Well, what’s old is new again.  This is the second time that Viz is being discontinued.  BTW, I don’t think that Max is the same as Viz with just a few more bells and whistles.  The opposite is true.  Viz is the same as Max, with certain animation and particle features removed, which nobody figured architects & engineers would ever want to use.  It also streamlined the cost, making it more appealing to those who control the purse strings.  Years ago, Viz did have certain exclusive features such as AEC doors, windows, foliage, walls, railings, etc.  But when Viz was discontinued after release 4, all of those functions were ported into Max 5.  At the time, I would construct models in Viz, and jump through a few hoops to get the model into Max where I could take full advantage of particles and animation when I needed to.  Switching from Viz to Max will be no big deal.  It will just cost a little more.

Can anyone confirm that the files created in VIZ 2008 will be useable/openable in MAX Design 2009? Seems to me there was a disconnect a while back between the two and that files created in one could not be opened in another- I may be wrong on that.

I’m looking forward to getting MAX Design 2009, mostly because I like the rhyme. ;)

Cheers,

Robert

Baring something unusual with plugins I don’t see any reason why the files will not come over fine.

Shawn is correct, you can open files from VIZ 2008 in Max 2009.  One of the advantages to this switch from VIZ to Max 2009 is that we won’t have these disconnects anymore between VIZ and Max.  Max Design and Max are exactly the same software, no difference whatsoever, except for 1 feature in VIZ that’s extra, and the tutorials are industry specific.

I really think Autodesk should pay the first subscription. It’s not my fault VIZ is ending. Also the “xtra’s” in max design is something we don’t need. Everyone is forced to pay xtra without having a choice.
And, no it isn’t a choice to keep working with VIZ in the future when there’s no support. Who knows what kind of troubles in a few years occures, with for example AutoCad.

soepwuffer - 02 April 2008 04:17 AM

I really think Autodesk should pay the first subscription. It’s not my fault VIZ is ending. Also the “xtra’s” in max design is something we don’t need. Everyone is forced to pay xtra without having a choice.
And, no it isn’t a choice to keep working with VIZ in the future when there’s no support. Who knows what kind of troubles in a few years occures, with for example AutoCad.

I think we are effectively doing that. The cost of renewing your VIZ subscription is also the cost of the cross-grade to 3ds Max if you purchase the crossgrade via our promotion that is currently running. I’m also surprised you say there is nothing in 3ds Max Design, I’d like to hear what you do because our surveys said that 90% of VIZ users would welcome the change to 3ds Max. You might just be one of the 10%.

You’re not doing that because subsc for VIZ is 350euro, while 3dmax 550. So its not also the cost of the crossgrading.

I’m refering to the extra’s, not “there’s nothing”
I mean Viz is perfect for us, but Autodesk forces us to pay more, because if you want to continue you’ll need 3dmax design.

Yes, maybe we are the 10 percent because we are one of the bigger Architectual firms in the Netherlands.

Yes, I should have mentioned that there are regional differences across the world in the promotion. Have you actually downloaded 3ds Max Design and checked out the new features? You might find something there that helps you be much more efficient than you were with VIZ 2008. Are you not interested in lighting analysis? What about the ability to work with scenes far more complex than you could load into VIZ 2008? If you use Revit, there is an incredible interop capability with Revit 2009. Anyway, there is quite a bit there for AEC customers.

I for one kinda welcome the opportunity to upgrade, though I’m a little puzzled.  This morning I got an email announcing that I’d been shipped a copy of Max2009 - as a Viz user on subscription, I was kinda assuming I’d be putting my hand in my pocket to ‘upgrade’ to Max design, and had pretty much convinced our head bean-counter that was the case.  Now it appears I get a kinda upgrade anyway to Max, which is what I’d originally been angling for..

I may well keep pushing for the Max design upgrade, as I can see some of the lighting analysis tools being useful.

It’d also be interesting to know how the licensing works for mental ray satellites- it was a real bind having the 2 bucket limit in Viz.

gilesp - 10 April 2008 01:30 AM

I for one kinda welcome the opportunity to upgrade, though I’m a little puzzled.  This morning I got an email announcing that I’d been shipped a copy of Max2009 - as a Viz user on subscription, I was kinda assuming I’d be putting my hand in my pocket to ‘upgrade’ to Max design, and had pretty much convinced our head bean-counter that was the case.  Now it appears I get a kinda upgrade anyway to Max, which is what I’d originally been angling for..

I may well keep pushing for the Max design upgrade, as I can see some of the lighting analysis tools being useful.

It’d also be interesting to know how the licensing works for mental ray satellites- it was a real bind having the 2 bucket limit in Viz.

Are you sure that is what the email says? There is a promotion for VIZ Subscriptoin users to move to 3ds Max 2009 at effectively the cost of VIZ Subscription. Perhaps your “bean-counter” took advantage of that already? AFAIK, VIZ Subscription users are not automatically being shipped 3ds Max 2009.

BTW, with 3ds Max 2009 you get unlimited mental rendering on your farm and an 8 bucket limit (DBR). Plus, it will use up to 512 cores if you can find that many in one box! VIZ 2008 was limited to no more than 4 cores.