Exploring Plugin Parameters in CMD

This page provides information on exploring the parameters of materials and textures created from plugins with V-Ray.

Overview

Materials and textures can be created from any V-Ray Standalone material or texture plugin that comes with the V-Ray installation. The parameters of these materials and textures can be accessed through the command prompt.

There are two separate tools that contain the above information: plgparams.exe and plugininfo.exe.

Location

By default, the plgparams.exe can be found in:

C:\Program Files\Chaos\V-Ray\3ds Max 20xx\bin\ for V-Ray for 3ds Max 2021 and earlier, or

C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax20xx\bin for V-Ray for 3ds Max 2022 and later.

By default, the plugininfo.exe can be found in:

C:\Program Files\Chaos\V-Ray\3ds Max 20xx\bin\ for V-Ray for 3ds Max 2021 and earlier, or

C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax20xx\bin for V-Ray for 3ds Max 2022 and later.

Accessing Parameters in CMD

plgparams

Details on plugin nodes from plugins is available with the plgparams.exe tool that comes with the V-Ray installation.

With the command prompt, navigate to the bin folder and run plgparams.exe without arguments to see a help message on the tool's usage. In general, you will need to run a series of commands to point plgparams to the plugin folder, locate the V-Ray name of the node (which might differ from its display name in the V-Ray UI), and list the parameters for the plugin.

To point plgparams to the folder where your plugins reside, use the -plugindir option:

<code data-v-c2b1f83f=""><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">plgparams -plugindir <plugin folder></span></code>

This command tells plgparams where to find your plugins. By default, the default plugins folder location is:

C:\Program Files\Chaos\V-Ray\3ds Max 20xx\bin\plugins for V-Ray for 3ds Max 2021 and earlier, or

C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax20xx\bin\plugins for V-Ray for 3ds Max 2022 or later.

<code data-v-c2b1f83f=""><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">## Example for 3ds Max 2021 and earlier</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">"C:\Program Files\Chaos\V-Ray\3ds Max 2021\bin\plgparams.exe" -plugindir "C:\Program Files\Chaos\V-Ray\3ds Max 2021\bin\plugins"</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line"> </span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">## Example for 3ds Max 2022 and later</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">"C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax2022\bin\plgparams.exe" -plugindir "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax2022\bin\plugins"</span></code>

To see the list of plugin names in this folder, use the following command:

<code data-v-c2b1f83f=""><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">## Usage</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">plgparams -plugindir <plugin folder> -list</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line"> </span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">## Example for 3ds Max 2021 and earlier</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">"C:\Program Files\Chaos\V-Ray\3ds Max 2021\bin\plgparams.exe" -plugindir "C:\Program Files\Chaos\V-Ray\3ds Max 2021\bin\plugins" -list</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line"> </span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">## Example foe 3ds Max 2022 and later</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">"C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax2022\bin\plgparams.exe" -plugindir "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax2022\bin\plugins" -lilst</span></code>

To see help on the parameters for a specific plugin, name the plugin in quotes after the -plugindir switch and folder. For example, to see help on the BRDFGlass plugin, use the command:

<code data-v-c2b1f83f=""><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">## Usage</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">plgparams -plugindir <plugin folder> <plugin name></span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line"> </span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">## Example for 3ds Max 2021 and earlier</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">"C:\Program Files\Chaos\V-Ray\3ds Max 2021\bin\plgparams.exe" -plugindir "C:\Program Files\Chaos\V-Ray\3ds Max 2021\bin\plugins" BRDFGlass</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line"> </span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">## Example foe 3ds Max 2022 and later</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">"C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax2022\bin\plgparams.exe" -plugindir "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax2022\bin\plugins" BRDFGlass</span></code>

This will list all the parameters for the plugin and definitions for each.

plugininfo

Navigate to the bin folder and run plugininfo.exe without arguments to see a help message on the tool's usage. In general, you will need to run a series of commands to point plugininfo to the plugin folder, locate the V-Ray name of the node (which might differ from its display name in the V-Ray UI), and list the parameters for the plugin.

To point plugininfo to the folder where your plugins reside, use the -plugindir option:

<code data-v-c2b1f83f=""><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">plugininfo -plugindir <plugin folder></span></code>

This command tells plugininfo where to find your plugins. By default, the default plugins folder location is:

C:\Program Files\Chaos\V-Ray\3ds Max 20xx\bin\plugins for V-Ray for 3ds Max 2021 and earlier, or

C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax20xx\bin\plugins for V-Ray for 3ds Max 2022 or later.

<code data-v-c2b1f83f=""><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">## Example for 3ds Max 2022 and later</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line"></span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">"C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax2024\bin\plugininfo.exe" -plugindir "C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\ApplicationPlugins\VRay3dsMax2024\bin\plugins"</span></code>

To see the list of plugin names in this folder, use the following command:

<code data-v-c2b1f83f=""><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">##Usage</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line"></span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">plugininfo.exe -plugindir <plugin folder> -list</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line"></span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">##Make the list organized by category</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line"></span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">plugininfo.exe -plugindir <plugin folder> -list -listByCategory</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line"></span></code>

To display the plugin information in a JSON format, use the following command:

<code data-v-c2b1f83f=""><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">##Usage</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line"></span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">plugininfo.exe -plugindir <plugin folder> -name BRDFGlass -json</span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line"></span><span data-v-c2b1f83f="" class="line">##outputs the parameters of the BRDFGlass plugin in a JSON format</span></code>