OpenPBR is the new default material in 3ds Max 2026.
OpenPBR offers an expressive and intuitive set of controls capable of accurately modeling the majority of CG materials, together with increased interoperability including compatibility with MaterialX and OpenUSD. It is a physically-based material that works well and looks plausible for most day-to-day uses, and also provides a common interface between products. For detailed information about its usage and settings, see OpenPBR Surface in the Arnold User Guide.
For performance reasons, the viewport uses a simplified shader. You can turn this optimization off by adding or editing the following setting in your
CurrentDefaults.ini file (0 is off and
1 is on):
[OpenPBR] UseSimplifiedViewportShader=0