'Quick Send' your AutoCAD designs to Max

If you want to render your AutoCAD designs while having the full range of visualisation tools and control of 3ds Max, a new technology preview from the Autodesk Labs could be what you need. 'Quick Send to 3ds Max' easily transfers your scenes with just a couple of clicks.

Once you've downloaded the preview, it will appear in the plug-ins tab on the new 'Workflow' panel. From here, you can create a workflow preset which can be edited to define how you want to take your design to 3ds Max, and what level of detail you want to use.

The new workflow you've created appears in the panel under 'Quick Send to 3ds Max', then all you have to do is click on it to send your design directly, even if Max is not already open. When you go to render, you'll see that all the lights, materials and cameras from the original AutoCAD scene have been transferred, saving a lot of time applying your preferred settings again (although you can of course play about with the settings once in 3ds Max, if you wish). Any changes you now make to the original AutoCAD file's geometry will be automatically updated in 3ds Max once you save and run the workflow again!

- This technology preview is a public beta version operating until 1st March 2012. Autodesk want to hear your feedback so they can improve it and possibly include it in future software versions. Download Quick Send to 3ds Max for free now from the Autodesk Labs.

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