What you need
- Autodesk 3ds Max 2024–2027.
- ValTerra. The 30-day trial has every feature enabled — get it on the trial page.
- A Cesium ion token (opens in a new tab) or your own Google Maps Platform key (opens in a new tab). Google states that Photorealistic 3D Tiles are not returned to projects linked to a billing account with an EEA address and created (or modified) after 8 July 2025 — see Google's EEA notice (opens in a new tab) and read their terms.
Step by step
- Install ValTerra and open its panel.
- On the first tab, paste your credential into the field at the top of the right-hand column and press Save. The globe comes up.
- Find the place with the search bar of the globe, press Select area and drag across it.
- Choose Detail — from Maximum down to Very low (32 m). Finer is heavier.
- Press Import. Before the first imagery import, one page names what will be fetched and on whose account. The model then arrives in your scene as geometry with its textures packed into atlas sheets, on the same ground as the terrain of the same place and the schematic city imported with it as Terrain + volumes + roads.
A common question
Is this the same as Google Earth?
Not the Google Earth application — ValTerra does not read it. What people usually mean by "Google Earth in 3ds Max" is the photorealistic 3D city model, and Google serves it to developers as Photorealistic 3D Tiles through the Map Tiles API. That is what ValTerra requests, with your key.
Attribution and terms
Captures that contain Google map content carry an attribution line rendered into the image. The full credits, and where adding one is on you, are on the data sources & attribution page, and the license terms are in the EULA.
ValTerra is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Google LLC or Autodesk, Inc.
Prefer open data?
ValTerra also builds a schematic city from OpenStreetMap — buildings, roads and terrain from open data rather than from a provider's imagery. The OpenStreetMap data is available under the Open Database License (ODbL), and the terrain comes from open elevation tiles; the steps are in the OpenStreetMap city guide.