3ds Max AI Copilot
An AI assistant for 3ds Max that runs locally – scene files never leave the studio.
- Client
- in-house tool
- Status
- prototype
- Year
- 2026
- Technology
- Rust · Ollama · Qwen2.5-Coder · Named Pipes
Challenge
Repetitive 3ds Max work can be scripted, but writing scripts takes programming skills. Cloud AI assistants, on the other hand, would send client scene data to an outside provider.
Solution
The Copilot is a local Rust service. The artist describes the task in English; a local language model (Ollama, Qwen2.5-Coder) writes a pymxs script, and the Copilot shows the code, an explanation and a risk level.
Scripts run only after approval, inside 3ds Max as a single undo step. Dangerous operations (deleting files, resetting the scene, launching processes) are blocked by a denylist checked in two places, and the Copilot never saves the scene.
- 1Instructionin English, in the Copilot prompt
- 2Scriptlocal LLM, JSON response
- 3Previewcode, explanation, risk level
- 4Runafter approval, undoable
| Model | Ollama · Qwen2.5-Coder 14B, fully local |
|---|---|
| Connection | Windows named pipe, NDJSON protocol between the Rust service and 3ds Max |
| Safety | Mandatory approval, two-level denylist, single undo step, never saves |
Result
Working prototype: the language model, the 3ds Max connection and the approval flow are done; texture generation and visual recognition are in development.