The Allegorithmic, creator of the map Substance 3ds max, is offering a free new component that allows you to generate multiple variations of wood floors using any wood texture.
Here : http://www.allegorithmic.com/community/blog/article-free-make-it-parquet
As already disclosed above, two artists are creating a new plug-in for 3ds max modeling in Z-Spheres inspired by the Z-Brush, now they have published a video demonstrating the tool.
The nPower launched a new plug-in, called ScanToNURBS, to convert mesh objects generated by Scanners 3D NURBS Surface, allowing editing in CAD programs like SolidWorks and Catia.
The Chaos Group has published a great video showing the new features available in the latest Service Pack V-Ray as Blend of materials in V-Ray RT and the ability to define the area of rendering in Active Shade, including Zoom.
The Camera Map Gemini is a great plug-in for texture mapping projection for the camera, a technique widely used in film and Matte Paint. The new Beta version is available for free download.
Many people ( including me) always were unsatisfied with the way 3ds Max handles viewport switching. Even more people got upset after the general viewport switching logic completely changed with ( as far i remember ) Max 2010. Many even suspected a bug in the new Max release, as lots of threads on The Area and elsewhere show.
A trial version is now out forr|shaders, a collection of procedural shaders for 3ds Max.
http://www.alessandrocangelosi.com/html/html/little_cloud_dev_-_rshaders_ho.html
3Point Shader
3Point Shader Pro is a toolset for creation and presentation of high-quality real- time materials in the Autodesk 3ds Max™ viewport. A user-friendly GUI helps meet and exceed what is expected of a master shader and its companion tools.
The open product design coupled with creative thinking and the experimentation made easy by the GUI has allowed a wide range of user-created custom effects such as sub-surface scattering, realistic hair rendering and NPR shading.