How to convert a Procedural texture into a bitmap image texture in 3ds Max for .fbx export

Autodesk Support

Oct 8, 2023

Products and versions covered

Issue:

When exporting .fbx files from 3ds Max, Procedural textures such as Noise, Cellular, Smoke and so forth are not included and will not appear when importing the .fbx file into another 3D program.

Solution:

  1. To convert Procedural textures like Cellular or Noise to bitmap images, open either the Slate or Compact Material Editor, then go to Material Editor's top menu bar and pick Utilities > Render Map.
  2. From the Render Map menu, adjust the settings for Single (frame) or Active Time Segment (to output a series of sequentially-numbered frames from animated Procedural textures), pick the final output dimensions, then click on Files to save your images to the desired folder location and file format. Then, click Render.
  3. 3ds Max will "bake" the existing Procedural texture into bitmap(s). You can then use those images to replace the original Procedural texture when exporting to .fbx.

User-added image
Slate Material Editor.

User-added image
Compact Material Editor.

Products:

3ds Max; 3ds Max Design;

Versions:

2017; 2015; 2016; 2019; 2018;

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