3ds max upgrade advice

[johnharper1]

My Disclaimer, this is a duplicate post from cgtalk.

 

I Have a big project coming in and have put off upgrading my max 8 license ( I know it's old). But I am unsure if the project will work with old software, since they want the old project upgraded to photoreal from scan line.. Namely, my max 8 is 32 bit, using 3gb switch on old xp 64 bit. It works, but barely. I'm leaning towards the pretty penny cost for the perpetual license suite, just to get upgraded, as the project would more than cover the cost. I also use vray 1.5 as well, which would be upgraded too. I'm against renting max.

 

Questions, does mental ray come with max anymore (sometimes I do SSS skin) and do they allow free multiple render nodes with MR?

Advantages would be upgrade would cover old plugins like cloth, sometimes I use old clothreyes to tear human cells to simulate lysing, I think max cloth tears, so that would be good.

 

But I'm wondering is the new software more efficient? Would vray render faster for metals and glass/water and less problematic with animation flicker? Can anyone chime in with a bit of advice to help me make my decision. I'm a freelance guy, 16 years and counting, working from home, with a workstation and 3 render node farm. Thanks.

[JWEST]

I'm leaning towards the pretty penny cost for the perpetual license suite

As far as I know they phased this out on 31 Jan 2016 so you will have to rent.

I also use vray 1.5 as well, which would be upgraded too;

Vray 3.4 will be waaay faster than 1.5, it will take some adjustment. Have you tried the demo yet?

Mental Ray does come with Max 2017 but it is a separate installation now.

Edited June 14, 2016 by JWEST
stupid formatting

[johnharper1]

Not yet. That's nice the vray will be faster. July 31 is the end of the entertainment suite licenses, u pay more, but you get the license. Will be either max 2016 or 2015... same price, I'll prolly go 2016

[Josef Wienerroither]

Not yet. That's nice the vray will be faster. July 31 is the end of the entertainment suite licenses, u pay more, but you get the license. Will be either max 2016 or 2015... same price, I'll prolly go 2016

 

End of july the new 2017 suites will be already released ( somewhen in july i think ), this comes with Max2017, though i would say that one needs a few bugs fixed before being really stable ( as usual ). But i certainly would wait for the 2017 suite releases being available and buy that one

 

Another thing is that suites will be no more after this point. There are the new industry collections then ( beginning August 1., and only rental ) with different software selections. If a perpetual suite license is in your budget, I definitely would buy into one together with a maintenance subscription for as many years you can get from your reseller. Only then you receive a license for the 3 previous versions ( down to the 2014 releases ), which always helps when upgrading projects. Prices certainly will go up over the next years and how long the maintenance subscription still be renewable is uncertain.

[Francisco Penaloza]

Cloth Reyes I have not heard that in many years :)

I don't think they work any more in any release of Max.

If you are budget tight, Max and Mental Ray will work fine, yes they still let you use as many render nodes you can. The latest version of VRay is way better then 1.5 but you only get 1 render node by default, so if you have other 2 computers, you'll need to pay for those.

There is a new Kid in town called Corona. you can buy it, or rent it. Essentially it is easy to use than Mental Ray, easy than VRay.

The SSS is almost finished maybe being develop as we speak, if you spend a weekend with Corona, you'll be ready for production.

 

IF you are jumping from Max 8 scanline to Max 2016-2017 and don't have used Mental Ray, I would strongly recommend to try Corona.

If you know V Ray, then upgrade, but remember now is more expensive and you pay for each render node.

Best luck.