load Chaos Scatter from network

[sylk]

Hi, we have VRay 6 in a shared directory on our fileserver where our rendernodes load it from. Using the ApplicationPlugins & package.xml approach where we set environment variables on 3dsmax launch and so on.

However we can't render ChaosScatter on the farm. And that is obviously because it isn't part of VRay's package.xml. It gets installed in C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2023\Plugins

So I tried to place the ChaosScatterMax2023.dlt in our other shared plugin directory. Which is added under [Directories] in a custom plugin.ini which also gets loaded with 3dsmax on launch. But that throws an error: failed to initialize properly - not loading

Is there a way to load it from a network share?

/Andreas

[svetlozar.draganov]

You can move all Chaos Scatter files to a non-default location by following the steps bellow:

1. Install V-Ray for the respective 3ds Max version, f.e. V-Ray for 3ds Max 2023
2. Copy "C:\Program Files\Chaos Group\Scatter" folder to the file server f.e. \\fileserver\Scatter
3. Copy "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 2023\Plugins\ChaosScatterMax2023.dlt" to the file server f.e. \\fileserver\ScatterPlugin\ChaosScatterMax2023.dlt
4. Uninstall V-Ray
5. Set the following environment variable (you can use .bat file or system/user environment variables). Pay attention to the version of 3ds Max, (in this example 2023) in both environment variable name and value
   • "CHAOSSCATTER_3DSMAX_2023_LOAD_PATH=\\fileserver\Scatter\3ds Max 2023"
   • Here is an example .bat file for setting up the variable and launching 3ds Max: LINK
6. Launch 3ds Max and from Customize menu select Configure User and System Paths
7. From 3rd Party Plug-Ins click Add and browse the path where ChaosScatterMax2023.dlt is copied, f.e. \\fileserver\ScatterPlugin\ChaosScatterMax2023.dlt
8. Close 3ds Max and reopen it, Chaos Scatter plugin should be loaded and ready for usage.

Here is a short visual preview of the above setup.


Should you have any further questions don't hesitate to continue the discussion.

[sylk]

Thank you Svetlozar! It works. However, the icons are gone now. Is there a way to get them to load from the network share as well?