Autodesk 3ds Max 2008

The integration of Maya into 3ds Max proves to be a great thing for 3d artists

Autodesk's 3ds Max has long been known as a superb piece of 3d modeling software and is used by movie and software studios around the world. When 3ds Max’s developer Autodesk purchased the rival Maya 3d program, many wondered how the inevitable integration of the two pieces of software would work.

With Autodesk 3ds Max 2008 that question has been answered, but much to the surprise of many in the 3d community the final product is actually greater than the sum of its parts.

With Autodesk 3ds Max 2008 (which is the 10th version of the 3ds Max software) Autodesk has pulled out all of the stops and created what has to be one of the best pieces of 3d software ever created. Massive improvements have been made to both the way that Max 2008 handles data and its overall performance, making even the most recent previous versions pale in comparison.

The program is even more stable than its predecessor 3ds Max 9, which itself was a vast improvement over previous versions that were known to crash at inopportune moments.

Major improvements have also been made to the rendering engine as well, including the Review rendering toolset. Review gives you a chance to preview your shadows, all of your lights, and several of your mental ray settings in real time as you work on your scene without having to stop and render to see how it looks. This one feature alone can shave hours off of the creation of complex scenes by letting you know exactly how all of your lights are going to interact with the architecture that you’ve created.

My favorite change from previous versions of 3ds Max, though, has to be in the various changes that they’ve made to the modeling interface itself. Autodesk worked hard on getting rid of the endless menus that plagued previous versions of Max, instead focusing on a redesigned user interface that puts modeling at the forefront instead of being able to navigate menus to find the options that you want. Combining the new interface with the many little tweaks and positive changes that they made to splines, polygons, and various other modeling assets, the creation process is much more streamlined and easy to work with.

It makes it feel much more like you’re actually creating something, instead of just manipulating a program in order to get the desired effects. They’ve improved UV mapping, animation, and just about everything else that you’ll need to bring your creations to life.

Of course, as with all versions of 3ds Max, Autodesk 3ds Max 2008 is going to cost you. The full version costs just under $3500, and even the upgrade from 3ds Max 9 is nearly $800. This software obviously isn’t intended for the casual hobbyist who’s just looking for something to play around with every now and then.

If you’re a serious 3d professional, though, whether you’re working for a studio or doing it freelance, then you don’t want to pass this one up. Max 2008 is more than Max 9, it’s more than Maya, and it’s just about everything that you could want in a 3d program.

Review by Conrad White