3ds max Plugin Documentation

Note:        Most of the functionality in this plugin is now available in the stand-alone Reality Builder. Although you can still theoretically build an entire level inside of 3dsmax, exporting prefabs and animation to Reality Builder is the preferred method of level construction, as it provides true WYSIWYG editing and instant game testing.

See MaxShaderPlugin for documentation on the Shader materials plugin.

If the plugin is properly installed, the last item on the main menu should be "Reality". This gives you quick access to all tabs in the plugin tool window.

Fig 1 - Plugin Menu

Fig 2 - One of the main 3dsmax tools window tabs

Entity Manager

The three toolbar icons offer functionality to "Edit script...", "Change Script Folder", and "Refresh Scripts".

The "Entity Description" pane holds comments from inside script files. In python comments are lines that start with #. If you wish to add comments to a script you must edit the file.

Creating geometry inside 3ds max

There are no set rules regarding what (or how much) should be assembled inside of 3ds max before exporting to RealityBuilder. However, by using a modular, prefab oriented workflow to build up your scene inside of RealityBuilder you gain several key benefits:

• Stand-in geometry can quickly and simply be replaced with final quality art by replacing the prefab (model) file
• Memory requirements are reduced and performance is increased because the engine only has to load each prefab once
• Instant play-testing and interactive PRT calculation

In the viewport, create a simple plane to use as one of the walls in the scene:

After selecting the plane, assign a new Max material to it (Figure 3-1) and activate the Reality Shader Material HLSL plugin in the "DirectX Manager" rollout of the material's properties (Figure 3-2). Click the Connection Editor (Figure 3-3) to configure the shader and add textures (Figure 4)

Figure 3	Figure 4

Create an omni light and then go immediatly to the Modify Panel. In order to get the light to display correctly in Max you must turn on Far Attenuation and set the min range to 0.0m. This is how I set up my light (Figure 5):

Figure 5	Figure 6

Export to Reality
Go to "Reality > Export..." and save the scene as a "Level". This will allow you to load the map in RealityBuilder!

Assemble your scene in Reality Builder

Start RB and go to "File > Open..."

Navigate to the "/Maps" folder and choose your map. After a brief pause, everything should load!

Prefab Manager

Converting current objects to prefabs: You may save any object in the scene as a prefab, and it will be converted to an xref object and compiled. You can do this by pressing the "Save as Prefab..." button.

Simplified Proxies: Prefabs allow you to set up a simplified "proxy" mesh under their attributes. This is useful if you have a very high polygon model that is instanced in many places, and would prefer a dummy model to sit in its place during editing. The dummy model will not be exported or compiled.

LOD: Coming Soon

Immutability & Limitations: You can rotate and move any prefabs, but you must not edit them in any way, change their materials, or scale them. If this were allowed it would not be possible to use the same source prefab for all copies.

Scene Settings

SH Image Probe and Global PRT settings are explained in SphericalHarmonics.

Exporter

The Exporter saves scene data in Reality's proprietary .XML format. Before exporting you should set the destination folder for Maps, Models and Animation.

Saving Maps and Models

If you are exporting a level with entities, lights, etc, you should use the "Save Map" section. If you are exporting a model to use in Reality Builder you should use the "Save Model" section. The "Save selected" option does exactly what it says!

Saving Animation

If you're exporting a model with animation, use the "Save Animation" section after you have saved your model.

• If you want your animation to loop, check "Looping animation".
• "Animation Sampling Rate" is the number of keyframes per second that are exported (the engine interpolates between all the keyframes)

Spherical Harmonics

See SphericalHarmonics.