#The next 3DS- MAX
15 messages in this thread
3DS Max is 3DS taken to the MAX. It is definitely a major major major
advancement in PC based computer 3D capabilities. (did I emphasize _major_
enough, I doubt I possibly could). The new 3D Studio for Windows NT is called
3D Studio MAX, and once again Gary and the rest of the Yost gang out did
themselves. The advancement of 3DS2 to 3DS3 (which was incredible in and of
itself) pales by comparison to the advancement to MAX. Have I made myself
clear in this regard? 🙂
3DS MAX is a completely new product from the ground up. 3DS MAX has one
interface for all facets of the program, including the total integration of
plug-ins. Another great feature of 3DS MAX is that you can animate everything.
For instance you can now twist, scale, bend … any object or part of an object
and set keys for these effects. Also 3DS MAX now keeps track, in what is
called a STACK, of all parameters, effects, deformations and anything else that
occurs to either create a model or animation. The advantage of this feature
is, 1) unlimited undo and 2) you can change any option at any time in the
future, unlimited tweeking while all the time giving you the capability to get
back to you original model. WOW.
Also in 3DS MAX you can model and work in a fully shaded environment with
incredible speed.
Also in 3DS MAX you can bring in a sound track (Yes thats right SOUND track)
so you can key your animation right to the audio track, which shows the beat
and timing of the audio file- INCREDIBLE.
Also, 3DS MAX includes and integrated plug-in call Bi-Ped which allows the
user to easily create realistic walk cycles, dance moves and generally allow
the use to define real world parameters to figures.
Also…. well I could go on and on, but you all will have to find out
something for yourself.
Hope this gives a little insight as to what is comming.
Zac (AZ-TECH)
Berkeley
-Zac Rymland (AZ-TECH)
Zac,
The last I heard, BiPed was going to be a separate product .. are you sure that
it will be included?
Ang, President, Dynamic Technologies, Inc.
An Autodesk Systems Center for Multimedia in MD
Anglelo;
From the demo given at the Autodesk booth, it seemed to me that it will
definitely be included as part of the base package. There is a file called
3DSMAX.zip here on the forum which was DL from ADESK, which makes it seem that
it will be included as well, but you know how things go, anything can change
until it is released.
Zac (AZ-TECH)
Berkeley
-Zac Rymland (AZ-TECH)
Zac;
>> From the demo given at the Autodesk booth, it seemed to me that it will
>> definitely be included as part of the base package.
My understanding at the show was that the Biped was a separate optional module.
If prices were mentioned, I missed them for both MAX, and biped. We will have
to wait and see.
I'm sure once the Yost Group can recover from the show, this will be cleared up
very quickly.
Take care,
Dennis
Yes I also believe BiPed's going to be sold seperate from MAX. It is supposed
to be the first core-component plug-in for MAX. At least thats the impression
I got from the files in the library. But it sure would be awesome if they did
include it as part of MAX! That would be the nail in the coffin for LightWave.
MAX RULES!
Jason
Have they put a price yet on the Biped plugin yet?
Peter W.
No I haven't heard of any prices being released yet. I hope it not $500 I
don't like how many have been headed in that price direction.
>No I haven't heard of any prices being released yet. I hope it not $500 I
don't like how many have been headed in that price direction.<
From the Biped file in the lib when they say it is professional high-end
character animation it doesn't sound like it is for the average user. To me
that sounds expensive to what people have been paying for IPAS's. I expect it
to be at least $500 and I wouldn't be suprised if it was $1000-1500, and
probably well worth it.
Biped will be a separate product published by Autodesk. To be honest, we
haven't decided on a price yet. And yes, it is VERY COOL!
Jh
Don't count lightwave out yet. Lightwave has most of the plug-ins that 3DS is
now including with MAX plus the XOAS tools and Elastic Reality's (hIIP) plug-in
that with be bundled the full version of it's product.
As much as I love 3D Studio I will still have to switch to Lightwave. Also I
can even to imagine the prices for the MAX plug-in that are comming soon.
>Don't count lightwave out yet. Lightwave has most of the plug-ins that 3DS is
now including with MAX plus the XOAS tools and Elastic Reality's (hIIP) plug-in
that with be bundled the full version of it's product.<
Lightwave is far behind. And they only have two people working on it. Newtek is
not that healthy at the moment either. I learned 3D on my Amiga 1000 with
Silver/Sculpt and had the Toaster/Lightwave since version 0.9, but I moved to
3DS for so many reasons I can't dare to
list. The main was the price of Amiga hardware or PC hardware. Now that LW is
on NT there will be more competition for 3DS MAX and LW with so many 3D
programs going to NT. I've seen FormZ and several others coming. The only
packages not on NT are Wavefront/Alias and Electric Image, but we don't need
them.
>Also I can even to imagine the prices for the MAX plug-in that are >comming
soon.
At this point I'm a little frightened by the 3DS MAX press releases avoidance
of price info, other than upgrades, that doesn't look good for some users. I
expect that the price may go up by another $1K. The biped addon sounds
expensive.
With Speed Razor and World Creator both listing at $1500 the market seems to be
going upscale. It won't be as bad as some unix workstation software, but most
people won't be happy, they were complaining before the announcment.
Tim,
PMJI, but I think that you made a really important observation here….
>> Now that LW is on NT there will be more competition for 3DS MAX and LW with
so many 3D programs going to NT. <<
… because the increased acceptance of NT will indeed bring a "new-crop" of
talented programmers into the NT environment. The reason I think that this
will be so significant is that these programmers will be looking for
opportunities to recoup development costs by spreading their work to multiple
platforms. MAX's _amazingly_ open architecture and Autodesk's commitment to
providing the development tools to "port" a developers wares to MAX will ensure
a VAST array of important 3rd-party developer support.
2 cents please,
Chuck Mies
Computer Services
>>Don't count lightwave out yet. Lightwave has most of the plug-ins that 3DS
is now including with MAX plus the XOAS tools and Elastic Reality's (hIIP)
plug-in that with be bundled the full version of it's product.
Sorry, but that's like saying a Yugo has all the features of a Ferrari <bg>.
There's really no comparison.
– Phil
No what I am saying is that only a couple of us can afford a BMW but most do
just fine with an accord. Lets just hope the the IPAS pricing doesn't get
carried away.
Will
>>Lets just hope the the IPAS pricing doesn't get carried away.
Actually I don't think there's that much risk of that happening. MAX is
allowing Plug-Ins to register themselves against its hardware lock and is
providing methods for them to run in reduced modes (to what ever extent the
developer wishes) if not authorized. Because this will reduce piracy (innocent
or otherwise) significantly, developers should not have to charge more than
they do now to remain profitable. It also ensures your investment in great 3rd
party tools (as a user) is not undermined by those with unauthorized versions.
It's going to be a development wonderland – that's why I'm excited about
heading it up <g>!
– Phil