version: "1.0.0" name: 3dsmax-lookdev description: >- Domain skill - configure OCIO color management, HDR environment lighting, preview materials, and assign renderer-specific materials (Arnold, V-Ray, Scanline) in 3ds Max. license: MIT compatibility: "meshy-dcc-core 0.17+, 3ds Max 2024+" metadata: meshy-dcc: dcc: 3dsmax version: "1.0.0" layer: domain stage: authoring search-hint: "3ds Max lookdev HDR environment lighting material preview arnold v-ray scanline" tags: "3dsmax, lookdev, hdr, environment, lighting, material, arnold, vray" tools: tools.yaml intent: "Configure HDR environment lighting, preview materials, and assign renderer-specific materials." search_aliases: ["lookdev", "look development", "look dev"] recall_context: app_type: "3dsmax" domain: "lookdev" workflow_stage: "authoring" task_category: "mutate" preconditions:

• type: software

name: "3ds Max" version: ">=2024" side_effects: creates: false modifies: true deletes: false exports: false imports: false file_output: false render: false targets: ["scene_node", "environment", "material"] produces: ["environment_lighting", "material_assignment"]

3ds Max Look Development Skill

Configure environment lighting from HDR/EXR images, set up a three-point light rig, preview materials on test geometry, and assign materials with renderer detection (Arnold, V-Ray, Scanline).

Tools

• `get_color_management` / `set_color_management` — Inspect or configure the

3ds Max 2024+ scene OCIO config and scene-linear rendering color space. The setter can also select a native frame-buffer display/view pair (for example, sRGB / un-tone-mapped), validates it against the loaded config, and requires an exact host readback. Failed configuration is rolled back.

• `setup_hdr_lighting` — Load an HDR/EXR image as the environment map,

configure rotation and intensity, and create a renderer-compatible three-point light rig. Arnold scenes use native Arnold lights with host property readback; an unavailable or incompatible light capability fails closed before the environment is changed. On a V-Ray scene the HDRI is built as a VRayBitmap with map_type (angular / cubic / spherical / mirrored_ball / max_standard), gamma, color_space, and horizontal_rotation control; a projection control the bitmap refuses fails the call before anything in the scene is changed.

• `set_hdri_rotation` — Rotate the active environment for a lighting

turntable without rebuilding the rig.

• `preview_material` — Create a test sphere or quad, apply a named scene

material, and report the viewport-visible result.

• `assign_renderer_material` — Detect the active renderer

(Arnold/V-Ray/Scanline), create or find a suitable material class, apply it to named nodes, and return a summary.

V-Ray roughness rule

VRayMtl roughness is not a roughness property. The tool sets brdf_useRoughness = true first and then writes reflectionRoughness; on V-Ray 4 hosts that only expose reflection_glossiness it writes the inverted value instead. Both writes are verified by readback, and a VRayMtl that accepts neither spelling fails the call and rolls the new material back instead of returning a success the agent cannot trust.