So, I noticed there`s a build for 2020 in the 3.6 nightlies. Haven`t seen any news of it. Advanced copy for Vray compatibility or April 1st coming early this year ?
anthonyh
Does it even matter? they’ve (Autodesk) definitely made the point that they have updates throughout the year, so it’s not a “big” release for the yearly update like it used to be.
it will be broken IMO. my god i only just got the courage to move from 2017 to 2019
I know what you both mean, I`ve stuck with 2016 because I wasn`t too keen on the 2019 interface, seemed unnecessarily redesigned with horrible icons etc just because. We`ll have to upgrade when 2020 comes out I think as you can only use 3 versions back so I was just wondering if this was a sign that we`d need to move on whether we wanted to or not. I can also never remember when the new version is supposed to come out.
Usually at the beginning of April I think. <--not a joke 
Hehe, that`s typical of Autodesk !
It has been around from mid March to mid April.
Not always same.
2017 new UI is not just about look. 2 things happen.
1) It is Qt based.(A lot of users have asked.)
2) HiDpi compatible.
In terms of version, I cannot use pre-2017 after I used 2017.
The speed improvement is just too big.
Stability-wise, it has been getting better very version after 2017.
Dev put a lot of effort to fuc bugs.
I have used every version since 2014.
I can safely say 2019 is the most stable version for me.
And.. about 2020.
As JD3d_CGI said, 3dsMax move to incremental update.
The major version only means SDK update.
Anytime when a feature is ready, they will release.
Funny thing is that they usually freeze the code very early for version change to give 3rd part and themselves enough time for new version. 2020 code has already been freezed.
Considering at the end of year. there are many holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.
They have only little time after delivering PU3(Dec)
It seems PU1(June) will always be the big feature release then initial release.
You could give 2018.4 a go. I moved up from 2016 at the end of last year. Haven’t really had any big issues tbh. Maybe a couple of crashes more then I was used to with 2016, mostly with ForestPack or Railclone, but nothing drastic or anything that makes me think I should have stuck with 2016.
2019 is the most stable since 2016.
Only real issue I’ve had is the window flickering phenomenon
Yep, I was considering 2018, we had it installed for a while but never got around to upgrading. I prefer stability, `if it ain`t broke..` Obviously you can end up a little behind the times feature wise but 9 times out of 10 it doesn`t really seem necessary to constantly upgrade. I`m also not a fan of the new 3dsmax UI and icons etc, a lot of them seem very similar where it`s hard to distinguish between them. 2012 and 2014 seemed really stable too, maybe it`s the odd number releases that aren`t as good.
Got a 2020 build at work but it won’t run so I can’t test it 
If you can accept UI, I can safely say 2019 PU3 is the most stable version ever.
New feature-wise. I guess you don’t need to until you need it. 
2019 with the latest update has been solid. Having said that, most of us could have stayed in MAX 2014 without missing much. I had to jump because I went to a 4K monitor, but other than that, I am not sure I am seeing much value added over the past 5 years. It could be incremental and if I had to go back I might hate it, but then again, maybe not. I think the product matured, which is why they invented the all-mighty subscription.
Well.. I know it all depends on your need.
But, a lot of things has happened since 2014.
Our pipeline simple doesn’t work with pre-2017 version at all.
You can check a few major thing added since 2014 on my homepage.
Of course there are even more features which I did not even mentioned like new Spline tool, DCM, BBM, 3dsMaxbatch.
Yeah, I draw boxes for a living
Out of all of that page I`ll definitely agree that OSL looks really cool. I doubt I could code anything myself but there`s a lot of shaders out there being shared so it can only add some extra functionality, the same goes for MCG. I agree it definitely depends on the type of work you do. In general though I think more exciting progress has been made in 3rd party plugins than 3dsmax itself.
OSL doesn’t need coding.
dsMax already ships with 100+ shaders,
Also as I mentioned a post, it opens to a lot of new workflow I have asked for long time. For example, UV instancing, Gamma in texture, tx/dpx loading, more 3d procedurals. tons of randomization options.
It also allows portable map tree across renderer which is revolutionary.
Nvidia is working on OSL> CUDA.
If that happens, you could share map tree without conversion even between CPU/GPU renderers.
2016 here.
Cannot get used to the changes to viewport control behaviour… But since soon I will move to 4k monitor - will have to
Who gets excited about a new version of 3ds Max these days, LOL! I mean, seriously… I stopped caring since 2012. Every version is the same t*rd with a bit of sugar coating and glitter on the top, but more and more expensive every year to “make up for it”. No substantial changes to the tools, workflow, viewport and the major components for over 12 years now. What’s there to be excited about? All “improvements” from 12 years ago till now could have been fitted in 3-4 major versions, if even that, not 12. The milking continues as per usual…