Chaos Scatter

Chaos Scatter is a powerful instancing and distribution tool that allows you to easily populate scenes with selected objects. This is especially useful for outdoor scenes that need to be filled with greenery, rocks, grass etc.

Chaos Scatter is also available with the Corona renderer. For more information, please visit the Chaos Scatter page for Corona.

This video tutorial for the Corona renderer showcases common uses for Chaos Scatter's options, such as Normal vs. Z, Slope Limitation, Spline includes and excludes, Camera Clipping and more. Please also see the end of the video for a workflow using Chaos Scatter Surface Color texture.

To load Chaos Scatter files from a non-default location, follow the steps below:

1. Install V-Ray for the respective 3ds Max version you use.
2. Copy the "C:\Program Files\Chaos Group\Scatter" folder to the file server, e.g. \\fileserver\Scatter.
3. Copy "C:\Program Files\Autodesk\3ds Max 20NN\Plugins\ChaosScatterMax20NN.dlt" to the file server, e.g. \\fileserver\ScatterPlugin\ChaosScatterMax2023.dlt. Replace the 20NN with your 3ds Max version.
4. Then, 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 both environment variable name and value - they should be the same:

   "CHAOSSCATTER_3DSMAX_20NN_LOAD_PATH=\\fileserver\Scatter\3ds Max 20NN"
   You can download an example .bat file set for 3ds Max 2023 here. It sets an environment variable for 3ds Max 2023 and then, opens 3dsmax.exe.

6. Launch 3ds Max and from the Customize menu select Configure User and System Paths.

7. From 3rd Party Plug-Ins click Add and browse the path where ChaosScatterMax20NN.dlt file is copied, e.g. \\fileserver\ScatterPlugin\ChaosScatterMax2023.dlt.

8. Close 3ds Max and reopen it, Chaos Scatter plugin should be loaded and ready for usage.