[casey]

Just checking to see if this is still on its way. I've been wanting to upgrade to the new plug-in series for a while, but until referencing MXMs is back, it's not really possible. We rely on many scenes referencing the same MXM files all over the place.

- Casey

[casey]

(oh, the silence!)

- Casey

[Maxer]

Sorry I must have missed this one, what's wrong with the new plugin?

[casey]

Many of us had built our workflows around the MXM reference material in the original plug-in (the one that let you pick an MXM file). This was a great feature, because it allowed you to have an MXM library on disk, and reference it, such that if you ever changed one of the MXMs, it would update itself across all scenes automatically.

However, the new plug-in series got rid of this feature (apparently - we still have not upgraded here because we can't work without the MXM referencer). So those of us who used that feature extensively asked for it to be reinstated, and the Maxwell folks said they would try to do that. But I haven't heard anything since then so I'm hoping it didn't get forgotten?

- Casey

[Maxer]

Ok I see, I kind of looked at that not as a feature but an unresolved problem with the plugin. I like the way that 3D studio handles materials and I think you’re saying that the newer plugin operates in that way now. I always wind up tweaking the MXM's and it's a pain to have to save out each new one, I'd much prefer to have a base material that I can then edit without worrying that I've accidentally changed it.

[michaelplogue]

Ok I see, I kind of looked at that not as a feature but an unresolved problem with the plugin. I like the way that 3D studio handles materials and I think you’re saying that the newer plugin operates in that way now. I always wind up tweaking the MXM's and it's a pain to have to save out each new one, I'd much prefer to have a base material that I can then edit without worrying that I've accidentally changed it.

I'm with Maxer on this. I absolutely despised the referenced file setup. I always have to tweak my materials for each scene, and I would never remember to export (then re-select) the modified mats.

With the current plugin, you can still import (and export) mxm files, so you shouldn't have too many problems.

[Mihnea Balta]

We will add a separate material node that works with MXM references. This way each user will be able to choose whichever mode best fits their setup and requirements. We also plan to implement a simple way of converting an embedded material node to a reference node and the other way around. It's high on the priority list for the Max plug-in, but I can't give you an ETA yet.

[Fernando Tella]

Cool!

[Fernando Tella]

I imagined another way to do it some time ago which went through including a new slot on top of the material for the referenced mxm file and some buttons to save to mxm, load from mxm. If you change any parameters of the material in max the mxm slot is greyed out and not taken in account any more unless you save the changes to the mxm file or load from the mxm which would make it referenced again. Maybe it has some problems I don't see, but looks as an easy workflow.

[casey]

That is fabulous news Mihnea... thank you very much for keeping us in mind!

I agree that it is great that the plug-in team has done the considerable work necessary to fully integrate material editting into 3D Studio itself, so I would never suggest that that wasn't useful! But the MXM referencing feature was also a wonderful feature, and we can't bear to give up now that we've developed certain workflows that depend on it directly.

- Casey