Why two? We've decided that the best way to focus on Entertainment and Design/Vis solutions is to customize the user experience accordingly. So, we now have two versions of your favorite product to choose from. At the same time, we are ending development on VIZ and encouraging customers to shift to 3ds Max Design. This is one of the reasons we created 3ds Max Design - to give VIZ users a clear path to 3ds Max and something they can fully leverage.
At this time, we are not releasing all the information about the two new flavors, but that will come as we officially launch the products later this quarter (March 25th). So, I don't actually want to duplicate all that information here, just deal with the major points:
1. 3ds Max Design 2009 includes 100% of the features in 3ds Max 2009 - except for the SDK
2. 3ds Max Design has the new Exposure lighting analysis feature, 3ds Max 2009 does not
Those are the critical differences you need to know about. We're also working on making each product a richer experience for the specific set of users, so you'll see evidence of this in tutorials, samples, application defaults, etc. They are 100% data compatible and they are actually the same binary. We think this should be the policy moving forwards as it means you'll always be able to mix/match these versions without fear of data loss.
The incredible success of 3ds Max in both Entertainment and Design/Vis gives us the ability to drive BOTH markets with increased resources. This is all tied up with the fact that we've also doubled our engineering resources.
Yes, we expect that you'll be a little confused by this news, but it will be clearer as time moves on. Subscription users will get BOTH installs, so they can play with either one and we'll have trial versions of both up on the web at ship date.
As to the future, I'm restricted to what I can say, but I think we've learned to be extremely careful with deciding that one feature is only useful by one market. If we are to create any further feature differentiation between the two, we'll do it very carefully and check with customers before doing it. Our policy is to ensure that you're never forced to need both to get the job done.
3ds Max Design and 3ds Max 2009 Announced!
Here are some features (not all), since we are not launching the product today, just announcing it (this may appear to be a semantics issue, but Autodesk Marketing calls the shots on this) we are not giving you all the feature information like we normally do at announcement. Some of these headings may not make sense without the additional descriptions, but that is coming. I did leave in the descriptions on two of the bigger features that were part of the release effort.
Remember, this is an INCOMPLETE list, about 30% of the features are not listed here. Some important features will be revealed at launch.
Biped:
• Hands Like Feet Option
• Working Pivot Rotation
• Mirror Animation Options
• Triangle Neck
Modeling and Mapping
• UV Spline Mapping
• UVW Unwrap Improvements
Rendering
Reveal Workflow
• With 3ds Max 2009, Autodesk introduces Reveal rendering, a system that gives users very precise control over their renders, which in turn streamlines iterative workflows and enables artist to render final imagery faster. This key new feature gives artists the ability to visualize and manipulate a given region in both the Viewport and the Framebuffer. The rendered image Framebuffer now contains a simplified set of tools to quickly validate changes in a render, by optionally filtering out objects, regions and/or processes to temporarily balance quality vs. speed vs. completeness. For instance, render speed can be modulated by toggling geometry translation, lighting calculation and image-quality settings, based on what the artist desires to update. Using Reveal, artists can now also auto-generate regions around selections and reuse temporary Final Gather maps at any time.
Photometric Lighting Enhancements
• 3ds Max 2009 delivers a number of photometric lighting enhancements. The software now gives artists support for new types of area lights (circular, cylindrical), photometric web previews in the Browse dialog and Light UI, as well as improved near-field photometry quality and spot distribution. Plus, distribution types can now support any emitting shape and artists can have their light shapes appear in their rendered image.
mental ray
• ProMaterials
• New mental ray Proxy Objects
• Enhanced Accessibility of Production Shaders
• Enhanced Per-object Render Settings
• Improved Render Final Gather and Global Illumination
• New mental ray Render Elements
Note: We have now published the full feature list in the documents listed below along with a FAQ with possibly more answers to your many questions.
Remember, this is an INCOMPLETE list, about 30% of the features are not listed here. Some important features will be revealed at launch.
Biped:
• Hands Like Feet Option
• Working Pivot Rotation
• Mirror Animation Options
• Triangle Neck
Modeling and Mapping
• UV Spline Mapping
• UVW Unwrap Improvements
Rendering
Reveal Workflow
• With 3ds Max 2009, Autodesk introduces Reveal rendering, a system that gives users very precise control over their renders, which in turn streamlines iterative workflows and enables artist to render final imagery faster. This key new feature gives artists the ability to visualize and manipulate a given region in both the Viewport and the Framebuffer. The rendered image Framebuffer now contains a simplified set of tools to quickly validate changes in a render, by optionally filtering out objects, regions and/or processes to temporarily balance quality vs. speed vs. completeness. For instance, render speed can be modulated by toggling geometry translation, lighting calculation and image-quality settings, based on what the artist desires to update. Using Reveal, artists can now also auto-generate regions around selections and reuse temporary Final Gather maps at any time.
Photometric Lighting Enhancements
• 3ds Max 2009 delivers a number of photometric lighting enhancements. The software now gives artists support for new types of area lights (circular, cylindrical), photometric web previews in the Browse dialog and Light UI, as well as improved near-field photometry quality and spot distribution. Plus, distribution types can now support any emitting shape and artists can have their light shapes appear in their rendered image.
mental ray
• ProMaterials
• New mental ray Proxy Objects
• Enhanced Accessibility of Production Shaders
• Enhanced Per-object Render Settings
• Improved Render Final Gather and Global Illumination
• New mental ray Render Elements
Note: We have now published the full feature list in the documents listed below along with a FAQ with possibly more answers to your many questions.
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Posted by nirsul on 22 Feb, 2008 at 04:21 AMJosef - your English is perfect - I wonder how fluent Ken is in German (Austrian german)...... 
Posted by Sander de Regt on 22 Feb, 2008 at 02:17 AMSorry to respond so late in the game to this post:
Ken: “We never announce hotfixes. They are usually very specific fixes affecting a minority of users. You’ll either be told of a hot fix because you contacted Support (they often have non-public hotfixes that haven’t made it to the public site) or you can simply check this link now and then. I don’t think we even announce Service Packs. In fact, does anyone announce them? I think you have to check to see if one exists.”
Ken, to be honest, I think this should be part of the whole ‘subscription experience’ The way subscription is being sold is as being the most affordable way to keep your software up to date. I get at least six e-mails a year telling me about the virtues of being on subscription (even though I’m already on it) I think part of being the most up to date is knowing when an update is out.
Even if you choose to ‘ride out’ the hot fix, I think mentally it would help people appreciate the value of subscription if updates and fixes like this are announced through a simple e-mail. It would make ME feel more appreciated as a customer.
“Biped Figure Mode files (.fig) were possibly being corrupted.” This is not something that sounds like it would only affect a minority of users. I haven’t worked with bipeds yet in 2008, but I would be pretty miffed if I would do so, get a corrupted *.fig file only to find out there had been an unannounced hotfix for that.
Just my 0.03 cents (adjusted for inflation)
Posted by JimBean on 20 Feb, 2008 at 06:07 AMI think that kind of pr, is more geared towards investors, as is most things coming out of AD. Just a broad stoke of cg goodness, with not really much info.
Posted by Josef Wienerroither on 20 Feb, 2008 at 05:29 AMahh - simply forgot to post the link ... here’s i it - 2nt try
might not directly belong to max, but this thread on cgtalk gives a very good overview how ADESK and it’s PR + News are recieved from the cg-community (people who work with ADESK’s M&E software) these days....
Posted by nirsul on 20 Feb, 2008 at 04:06 AMKen
I read the link you posted about ‘debunking XSI’s MAXed Out ‘ - I wouldn’t call it an educated study of XSI versus MAX . most of wgat the guy wrote there is pure “Like me, Like me not” stuff. Also - He is only studying 3D apps and is not even a veteran in 3D I wonder if he even works with either apps on a daily basis. I think that Autodesk should be putting stuff like this and not us and obviuosly it should be well detailed and serious response .
In my case - AEC - XSI has no chance as it hasn’t the features trhat I need and MAX surely does.
NIR
Posted by Josef Wienerroither on 20 Feb, 2008 at 03:40 AMmight not directly belong to max, but this thread on cgtalk gives a very good overview how ADESK and it’s PR + News are recieved from the cg-community (people who work with their software) these days....
Posted by Ken Pimentel on 18 Feb, 2008 at 06:03 PMThanks for the suggestions. We’re familiar with what XSI tried to do, we think it sort of lame because our users easily tore it apart, people like Logan Foster:
http://fosters.realmwarsgame.com/2007/06/debunking-top-10-reasons-to-try-xsi.shtml
Anyway, we know we’ve got lots to do to keep you all happy. The time to worry is when you’re not telling us what you need!
Posted by Chris Stoeckle on 18 Feb, 2008 at 11:05 AMKen, I just wanted to make sure you are aware of the “Maxed Out” video marketing campaign in which Avid basically presents the top 10 reasons XSI is superior to Max: http://softimage.com/products/xsi/top10reasons.aspx
Accordingly, here are some suggestions:
1) Have your team totally start over with Scene States and give us a reliable tool for robust render pass management.
2) Give us true insanely fast isoline Subds. Perhaps approach the Gruesome Arts developers.
3) Make morphing and bone-skinning indestructable. I believe the tech for embedding this info into meshes is already there (channels); your team just needs to make it more fluid, flexible and artist friendly.
4) Integrate interactive rendering like in Modo or XSI. Perhaps approach the Rendition developers (before Avid does!).
5) CAT, a Max character animation plugin plainly superior to Character Studio IMHO is now owned by Avid. Probably a safe bet Avid is going to incorporate CAT’s features and technology directly into XSI. Have your Character Studio developers research the unique advantages of CAT and head Avid off at the pass. If nothing else, make sure Bendy bones and Stretchy-IK make it into Biped ASAP.
Thank you for your consideration. Max 2008 is not exactly made for mind-blowing marketing materials but in terms of sheer stability and productivity it is by far my favorite Max release. Great work! Keep at it.
Posted by robert_le on 18 Feb, 2008 at 09:07 AMWell, having a Max here I can hardly see it as future. It’s simple to expensive hardware cost double price. Why should I use an OS I can hardly afford render computers? Hm, 3d isn’t earning as much as with graphic design. At least you don’t have clients that need that sort of show.
And if using OSX you are limited to much. Linux on the other hand offers some damn good stuff for rendering and network in a bigger company. For a small company Windows Vista is the future. Its pretty fast and you can run it on every Mac. Oh and what is the nonsense about good 3d software not running on Windows?
Oh and about splitting Max in 2 half’s: Its in a line of error probably the worst, but typical for a company that hardly understand it’s costumers.
Posted by slebed on 17 Feb, 2008 at 04:39 PMActually Macintosh is becoming the new Microsoft only worse, with lock ins to the way Apple wants you to do things as opposed to the way the rest of an industry wants to do things. I personally don’t want any development on the macintosh until Apple starts writing apps for windows.
Now back on topic, I’m very much encouraged by where Autodesk is taking Max. I just hope that the ‘Entertainment’ version of Max is not going to be limited to game entertainment, and will cover feature film production tools too. Just because I can use tools designed for games on my film projects, it isn’t the same as having tools specifically written for the film market.
