Adobe Substance 3D Collection vs. Autodesk 3ds Max

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Substance 3D Collection
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Adobe Substance 3D is a suite of apps that support 3D design, including texture assets and rendering tools. Workflows can connect to Adobe Creative Cloud apps.N/A
Autodesk 3ds Max
Score 8.8 out of 10
N/A
Autodesk offers 3ds Max, 3D modeling and rendering software for design visualization, games, and animation. The vendor states that users can produce professional-quality 3D animations, renders, and models with an efficient and flexible toolset to help create better 3D content in less time.
$235
per month per user
Pricing
Adobe Substance 3D CollectionAutodesk 3ds Max
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Monthly Subscription
$235
per month per user
Yearly Subscription
$1875
per year per user
3-Year Subscription
$5625
3 years per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe Substance 3D CollectionAutodesk 3ds Max
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsFlex pricing available for limited usage. Minimum plan $300 for 100 tokens. 3ds Max costs 6 tokens per day.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe Substance 3D CollectionAutodesk 3ds Max
Best Alternatives
Adobe Substance 3D CollectionAutodesk 3ds Max
Small Businesses
Onshape
Onshape
Score 7.3 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 7.3 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Onshape
Onshape
Score 7.3 out of 10
Onshape
Onshape
Score 7.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Navisworks
Navisworks
Score 9.3 out of 10
Navisworks
Navisworks
Score 9.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe Substance 3D CollectionAutodesk 3ds Max
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(2 ratings)
9.4
(13 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
8.0
(1 ratings)
9.0
(4 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe Substance 3D CollectionAutodesk 3ds Max
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
Big and mid-sized firms can really leverage the flexibility and value using the different tools all available at one place in the collection and also the integration with Adobe apps like photoshop, really makes it a seamless experience especially in fast paced production environments like advertising. For many film and game studios the whole collection might not be that much helpful as only painter will be of much use. For the small and indie studio it might be a costlier option and they can consider similar free or cheaper alternatives.
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Autodesk
For print media for marketing and for 3d animations for web spots and TV ads/movies/programs. It is less suited for quick 3d graphics or images that you get from AI image programs, but it is much more powerful than most AI image programs.
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Pros
Adobe
  • Great performance
  • Excellent Adobe support
  • Fast and easy
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Autodesk
  • 3ds Max includes some of the inbuild modifiers which can be very good in the case of beginners.
  • 3rd party Rendering support makes 3ds Max a powerful software for rendering out realistic images.
  • Autodesk 3ds max in comparison to its rivals is lightweight and fast, also the animation case also.
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Cons
Adobe
  • The substance painter is easy to use but its interface could be improved to be a bit more user friendly.
  • More assets can be added to stager, so visualize products better. Also AI workflow can be added for backplates.
  • Substance designer learning curve is very tough. Many people not able to grab it. It could be simplified.
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Autodesk
  • working in 2d is very frustrating and unreliable. It just lacks the precision
  • How scaling affects units (or doesn't) There needs to be a way for modifiers to address a change of scale in the object.
  • Booleans are not intuitive. Especially for architecture, creating an opening and putting a door or a window is an incredibly cumbersome process.
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Likelihood to Renew
Adobe
No answers on this topic
Autodesk
It satisfies 95% of my 3d visualization need. The left over 5% is handled by a few other programs. If Max just can't perform a specific task I can do that elsewhere and then bring it back to Max to finish up. But, it's rare that this occurs in my work
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Usability
Adobe
The overall usability of substance stager and painter is quite easy. Many people will be able to use it without much prior experience. But designer is very complicated to learn and not many resources available for that. I think if they integrate the AI and provide better resources in the general interface, it could be a 10 on 10 in usability.
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Autodesk
It is a very difficult program to learn to use and even harder to use well. But once you get to using it it is a great software package to know how to use. Getting to be good at using it takes lots of use.
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Support Rating
Adobe
No answers on this topic
Autodesk
I have contacted support many times and have had a good experience. They have always been helpful
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Alternatives Considered
Adobe
For texturing, Adobe Substance 3D is much better than the other options. In other fields, it's another story. I find it excellent for game engines and realistic renders, but it only solves textures. We, then, move to Blender because it has more compatibility with exports, and we can import them into our preferred render engine. We mostly use Unreal Engine, but also Blender3D to do the final rendering.
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Autodesk
Sketch-up week to be vertically integrated to produce concept all the way to high-end render, an animation (effects, particles, soft-body, etc..) All 3 other softwares are fully capable, it just comes down to what software an operator is most familiar with and if it works in the production pipeline for the client.
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Return on Investment
Adobe
  • We saved time when texturing models
  • With better looking assets, it's more money in the bank
  • Less time testing, more time doing
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Autodesk
  • 3ds Max has one of the best control tools that can help someone to sculpt almost anything. With the vertex tool and polyline edit function we can create almost any complex geometry.
  • Default rendering is equipped with almost everything that is needed for process, V-Ray for 3ds Max is the best 3rd party plugin for getting crisp renders.
  • The four view port tools for viewing the model helps from each and every angle. The moment and selection tools in the 3ds Max are quit easy to operate.
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ScreenShots