Define a sequence of tasks once, per pass, and have as many passes in a scene as you need. Camera, resolution, frame range, output path, visibility, materials, renderer settings - all from one window, without a single line of script.
3ds Max 2021+ · free for non-commercial use · no render node licence, nothing to install on the farm
It is a render pass and generic task manager for 3ds Max. If you have used RPManager, LPass Manager, Prism, StateSet or Scene State, it is something like that - aiming to be smarter, faster and more stable.
In a nutshell, renderStacks lets you define a sequence of tasks to be
executed per pass, with unlimited passes per scene. You can tell it to
set the viewport to Camera001, the resolution to 1920×1080,
the output to Z:\project\awesome\…\v001\awesome_bty.exr, the
frame range to 100-300 and a red plastic material on the teapots - and
call that pass Bty.
That takes a lot of common scene management off artists. Configure the passes once and concentrate on making art. How much render node time has been wasted on a simple mistake? renderStacks prevents a good many of them, through a UI an artist can drive without writing any script.
The reasoning behind the parts you will feel every day.
A stack is compact - see how much less room the 3ds Max modifier stack takes than a node-based equivalent. A pass is a sequence of tasks, and reading it top to bottom beats navigating a spaghetti of nodes or hunting through windows scattered across the UI.
Nobody wants to wait more than a few seconds to switch a pass. Scenes hold hundreds of millions of polygons and tens of thousands of objects, so every trick we have learned over the years went into squeezing 3ds Max for speed.
Everything renderStacks needs is stored in the max scene. Nothing to install on a render node, nothing to send alongside the file. Activate the pass, save, and hand the scene to a client or a render farm as it is.
A walk through the window, the pass tree and a first set of pmodifiers.
Key features, highlights and some of the thinking behind them.
The goal is to cut down the number of scene files you deal with, so a pass has to reach a long way: camera, resolution, frame range, object visibility, materials, object properties, renderer parameters, on and on.
But you do not have to control all of it all the time. Want a different threshold per pass? Then manage that one value, not every renderer parameter. The granularity is yours to choose.
A parameter palette for all your render and scene management needs. You will not need to open the Render Setup dialog or Object Properties - what you need is already at your fingertips.
From traditional 3ds Max selection sets to renderStacks' own layer sets, there are several ways to define a group of objects and use them as one.
Need the same set of objects used as matte objects here, as a lighting exclusion there, across several passes, and kept in sync? Object sets make that easy and hard to get wrong.
Central control, automatic pass setup, total control over output. Pipeline hooks can override or block feature access from artists, and we are open to adding as many controls as you need.
Every single feature is reachable from MaxScript, so passes can be generated by script. Setup data saves and shares between users, and selected passes can be merged between artists.
No more typing output paths. Set a rule once with the built-in tokens and save it in a startup file - and if you are a truly unique flower, write your own token. You need never open the output dialog again.
No waiting for us to support the new option in your renderer or plugin. As long as a feature is exposed to MaxScript, renderStacks sees it and lets you use it.
Most 3ds Max artists we have met do not want to script - and if they had to, they could have written this themselves. Everything is reachable through the UI.
Trying combinations of fluid simulation settings? Make a pass per variation instead of taking notes - the parameters travel with the pass, and going back is one click.
Same for a Model pass and a Preview pass that turn every TurboSmooth in the scene off and on. It is really a way to toggle between parameter states.
44 pmodifiers, shipped
A pmodifier is one task inside a pass. Stack them in the order you want them to run - and more are planned.
Two long conversations, in their own words.
renderStacks is free for non-commercial use - evaluating it counts. The free build expires in time, so you update to keep going.
DownloadSubscriptions from a single seat up to a site licence. No render node licences to buy, whatever the size of the farm.
See the pricesA hundred-odd pages covering every pmodifier, the pass workflow, tokens, set editors, pipeline hooks and MaxScript.
Open the documentation