I can´t really say that I don´t like it or it´s worse than previous versions, because there is not much difference to max 2008.
Our company will definately skip this release for several reasons. We just installed max2008 one month before
2009 was released. Seting up a new max version (especially when it´s not compatible with the previous version) is always
a time consuming process. We work with a lot of scripts, free plugins and custom UI. It usually takes some days until everything
is configured and tested to work as expected. We are using Vray so 80% of the new features are not interesting for us anyway.
Seriously since max7 there are just some minor new features that enhance our workflow (new chamfer tool for example).
Some thing´s from our point of view, even got worse like the the new selection dialog for example.
It´s really hard for me to explain my boss why we are still paying the subscription if there isn´t anything usable new features
for the last 3 releases.
We don´t need new designed dialogs, UI Enhancements or Navigation Cube´s nor do we need Mental Ray enhancements.
So if we don ´t take these feature in account.. there are not much new features left. It ´s very likely that we won´t renew our subscription,
and we´re currently looking into other 3D Application as a replacment for 3dsmax. The only reason we haven´t done that allready
is Vray. Take a look at the new feature list of Blender and compare it to the feature list of the last max releases. I don´t need
to get into detail about that.. it speaks for itself.
I mean.. Blur Studios, Valve, Lionhead, Pandemic partial or completly got away from max (or Autodesk).
So it´s obviously not just me, the small for marketing issues uninteresting User ,who is not satisfied with 3dsmax.
If I were Autodesk I would really be worried !! But obviously max still has enough User so it´s not a big impact .. for the moment.
If Autodesk would say, we´re not releasing a new max version for next two years because max will be rewritten from scratch
(wich is definately neccessary) to meet nowadays demands regarding performance and features..
than this would be something I could communicate to my boss.
I would pay the subscription for years without getting an new realese if max would finally get a new core !!!
The next point is marketing around 3dsmax recently. The realease of 3dsmax 2009 in March 2008 is simply a joke.
Also the fact that there are now 2 versions of max wich are expect ONE… yes ONE feature absolute identical.
For someone who has never seen max before it may sound nice… uhh the have a design version now… sounds great.
But for long time 3dsmax Users it was simply a punch in their face. I hear the same opinion from everyone in the small
part of the 3D World I have in sight .. expect some students who are as euphoric as unexperienced.
Hello, here just new in the “area” I just entered due to beeing frustrated about 2009 and to see if I´m the only one who is unbable to work with my software.
Following issiues:
Since last patch of 2009 viewport update is no longer working (latest nviedia bord with latest driver- purchesed it because my distri told that my 7950 dual is out of date), but seems not true.
Material editor update also not running as others told. Actually no preview possible in the Mat editor viewport after long renderings.
An other issue is that I get memory problems after long renderings - whole 2009 viewport no longer visible. The same issue Macromedia has had problems with in the Freehand 10 version. And at Macromedia it is a menory management problem.
All my scenes I used Texture layers in are corrupt and no longer to open since the last 2009 patch.
All ads tell that 64 bit is the solution for users who need to use scenes with more than a mio polys. It is true with my LW licences and xsi but seems not with my 2009 one. My distri told that 2- or 3 Mio are to much at a system with 12 Ghz and 12 gig ram.
The main question for me is what 64 bit helps when all, exept rendering, modeling functions are working in a linear manner and for that reason do still only use one single core in 2009 (meaning 2 version after the first 64 bit Version (max 9 64 bit) has been released.
But hopefully the 10 or 20 crashes I have had with the early 2009 release became less since the last patches. But not all.
So far I hope for all that also your customers stay with you when you can not hold your deadlines because you work with max 2009.
But may be the future will help.
I’ve used 3dsmax since R2 and I spend so much time everyday staring at it on the screen that I’d go mad if I didn’t like it. I love it. And it’s the tool on which my living depends. But like so many other people, I’m getting a bit fed up the company that produces it. Sooner or later Autodesk is going to have to stop promising everything for the future and actual start delivering on a few of those promises. If the content of recent upgrades matched the ballooning hype, then i’m sure everyone would be happy. As it is, the first thing I find myself doing after installing 2009 is coming here to find out how to get rid of the awful steering cube and scene explorer. No matter how much Autodesk says it’s listening to customers, I get the feeling that they’re either listening to a pretty limited set of voices, or are just ignoring most. How many people on this forum would have asked for the steering cube or scene explorer? I saw it suggested on one of the blogs here that it wasn’t going down well because customers are averse to changes in the interface. I would suggest that it’s because we’re averse to worthless changes in the inteface as part of an upgrade that we’re paying good money for.
After installing 2009, we’re asked if we want to participate in some customer programme. Great, I thought, until I read the small print and realise that it’s just system info they’d be taking, not opinion.
2009 doesn’t seem to be any more or less stable than previous versions for me. I use FinalRender, so I don’t know how much comes from that, but I’ve had regular crashes since install. This is on what’s meant to be a solid platform with recommended hardware and drivers. The MaterialEditor is as always a major culprit. In fact, I think it may have deteriorated with this release. I have a file with eight slots containing tile maps layered in composite maps. It’s deadly slow, and I can make the file crash if I click to switch active slots too quickly. The MaterialEditor is a disgrace really. It should have been improved years ago.
I do like the new composite map. And SplineUV is going to be useful. I see the new extension is out too. More PFlow functionality isn’t going to hurt.
I’m unhappy with the continuing lack of a ‘New Features’ guide. Another thing I saw on a blog here, that rather we could have fun trawling through the Help file looking for what’s new. I don’t have that time to spend unfortunately.
I’ve used 3dsmax since R2 but if there was a decent alternative I know I’d be looking into it now. 2009 is pretty much the same as 2008, 9 and 8 .... pretty uninspiring.
instillation was horribly slow. i mean really horribly slow. i have a fast machine, with a fast dvd drive and the installation process took forever.
once it was done, flashy splash screen!
opening for the first time the cube / wheel were cool for about 2 min. after which i disabled the wheel and made the cube tiny, and visible only in active view. cleaned up my ui to acceptable levels. i dont see myself using cube that often though. as my space navigator works for all viewport movement tasks
new mental ray + productivity shaders. i like it, i hated MR before, this version is tolerable. [too bad fume does not work with it]
scene explorer / selection tool. when i was in 2008 i remapped all the short cuts and macros to bring up the old school selection floater and window. what got to me was the lag the first time you would open the new selection tools. so i eliminated them. in 2009 i actually use them. once it loads the first time every time after that is nice and quick. and for scenes with with multiple thousands of objects. it is far better then the old system.
new render window. the one feature in 2009 i really like. nothing really new, just a hodge-podge of the old things in a new container. but its great. the only thing i find myself looking for now is integration of the RAM player into this new window. [that and a 16-bit+ RAM player window ;)]
im really excited to look at the new extensions to see whats in the future. but for now im digging it.
if your new to max, [as in you just bought it] you can add on subscription and request the previous versions. my max 9 is being fedexed as im typing this, so even if i find something that makes 2009 completely unusable, i can always drop back to 9
to adesk rep here..i`ll tell you what is my big issue vs autodesk ..its very simple
there is a line of sale sale sale you need not cross and you have literally destroyed this line
every microsoft os system is the product of 5 years of work...the biggest company on earth release an os every 5 years or so
and after all this work ..it still cost tenth of what you are asking for one of your programs..
now dont get me wrong..3d max is impressive...very even… but you are so eager so set a new release each year which cost about 4000$ without even making sure the previous one is ok...that it really upsets well everybody...and as far as your revenue sales..well if this thing would not cost so much money and if a customer would know his version will like microsoft os get support with patches for atleast 5 years to come..you would not doubled your precious revenues but triple quad and more and more....
right now..the trust people have in your release is so low that you actually expect to find your old friend MR bug.
so right now all those that have 2008 are stuck with the bugs that didnt get fix ....and let fate take care of them...this is very maddening and make you feel really abused by a money machine...now i accept capitalism ...even worship the concept....but there is a limit on how badly you can treat your customers....no further patch support...fatal bugs that are unacceptable in every other program on other markets…
and as a software engineer let me tell you something...there is a conspiracy theory running around that says the bugs are left there on purpose so there would be reason for the next release to come.
i dont speculate and this does not concern me...what is is the fact that a bug has a severity rank...and most of your bugs are not just the “you entered to wrong value ,please retype “ bugs...but ones the throw you out and not tell you why even...what does it help me if i press send bug report if i need the solution now. and this is another area lacking for you...(vray also sadly )...and its the fact that the complete data base has been done by us users rather than you manufactures....simple laziness? i really dont understand why…
there should always be a routine that catch the bug before the crash and prevent it or atleast relates it to something you can sum up in one line and ouput to user like “ not enough ram “ , “movement error “ and etc.....very simple very elementary and yet you dont have it....
every serious program has it you dont..not on autocad revit nor max..
so stop running to the next release all the time with no reason and give more thought and programm hours for the last release....
trying to move to max 2009 did nothign but casue days of issues with back burner that was working great with 2008 now i am just trying to get back to the way things were in 2008. It has been a major major pain. Thanks autodesk for this joyus fun. What a backburner this one is.
Just get me a service park that fixes the material editor slowness when mental ray is active. Max also needs its garbage collector fixed as when we export scenes often enough parsing data in normal bump slots ends up in ascii nonsense forcing us to reset max and re-export.
I love the software, I love what it can do I’m just annoyed by things that used to work great now being broken. Hopefully since 2009 shipped 4 months before it would have normally it gets a longer service pack lifespan.
After 4 month not using 3dsmax, I have had my open/export old project in 3dsmax day.
Answering the question: Well I loved 3dsmax, but now? No I don’t like it anymore, to much good things happened in the last ‘Autodesk free’ months.
Occupation: Director, Visual Communication Solutions
Gold member
Location: Milford, CT
Total Posts: 71
Joined 2006-07-17
Andrew_A - 23 June 2008 12:17 PM
Final note, you mention you want new users (ie; grow your install base), but yet as the product becomes bigger and requires more powerful hardware, it keeps limiting the number of new users who can learn properly. I had planned originally (once I complete my summer class on Max 2008) to buy Viz and run it on my current computer for a year or two so I can really get the product down, then upgrade later to Max and a really powerful workstation. Now I can’t really do that, with the cheaper Viz product being gone by next summer.
Anyway, apologize for the “lecture” above, you probably are already well aware of the above, but I just wanted to throw it out there for arguments sake for a different standpoint (base model option). Again, I realize you will never be able to please all the people all the time, so thanks for your responses, and I am looking forward to learning Max!
Best Regards,
Andrew
It’s very difficult to create a low-cost version of a product and do it in such a manner that it doesn’t devalue the more expensive version but has enough features to be considered useful. There are several examples of lower-cost professional tools being pulled from the market after a couple years because the economics just don’t work that well in our professional space. Of course, there are other examples where it has worked very well (like AutoCAD LT). Fundamentally, it is very tricky to get the balance just right and make it sustainable over the long term. We do think it is important that people have an easy method of learning 3ds Max proficiently and that they can also easily step up into the commercial world with that knowledge. We are looking for new techniques of making things even easier. We are researching those ideas as we speak.
