3D Studio Max 9

3ds Max 9 supports 64-bit technologies, providing digital artists with the tools for next-generation games development, design visualizations, and film and television visual effects production. 3ds Max has been used to realize countless breakthrough projects, including New York City’s Freedom Tower, games such as Assassin’s Creed, Gears of War, Guild Wars and Mass Effect, and film blockbusters such as Aeon Flux and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

All the great artist use or at least used it because it’s easy to learn and it can do powerful things without the need to be an expert.

“With Autodesk 3ds Max 9, we’ve focused on addressing the challenges our customers face when working with larger amounts of complex data, as well as scaling to bigger production teams,” said Marc Petit, Autodesk’s Media & Entertainment vice president. “Digital artists using 3ds Max 9 will gain improvements in core performance, productivity and pipeline efficiency. 3ds Max 9 enables artists to manage the increasing complexity of 3D data sets characteristic of next-generation game, film, broadcast and design development.”

“Autodesk 3ds Max is the tool we use to create all the 3D models and animations in our games, and we’re excited about the advancements that 3ds Max 9 has to offer,” said Silicon Knights game studio president Denis Dyack. “Since the early 1990s, 3ds Max has played a major role in the visual success of all our company’s games, including the hit titles Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, Bloody Omen: Legacy of Kain, Dark Legions and Fantasy Empires. 3ds Max is now playing a crucial role yet again with our upcoming title Too Human, a next-gen, third-person epic action game.”

Robert Graves, 3ds Max 9 beta tester and creative director at GMJ Design Ltd. in London, said, “We are in an era of increasingly visual design communication. Autodesk 3ds Max 9 helps GMJ Design deliver visually compelling content to our customers. The new architecture and design shaders, enhancements to the daylight system and improved mental ray rendering in 3ds Max 9, along with the superior tools to manage large datasets, help us deliver the realistic content clients expect from our 3D design visualizations.” GMJ Design used 3ds Max to create city models of London and Liverpool.

This version of Max has 64-bit support as announced which makes it easier to work with the huge datasets required for next-generation digital content creation. Rendering is also greatly improved with the mental ray 3.5 rendering core.

In addition, Max offers a wide range of features which increase the core performance, productivity and pipeline efficiency:

• A layered blending system that can be added to custom rigs and controllers within 3ds Max
• Optimizations in wireframe and edge display, enabling faster feedback within the viewport
• XAF files that can be saved and loaded onto bipeds, allowing for easy transfer of information to and from custom rigs
• Enhanced hair and cloth, including the ability to style hair in the viewport
• Improved file referencing and tracking of work-in-progress assets
• Point cache 2, which allows artists to bake mesh deformations into a file for faster rendering
• Improved compatibility with Autodesk Maya via the FBX file format