Crossmap is a Max shader that randomly distributes bitmaps on geometry (objects, elements, faces etc.). You just have to select a folder with bitmaps and Crossmap does the rest. It creates more variety among visualization projects in a fast and easy manner, and is especially useful for things like leaves on trees, grass, gravel, stones, flowers, wood fences and so on.

Crossmap is compatible with Max 2010 to 2012 (32-bit and 64-bit), and supports the scanline renderer, mental ray 3.6 and above, and V-Ray 1.5 SP5 and above. It also works together with Forest Pack Pro (random per element, distribution with input map) and Multiscatter (currently only with mental ray).

As with Color Tools below, VIZPARK are opening up their beta program. If you join the beta you not only get free access to a preliminary version of Crossmap, you can also get a free version if you actively contribute to find problems and improve the plugin. All the details can be found here.

Crossmap is available for Max 2010 to 2012 and costs €49.

Color Tools is a set of two shader map plugins for Max:
Color Extract extracts up to 100 colors from any photo to be randomly assigned to objects, elements, faces, or even other procedural maps; a very fast and easy way to assign grass colors to grass blades, tree colors to leaves or sand colors to a noise map.
Color Combine can combine three different maps into one map where each map represents one color channel (RGB). This way it's possible to create colored procedural maps (e.g. colored noise) where the color set of a procedural map is limited.

Color Tools is compatible with Max 2010 to 2012 (32-bit and 64-bit), and supports the scanline renderer, mental ray 3.6 and above, and V-Ray 1.5 SP5 and above. It also works together with Forest Pack Pro (random per element, distribution with input map) and Multiscatter (currently only with mental ray).

VIZPARK are also opening up their beta program. If you join the beta you not only get free access to a preliminary version of Color Tools, you can also get a free version if you actively contribute to find problems and improve the plugin. All the details can be found here.

Color Tools is available for Max 2010 to 2012 and costs €29.

Following on from the announcement at the beginning of December last year, the public alpha of IndigoMax started a couple of weeks ago. Full details and download links can be found in this thread on the Indigo forum.

Changes for v3.0 are:
- Adds support for Max 2012 (64-bit only)

Changes for SP7a are:
- Fixes potential hangs or lockups when handling finalRender materials in the material editor
- Fixes a possible crash with fR-Wire in the material editor with scanliner
- Fixes a possible crash with fR-Dirt when using proxies
- Shadows from Physical Sun no longer produce artifacts on proxies
- Fixes 'Disable Locals' bug in the raytracer settings with fR-Architecture
- Maps now load in material Render Elements if there is no replacement material in the scene
- Opacity and Render Elements now works efficiently
- Missing lines in finalToon related to fR-Proxies have been addressed

The Service Pack is available for finalRender R3.5 Studio Edition, finalRender R3.5 Standard and finalToon R3.5.

finalRender is available for Max 2009 to 2012 and costs €995 (Standard) / €1295 (Studio Edition) / €495 (finalToon). A demo version is available here.

SnowFlowPro is a plugin that creates realistic snow with ease. You just pick your desired objects and SnowFlowPro does the snow for you. Let the snow fall on your 3D objects and scenes with the click of a button.

Features include:
- Self-explanatory UI with integrated help
- New snow method supports snow effects for overlapping objects
- Advanced settings to get the best out of SnowFlowPro
- Full control over the calculated mesh
- Unlimited network rendering licences
- SnowFlowMaterial Scanline and V-Ray
- Includes SnowFlow 1.9, the original MAXScript version

SnowFlowPro is available for Max 2008 to 2012 and costs €120. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v2.6.10 include:
- SSS now clears much faster in difficult indirect lit areas
- Adds camera multi-step motionblur
- Speed optimizations in a number of render channels
- You can now type simple arithmetic operations in numeric fields
- The alpha channel can now be embedded in all MultiLight light images
- Speed optimizations when rendering particles with motion blur
- Stability of extensions has been improved
- Time improvements have been made when resuming a render
- The SDK has been improved
- Speed optimizations in MXI read/write/merge routines
- And much more... a full list of changes can be found here

Maxwell Render is available for Max 8 to 2012 and costs €895. A demo version is available here.

Projection Painter is a commercial MAXScript which allows you to send a view of your model to your favorite painting application to paint its textures and then project them back on to your model.

Projection Painter is available for Max 2011 to 2012 and costs €50.

This was originally intended to be a commercial tool for generating ocean surfaces with functions such as breaking waves, dynamics, foam and more. Unfortunately, they ran out of time to finish it, and have decided to release the last state of development as an open alpha version.

Changes for v1.0 are:
- Adds support for Max 2012 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Power ScanToNURBS imports scanned meshes into Max and converts them into a NURBS format that can be exported to various CAD systems or rapid prototyping machines. It thus enables you to transfer mesh models to Autodesk Inventor and other CAD systems.

Power ScanToNURBS quickly and accurately converts scanned mesh data, and creates high quality, smooth surfaces, with at least G1 continuity across surface boundaries. Power ScanToNURBS works especially well with Power NURBS, and facilitates working with the scanned data by converting it into a format where powerful modeling operations can easily be applied, such as boolean operations, filleting, blending, etc.

Power ScanToNURBS is available for Max 2010 to 2012 and costs $795. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.6 are:
- Adds support for the new Mascot Capsule eruptionST realtime stereo renderer

The english pages haven't been updated yet, so the links above point to the Japanese page.

Changes for v1.1 are:
- You can now update multiple maps at once

Ccom Map Baker is available for Max 9 to 2012 and costs approximately $18. A demo version is available here.

FiberMesh to Splines converts FiberMesh files exported from ZBrush to splines. The splines can be used to create and render Max hair either with the Max default hair modifier or using a hair plugin that has a recomb from splines option.

FiberMesh to Splines is available for Max 9 to 2012 and costs €20.

CadRemote consists of a global utility plugin and an app that can be downloaded from the AppStore. Together they allow you to use the touch and gyroscope capability of your iPhone or iPad to interact with your 3D models.

Features include:
- Pan, orbit, and zoom your 3D model for slick presentations
- Connect multiple iPhones and iPads to the same model for collaborative viewing
- Standardizes basic controls across all supported 3D applications
- Quick auto-connect for frequently used connections
- Only authorized people can connect to your computer
- Connects to your computer via Wi-Fi or ad hoc network

XMesh MX is the Max implementation of the XMesh toolset, a set of tools for caching animated scene geometry to an external file sequence and for loading this data later for rendering. It consists of this commercial Saver plugin (XMesh Saver MX) which exposes a MAXScript Interface for processing the scene and saving the XMesh files, and a free Loader plugin (XMesh Loader MX) which performs the loading.

Features include:
- Support for changing topology
- Support for changing / animated mesh data channels other than vertex list
- Smaller disk footprint for similar data thanks to built-in compression
- Smart data referencing when data remains unchanged between frames
- XML header files can include additional information as well as arbitrary metadata
- Support for pre-calculated velocity channel with various loading-time interpolation modes
- Direct support for Thinking Particles velocities acquisition
- Optional saving of multiple objects as one in World space
- Optional saving of multiple objects as multiple sequences in World or Object space
- Support for all 100 mapping channels
- Support for alternative (Proxy) sequence saving and loading for viewport display
- Additional simplified viewport display modes
- Support for sequential / parallel processing of a single sequence on Deadline
- Multiple files per frame data storage

XMesh Saver MX is available for Max 2009 to 2012 and costs $495 plus support. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v2.0.1.46309 are:
- Fixes uncaught exceptions in MaxKrakatoaIParticleObjectExt::UpdateParticles
- MaxKrakatoaIParticleObjectExt::GetSpeed...() now returns speed in units per tick
- MaxKrakatoaShadowGenerator::Update() now rejects empty paths to shadow files
- MaxKrakatoaShadowGenerator::Update() now handles exceptions better
- Fixes slow panning in MagmaFlow due to excessive calls to certain functions
- Adds an UPDATE button to the MagmaFlow Debugger dialog
- Fixes View Menu > Category and AutoCollapse items which had no event handlers
- Fixes crash when cloning or copying a Magma Modifier containing BLOP nodes
- Fixes the conversion of KCM to Magma Modifier
- Fixes SurfDataValue conversion from KCM/KMF
- Fixes SurfDataValue output connections offset on conversion
- Fixes a problem with the detection of Deadline
- The VFB 'Use Emission Strength' option is now hooked up with the Main GUI
- Adds two new BLOP presets: Face Area and Random Barycentric Coordinates
- Adds an updated EULA

Krakatoa MX is available for Max 2010 to 2012 and pricing starts at $1000 (a single workstation) plus support. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v3.3.1.1 are:
- There is now a demo version available

MadCar is available for Max 2008 to 2012 and costs €200. A demo version is available here.

Until the end of January, Heavenly Pictures are running a special offer on their Polygon Creator plugin where a license only costs $30 instead of $55. Full information can be found here.

Polygon Creator is available for Max 9 to 2012 and normally costs $55. A demo version is available here.

Changes for v1.52 are:
- Wrapit no longer needs to be launched before Morphit
- Fixes the Pixel Hive link in the UI

Thanks go to Shawn Olson for the update information.

Wrapit is available for Max 2009 to 2012 and costs £35. A demo version is available here.