...pardon me, but Max is the ONLY program that works that way. Programs like Lightwave and Truespace have tons of great plugins, but they still manage to include all their geometry, all their mapping and all their basic material settings within their file formats instead of just having pointers to particular plugins. If I follow you correctly, then even a person who HAS Max wouldn't be able to load a Max file if he didn't have the plugin that created it! Now, I know that you can export files from Max in 3DS format. Given that fact, it seems to me that someone who posts files for downloading, but ONLY in Max format is saying, "Up yours" to everyone who doesn't own Max. From everything I've heard, Max is a great program, espcially if you have the best plugins. It just seems that Kinetix wants to make sure it's your ONLY program. Given that a fullblown Max system with all the best plugins could cost you close to $10,000, I think you should be able to understand my bitterness towards Kinetix. The least they could do is what every other program on the planet does: let me convert their files into something I CAN use!

I'd rather stay in my lane than lay in my stain!