ToTex has a render material ID feature, I haven't used it so I'm not sure what it gives you, but if its able to render out a single material ID or send each ID to a separate file, without much fuss it might be worth downloading. http://www.scriptspot.com/3ds-max/scripts/totex-render-to-texture Also, it requires some work…
yup its the same thing Mark. I used to do that in pshop 7, but it didn't always work ha rollin, I could have kicked myself anyway I will try 'totex' - cheers for the link edit - yeah that script is fantastic, did just what i wanted and knocks out nice AO maps too