This page takes you from a fresh download to your first working simulation. It applies to VanguardLiquid, VanguardCity and VanguardFX DML — the installation and licensing steps are the same for all three.
Before you start
- Autodesk 3ds Max 2024, 2025, 2026 or 2027, installed and licensed.
- An NVIDIA GPU with a current driver (VanguardLiquid simulates on the GPU).
- An account at vanguardfx.pro — free, and needed to receive a licence.
Installing
Download the installer
Go to the product page and press Download. You will get a single .exe that contains the builds for every supported version of 3ds Max.
Close 3ds Max
The installer writes into Max's plugin folders. If Max is open, the files are locked and the installation will be incomplete. Close it fully before you continue.
Run the installer
It detects which versions of 3ds Max you have and installs the matching build into each one. You do not need to choose a folder.
Start 3ds Max and find the plugin
For VanguardLiquid, create the object from the Create panel and its rollout appears in the Modify panel. If nothing appears, see If the plugin does not show up below.
Getting your licence
Copy your Hardware ID
The plugin panel shows a Hardware ID with a button to copy it. This is what ties a licence to your machine.
Request the licence
Sign in at your customer panel, open the product tab, choose the product and the plan, and paste the Hardware ID.
A 7-day trial is issued immediately (exports limited to 40 frames). For a paid plan, attach your payment receipt; a person reviews it, usually the same day.
Paste it into the plugin
Your licence appears in the panel as two lines. Copy both, paste them into the licence box in the plugin, and press activate. That is the last time you need to think about it.
A licence is for one product and one machine. Keys end in a product code —
-LIQ for VanguardLiquid, -CTY for VanguardCity. If you change your PC,
ask support to reset the binding; we do that routinely.
Your first simulation — VanguardLiquid
Create the domain and give it something to pour
Add the fluid object, then set an emitter and a collider from your own geometry. The domain is the volume the solver works in; anything outside it is not simulated.
Start coarse
Run at a low resolution first. It costs seconds instead of minutes and tells you whether the motion is what you wanted. Raise the resolution once the behaviour is right — that is the single biggest time saver there is.
Simulate, then mesh
Simulate to build the cache, then turn on the surface mesh. Whitewater — foam, spray, bubbles — is generated from the same simulation.
Render without the domain box
The domain is a boundary, not geometry. Switch off its visibility at render time and the surface and whitewater render on their own.
If something goes wrong
The plugin does not show up in 3ds Max. Almost always Max was open during installation. Close Max completely and run the installer again.
Activation is refused. Check the product code at the end of the key matches the product you are opening, and that the Hardware ID in the panel is the one you sent us.
Anything else. The plugin panel has a Write Diagnostic Log button.
It writes a .txt containing a section headed "what is wrong, in words". Send us
that file through the support page — it is by far the fastest route
to an answer.
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