MD Communications

By Mike de la Flor

3ds max 2009 features improvements in animation, modeling and lighting. However, no new major tools or features are introduced in this version. It wasn’t long ago that every release from Autodesk featured breakthroughs like subdivision surfaces, cloth and fluid simulations, and global illumination.Instead users will have to settle for minor improvements and bug fixes.

Animation
Autodesk continues to improve character animation in 3ds max with modest Biped enhancements. Biped was designed to animate characters with two legs, so animating most animals was a challenge. However, the new Forefeet option modifies the behavior of the hands so that they can behave like paws. Also improved are character pivot options which permit more complex character motions. Even with these improvements 3ds max lags behind Maya and XSI in character animation. And unfortunately, there are no plans to incorporate the revolutionary Nucleus nCloth solvers found in Maya into 3ds max.

Modeling
Though 3ds max is an excellent modeler, its core modeling tools have not changed in the last couple of releases, thus slowly creating a modeling gap. Programs like modo feature innovative subdivision surfaces and edge modeling workflows not found in 3ds max. As a result Autodesk users are opting to do their modeling elsewhere.

Though 3ds max has no digital sculpting tools, Autodesk’s acquisition of Mudbox points to a bright future for 3ds max users. However, at this time Mudbox has to be purchased separately, but the hope is that Mudbox’s tools will eventually be incorporated into 3ds max.

UV mapping in 3ds max is not easy, but is getting better with minor improvements to the Relax and Pelt Mapping workflows. The new UV Spline Mapping option to Unwrap UVW modifier purportedly makes it easier to UV map tubular objects, but in reality it adds another level of complexity to what should really be a simple UV mapping task.

Materials, Lighting and Rendering
The most significant improvements in 3ds max 2009 are in materials, lighting, and rendering. A personal favorite is the revised Composite Layers interface in the Material Editor featuring Photoshop-like, stackable, layers with blending modes, opacity, alpha masks, and color correction making it simple to quickly build complex shaders. The new mental ray ProMaterials are a series of ready-made but editable materials for common architectural surfaces like glass, concrete, paint and so on, and the new mental ray Production Shaders facilitate complex environmental lighting.

The Standard lights have been replaced with new Photometric lights that simulate the properties of incandescent, halogen or fluorescent lights of varying wattages. So now accurately lighting a room, street, or any place with the tell-tale characteristics of specific lighting is simple. Autodesk has made a good call in creating dedicated lights for indoor lighting as outdoor lighting simulations have for sometime been accomplished with sun and sky lights, and HDR maps. The Skylight systems in 3ds max 2009 debuts two new models, Perez All Weather and CIE. With the Perez Weather model is it possible to import actual weather data to recreate accurate outdoor lighting simulations.

The new Reveal rendering system, with its Iterative workflow, dramatically speeds up rendering, especially when experimenting with scene properties. For example, once a render has been produced, with Iterative rendering specific areas of the render may be selected and re-rendered. Or with the Subset Pixels option checked, selected scene objects may be quickly re-rendered. This saves the entire scene from having to be re-rendered to preview changes.

The mandatory mental ray 3.6 enhancements in 3ds max 2009 are once again geared towards improved performance and control. For instance, by caching object data mental ray Proxies make it possible to quickly populate a scene with instances of a still or animated object. mental ray also delivers new options for better control over Final Gather settings and maps and an improved BSP2 simplifies rendering acceleration.

User Interface
Rounding out the new features 3ds max 2009 is the introduction of Autodesk’s new ViewCube and SteeringWheel standards for viewport and camera navigation. The ViewCube and Compass facilitates orbiting around a scene, for instance, when modeling. On the other hand the SteeringWheel has all of the tools necessary for moving the camera in scene or creating walkthroughs.

Summary
Though 3ds max 2009 was a quick release it delivers much needed fixes and improvements. 3ds max 2009 is worth the upgrade price.

Price: 3ds max $3495, upgrades start at about $795

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Manufacturer: Autodesk, www.autodesk.com

• Improved Biped
• New viewport navigation
• Cool photometric lights
• Reveal rendering
• Upadate to mental ray 3.6

Cons

• Modelling tools need to be updated
• No Nucleus technology like in Maya

System Requirement Software
The 32-bit version of Autodesk 3ds max 2009 software is supported on any of the following operating systems:

• Microsoft Windows Vista Business


• Microsoft Windows XP Professional

• Microsoft WindowsVista Business


• Microsoft Windows XP x64 Edition


• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 or higher


• DirectX 9.0c* (required)

• Windows: Intel Pentium 4 or higher, AMD Athlon® processors


• 512 MB RAM (1 GB recommended)
• 500 MB swap space (2 GB recommended)


• 2 GB free hard drive space


• Hardware-accelerated OpenGL and Direct3D supported


• Three-button mouse with mouse driver software


• DVD-ROM drive