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Autodesk 3ds Max

Autodesk 3ds Max

Overview

What is Autodesk 3ds Max?

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…

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Autodesk 3ds Max has been highly regarded by users as a powerful and mature software that enables them to handle a wide range of client …
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Great modelling program

10 out of 10
June 16, 2022
Incentivized
3ds max is used to block in proportion models. it is a fast and easy-to-use modeling program. I also use it to animate and show off models …
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Pricing

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Monthly Subscription

$235

On Premise
per month per user

Yearly Subscription

$1875

On Premise
per year per user

3-Year Subscription

$5625

On Premise
3 years per user

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

Starting price (does not include set up fee)

  • $235 per month per user
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Product Demos

Bake to Texture: Baking Light Maps

YouTube

3ds Max - Creating Objects

YouTube

3ds Max Lighting and Rendering - Exploring the ART Renderer in 3ds Max

YouTube

3ds Max - Understanding Physical Material

YouTube

UV Unwrapping in 3ds Max - Part 1 - Introduction

YouTube

Modeling Objects in 3ds Max - Part 1 - Poly Modeling

YouTube
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Product Details

What is Autodesk 3ds Max?

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.

Key Features of 3ds Max

  • Polygon modeling - Creation of 3D props, vehicles, and characters with geometry based on vertices, edges, and faces.
  • Procedural modeling - Complex surfaces for cityscapes, forests, and landscapes using automated modeling.
  • Interactive viewports - Render-quality viewport previews of PBR materials and camera effects.
  • High-quality materials - Physically Based Rendering, Open Shading Language, and Bake to Texture, to create realistic objects.
  • Integrated Arnold renderer - Renders complex scenes and designs with Arnold for 3ds Max.
  • Multiple file format support - Asset sharing with support for file formats like glTF, USD, FBX, and CAD formats.

Autodesk 3ds Max Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise
Operating SystemsWindows
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

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.

Autodesk 3ds Max starts at $235.

The most common users of Autodesk 3ds Max are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(34)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Autodesk 3ds Max has been highly regarded by users as a powerful and mature software that enables them to handle a wide range of client requests with confidence. It finds extensive use in civil engineering education, where it serves as a valuable tool for teaching students 3D modeling of buildings, towers, trusses, terrains, and more. The software is also commonly used alongside Unity for modeling scenes and objects in augmented reality and virtual reality applications. For example, it has been utilized in a collaborative project with JioGlass to model historic architectures in Rajasthan, India. Beginners in animation, rendering, and interoperability within the Autodesk umbrella have found the software to be user-friendly and helpful. Additionally, 3ds Max is often preferred for hard surface modeling and creating complex 3D sets that are challenging to make in other software. Its versatility extends to various industries, including gaming, motion graphics, broadcast, and architectural visualization, where it excels at tasks such as mograph, camera tracking, product design 3D modeling, VFX production, and rendering high-quality visuals with rapid render times. Users appreciate the crisp renders achieved with 3ds Max V-Ray. The software offers built-in functions like the FFD modifier that enhance efficiency. While there may be a steep learning curve associated with it, its ability to produce industry-standard results combined with V-Ray is unmatched. Overall, Autodesk 3ds Max is recognized as a valuable and widely used tool for modeling, animating, and showcasing designs across various industries.

Lightweight and Fast: Many users have praised Autodesk 3ds Max for its lightweight nature and fast performance. They find the software efficient in various tasks such as hardsurface modeling, lighting, material creation, and importing/exporting common formats.

Artist-Friendly Interface: Several reviewers appreciate the user-friendly interface of 3ds Max, which caters to both beginners and experienced users. Its intuitive design makes it easy to navigate and utilize the software's features effectively.

Fast Render Times: Users consistently highlight the impressive render times of 3ds Max. The software allows for quick and efficient rendering of highly realistic images. Overall, these positive attributes contribute to a smooth workflow and enhance productivity for artists using Autodesk 3ds Max.

Interface Windows: Limited Expansion Capability Some users have found that certain interface windows in Autodesk 3ds Max do not expand large enough, resulting in the need for unnecessary scrolling. This issue has been mentioned by multiple reviewers and can be frustrating for users who require a larger workspace. Performance: Lack of Multi-threading According to user feedback, certain processes in Autodesk 3ds Max are not multi-threaded, potentially impacting performance. This concern has been raised by several reviewers and may lead to slower execution times for resource-intensive tasks. Compatibility: Low Performance on Old or Low-end PCs Several users have experienced low performance when using Autodesk 3ds Max on older or low-end PCs, especially those with i3 or lower processors. This limitation could hinder the software's functionality and responsiveness, making it less suitable for users with less powerful hardware configurations.

Users of AutoCAD have made several recommendations based on their experiences with the software. Firstly, many users suggest using 3ds as a starting point for games or architectural visualization. This feature seems to be particularly beneficial for beginners in the 3D world, as well as trained professionals. According to these users, mastering this application is highly recommended.

Secondly, users recommend utilizing vray rendering for realistic rendering in 3D modeling or architectural works. This feature enhances the visualization capabilities and helps achieve a higher level of realism in designs.

Lastly, many users advise watching online tutorials to quickly become familiar with the software. These tutorials are considered to be a valuable resource for learning how to efficiently navigate through AutoCAD's tools and features.

Overall, users believe that AutoCAD has the best tools available and recommend understanding and customizing the viewport for improved speed and efficiency. Additionally, they find the software useful for achieving a good zoom in design.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-10 of 10)
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Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
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.
Vivek Kumar | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
1. Helpful in rendering high quality visuals.
2. Helpful in creating walkthroughs on interior designs or virtual apartments.
3. Helpful to render high quality exteriors for marketers.
4. Its not helpful in interaction for creating quad of a mesh, it needs improvement here.
5. Retopology is efficient.
6. Can be used as base 3D package to learn, Even student version is also officially available by Autodesk.
Jitendra Choubisa | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 6 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Scenarios where Autodesk 3ds Max is well suited:
1. Modeling less complex geometries.
2. For beginners it is good, meshes, poly's, vertexes etc can be easily understood.
3. Easy UI and interoperability.

Scenarios where it is less appropriate:
1. Inbuild Rendering (Scanline) can be made better.
2. Performance over low end/Old Pc's need refinement.
3. Bulky Size on disk.
4. Animation is the area which can be made better also.
Roohi Malhotra | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Autodesk 3ds Max works well in character animation, motion graphics and making dynamic animation. Its a wonder software for 3D animation. I like its rendering. Its great for interior designing as well. Gives realistic material outcome. Its render outcome is very realistic. I have designed many characters and have not faced any issue in this software so far.
Arbaz Malik | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
[Autodesk] 3ds Max is very good for hard surface modeling, there are many things to do for such as texturing or rendering. It has a great support of plugings like vray, fumefx, thinking particle, rayfire , phonix fd, and much more. But this software has some limitations for fx work for [a] big scale.
Vipul Tamboli | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
Autodesk is basically used to create models and animations, generally. The automobile industry and the gaming industry use it more as they provide better rendering outputs with better animation quality. It is also used in the AR/VR industry to make 3D objects, and similarly by the civil industry. And it provides good texturing effects, too.
Score 1 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
If you are trying to impress an important client or win a design competition this is your tool. At the same time, probably 1 percent of architecture projects really need or pay for this quality of rendering. It would separate you from the competition but make sure you can afford the extra time, the expensive license, and the intensive training.
Kevin Wolff | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
3DS Max is really the best tool for those looking to create mograph designs, 3D models for video games, VFX composites and virtual sets, or just to quickly mock up some product designs with rapid rendering that still looks good. It really starts to fall behind though when you get into animation tools like rigging or smooth surface models or higher end ray tracing renders. If you need something for full-on animated films or final pass production physics effects, then use Maya instead.
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