thanks all.

[laxman]

for future reference, I find it better to export to as man file types as possible, then import them all into a test file and put them side by side. That way you can compare and even take elements of each. I did this once from a CAD file to maya where I exported curved object as NURBs and everything else as poly, then made the whole thing sub-d and combined it all. The exporter would only let me export the entire scene as NURBs or polys so I did both. Finished it off with a nice metal ray render and everyone was wondering how I got the CAD software to do that:).

[haribabusharma]

hi fr how r u can u help me in a problem i m facing a problem in free tutorial downloading can u tell me any free site for maya 8
hi u can massage me on this no.

[danlefeb]

Hello haribabusharma. I'm not sure what your exact question is, but you can pick up a PLE version of Maya for training purposes at:

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=7639525