3ds Max & Inventor 2026 // Importing a Native Inventor Model // Converting Materials

[M_Mertens_Intec]

Hello, dear community,

I work in design department by trade and have been creating product several visualizations for our company for quite some time now. I do this using Inventor Studio.

Now I’d like to get a little more out of my renderings. I’d also like to take advantage of 3ds Max’s cloud rendering capabilities. In the future, I also want to incorporate motion and possibly fire and smoke.

But that’s just the vision for now. 😅 We’ll see how it turns out.

I'm a complete beginner in 3ds Max, and right now I'm already stuck on the very first thing—but for me, this is the deciding factor in whether I'll continue down the path of learning 3ds Max. 🙈

So here's the problem. I'd like to import my Inventor models into 3ds Max and bring my renderings along with them. So far, I've only had mixed results—somewhat successful, but mostly not. With the help of various online resources, I’ve managed to get the Scene Converter to a point where the error messages for the Autodesk materials no longer appear, and the appearances—including textures, etc.—are somehow transferred or converted. However, this process is quite error-prone. Sometimes the textures are scaled differently, sometimes they’re rotated relative to each other, colors are displayed incorrectly, and so on.

Before I get bogged down in the details, I’d like to ask a few general questions first.

- Are there people here who have solved a similar problem?

- Is it possible to cleanly convert Autodesk Inventor materials to Arnold?

I appreciate any suggestions because, unfortunately, I'm a bit stuck right now and don't really know how to tackle the problem. 😔 So I'd appreciate any input. 😊

If anyone needs more detailed information, I’d be happy to provide it. I’d also be happy to exchange contact information if that’s easier. Otherwise, I’ll just include two more pictures of what I’ve done so far with Inventor Studio so you can get an idea of what I have in mind.

kind regards from Germany...

[spacefrog_]

Not really used to Inventor and the Inventor import in Max , but as far i understand you setup the Materials there using the standard Autodesk Materials ?

I guess you still apply custom bitmap textures on a case to case basis

I would expect this to work quite flawlessly on the same machine having the Autodesk Materials correctly installed, but as said i have no hands on experience

Which 3ds MAx version are we talking about ?

Would you be able to share a sample Inventor file ( via private message  ) ? 

I'll ping you via PM

PS i see you also posted on the german forum

[MartinBeh]

Could you share the Scene Converter messages you get when you import? Also I would need to better understand what exactly you are doing with your materials.

And like @spacefrog_ said, sharing some kind of test scene (e.g. only a single object or a part of an object that still shows the issue) would be really helpful here.

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Sometimes the textures are scaled differently, sometimes they’re rotated relative to each other, colors are displayed incorrectly, and so on.

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I would think this needs more detail here. Break it down into several reproducible issues, ideally with some test data - then you have a good chance of working out a good workflow for the conversion.

[M_Mertens_Intec]

Hi Martin,

i send those Info's to Josef  @spacefrog_  as answer on his PM. Test files with some additional Informations i will send you too by PM.

I hope this will give you a better insight. In case not i will deliver more needed Info's urgently. 😊

Thank's in advance for your support. Have a good start into the week. ✌🏼

[spacefrog_ · Accepted solution]

I ' ll stick to the english forum posting this, otherwise it would get quite confusing. 

I had a brief look and tried to import the MittelHolmtreppe myself
Most important seems to be that you stick to the following settings

( i use english max , so my suggestions will be in "english/german" menu and dialog texts

* 3ds Max System Units/System-Einheiten set to meters ( defaults to Inches/Zoll !!! ). 

    (Menue:  Customize->Units Setup / Anpassen->Einheiten Einrichten )

* In the Inventor Import Dialog, set "Import As->Meshes"/"Importieren als->Netze"

Then the texture scaling looks quite okay, if the "System units" are set differently i get the wrong texture scaling like your screenshots show

After that it directly should render quite ok when using the "ART Renderer", generating somewhat a similar look like Inventors own renderer

Conversion to Arnold using the Scene Converter works too, but expect render setup and material tweaking to be necessary

3ds Max is not really a one-click, fire and forget  render application, so expect some conversion and scene adjustment efforts to achieve good renderings

Arnold itself needs quite some knowledge to control

There are easier commercial renderers out there for 3ds Max, like Corona etc...
but i dont know if using a third party renderer would be an option

[M_Mertens_Intec]

Hey, good evening! 🙂

No Problem. Let's stay here in English. Be fine for me. Now to your workflow....

- Change units! This works very well! 👍🏼 

- Import as mesh! This works well, too. 👍🏼 

The attached examples are both with the art renderer. Just a quick round direct after import. Without any scene settings. Only difference. I converted the scene for the second picture. 

So, as you said. With those settings i get a quality in the near of the Inventor studio.

I will try arnold in the next days / next weekend. (Exited what will bring this 😋)

That 3ds is not a one click expirience i absolute know, as i wrote in my first post. 😅 I am fully aware that there is still a long way to go.

By the way. Question in the round. I am thinking about a different solution. 

What when i get a good library with arnold materials. Then importing my model and changing the material by skripting. Could this possible??

I got this in my mind because I have a small amount of Inventor materials in my company for rendering and they everytime and ervery model the same.

In zhe end its a machine and its build by the same materials all the time. 😄

And thank you very much for the Tipp with the CORONA RENDERER. Absolute an opportunity for me. But this is an further try. As first i have to get a little moore experience with 3ds Generell. May be on the next holidays i can get the free trial and see how it works. 

As last. Regarding to your first message. I am not frustraded. And want to proceed! 😉  Thanks a lot. I belive we will read from each other in the next times. 

So, good night for now. Have a nice day tommorow... ✌🏼🙂

[spacefrog_]

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By the way. Question in the round. I am thinking about a different solution. 

What when i get a good library with arnold materials. Then importing my model and changing the material by skripting. Could this possible??

I got this in my mind because I have a small amount of Inventor materials in my company for rendering and they everytime and ervery model the same.

In zhe end its a machine and its build by the same materials all the time. 😄

Great to hear that it worked out ...

And regarding the scripting approach, that sounds like a very reasonable way to reduce the conversion effort required

[lauri_barnhart]

Hi @M_Mertens_Intec, thank you for your question.

Did the information provided by spacefrog_ help?

If yes, please mark the reply as the accepted solution.

This helps other users benefit from the information.

If the issue persists, let us know with an update so we can assist further.

Thanks!