3ds Max 2018 sneak peaks?

[KristofferHelander]

3ds max 2018 is scheduled for release by April 12. 

"With the release of Autodesk® 3ds Max 2018® software scheduled on April 12, 2017..."

Source: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/troubleshooting/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Change...

But where are the sneak peak videos or articles about the upcoming features that usually are posted in advance to showcase the new version?

[theo]

Yes, I've downloaded 2018 but not installed as yet.

[Isaac_Zuniga]

Care to share a link to where it's available? I'm looking on the website and so far, nothing looks different, still the same.

[theo]

You download it from your account - it should be sitting there.

[Isaac_Zuniga]

That's strange, I went there and I didn't see anything new...

Ah well, I'll just wait until the morning; surely it'll be available for more people then.

[theo]

Autodesk is being very quiet! Very strange - perhaps these are the possible reasons:

A. They have been working so hard that there is no time for announcements and they are now just catching up on sleep.

B. There is just nothing in it to say anything.

C. They just want us to find out for ourself - just like an easter egg hunt for kiddies.

[Isaac_Zuniga]

I sure hope that this is not 3ds Max 2018...

Of course, it's late at night and I did not bother to check if that's just a jape someone pulled off...

[jacob]

Sorry Issac. 100% Jape free.

update email, download and install and that's it.....

[Isaac_Zuniga]

Doesn't look bad to me, it looks and sounds like what I've been hearing for the past 3-4 weeks.

I'll check it out tomorrow, probably tomorrow evening when access to it is more available.

[DarrenP]

Here is whats new in 3ds Max 2018
http://help.autodesk.com/view/3DSMAX/2018/ENU/?guid=GUID-F687E23D-6FBA-4C8A-9202-C30F2860E5BE

also read this: https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/3ds-max/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/Changes-...

[Isaac_Zuniga]

None of that really matters to me at the moment because I'm still unable to download the program.

Are they going to be offering a student version of the software?

[dgorsman]

@Isaac_Zuniga - it can take a bit for the rights to propagate to the different accounts.  Commercial accounts are normally higher priority than student ones so if you have an EDU or institutional license it may take a little longer.

[JoyVoltenburg]

No free iray engine. No mental ray.  Ok, so we use ART instead (because the Arnold rendering engine doesn't support the Autodesk materials). Which means all of my customer's templates using the free iray renderer and iray materials are incompatible in this version. Which means I need to tell them how to "fix" their existing templates if they ever want to upgrade to the latest version of 3dsmax.

I've been trying to just figure out how to get an environment map for reflections only, and I cannot find any map (using ART renderer) that will allow that to happen. This is a BFD for a lot of my customers.  Mental ray and iray both had options to use lighting and reflections generated by an HDRI map while having a completely different map or just a plain white color in the background. I cannot figure out how to replicate that scenario in ART.  There are no environment maps that will allow that to happen, that I can see. No environment/background camera map. Nothing that looks like that. Again, it's a big deal for a lot of my manufacturing customers creating product shots.  They want the easy button and the template they'd been using with iray for the last few years worked like a charm for them.

[Francisco_Penaloza]

From my understanding, you still can use Mental Ray-Iray in 3D Max for free, but you'll need to wait until NVidia release the product, it will be free for 'basic' workflow, if you need animations and render farm capabilities you'll need to pay for a different license.

Please take a look here, at least is something.

http://images.nvidia.com/content/technologies/advanced-rendering/pdf/354915-MentalRay-FAQ-Sheet-FNL-...

Regarding Art Render, yes it is a new render engine and as such it is limited on functions. Having said that you could always go back to the good 'ole tricks before all the fancy Mental Ray shaders. in your specific question, you can create a sphere around your main model and make it hidden to camera but visible to reflections, then apply a self illuminated properties and leave your scene background to any color you need.

[mike]

Found several Arnold bugs already.

If you go to the Whats New button on the splash screen it takes you to a broken Beta site.

[mike]

Assign Arnold as your renderer. Create an Arnold light. Under Arnold Environment/Scene Atmosphere, click on the no Mat and choose Standard Volume. Render. Ka BOOM!

[spacefrog_]

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@mike wrote:

Assign Arnold as your renderer. Create an Arnold light. Under Arnold Environment/Scene Atmosphere, click on the no Mat and choose Standard Volume. Render. Ka BOOM!

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You should report those errors using the defect form

Listing them here on the forum will have not much effect regarding future fixes ...

[mike]

Yes. Most certainly I use the form. Such a simple bug to replicate, I wonder if others can. You seldom hear back from Adesk after submitting. As a former Alpha and Beta tester for Max, I also understand the frustration of "How did we miss that"?