Saw this this morning : https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Changes-to-Rendering-in-3DS-Max-2018.html
Looks like 3ds max 2018 will have an overhaul on the rendering front.
Limitations:
“3ds Max customers will be able to use Arnold out-of-the-box. However, it can only be used for foreground (in-product) processing. Customers will need to purchase additional Arnold licenses if they wish to scale their rendering capability using either background processing, a render farm, or the cloud.”
Sounds like a step backwards to me.
Also:
“Customers who wish to use Mental Ray with 3ds Max 2018 will be able to acquire it directly from NVIDIA. NVIDIA is also allowing free use of Mental Ray for foreground processing while working within 3ds Max.”
For Vray now you need buy a license per node. FANTASTIC…!!!
:evil:
Not sure what you mean ? For V-Ray it’s been like this since version 3.
This line has me worried: “3ds Max will continue to allow you to use third party renderers such as Mental Ray, Iray+, V-Ray, Corona, Redshift, Octane and other renderers will be unaffected.”
It would suck but wouldn’t surprise me if AD made the dumbass move to ‘disallow’ the use of third party engines to force users to use and buy upgrades as a typical sh!tty AD attempt to suck just a little more money from their users for what ever package they shoehorn in to 3dsmax for the current year, or better yet pay a fee to use your own engine.
Not surprising… this is only the continuity of the wrong way that AD decided to take…
We’re living the end of 3dsmax as we all know !! That’s all
Yeah, they couldn’t be that stupid could they? Well, then again…
Though for a pre-packaged render engine, if people go third party that means that AD is just getting more money for a tool people will never use. Frankly, I’d love to see a version of Max that just comes with scanline for a lesser price.
Additional licenses will now be paid per platform at each node.
The beautiful thing is that you will have to pay a single comprehensive platform for each node Translates information.
logical…
Im just happy I have V-Ray as it sounds like all the render options that are now included are only for a single workstation and if you want to use anything like DR or network rendering then you are going to be shelling out hundreds of dollars with no guarantee that AD wont change the engine again in a year possibly costing the users even more…
I’m killing myself to say it and say it again ! This is the end of 3ds max !!! :twisted:
Seriously, this is another big step towards the end of using 3ds max for freelancers, small studios, etc…
Unfortunately I am compelled to agree with you. Im not looking forward to finding a non AD 3D package to learn :S Maybe Ill take a more serious look at Modo or something.
Yes, I think that is the right decision today. Fortunately, we have a lot of solution now… and better than AD !
Perhaps this is the natural cycle ! AD is too old with old core software, old philosophy. The only way for AD to survive is to capture and keep their customers as hostage as long as possible until they decide to leave.
Will we see, in our lifetime, the end of Autodesk ?? hehehehe 
The threats of leaving 3Ds Max keep popping up, but nobody dears to actually switch to anything else.
C4D, Sketchup, and Solidworks are the only software packages that are winning territory against AD.
Houdini doesn’t seem to be getting far. Modo? I don’t think so.
haha no it’s not. the only reason people use sketchup is because they dont need to use real 3d software to do whatever they are doing. it made it’s own space in the market.
i’d happily switch to modo. there’s just not a lot of need - right now any amount of money dbox pays for max is offset by the downtime in forcing 50 people at varying stages of their career to learn new software. If I was doing freelance work i’d probably use a modo / C4d combo.
When Google bought Sketchup I was laughing too.
Now that “not real 3d software” is everywhere, and doing a good job obviously.
So good that I have the feeling it cost me some clients I must say.
I had only used Modo as an example as that one may be a little harder for AD to buy as they seem to have a pattern that any competition that starts gaining popularity they turn around and buy it, mess it up and then kill it forcing their users to use what ever AD wants them to. Im interested to see when AD and Adobe run out of any big competition who will buy who, unless AD is doing all this subscription BS to make themselves look more shiny to Adobe for a hopeful buyout.
-dave
I am not sure anything will change for us.
Will adding Arnold affect the way third party renderers work with 3ds Max?
No, we are committed to supporting third party renderers, including NVIDIA’s Mental Ray and Iray, among others. We will continue to work closely with our render partners to make sure their solutions work well with 3ds Max. With new and diverse renderers constantly appearing on the market, each with their own distinctive benefits, we want to make sure customers can continue to use whichever renderer best works for their needs – and that our software works well with the renderers they prefer to use.
Sketchup has BIM plugins now. Its come a long way
I know many architects’s who use SketchUp for design and construction drawings.
in more “2018” news:
3dsMax will now only be shipping with edge, face and polygon components in editable poly, vertex usage may require an additional 3D party plug-in and license,
- The colours Blue and Green are included free, but Red will require an additional license.
- Imperial measurements will continue to be provided free, but Metric is going to cost extra.
- You will still be able to use groups, but will be limited to one group in product, additional groups may be purchased from the new “store” feature.
- CTL+ALT+DEL is a feature we will be removing in 2018, if MAX freezes in production, additional subscriptions can be purchased. To help streamline this process for the busy studio our development team have be working tirelessly on more “Crash to Desktop features” to save you from unnecessary additional subscriptions.
- the light at the end of the tunnel feature only available to maintenance plan losers, will now be turned off in 2018.
We look forward to your continued support and money - The Autodesk Team