User Interface

Main Menu

The Omniverse menu item on the Max main bar has common commands that can be used without launching the Omniverse panel, such as connection and File operations.

Menu Items	Description
Show Omniverse Toolbar	If toolbar is hidden this will show the Omniverse Toolbar.
Project	Options related to Omniverse View Projects related to AEC. (Deprecated - do not use)
Publish To Project	When a View Project is open, Publish saves the changes of the current scene to the View Project. This option is only available when a View Project is linked.
Export All	Exports all exportable objects in the scene.
Export Selected	Exports only selected objects and their dependencies.
Export Visible	Exports only visible objects and their dependencies.
USD	File I/O options for USD.
Settings	Opens the Omniverse Plugin Settings Panel. See Omniverse Settings for details.
Help	Help items for the plug-in.

Project Menu (Deprecated - do not use)

Menu Items	Description
Create New View project	Launches file dialog to set a path and project name for an AEC View Project.
Set Existing Project	Launches file dialog to set currently opened max or USD to file to an existing AEC View Project.
Close View Project	Closes connection to the AEC View Project. This will disable Publish to Project menu option.

USD Menu

Menu Items	Description
USD	Menu for various USD Descriptions.
Recent USD	Lists recently opened USD assets.
Import USD	Imports USD Files to the current USD file.
Open USD	Open a USD File.
Save USD	Save the changes only to the current USD file. Limited functionality with materials. Some Mesh edits and modifiers may trigger a material sync.
Link to USD	Links an existing 3DS Max file to an existing USD. Initiate a live connection without reexporting the USD.
Close USD	Closes the USD file and resets the 3DS Max file to a new blank scene.

Help Menu

Menu Items	Description
Max Connector Documentation	Links directly to the online documentation.
Get Support	Links to online Omniverse forums for support.
Release Notes	Links directly to the online documentation release notes.
About	Show the About dialog for the 3DS Max Omniverse Plug-In.

3ds Max Omniverse Toolbar

Option	Description
Connect to Omniverse	Connect or disconnect to an Omniverse Nucleus server.
Open USD	Opens a USD file locally or on an Omniverse Nucleus server.
Save USD	Save the current USD file.
Import USD	Imports a USD file into your current scene.
Export USD	Exports current scene as USD.
Share USD	Copies the location of the USD Files, if on nucleus, this link is shareable with other permitted nucleus users.
Live Sync	Enables real-time “live” editing.
Participants	Shows the active participants in the current live session and which application they are using.
Create Variants	Creates a USD Variant helper.
Settings	Opens the Omniverse Plugin Settings Panel. See Omniverse Settings for details.
Help	Links to this documentation.
About	Version and Technical Information about the Plugin.

Known Limitations

• When the toolbar is in a docked and compressed state on the right side of the app, the extra options arrow doesn’t reveal the cropped toolbar buttons.

• Solution: re-dock toolbar to new position.

USD Export Browser

Items	Description
Navigation Bar	Displays the path to the current selected directory or file. Select any part of the path to directly access that part of the path.
Backward	Step back to previous paths.
Forward	Step forward to previous paths.
To Parent Folder	Navigates to the parent folder, of the currently open folder.
New Folder	Creates a new folder/director at the specified location.
Refresh	Refreshes the content of the browser
Omniverse File Hierarchy	Display folder tree from Omniverse servers or the local PC.
Content	Shows the content in the current selected path.
File Name	Set the name of the USD file you’re creating.
Extension Selector	Currently Omniverse exports USD (binary) files. (See Note Below)

Note

You can export to USDA (Ascii) format by hard typing the extension .usda on export if exporting to a local drive (not an Omniverse server).

Export Options

General	Description
Export Type	Selects the export mode: Prop: Assets that are non-skinned objects. Prop Animation Clip: Simple property Animations for Props. Skeletal Mesh: Export USDSkel and skinned mesh. Skel Animation Clip: Export USDSkelAnim as a clip.
Export Options	Selects what to export: All: Exports everything in the scene. Selected: Exports everything selected in the current scene.
Default Prim	The name of the default prim for the exported file. World is the default prim in Omniverse. If this field is empty, no top-level node is created and Default prim is not set.
Export Visible	Exports only visible nodes in combination with the current export selection.
Lights	Exports supported lights.
Cameras	Exports cameras in the scene.
Instances	Defines how to handle asset instances on export. This option introduces new xforms into the hierarchy for compatibility.
Move to Origin	Exports the object as if it was normalized at world origin.
Up Axis	Sets the up-axis for the USD file on export.
Also Save 3DS Max	Stores a copy of the 3ds Max file on the Omniverse Nucleus.

Option	Description
Use Animation	Include animation on export.
Start Frame	First frame to be exported from the animated scene.
End Frame	Last frame to include in the export.
Step	Allows skipping of frames, use 1 for all frames.

Materials	Description
MDL Context	Includes materials on export or not: Default: References the core MDLs when exporting MDL render context. Include dependencies: Copies MDL dependencies to the chosen directory. If no directory chosen, uses a default. CSV Mapping File: Writes MDL references to existing location defined in the chosen .csv file. Material Swap(.csv): If Export MDL export option is set to Material CSV map, then the csv file to be used is defined here. This results in fewer files being exported.
USD Preview Surface Context	Exports materials to a USD Preview Material render context as best as possible.

File Output

Description

Batch Export

If checked, takes 1st level nodes in hierarchy and exports those as their own USD, then references them back to a main USD: Payloads: Batch exports as USD Payloads. Reference: Batch exports as USD References. Preset: Predefined configurations of how usd files, materials and textures will be organized in directory structures. Refer to our Usage Documentation to learn more. Props: The directory path where individual assets go during a batch export. Materials: The directory path where materials go for a batch or individual export. Textures: The directory path where textures go for a batch or individual export.

Note

The directory paths listed above can use tokens to configure the export paths. See usage here. File Output.

Checkpoints	Description
Description	Optional User Description for checkpoints.

USD Open and Import Browser

To quickly get to a file, paste an Omniverse URL into the filename field and press the Enter or Open button.

Option	Description
Render Context	Choose the preferred method for displaying Materials in 3DS Max: None: Materials will be ignored. MDL: Imported materials will be opened, but limited in functionality Preview Surface: Imported materials will display using USD Preview Surfaces.
Object Name Collision	Choose what to do if there are naming conflicts with Imported Objects: Overwrite: Replace the existing object if in conflict. Skip: Keep the original and discard imported objects if name conflict exists. Modify: Adjusts names of imported object to avoid name conflicts. Not displayed for Open dialog, only Import.
Material Name Collision	Choose what to do if there are naming conflicts with Imported Objects: Overwrite: Replace existing materials if in conflict. Skip: Keep the original and discard imported materials if in conflict. Modify: Adjusts names of imported materials to avoid name conflict. Not displayed for Open dialog, only Import.

Import USD limitation

• Does not currently collect imported materials. The original location of the materials will remain at same location unless the scene is re-exported.

Omniverse Settings

General Settings

Option	Description
Echo Omniverse feedback in script Editor	If enabled, prints feedback to the 3ds Max Script Listener.
Verbose Log	If enabled, printed more detailed feedback about Omniverse during Live-Update.
Enable renaming for invalid and duplicate names	If Enabled, automatically fixes up names that are incompatible with USD, MDL, or Omniverse.
Display parameters on conversion of V-Ray to MDL	If enabled, allows the parameters to be user editable after the USD file is opened in Create. This could come at a performance cost in a large scene.
Materials Search Path	Custom MDL search paths to pick up custom material templates or collections.

Live Settings

Warning

Live Sync features are Experimental and not all functionality may work as expected.

Option	Description
Selection Mode	Defines the set of objects that are Live-Update connected.
Live Transform Edits	If enabled, transform changes are Live updated.
Live Material Edits	If enabled, material edits/assignments are Live updated.
Live Camera Edits	If enabled, Camera transforms and parameters are Live updated.
Live Light Edits	If enabled, Light transforms and parameters are Live updated.
Live Timeline Edits	If enabled, scrubbing the timeline in 3ds Max will send the current frame as the USD file during Live update.
Live Modeling	If enabled, modeling changes will be sent during Live Update.