3DSMAX - which version?

[deflix]

Im speccing a new system and wanted to get opinion about max versions. The last time I was a user I remember some versions coming with a health warning. is 2013 ok or should I request a prev version?

advice appreciated.

[BBB3]

2013 does not work for me. The viewport is basically unusable. Basically sacrifices all the speed gains I got with 2012 (I guess Autodesk and Nvidia woke up and realised it was actually possible to run 2012 with a consumer card and promptly corrected that in 2013). I've reverted back to 2012 after using 2013 for a few weeks. I can't even remember any of the new features 2013 brough, so I guess I don't need them. I also use XRayUnwrap for UVs (the native Max UV tools are not usable on their own) and MightyTiles and neither of them are available for 2013 yet.

An easy choice. I guess the problem will be that Autodesk will only sell you the 2013 version. You can't get back versions unless you bought them and upgraded, I believe.

[instinct]

You can go back if you are on subscription only.

Regards,
Thorsten

[BBB3]

There you go. I'm on subscription and have every single version installed since 2010. Since Mighty Tiles was released for 2012 I've only ever been using that version beyond the few weeks I really tried to become friends with 2013.

[Pixelcon]

Probably the two features that I've used and love so far is being able to draw across multiple viewports and not have the drawing operation canceled. You can pan and zoom and whatnot while the operation is happening too. The other plus is modeless array dialog but that for me, is it.

They've also """fixed""" a few features that has kind of annoyed me. The new isolation behavior is annoying and not being able to hit the number corresponding to which ever sub-object mode you're in to exit the stack is annoying the hell out of me too. You have to press 6 now. Not a MASSIVE problem but annoying nonetheless. I just dont have the time and the patience to update to the new versions with all the plugins and scripts im running. My IT dept. makes it a long and painful process...

[bob-cat]

We are on subscription as well, and were advised by our re-seller that 2013 wasn't worth the install, until they fixed the bugs, a lot viewport related.

[BBB3]

(...) You can pan and zoom and whatnot while the operation is happening too. The other plus is modeless array dialog but that for me, is it.

Sure. But I use a 3D mouse, so I can zoom, pan etc. while drawing in 2012 already. And I use the free Clone script by Itoosoft a lot and never the array dialogue so these are for me not really relevant.

I really wanted to like 2013 but failed despite much effort.

[deflix]

The viewport is basically unusable. Basically sacrifices all the speed gains I got with 2012 (I guess Autodesk and Nvidia woke up and realised it was actually possible to run 2012 with a consumer card and promptly corrected that in 2013

Wow! precisely why I asked the question -thanks alot for the info guys! ....Nvidia should stop charging such huge amounts for the identical quadro cards, and they might sell more of them.....maybe just charge for the special drivers instead?
Can i buy 2012 or must i get 2013+subscription and then revert i wonder?

money money money.

[deflix]

Ha! just played with 2013 on a geforce card - what a joke!

[Ramsay]

You can go back if you are on subscription only.

I've not switched to 2013 yet because of all the horror stories, and to be honest I'm perfectly happy running 2012. Problem is my subs need renewed this time next month. I presume that means that if I don't renew then I legally have to switch to 2013?

[plastic_]

2013 is the first max release that was totally weird and unuseable for me. Given that there is not a single new feature that would interest me the slightest, i think 2012 is a good version to keep using the next few years. Maybe there will be 1 or 2 nice new features in max 2016, by then it should be cloud licensed, like adobe cs, so now should be a good time to get out of subscription.

[windowlicker]

Yup. Same thing here. We started using 2013 a month or two ago, but there were just too many bugs and other issues that we switched back to 2012.
I happened to meet with some Autodesk officials last week, and we are about to schedule a meeting where we will discuss the product. They seemed rather concerned regarding my critique of it. Hope it will turn out into something constructive. We started looking for other software options, but since Max is still the main platform for Vray (it still is, isn't it?) we're not that keen on changing. But who knows... if the next Max version is just as bad, we might be forced to.

[cecofuli]

I switch to 3ds max 2013 ONLY for the BIIIGGG problem for 2011 LAG viewport (impossible to work sometime)
With Nitrous I've no problem. Nice and fast. If you open an heavy scene in DX, for example, I've 6 GB ram consuming,
With Nitrous, I don't know, 10, but the viewport is much faster and se selection too. But you use a script (scriptspot) to change the viewport resolution.
During the rendering, the RAM consuming is the same.
For a veeery complex scene and texture, when I open the file, 3ds max with Ntrous crash.
So I switch to DX and all is ok.
The only bug i found is the impossibility to change the viewport grid intensity (158 ) from default value. You can change it editing the .clrx by hand

[michaelwbell]

Crazy to hear so many horror stories for 2013. I've been using it in every job going forward since product update 4. I do have to revert back to max 2012 for a couple of scripts that haven't been updated yet, but it's rare.
Using max with a GTX 680 without any viewport problems. Particle flow in particular is very fast. Much prefer 2013 over 2012. Nitrous is awesome now. combine 2013 nitrous with Spacefrog's 'power preview' script and you can get 4K renders out of the max viewport, with depth of field and dynamic reflections! i've actually used this script as a renderer on a few jobs with tight deadlines!

...not being able to hit the number corresponding to which ever sub-object mode you're in to exit the stack is annoying the hell out of me too....

Do you mean the ability to press '1' to enter/leave vertex sub-object, '2' for poly, etc? I think this is not working because you have the 'keyboard shortcut override toggle' button on or off. It's one of the buttons on the top row near the snap toggle button. Turn it off and it will work fine.

[greysheep5]

2013 is the first max release that was totally weird and unuseable for me. Given that there is not a single new feature that would interest me the slightest, i think 2012 is a good version to keep using the next few years. Maybe there will be 1 or 2 nice new features in max 2016, by then it should be cloud licensed, like adobe cs, so now should be a good time to get out of subscription.

you say it! thinking about that... don´t even want to install max 2013 with all that stories about it. and without even using the new versions in production, why subscribe? hmm...