Where is 3dsmax leading too?

[Morbid Angel]

I look at max/maya like windows. Windows 7 is a great os, everything works, its 64 bit. Yes there are some limitations and problems. So why not work on fixing them? Nooo, we have to make windows 8, which is worse then 7, users complain so much we have to make 8.1, then we make 10 which is also loaded with issues. Why?? just have one os and refine it.

Same with those programs. Max 2014 and 2015 are the same program with different coatings. Same with maya, its marketing cash grabbing bs. I remember time when max/maya would release a new version every few years. It was truly new. Now it seems "new" releases are a daily event.

Even with houdini, nuke etc. I just need one stable piece of software that can get the job done!

[glorybound]

Like cars, leasing really only makes sense to a few select people, however, we are being forced into it with our software. What if car manufacturers forced everyone to lease, instead of buy? I see absolutely no reason to upgrade to MAX 2016, from 2015, or 2014 for that matter. Why in the heck am I going to be forced to pay each year for something I probably won't want?

[flino2004]

it's the justification that they found for charging those "leasing fees" ....I'm paying subscription and I don't install the latest version because I'm tired to do it .... waiting for some service packs and reading in forums if really make sense install them is 3-4 months after the release and maybe in 6 months there is a new version available.

[FSGFX]

We see render engines pop out of the woodwork, I wonder why we don't see any new MAX replacement being developed?

Bobby Parker www.bobby-parker.com

a full flagged DCC app like max needs at least 10 years of development...
thats a big risk... i dont thik some could pop up out of the dark...

[WilleViz]

I'm pretty sure the future of 3ds Max is more than safe. It is important to remember that Autocad, Revit etc is the bread and butter of Autodesk's profit, and that Max is their premiere tool for doing quality product visualization from these packages. They go hand in hand.

You could argue that Maya is the odd one, because VFX and entertainment isn't Autodesk main profit income.

I think they just got complacent with Max development for a lack of competition and is finally getting their act together now. There has been some nice, new features in 2015+Ext/2016, and they certainly wouldn't invest all the time in MCG if they were looking to phase out max in 5 years time.

Personally, I wouldn't mind a more streamlined user interface. There is a lot of clicking this, clicking that in the Material Editor when setting up a material for example, but that is another topic.

[Oleg_Budeanu]

I think the only thing why Autodesk sh*ts on their users is that 3dsmax became a standard for archviz and there is no choice. I really like how Modo looks after The Foundry bought them. It is shaping in something really cool and friendly , but there is a long way ahead to become a standard ... Plus it is targeted to integration with Nuke , and that monster costs quite much !

[WilleViz]

Oh, 3ds Max just turned 25 years this weekend!

25 years of max

[jstrob]

For my part I'm beginning to be fed up with all the plugins installation and headaches needed to do FX work with max (and paying for them). I just bought a Houdini Indie license for 200$ and every hour I spend learning it is like:" WOOOW" it's so well made and all those pricey max plugins, you don't need them in Houdini, almost everything is there in better, you can paint hair, brush them, fracture objects, Bullet RBD sim, smoke, water, lava, distributed sim, sand and snow simulation etc.. But now I need to see how long it will take for me to transfer my pipeline entirely in Houdini... Probably years or decades! I will surely use both apps in the time being. And Vlado please don't stop working on vray for Houdini! But anyway the good thing about houdini Indie is that we can workaround the limitation (HD render) by converting to max for rendering with vray. Converting in production is a real pain though!

Maybe I talk for nothing cause I'm still so newbie in Houdini and I don't know all it's limitations yet. But it makes me dream now! It looks like the perfect max reaplacement. (And about modeling: zbrush all the way!)

[instinct]

But anyway the good thing about houdini Indie is that we can workaround the limitation (HD render) by converting to max for rendering with vray. Converting in production is a real pain though!
Maybe I talk for nothing cause I'm still so newbie in Houdini and I don't know all it's limitations yet. But it makes me dream now! It looks like the perfect max reaplacement. (And about modeling: zbrush all the way!)

That's not how it is supposed to work though (convert for rendering to defeat limitions). The limits are there to make you buy the real thing if you are doing serious production. Which leads to the second part. A lot of people praise Houdini as a "perfect replacement". I beg to differ. It's great for FX work and a great tool. But it is not necessarily a great replacement for every type of work. And it's biggest drawback? It's insanely expensive. Here we are waving our pitchforks at AD for raising prices and then praise Houdini which is 7000USD if you want a floating license and subscription is 4000USD (!).

Cheers,
Thorsten

[vlado]

Well, V-Ray for Houdini can render in Houdini Indie. For the moment at any rate...

Best regards,
Vlado

[krassi]

hii!
well something very uncool is the new license "idea" of only rental licenses for 3dsmax.
Its the same crap that adobe is doing and its all the time that i think "what i have to pay so much for a software that allways freezes, crashes for fun, is not able to handle more than 4k objects without lagging,..."

well its like an old car that gets some new fancy looking painting, but is still the same old crappy engine and run down parts inside
i just hope the uneven 2017 is not as crap as usually the uneven numbers of 3dsmax..2013 and 2015 were total failures but you had to pay for them.

well i still dondt see a better way to make my archviz stuff and its like your "mother in law" .. you dondt really like it but you cant really change it

still if they want 1600euros renting and the crap is randomly freezing for some minutes or other stuff.. well hmmm thats not very worth the money.
most "new super features" are crap and useless.

but hooked on (or better stuck with) max forever

seeya daniel

[jstrob]

That's not how it is supposed to work though (convert for rendering to defeat limitions). The limits are there to make you buy the real thing if you are doing serious production.(!).

Cheers,
Thorsten

I made sure that I could do that before buying my indie license (convert for rendering to defeat limitations). Someone form SideFX told me I could do that. So I'm not going to prevent me from doing something they are telling me themselves I can do. It's hard enough and expensive enough to do my work as it is! I'm constantly trying to push software limitation and not the opposite! But remember it's still a pain to convert stuff betwen apps so I don't think I will be able to do that in a paid production, probably more for personnal project were deadline is not an issue.

[jstrob]

Here we are waving our pitchforks at AD for raising prices and then praise Houdini which is 7000USD if you want a floating license and subscription is 4000USD (!).

Are you dure about that price of 7000USD? here I see 4495USD for a workstation license of houdini FX... http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?opti...117&Itemid=374

[jstrob]

Well, V-Ray for Houdini can render in Houdini Indie. For the moment at any rate...

Best regards,
Vlado

Vlado are you sure it's legal for you to do that? You are cracking Houdini Indie or what? LOL

Seriously, is it possible to have access to that V-Ray for Houdini Indie?

[vlado]

Vlado are you sure it's legal for you to do that? You are cracking Houdini Indie or what? LOL

<shrug> I asked twice, didn't get any reply so I assume SideFX doesn't care. We haven't done anything illegal, I guess this is partly because we didn't implement the renderer in the way we were supposed to.

Seriously, is it possible to have access to that V-Ray for Houdini Indie?

Sure, email me to vlado@chaosgroup.com and we can arrange that.

Best regards,
Vlado