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
SteamVR
Score 9.4 out of 10
N/A
SteamVR is a virtual reality toolset from Valve Corporation headquartered in Bellevue, enabling users to experience VR content on hardware of choice. SteamVR supports the Valve Index, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows Mixed Reality headsets.
N/A
Pricing
Autodesk 3ds Max
SteamVR
Editions & Modules
Monthly Subscription
$235
per month per user
Yearly Subscription
$1875
per year per user
3-Year Subscription
$5625
3 years per user
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Autodesk 3ds Max
SteamVR
Free Trial
Yes
No
Free/Freemium Version
No
No
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
No
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
No setup fee
Additional Details
Flex pricing available for limited usage. Minimum plan $300 for 100 tokens. 3ds Max costs 6 tokens per day.
I've used many 3d programs I've not found any more capable or well suited for about anything you throw at it. I've had scenes with over 20million polys that I can work in just fine. It's well suited to produce absolute photorealistic renders especially when you pair it with plugins like V-Ray Render. One area where is may not be as suitable is if you have to model something in a coordinate space that is a long way from 0,0,0. Max is not double precision, so when a model is very tiny or very large or a long way from the origin, odd things occur. But, this is easily mitigated by modeling near the origin or reducing or enlarging the scene by some factor to make it not too small or too large. Then, after you are finished, you can scale it up or down by that factor again and export a perfectly scaled model for use in some other program
I wanted to play "Half Life:Alyx" which is the best VR game currently available. I was able to purchase it through steam during a sale, launch it through SteamVR, and stream it to my oculus. This allowed me to use the processing power of my desktop with the mobility of my oculus.
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
SteamVR is the best platform on the market for VR games, and its integration with the already fantastic Steam marketplace makes it piggyback on a very mature product and highly tuned usability. The low-cost, high-reward offering is impossible to beat at this time. There is also a section that is in the works for VR videos, which, once complete, will add additional welcome functionality to the platform.
This is not a 3ds Max fault, it's like any powerful software, "you have to spend time to learn it." It, like most all others as powerful, have a "learning curve" that can be steep depending on your knowledgebase. I'm glad it's not "so simple a caveman can use it" or I'd be out of business. Everyone in the world would have it and my skills would not be needed. Having said that, it's as intuitive and any other software. If you understand 3d principles, 3ds Max will not be difficult to wrap your head around. It uses normal and expected conventions
Steam on the whole is a very mature platform, so SteamVR had a great head start in that regard. I'm used to how Steam operates and that got me most of the way to understanding and navigating SteamVR right from the start. The thing holding me back from a perfect score is the lack of a simple tutorial for those who are not as familiar with the legacy Steam.
The system is easy to download, doesn't take much time to boot up, and is built on the tried and true bones of the Steam launcher. That means great memory of what games you've purchased in the past, and which ones you are currently downloading. Playtime metrics as well are tracked, and the SteamVR has a low crash occurrence, assuming your PC was stable to begin with
SteamVR is fast to boot up, fast to load games, and fast to recover even if you need to restart for any reason. The navigation within SteamVR is quick and responsive, and sifting through have libraries is smooth and fluid. When connected via virtual desktop to an oculus headset, SteamVR still works great and allows for wireless VR Gaming
In Autodesk 3ds Max you can do camera animation with ease, its complex in Cinema 4D. Even I think same with light setup. Setting up light is quite easy in Autodesk 3ds Max as compare to Cinema 4D. Overall Autodesk 3ds Max is less complex in compare to other 3D softwares.
SteamVR has more volume of games, a variety of games, and quality of games much more advanced than the oculus store. While the SteamVR headset is better than the Oculus, the software (SteamVR) is the better option. Plus, you can utilize your computer storage to hold games instead of being limited by the Oculus internal storage capacity.
One person connection is easy to establish and maintain, however we found that multiple people from multiple locations and internet speeds and troubles connecting to s SteamVR social hub. Ultimately we were unsuccessful, however once in a game we had no difficulty connecting to the social hub within it. For some reason, the connection outside of a game was harder to establish
