For about a year the 3ds Max Development team has been working around the clock to bring to the public their latest version of 3ds. Their marketing team is calling it “The Biggest Max Ever”.
Previously, there was a need for 3ds Max (entertainment suites) and 3ds Max Design (design suites) to support different users of 3ds Max. Now they are both combined for to create 3ds Max. Each user can tailor their experience from the first launch and then with the templates and switchers. This makes things more efficient and much less complicated for users.
This is one of the most popular topics of talk when it comes to the new features. The Max Creation Graph is a node-based tool creation environment. This gives users a way to go further past the normal abilities of 3ds Max with new geometric objects and modifiers. This is done by the creation of graphs in a visual environment. There are hundreds of different choices of node types that can be connected together to create new tools and visual effects. The new tools made can be easily shared with other users.
With improved stability and a new support for non-destructive animation workflows in XRef, collaborating with teams during production is much easier. It’s now possible to reference objects into a scene from outside files and animation as well along with the editing of materials. Artists are also able to publish animatable parameters which allows the published parameters to be quickly and directly accessed in the modifier stack for fast adjustment or animation.
There are OpenSubdiv libraries open that are sourced by Pixar. They incorporate technology from Microsoft Research which are designed in helping to take advantage of both CPU and GPU. Adding high subdivision levels while maintaining fast in-viewport performance is possible because of this. The overall improved speed and quality of OpenSubdiv is impressive.
New on-demand templates provide users with start-up configurations that are standardized which assists in faster scene creation. Sharing these templates has never been easier with easy export and import options. Built-in settings for rendering, environments, lighting and units mean faster, more accurate and consistent 3ds Max project results.
Source: area.autodesk.com