Autodesk announces “3ds Max Design”
Autodesk has just announced that from March 31st 2008, two flavours of 3ds Max will be available - 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design. The key difference between the two flavours of 3ds Max is that each product is tailored specifically for customers in different industries. 3ds Max Design is aimed at architects, designers and visualisation specialists, while 3ds Max is a tool of choice for professionals in the games, film, and television industries.
So what does all this mean for existing 3ds Max users?
What is 3ds Max Design?
3ds Max Design 2009 is essentially a customised installation of 3ds Max 2009, which is designed to provide an optimised user experience for architects, designers, engineers and visualisation specialists. 3ds Max Design 2009 has the same functionality as 3ds Max, with the addition of new Exposure™ lighting analysis technology. The 3ds Max Software Development Kit (SDK) is not provided. Other differences between the two products include user interface and application defaults, tutorials, sample files, and product websites.
Compared to 3ds Max 2008, 3ds Max Design 2009 introduces a number of key new and enhanced features, including Exposure technology for lighting analysis to assist with LEED 8.1 certification. New rendering functionality includes the Reveal™ rendering toolset, which streamlines iterative workflows and gives designers dramatically faster, finished renderings, and the ProMaterials™, a library of manufacturer-related materials. 3ds Max Design 2009 also delivers updated user interface and workflow features, which, together with improved data compatibility, enhance digital continuity between 3ds Max Design and products from the Revit® and AutoCAD® software families. This includes Recognize™ scene loading technology that significantly improves inter-application workflows with Revit Architecture 2009, through the accurate import of lights, materials and cameras.
“Vanilla” 3ds Max will be aimed at entertainment based industries from this point on.
Why is Autodesk creating two “flavours” or versions of 3ds Max?
In order to optimise the user experience for both entertainment and design visualisation customers, it has been decided to create two flavors of 3ds Max. Entertainment users commonly specialise in areas such as character rigging, lighting, texturing, and animation. For these customers, 3ds Max 2009 continues to build on its legacy as an industry-leading content creation tool in the games, film, television industries. 3ds Max Design is directed towards maximizing a high-quality “out of the box” design visualisation experience for generalists in the architecture, civil engineering, industrial and manufacturing industries.
Each “flavour” of 3ds Max will be specifically tailored for its intended audience; from learning resources and sample files, to application defaults and even carefully selected features such as the Exposure lighting analysis technology for designers and visualisation specialists.
What features are the same between 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design?
With the exception of the SDK, 3ds Max Design has 100% of the features in 3ds Max. This means that both applications will be able to simultaneously advance from a technological perspective. Dynamite VSP will support both versions of 3ds Max.
Can I run 3ds Max Design and 3ds Max side-by-side?
Not on the same computer system. You must uninstall one product to install the other product.
Is there a crossgrade path from Autodesk VIZ 2008 to 3ds Max Design 2009
We understand that Autodesk is planning some one-off promotions for Autodesk VIZ users to migrate to 3ds Max Design, but we don’t have details at this time. Please contact us if you would like further information.
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Whether you are looking to quickly capture your design concepts or develop sophisticated, sales/marketing imagery, 3ds Max has the modeling tools you need—including NURBS for flowing, organic forms, and polygons for the creation of architectural structures.