This page provides information on setting up Phoenix so that it can run from a location different from the default.
Phoenix for 3ds Max can be run from an arbitrary location using only 3ds Max 2022 and newer. |
Installing Phoenix for 3ds Max from an arbitrary location provides several advantages over the regular installer:
When using an arbitrary location installation of Phoenix, the EULA needs to be accepted to start a simulation. A pop-up window appears when the simulation begins. |
Running Phoenix for 3ds Max from an arbitrary location has two parts to it. First, you must run the installation to extract the necessary files and store them on the network. Next, you must configure your local machine to use these files to run Phoenix for 3ds Max.
Phoenix does not require a V-Ray for 3ds Max installation to load and work correctly inside 3ds Max. |
Before you run 3ds Max, you need to set the following environment variables on the local machine.
Action | Variable | Location | Example |
---|---|---|---|
Set | ADSK_APPLICATION_PLUGINS | C:\Custom_Phoenix_Install | set ADSK_APPLICATION_PLUGINS=C:\Custom_Phoenix_Install |
Set | PHX_FOR_3DSMAX20xx_BIN | C:\Custom_Phoenix_Install\Additional_files\bin | set PHX_FOR_3DSMAX2023_BIN =C:\Custom_Phoenix_Install\Additional_files\bin |
Set | PHX_FOR_3DSMAX2xx_STNDPLUGS | C:\Custom_Phoenix_Install\Additional_files\bin\plugins | set PHX_FOR_3DSMAX2023_STNDPLUGS=C:\Custom_Phoenix_Install\Additional_files\bin |
Additionally, if you are rendering with V-Ray Standalone 6 or newer (meaning you render vrscenes or render using V-Ray GPU), you need to edit or append this environment variable:
Action | Variable | Location | Example |
---|---|---|---|
Set | VRAY_FOR_3DSMAX20xx_PLUGINS | C:\Custom_Phoenix_Install\Additional_files\vray6plugins | set VRAY_FOR_3DSMAX2023_PLUGINS=C:\Custom_Phoenix_Install\Additional_files\vray6plugins |
Alternatively, you could append this path to the VRAY_PLUGINS environment variable, but please note that this would affect all installed V-Ray Standalone versions.
Finally, another alternative and the official way to do this for V-Ray versions older than V-Ray 6 would be to copy all files from C:\Program Files\Chaos Group\Phoenix FD\3ds Max 20xx for x64\vray5plugins to the folder that the VRAY_FOR_3DSMAX20xx_PLUGINS environment variable points to. This would affect only this specific V-Ray Standalone version.