MaxBlend Object Transfer

A simple, friendly way to export to 3ds Max and import back into Blender, with support for Collection → Layer organization, Material ID syncing, duplicate material handling, modifier handling, smooth and hard edges, and more.

Blender Side

Main Features

Export to 3ds Max
Send your selected Blender objects to 3ds Max with convenient options to control how your models are exported.

Import from 3ds Max
Bring your models back into Blender while keeping your scene organized.

Duplicate Material Handling
When importing from 3ds Max, MaxBlend can detect materials that have been duplicated by the FBX import process and lets you choose how to handle them.

Settings

Export

• Export Collections → Max Layers
  Enabled: Keeps your Blender Collection structure organized as 3ds Max Layers.
  Disabled: Exports without Collection-based Layer organization.

• Apply Transform
  Enabled: Bakes Location, Rotation, and Scale into the exported geometry.
  Disabled: Keeps the original object transforms.

• Apply All Modifiers
  Enabled: Exports the final mesh with all modifiers applied.
  Disabled: Exports the base mesh without applying modifiers.

• Sync Material Slots
  Enabled: Removes unused material slots and gives exported objects a consistent material slot order, helping keep Material IDs consistent across objects in 3ds Max.
  Disabled: Preserves each object's original material slots and order.

• Triangulate
  Enabled: Converts the exported mesh to triangles.
  Disabled: Preserves the original face structure.

Import

• World Rescale
  Adjusts the imported FBX scale to match your Blender scene.

• Sync Materials
  Detects materials that were duplicated during FBX import and lets you choose how to handle them:

  • Use Existing Materials — Keep the materials already in your Blender file.

  • Use Imported Materials — Keep the newly imported materials.

  • Keep Duplicated Materials — Keep both versions.

3ds Max Side

Main Features

Export to Blender
Send your selected 3ds Max objects to Blender along with their Layer structure and convenient export options.

Import from Blender
Bring your models back into 3ds Max with Material IDs restored and Layers organized to match your Blender Collections.

Sync Material IDs
Quickly synchronize Material IDs between multiple objects based on their material names.

Select one object as the Source, then select the objects you want to update and press Sync. MaxBlend matches the material names and applies the corresponding Material IDs to the target objects.

Settings

Export

• Up Axis
  Sets the up axis (Y or Z) to match your Blender scene.

• Smoothing Groups
  Enabled: Exports smoothing group data to help preserve correct shading in Blender.
  Disabled: Skips smoothing group data.

• Preserve Instances
  Enabled: Keeps instanced objects linked, so editing one instance updates the others.
  Disabled: Exports each instance as an independent object.

• Collapse All Modifiers
  Enabled: Bakes the modifier stack into the exported mesh.
  Disabled: Preserves the object's current geometry without collapsing the modifier stack.

• Reset XForm
  Enabled: Resets the object's transform before export.
  Disabled: Keeps the original transform.

• Convert To Editable Poly
  Enabled: Converts objects to Editable Poly and cleans up dead vertices and unused structures.
  Disabled: Exports objects in their original state.

• Triangulate
  Enabled: Converts the exported mesh to triangles.
  Disabled: Preserves the original face structure.

Import

• World Rescale
  Adjusts the imported FBX scale to match your 3ds Max scene.

• Up Axis
  Sets the up axis (Y or Z) to match the incoming file's orientation.

A Smoother Blender ↔ 3ds Max Workflow

Simple controls, less manual cleanup, and a more consistent workflow between Blender and 3ds Max.

Installation

Blender

Install the .zip add-on through:

Edit → Preferences → Add-ons → Install

3ds Max

Simply drag and drop the included script into the 3ds Max viewport to run it.

Changelog

1.0.0

• Initial release

• Added Material ID synchronization in 3ds Max

• Added duplicate material handling when importing into Blender

Feedback & Bug Reports

Have a suggestion or found a bug? I'd love to hear from you!

📧 [email protected]m

For bug reports, please include:

• Your Blender / 3ds Max version

• A short description of the issue

• Steps to reproduce the problem

Screenshots or a .blend file are also helpful.

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