Autodesk 3ds Max vs. Unreal Engine

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Autodesk 3ds Max
Score 8.3 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
Unreal Engine
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Originally designed in 1998, Unreal Engine is a game engine designed to build games of all type, with sharp graphics and control, using the C++ language.N/A
Pricing
Autodesk 3ds MaxUnreal Engine
Editions & Modules
Monthly Subscription
$235
per month per user
Yearly Subscription
$1875
per year per user
3-Year Subscription
$5625
3 years per user
End User License Agreement for Publishing
Free
5% of royalties after gross product revenue exceeds 1M
End User License Agreement for Creators
Free & Royalty Free
Custom Licenses
Contact sales team
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Autodesk 3ds MaxUnreal Engine
Free Trial
YesNo
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
Autodesk 3ds MaxUnreal Engine
Considered Both Products
Autodesk 3ds Max
Chose Autodesk 3ds Max
Back when 3d programs were becoming more powerful and stable, 3d Studio (yes, it was 3d Studio before it was 3ds Max, more on that later) and Maya were owned by different companies. At that time, you had to
Chose Autodesk 3ds Max
Best for rendering and geometry flexibility. Interphase is also superior. The stacking of modifiers is unique and allows for combining, and turning on and of which makes presenting options very agile, and clear without destroying the geometry. It's easily reversible. All others …
Unreal Engine
Chose Unreal Engine
Unity and Unreal Engine have gone toe-to-toe for years. At one point Unity I felt was lagging behind but lately they've relized that threat UE represents and they've upped their game considerably. Unity is unquestionably very powerful but I find UE's learning curve less steep …
Best Alternatives
Autodesk 3ds MaxUnreal Engine
Small Businesses
Onshape
Onshape
Score 8.1 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Medium-sized Companies
Onshape
Onshape
Score 8.1 out of 10

No answers on this topic

Enterprises
Navisworks
Navisworks
Score 9.3 out of 10

No answers on this topic

All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Autodesk 3ds MaxUnreal Engine
Likelihood to Recommend
9.0
(11 ratings)
9.2
(2 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.9
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Autodesk 3ds MaxUnreal Engine
Likelihood to Recommend
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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Epic Games
It's really well suited for experiential uses. Sure, games are made with it, but I'm guessing that more non-gaming assets are being made with it than anyone realizes. It's a fantastic post-production for 3d modeling tasks. It's fantastic for fast nearly photo real rendering. It's almost as good at rendering truly photo real assets now that Path Tracing is becoming mature. It's fantastic for creating background and matte plates for video and film production. There are few things that do that as well as it can. It's not well suited to modeling the initial 3d object so you really need to have something to build the 3d assets in. Hard asset modeling and creating is the one area that it's lacking. But, even if it never rises to the level to compete with 3ds Max or Maya, etc., that's ok, because it's just another tool and it does what it does so well, that modeling deficiencies can be overlooked
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Pros
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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Epic Games
  • Achieving proper depth effect of the background layer
  • Walkthrough videos of any given layout can be easily prepared and made more immersive
  • Creating the most detailed 3D models
  • Takes very little time to produce the required renders depending on the complexity of the input
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Cons
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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Epic Games
  • The modeling tools are getting better but have a good way to go to really be intuitive
  • They are trying to bridge the gap between coders and artists and have done well but more needs to continue to happen to enable users who have little experience writing code to be able to use it effectively. It's not that this is a "room for improvement" thing per se, it's just that more of it needs to be done and I think they know that and are on it.
  • It's so powerful, it's difficult to find anything else that needs improvement. It's kind of mindblowing what it's capable of.
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Likelihood to Renew
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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Epic Games
No answers on this topic
Usability
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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Epic Games
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Autodesk
I have contacted support many times and have had a good experience. They have always been helpful
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Epic Games
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Autodesk
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.
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Epic Games
Despite the fact that the Unreal Engine user interface took some getting used to, it was rather simple to navigate once we got the hang of it. Furthermore, Unreal Engine offers unrivalled flexibility and fine-tuning tools. Twinmotion has a slightly complicated UI as well, but the number of options for personalization and fine adjustment is limited
Read full review
Return on Investment
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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Epic Games
  • It's helped a tiny studio like mine to compete with larger and more financially sound studios.
  • It gives me another product from which I can derive a revenue stream.
  • Unless you are publishing a game for sale or a packaged product, UE is free to use and tinker with. You can use it to build something amazing to use in your portfolio which in turn can help you sell your skills.
Read full review
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