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Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 and Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009 Now Shipping


Jeff Mottle
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Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 and Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009 Now Shipping

 

- New Version of Leading Entertainment Software Tailored for Advanced Design Visualization -

SAN RAFAEL, Calif., March 31, 2008

WHAT: Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 and Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009

Autodesk today began shipping two new versions of 3ds Max, its leading 3D modeling, animation and rendering software. In February 2008 the company first announced 3ds Max 2009 software for entertainment professionals, and 3ds Max Design 2009 software, a tailored 3D application for architects, designers and visualization specialists.

Key features in 3ds Max 2009 and 3ds Max Design 2009 include:

· A new Reveal rendering toolset, which streamlines iterative workflows

· ProMaterials material library for simulating real-world surfaces

· Improved interoperability with industry-standard products including

Autodesk Revit Architecture, Autodesk Mudbox, Autodesk Maya and Autodesk MotionBuilder software, as well as other third-party applications

· Numerous biped enhancements, as well as additional time-saving

animation and mapping workflow tools

 

3ds Max Design 2009 offers all features offered in 3ds Max 2009, with the exception of the software development toolkit (SDK). 3ds Max Design also includes Exposure technology for simulating and analyzing sun, sky and artificial lighting to assist with LEED EQ 8.1 Credit certification.

For more information about the key new features in Autodesk 3ds Max 2009, visit www.autodesk.com/3dsmax. To learn more about Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009, visit www.autodesk.com/3dsmaxdesign.

 

 

PURCHASING: To purchase Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 and Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2009, visit www.autodesk.com/3dsmax-howtobuy .

Autodesk's suggested retail price for 3ds Max 2009 and 3ds Max Design 2009 software is US$3,495*, respectively. Autodesk's suggested retail price to upgrade from 3ds Max 2008 to either 3ds Max 2009 or 3ds Max Design 2009 is US$895*. Product availability will vary by country.

From March 31, 2008 to July 17, 2008, existing Autodesk VIZ 2008 software Autodesk Subscription customers will be able to cross-grade to 3ds Max Design 2009 for US$249*. During this same period, Autodesk VIZ 2006, 2007, and 2008 customers who are not on Autodesk Subscription will be able to cross-grade to 3ds Max Design 2009 for US$895*, if they purchase Autodesk Subscription for 3ds Max Design 2009.**

Autodesk Subscription will be available for purchase simultaneously with the product purchase or upgrade. Autodesk's suggested retail price for Autodesk Subscription for 3ds Max or 3ds Max Design is US $495* per year.

 

* International pricing may vary.

** These two promotions apply to Autodesk VIZ purchases made prior to Feb.

12, 2008.

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When I try the links to the videos, it doesn't seem to be able to find them... Maybe they are in the process of uploading them or something; I know they've been updating the site quite a lot over the past few days...

 

Just looking at the amount of videos on there, they seem to cover a lot more this time around, and they seem to have got a lot of the new features in there.. Just have to wait for our department to get the new version to I can try them all out...

 

Is anyone running MAX 2009 yet? And if so, is everyone going to be using MAX 2009 design?

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Basic differences between the two are that design does not include the SDK, but does include the new exposure tool. Standard version gets the SDK but no exposure tool. All the other new features are included in both versions.

 

Plus, if you have an autodesk subscription you get both versions, but can only run version at a time.

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Basic differences between the two are that design does not include the SDK, plus the new exposure tool. Standard version gets the SDK but no exposure tool. .

 

Sorry Nick might be reading this wrongly but you say that design does not include the SDK and the exposure tool. Then you say that standard version has no exposure tool, so which has the exposure tool?

I think you mean that design has it but it might be confusing to others who read this.

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Sorry Nick might be reading this wrongly but you say that design does not include the SDK and the exposure tool. Then you say that standard version has no exposure tool, so which has the exposure tool?

I think you mean that design has it but it might be confusing to others who read this.

 

Apologies, I have amended original post to read

 

"design does not include the SDK, but does include the new exposure tool"

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the tutorial files with 3ds max design 2009 are gonna prove really helpful to some people :) just had a look now, i almost feel as though it really has taken the thought process away from creating visualisations.

 

all you need to do is add a daylight system and final gather, p/graphic exposure and all the basic settings are turned on automatically for you

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I think the new tools will certainly help, but I don't think they'll take the thought process away from visualisation. Using the default out of the box settings will get you a good image, but to get a great image will still require skill on the part of the visual artist...

 

It will probably mean that more people will be able to create pretty good images, so there may be more competition, but competition drives people forward, and hopefully clients will see that...

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I tried the demos and am a bit disappointed as I don't see any TRUE amazing feature.

PROmats are nice but I suspect they take longer to render.

SplineUVs is too much time consuming for a simple uv-spline mapping.

render buffer is nice but addes too much screen estate to my already "cluttered-while-rendering" screen- I could do without it, sorry.

 

Only thing that I liked is the IES enhancments.

 

Contrary to what was insinuated - the UI in MAX DEsign is the same as MAX and they did not change it.

 

NIR

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I just installed it, so I only have quick impressions:

 

-It seems very good at handling large geometry and the interface to send large geometry to mental ray seems much faster. I tossed together 38mb of Boston city model and it's still quite speedy.

-I do not like the "ProMaterials". They don't have nearly enough options for professional use.

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-It seems very good at handling large geometry and the interface to send large geometry to mental ray seems much faster. I tossed together 38mb of Boston city model and it's still quite speedy.

... is this regarding viewport speed?

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yeah, I'm a Vray, DirectX, XP32 guy, so I've never felt overly compelled to use the newer versions of max. But at some point I feel I need to do it. I don't want to look up someday and be the only guy still on Windows 3.1, you know. Although there are some pretty major players out there that have also found little reason to upgrade beyond max 8. All my plugins and scripts work...no surprises.

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