A friend of mine has 3dsmax, and I just wondered if I could use these models in Vue, and what formats other than max He could export as.....

3ds format usually works (but I've run into problems sometimes when receiving files from the client where they won't import in) so you might try that, beyond that I don't know since I don't have 3ds max. Hope this helps.

thanks.

Max models will not import into Vue. But Max is capable of exporting a model into *3ds format. Special shaders that might have been applied to the MAX model will often not included in the *.3ds format, however. But this is true for all professional grade 3D programs.

Hmmm, I just took a look at my MAX Export options. There isn't much there. However, there are several free plug-ins for MAX that allow export into .obj file format. These free plugins may not work well with the latest versions of Max, however. I am using Version 5.3, but about half these plugins fail.

Ask them to export as 3ds Jilly, this will be more than adequate for your needs, I have been doing it this way for some time, and have found that even UVW UNwrapped models will import properly into Vue. The only thing you need to take into acount, something thats VERY IMPORTANT, is to reset the Xform on the entire model/models before exporting. If you dont, Vue has a habit of breaking apart the model and scatering random pieces about the scene. It took me forever to figure out how to solve this. Reset Xform is a simple task achievable by the click of one button, so there is no hardship :P Hope this helps, Kutter.

thanks people. I've told my friend an am eagerly waiting to see what he creates for me!

If all else failed..but at a cost, the solution can be solved with Max plugin call "Polytrans" from Okino. Not sure about Right Hemisphere latest version of "Deep Exploration".

you can download a free plug-in max2obj for obj format. remeber that 3ds format can export 64.000 faces, so with really detailed models (like my abbey ruin) you must use obj format.