Full disclosure: I built this, so take the "review" part with a grain of salt. Story below might still be worth a read either way. Three short parts, skip around as you like.

Part 1 - Why

I make 3D models for a living. Every new Max release I hope for something that actually speeds things up - 25/26 gave me nothing I remember without Googling it, and 2027's headline feature is boolean with chamfers. Not exactly changing my workflow.

The idea was simple: automate the routine - the monotonous part of building cloth folds. Simulation is slow and unpredictable, and welding vertices after retopo is its own pain.

I wanted something simple and predictable, no external software, no exporting back and forth. Sounded impossible at first - everyone's just used to suffering through sims. Build something solo that doesn't lose to Marvelous Designer's whole engineering team on quality, while being easier to use?

"Am I out of my mind?" - my internal monologue for about 15 months.

Software like Marvelous or Max is built by genuinely talented engineers who probably don't spend hundreds of hours actually modeling with it. Turns out you kind of have to be a modeler to get inside a modeler's head. Whether it worked - that's for you to decide, I can only share the result.

Part 2 - What it is

A 3ds Max modifier for realistic folds - no simulation, no retopology, no leaving Max.

I know, "realistic folds in 3ds Max" has been oversold before - looks great in a demo, unusable on a real project (IMO). The actual point is time saved: if you've already nailed the folds on one model, FoldFlow reuses that exact shape anywhere, one click, no remodeling. Packaged 39 patterns from my own past work to start.

Easier to just show than explain: video

Part 3 - Technical (probably the part worth your time)

Written in C++. Autodesk's SDK docs read like decades of accumulated notes - including functions written around 2015 that were later gutted but still look like working methods. Compile fine. Call them in Max and you get a hardcoded return 1; and nothing else.

Figuring out how their mesh internals actually behave was the real fight - about 2 months just getting something to run without errors, made worse because Max didn't crash consistently on identical geometry. Could write 500 pages about that alone.

AI was basically useless here - no spatial reasoning, barely any real material to train on. Pure trial and error.

Learned a lot more than expected going in. Got 3ds Max plugin ideas? Happy to talk, reach out however works.Try the 14-day free trial

Thanks for reading.

Hey everyone!

I really wanted to share what working in FoldFlow actually looks like in practice. This 90-second clip is a quick highlight edit showing real-time fold workflow on a leather armchair.

For those new here, FoldFlow is a procedural C++ modifier for 3ds Max that lets you draw and adjust cloth folds and leather wrinkles in real-time right inside the viewport.

Hi everyone!

I've been modeling upholstered furniture for over 10 years, and about 15 months ago I got tired of constantly exporting my models to Marvelous Designer just to create a few folds.

At first I thought AI could automate that workflow. After a month of trying, I realized I needed to learn C++ instead.

That's how FoldFlow was born.

It was never supposed to become something this big.

I just wanted to build a small tool for myself to solve a problem I dealt with every day. But every time I solved one issue, I found another idea worth adding. Little by little, that small personal project turned into something I felt was worth sharing with other artists.

Over the last 15 months I completely fell in love with programming. Around the same time my daughter was born, so many nights were spent switching between C++ books, Visual Studio, and taking care of a newborn

The goal was never to replace Marvelous Designer.

The goal was to make creating folds dramatically faster without ever leaving 3ds Max.

Today FoldFlow lets you create folds, wrinkles and stitching directly in the viewport, with instant interactive feedback—no simulation and no constant exporting between applications.

One of my favorite features is the ability to reuse fold details from your best models. Instead of recreating everything from scratch, you can transfer and adapt them to completely different meshes.

Below is a short 60-second preview.

The first public release is getting close.

I'm looking for a few experienced 3ds Max artists who'd like to beta test FoldFlow on real projects and help shape it before launch.

If you're interested, leave a comment or send me a DM.

Would a tool like this fit into your workflow? I'd genuinely love to hear your feedback.