Connecting 3ds Max Interactive to Maya and Maya LT follows the same workflow as you use to connect to 3ds Max.

The DCC Link interop plug-in which is automatically installed with 3ds Max Interactive enables live linking between the 3ds Max Interactive and the DCC tool (Maya and Maya LT). For Maya, the interop plug-in installs here: C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\InteractiveDCCLink_Maya2018.bundle\Contents\plugins

1. Open 3ds Max Interactive and select File > Settings > Editor Settings.

2. In the Property Editor, navigate to select the .exe file wherever you installed Maya or Maya LT.

   Tip: If you have both Maya and Maya LT installed, the editor uses Maya to launch FBX files. If you prefer to launch Maya LT instead, remove the path to Maya in your Editor Settings, then restart the editor.

3. In Maya and Maya LT, enable the interactive_link.mll plug-in using the Plug-in Manager (Windows > Settings/Preferences > Plug-in Manager). To load the plug-in on startup, ensure Loaded and Auto Load options are on.
4. Verify the Interactive menu in the Maya/Maya LT menu bar is active.
5. If for any reason you need to manually reinstall the plug-in, locate the plug-in installer DCCLink.msi within the install directory. By default: \ProgramFiles\Autodesk\ 3ds Max Interactive\version\extras.

6. Double-click DCCLink.msi and then click Install Now.

   A message displays when the installation is complete.

1. In the Interactive editor, select Window > DCC Live Link and click Connect for Maya.

   A small green "Connected to Interactive" message displays near the bottom of the interface in Maya.

2. If you want to start a connection from Maya, select Interactive > Connect. If connection fails, select Interactive > Connect > and enter 32010 as the port ( as indicated in the DCC Live Link) to connect to the interactive.

With any operation that you want to perform whether its sending assets, tagging assets or connecting the viewports, you need to establish a connection with Interactive first. Use the DCC Live Link option or the Send to workflow to establish a connection with the DCC.

To send assets to Maya:

1. Right-click an asset in the Asset Browser and select Send to Maya.

   This launches the asset in Maya.

2. Make any edits you want in Maya. Click Update next to the "Connected to Interactive" message in Maya to send any updates to the interactive editor.

3. To edit the original source scene in your DCC tool, right-click an asset in the Asset Browser and select Open Source Asset.

   The editor detects where the original scene was created, and launches the appropriate DCC tool. You're prompted to manually select an application if the editor can't determine the file origin.

   Note: If you have both Maya and Maya LT installed, the editor uses Maya to launch FBX files. Maya LT only launches if the original scene is an .mlt file.

To send a new material to Maya:

1. Right-click in the Asset Browser, and select Create > Material (Standard).

   For more information, see Create a material.

2. In the dialog box that appears, enter the name of the new material.

   The new material appears in the Asset Browser.

3. Make changes to your material in the Property Editor and click to save your changes.

4. In the Asset Browser, right-click the material and select Send to Maya.

   When you select the material using Hypershade in Maya and view a property editor such as the Attribute Editor, the material Engine Resource path points to the material's location in your interactive project.

   The name you enter in Maya is also used as the material name in 3ds Max Interactive. For example, if you enter myPBS in the Engine Resource attribute/parameter, then select File > Send to Interactive (in Maya/Maya LT), the material is called myPBS.material in 3ds Max Interactive.

To send assets from Maya:

1. Load the 3ds Max Interactive project where you plan to use the assets.
2. Establish a connection with Maya.
3. With your model selected in Maya, select File > Send to Interactive > All to export the whole scene, or File > Send to Interactive > Selection to export only selected objects.
4. In the file browser that appears, navigate to where you want to save the FBX file within your interactive project, enter a new filename if needed, and click Export All or Export Selection.
5. In the Import FBX options window that appears, set options to import your asset with textures and materials. See Import a model with textures and materials.

6. Click Import.

   The assets export to your interactive project, into the specified directory. The FBX file is available immediately in the Asset Browser, and you can place the imported assets into your level. Any materials associated with the imported objects are created as separate files alongside the asset in the project folder.

7. If you continue to work on the assets in Maya, select Update (next to the green "Connected to Interactive" message at the bottom right) at any time to refresh the assets in 3ds Max Interactive.

To send materials from Maya:

1. In Maya, create a new StingrayPBS shader. See ShaderFX shader graphs.

2. In the Attribute Editor, enter a path and a name for the material in the Engine Resource attribute.

   For example, if you want the material, named myPBS, to be stored in the materials folder of the project you currently have open in the interactive editor, enter content/materials/myPBS in the Engine Resource attribute.

   Note: The name you enter in Maya is also used as the material name in 3ds Max Interactive. For example, if you enter myPBS in the Engine Resource attribute, the material is called myPBS.material in 3ds Max Interactive.

3. In the Hypershade (Windows > Material/Texture Baking Editors > Hypershade), select the StingrayPBS material, then select File > Send to Interactive > Selection from the main menu bar.

   The material is sent to the Interactive editor and appears in the Asset Browser. Its shader graph remains the same after the transfer.

4. In the Interactive editor, you can edit material attributes using the Property Editor, or click Make Unique to edit the graph in the Shader Graph Editor.

Tip: If you make any changes to assets, click Update (next to the green "Connected to Interactive" message at the bottom right in Maya) to refresh the other viewport.

1. To manually tag assets to reproduce them with the same viewport in the Interactive editor, select your assets in Maya and then select Interactive > Set Engine Resource.

2. In the Set Engine Resource window that appears, tag the selected assets using the following fields:

   • Target Folder: Sets the path of all the assets to tag. The default path is content/models/[your_scene_name]. If you are working in an unsaved file, the default path is content/models. You can change the default path manually.

   • Asset Name: The name of the asset. By default, the node name is used. When multiple assets are selected, this field is disabled.

   • Result: When one asset is selected, this field shows the output path of the single asset.

3. Click Apply and Close.

4. Send your assets with Level Sync from Maya.

5. To automatically tag your asset(s) with level sync, select Interactive > Send All > or Interactive> Send Selected > and select Auto Tag.

   All of the top level nodes are tagged with the default values.

Note: Currently, level sync only supports scenes from Maya and Maya LT that use the Y-up world coordinate system.

1. Tag the assets you want to send to 3ds Max Interactive.

2. Select Interactive > Send Selected > to send selected assets and select Interactive > Send All > to send all assets with level sync.

3. (Optional) In the Send Level window that appears, turn on Send Missing Assets to ensure assets that are missing from the project are included in the export.

4. Click Apply and Close

   The assets are sent to the 3ds Max Interactive editor and are added to the current level.

Note: After level-syncing your assets, you can still make updates to your assets in Maya or Maya LT and send them to 3ds Max Interactive. Turn on Update Existing Assets in the Send Level window before sending your scene.