USD for 3ds Max 0.13 Release Notes
Release Highlights
Asset Resolver. The newly added Asset Resolver automates path resolution and streamlines asset loading using search paths and tokens. This reduces errors and broken paths, letting you focus on creative work instead of troubleshooting file paths.
Ability to duplicate prims. You can now hold Shift while dragging prims in the viewport to duplicate them.
Anonymous layers. You can now create USDStageObjects with anonymous root layers and manage anonymous layers directly. This lets you create new stages without starting from a stage saved on disk.
Prim renaming, deletion and reparenting. The USD tools now support renaming, deleting, and reparenting USD prims, giving you greater flexibility when organizing scene data.
MateiralX import. The USD Importer now supports importing MaterialX materials that are referenced within USD files.
Shell material export. The USD Exporter now supports Shell materials. You can choose to export the original material, the baked material, or both.
USDSkel export improvements. The USD Exporter now provides improved USDSkel export, including optimized element size for joint influence, new options for joint naming, the ability to collect all bones when a Skin modifier is not present, and the ability to exclude bone meshes.
Other Improvements
| Added an option to preserve or discard original 3ds Max bones when exporting USD animations. EMSUSD-2849 |
| Added a new option to include animation bones that are not being referenced by a skin modifier in USd exports. EMSUSD-2815 |
| Added an option to simplify bone paths when exporting USD animations. EMSUSD-2812 |
| Added new USD menu to the main toolbar. EMSUSD-2777 |
| Added a menu option to set or unset a prim as the default prim of a USD stage. The default prim is required to properly reference a USD scene in other USD files without specifying a prim path. EMSUSD-2658 |
| Updated Duplicate to USD to automatically use the stage’s current default prim as the base path for duplicated data. EMSUSD-2632 |
| Added support for creating and saving a USD stage directly in a 3ds Max scene without writing any files to disk. EMSUSD-2572 |
| Added an option in the Animation section of the USD Exporter to export Animation Curves. When enabled, camera properties are exported as animation curves in USD 24.11 and later. EMSUSD-2358 |
| Added an option in the USD Exporter to export materials independently of geometry. EMSUSD-2321 |
| Added a new Transform Format option in the USD Exporter: Single Matrix (combined transform) or Separate Translate/Rotate/Scale (individual operators). The separated format improves consistency across DCCs such as Maya. EMSUSD-1698 |
For more information, visit Autodesk's official 3ds Max USD Github community.