Hi Rob! Let me try to answer things!
1. Export to 3DSMax file format? Any gotcha or additional work needed in 3DSMax?
2. Import from 3DSMax?
Sending data between apps is rarely completely lossless because the 3D rendering engines, lighting systems, and materials are all fairly complex.
Exporting from 3DS Max to use in Stager, export as FBX format. FBX is Autodesks native format, so it will have best compatibility for them. This should be fairly good at bringing in all of your materials, textures, etc.
Exporting from Stager to use in 3DS Max, however, I don't believe is very good. Stagers export formats are limited right now to OBJ, GLTF, and GLB. OBJ is a very simple format that doesn't support hierarchy, transform data, or link material data well. GLTF and GLB are pretty robust, but 3DS Max doesn't support those. 3DS Max DOES support USD import, which is something we are working on exporting from Stager hopefully this year, so this workflow may be better in 2022.
3. Create octahedral imposters that use a very specific texture setup (texture arrays) used primarily for vegetation.
Stager does not support octahedral imposters. It doesn't have a great workflow for vegetation at the moment. Something we want to improve, but for now mostly you'd need to use other apps like SpeedTree to generate vegetation and import as polygon planes.
4. Does is support DDS output?
No. Stager renders as PSD 8-bit, PSD 16-bit, or PNG images today.
5. How extensive of a object and texture library comes with the Stager?
Stager comes with a fairly small collection, roughly 100 assets. Many of the assets (most of the materials) are parametric, so you have a lot of control over customizing them. You can get more models, textures, and light on Substance 3D Assets and Adobe Stock site. Both include free collections as well as paid.
6. How large is the 3D object "payware" library for Stager?
Adobe Stock and Substance 3D Assets both have a ton of content - several thousand models and materials each. The models on Adobe Stock are fully textured. The models on Substance 3D Assets are untextured and prepared for kitbashing.
Substance 3D Assets is included in your subscription to the Substance 3D Collection. So when you purchase the Collection plan you also get credits for models, materials, lights, etc. It includes 50 asset credits per month, and the credits do not expire. Adobe Stock is not included in CC All Apps or Substance 3D Collection subscriptions.
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