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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 …
Starting at $235 per month per user
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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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Pricing
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
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
Product Details
- About
- Tech Details
- FAQs
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
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 Types | On-premise |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Windows |
| Mobile Application | No |
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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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!
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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
(1-1 of 1)Companies can't remove reviews or game the system. Here's why
When a client seeking 3d visual assets asks, "can you...." I can interrupt them before they finish the sentence and answer, "yes" before I even know what they need. 3ds Max allows me to do that with confidence. It's amazingly powerful and mature. Like all powerful software, to get the most from it you need to drive it with better than average hardware and there is a learning curve, but all powerful things require some knowldege to get the most out of them. I use it everyday in my business.
- Hardsurface modeling
- 3d Lighting
- Material creation
- Import and export of common formats
- Animation and particle simulation
- Some interface windows don't expand large enough requiring unnecessary scrolling
- Some processes are not multi threaded
- Backup of customized user interface is not handled well
- It's one of the most used by professionals so I can share my files with 1000s of other studios.
- It's mature and there are 1000s of plugins, scripts and tutorials to augment it.
- It is very powerful and capable. Even after using it 25-years, there are things I've never touched or used. It's just so deep.
- It's updated periodically with patches and fully every year which provides new features as well as necessary fixes.
- It has allowed me to build an entire 3d studio around it. It is the foundation of my entire business and even as I've had to reinvent and reshape my business to changes in the industry, 3ds Max has never failed to allow me to adapt and prosper.
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
choose one or the other because of the learning curve most people didn't have
time to learn both. It appeared to me that Maya was chosen by entertainment
media production users who need custom coding and compatibility with
programming it into an existing workflow. 3d Studio was being used more by
individuals doing visualizations for clients and businesses. Then, Autodesk
bought both of them, renamed 3d Studio to 3ds Max and continued to develop them
both independently. Today, there is little difference between them and in my
opinion, the main difference being Maya may be a little harder to learn.
Blender is powerful but has a very different workspace interface that to me is not intuitive in any way. Plus, not as many professionals use it so sharing files between professional organizations is not as friendly. Cinema 4D is very powerful and capable, but, like Blender, has less saturation in the professional market, making it less useful if you need to share with others.
Blender is powerful but has a very different workspace interface that to me is not intuitive in any way. Plus, not as many professionals use it so sharing files between professional organizations is not as friendly. Cinema 4D is very powerful and capable, but, like Blender, has less saturation in the professional market, making it less useful if you need to share with others.
1
Designer / Owner
1
Knowledge of typical software installation and maintenance. Some coding experience can help get more from 3ds Max but is not necessary.
- 3d modeling
- 3d rendering
- 3d model import from clients
- fast ideation and brainstorming in 3d
- I've been surprised at how well it imports Solidworks files.
- It works very well with Unreal Engine which is quickly becoming a "go to" for realtime animation.
- I've found it useful for repairing defective models that I've received from others.
- It's new "remeshing" tools for cleaning up problem or heavy models are powerful.
- Hopefully a "bridge" will be developed to allow direct interoperability between it and Unreal Engine instead of import/export.
No, I have not purchased premium support. The AREA Max official forum is so good, one of the best in the world I've always said, that most issues can be solved there pretty efficiently. On the occasion that I really need an Autodesk tech to assist me, I've been able to get help, not the same day, but within a few days. That's OK with me becasue if I needed support really fast, I could always pay for Premium but have not needed to so far.
Yes
It seems that of the bugs I've reported, that they are generally solved by the next release. All the bugs I've reported were non-critical and did not impact my ability to use Max or the quaility of the work I could produce. Most that I've reported are nuisance things.
About 10-years ago, I installed a yearly update and something went wrong. Max would start to launch and terminate immediately. Uninstallation did not solve the issue. I was faced with thinking I might have to reinstall my OS to get it working. After all, I had to have it, it drives my entire business. I'm a pretty savvy software user and none of my experience and tricks could solve it.
I was able to get an Autodesk tech on the phone and he was baffled by the issue. He tried all of his tricks and nothing worked. He then put me on hold and went to talk to one of his colleagues. After a few rounds, they came up with something to try which was changing some code in a specific file. It worked, avoided OS reinstallation and got me going. It took a few hours but they wouldn't leave till they solved it. And that was without a support plan.
I was able to get an Autodesk tech on the phone and he was baffled by the issue. He tried all of his tricks and nothing worked. He then put me on hold and went to talk to one of his colleagues. After a few rounds, they came up with something to try which was changing some code in a specific file. It worked, avoided OS reinstallation and got me going. It took a few hours but they wouldn't leave till they solved it. And that was without a support plan.
- modeling hard surface models
- using lighting, works exactly like real world lights in a studio
- creating materials
- particle systems are definately something that has a big learning curve
- UV Unwrapping could be better integrated. It works well, but could be made easier for new users to learn.
- Customizing the interface is powerful and easy. Saving all that work to use later after a crash or with a new installation is very difficult and needs to be improved.
No