which do you use- max9? max2008? max2009?

[JeffG2]

2009 64bit - sp1

[flipside]

2009 - Because I'm on subscription, and tend to think newer is better (unless we're talking about compatibility, where older is better )

dude you have the best avatar I've ever seen, totally tricked me!

We use Max Design 2009 and are content with it. The transition took a while for us to get used to, but things are running pretty smoothly now.

I'm on max 9, and have 2008, 2009 and 2009 design still unopened in their boxes. Is it that different compared to older versions? Are there big interface changes or something?

What are the main features you would upgrade to 2009? And if so, design or normal version? I'm doing mainly product viz, but also small animation stuff for advertising, for which I use all kind of stuff like particles, reactor, etc...

thanks,

wouter

[Neilg]

ok ok ok. dont laugh at me. im using max8

Probably the best version of max i've ever used.

We're on 2008 and I hate it. Feels slower and more unreliable than 9 and there are more weird inexplicable bugs in this version than ever before. Undo's just forgetting everything and not working until a restart, camera animation twitching at rendertime, loads of things that almost look as if they were put in on purpose because it worked fine before.

I want to go back to 8 or 9. 2009 might be ok if theyve fixed it, but i've not heard anyone saying that yet.

[Codi]

thanks for replies
@codi: why u specially use max9 for production? is more stable than 2008 and 2009 ?

We haven't tested throughly other Max versions, and we don't need any of the new features (except for some very special cases...), so we keep using what we know better

[beestee]

I'm on max 9, and have 2008, 2009 and 2009 design still unopened in their boxes. Is it that different compared to older versions? Are there big interface changes or something?

What are the main features you would upgrade to 2009? And if so, design or normal version? I'm doing mainly product viz, but also small animation stuff for advertising, for which I use all kind of stuff like particles, reactor, etc...

We moved from VIZ, so we have had to adjust to the problems that come with all of the additional features Max has. We are better off for it, but if Max 9 is working for you, I really don't think there have been any major improvements aside from Mental Ray and a few odds and ends like viewport shading, spline mapping, and some selection speed enhancements. There have also been a good deal of bugs to come with some of the new features. A lot of them have been worked out through the Service Pack 1. There is also a Creativity Extension available for subscribers that you might want to look at before making your decision.

As far as design vs standard, there is only 1 difference so far, and it wouldn't affect you one way or the other I imagine. I do mostly arch vis, but I don't work on any projects that need LEED certification yet, so the feature doesn't affect me either.

My suggestion would be to at least wait for the 2010 release since you are comfortable working with Max 9, it can't be more than a few months away knowing autodesk. My cousin/workmate who is a programmer is a member of the autodesk developer network. He says that AutoCAD 2010 is going to be a major release, and from what he has gathered autodesk has some big plans for their entire 2010 rollout. I imagine that the distinction between design vs standard will become more evident once their plans for Max 2010 are announced.

[SnipeyX]

Still on 9 here, we had planned to skip 2008 and go to 2009 when it came out, just haven't gotten around to doing that yet. Probably sometime soon....

[sea2stars]

Hrmm.. Autodesk always has "big plans", but why not just fix what still doesn't work 100% before adding in new features with new bugs?

[beestee]

That wish may yet come true.

From a news post back in late July at Max Underground:

"Autodesk has hired Oleg Bayborodin once again to develop software for the base Max application (or in this case to better integrate software he had already developed for Max), which could hint at ongoing efforts in that direction."

[Clifton Santiago]

I hope they launch 2010 in 2008

[sharpcube]

with max 2008 you can use the plugins from max9
If you switch to 2009 your plugins mostley do not work.
so this means another few buck ontop the autodesk subscription.

pff iam almost broke need more work