What's coming in the new update?
Autodesk revealed details on the features of the next 3DS Max update, including a brand new Bake to Texture tool for faster performance and a new streamlined workflow. What is more, it is said to support more renderers (including Arnold), error validation and compatible map filtering, OSL texture maps and more.
The update will bring a new Weighted Normals modifier to improve the shading of models by altering the vertex normals to be perpendicular to larger flat polygons and generate explicit normals for meshes better.
Also, there are two new PBR materials: one supporting the Metal and Rough workflow, and the other supporting specular and glossiness. You can drag and drop downloaded PBR maps straight from Windows Explorer into the Material/Maps Browser.
The update brings new OSL shaders including an HDRI Environment map to control the positioning and final look of the environment, HDRI Lights to place HDR photos of real-world light sources, and more. Please note that Arnold 6.0 is now the default renderer, and there's the updated Substance 2 Substance2 map featuring the latest substance engine for you to natively load .sbar files.
You can learn more here.