Is the latest 3Ds Max worth it?

[Anonymous]

I am still using 3Ds Max 2011, with V-Ray 1.5. They work together as a charm, and i am quite used to them by now. Is it worth making a leap to 3Ds Max 2017? I use 3Ds Max solely because i like it (i am not a professional 3D artist or something)

Does upgrading my 3Ds Max to the latest version make modeling easier in tricky situations, or makes lighting more realistic?

Thank You! 

[Out-Of-Light · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Well I can answer that question in two ways. Worth it for performance, and second worth it for value.

Anything over Max 2015 onward will be a significant improvement in performance compared Max 2011.

I still have Max 2013 installed, and when working on very high detailed meshes there are often slight delays or lag, when making changes like adding turbosmooth, or making adjustment in sub object mode etc, but the same changes in max 2017 are instant, and you can throw very high detail meshes around the viewport with ease. There are also a number of workflow improvements and tools that have been added since Max 2011.

There are also major improvements to Iray, and the new Art renderer, which both give very fast realistic results depending on your hardware specifications, plus improvements and more options for lighting and camera's. 

But as for value, that's a little more complicated due to the changes Autodesk have made in recent years on how you can purchase 3ds Max.

As you are a hobbyist, I am guessing you do not currently earn an income from your CG work?  Or do you plan to?

You can no longer purchase perpetual licences from Autodesk, start a new maintenance subscription, or upgrade from an old version. Its desktop subscription only now, which is basically renting per month or per year.

As you have not continued with a maintenance subscription, your only choice now is to rent, so you have to consider whether or not its worth paying £204 a month, or ££1,644 a year to be able to use Max 2017 onward. Autodesk are doing a promotion where you can trade in your serial number and get 50% off a 3 year rental licence, but I don't know how far back this offer extends as far as the version of Max you can trade in.

The other thing you have to remember is that once that 3 years is up, you will be paying £1,644+ a year for minor performance improvements, service packs and hot fixes. So for hobbyists, freelancers, and small studio's, it may seem like you are not getting a great deal, and not getting £1,644 worth of improvements each year.

Autodesk already pushed up maintenance subscription prices 30% over last year, so the small improvements to Max each year we are seeing don't justify the price hike IMO. With Autodesk laying off development teams, passing on those applications to remaining teams, which ends up with very little to no development, and slowing showing their resellers the door, by streamlining operations to online rental only, those savings should be being passed down to the customer, but instead we are seeing huge price hikes. if they expect maintenance subscription members to pay twice the price for rental in a few years , when MS members are already unhappy with current prices, they will end up seeing a mass migration from freelances and small studios to another brands instead.

I started a forum post a while back regarding Autodesk's recent changes, basically giving everyone only one choice, that only suits the big studios, not hobbyists, small studios and freelancers like myself. I don't think it went down too well with Autodesk, but I have received a lot of feedback from them. Whether or not those concerns will lead to any changes in the future, who knows, but I wont be holding my breath.

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/3ds-max-forum/crazy-subscription-charges/m-p/6610165#M123931

If you are wanting to make CG work a primary income in the future, Autodesk are asking a lot for start-ups and hobbyists to bite off of their monthly income per licence.

Myself and I am sure quite a few others would love Autodesk to bring back perpetual licences, and upgrade packages, and stop these ridiculous price hikes in maintenance subscription, but its doubtful it will happen. But if Autodesk only cater for the large studios in the future with rental only plans, future start-ups and freelancers will choose the more affordable software suits from other bands, and base their future pipelines on non Autodesk products. 

If you definitely feel you can make a minimum of £204+ a month out of your CG work, then go for it, but purely as a hobby, its going to end up an expensive one. Obviously if you want to have the latest hardware and get the benefits out of it, you will eventually have to upgrade your software, but as you can no longer save up and buy a permanent perpetual licence from Autodesk, you may be better off saving up and migrating to something like Cinema 4D. I know Autodesk will frown upon me for that suggestion, but if they remove choice for their customers, the only other option is to look elsewhere...

[lightcube]

What you don't know won't hurt you, right? I think you are happy in 2011 because you haven't used 2016+ 🙂

I develop a lot of tools for artists and whenever someone comes to me with a problem with some function and they explain that they are using anything older than Max 2014, I generally explain that the best is to use a later version of Max. Why? Viewport speed and reliability. The days of psychotically hitting CTR+S every 20 seconds was cured probably in Max 2014 and has gotten better since then. Although I'm not 100% keen on AD's policy of only letting you use 3 versions back when on subscription... one benefit is that I can legitimately tell my customers that I cannot support older versions of Max simply because I cannot open the old versions anymore; that one thing is fine by me since going back to older versions almost feels like purposefully tying your legs together and wearing wet jeans that are 4 sizes too small when going out for a walk. It ain't pretty.

But that's just my opinion.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the detailed reply!

Wow, never knew 3Ds Max became that expensive with a monthly/yearly subscription too...I guess with £204 a month i could do a lot of better stuff that includes the outdoors, sun, and grass, rather than spending it on a computer hobby (even though i really really like 3Ds Max and 3D in general, i would never spend that much every month)

What is the latest version that does not require a monthly/subscription? a version that is a stand-alone one time purchase like 3Ds Max 2011?

[lightcube]

Unfortunately for customers who want the option of buying/upgrading, AD has taken away that privilege. To my knowledge, you can not buy any version of Max at all anymore. The only way you could do that at this point would have been to upgrade before the new rental policy. I'm a hardcore advocate of Max and generally love AD technology... but this is a policy that I feel is very hurtful for the industry and the customers.

That being said, if you are doing this as a hobby, you may be eligible for an educational license. I'm not sure what your circumstances are and if you are eligible, but it's worth looking into.