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Autodesk announces 3ds Max 2013

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So heres an update on some more cool stuff in the the new Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite 2013, listing all the new features found in 3ds Max/3ds Max Design, which are two seperate but similar programs, one being used by game developers and animators and such, the other (Design), is favored by and tailored to the needs of architectual designers.

In the past software developers took several years to come up with a new and improved version of their program. Today, its all developing at such a rate, shipping dates have been cut back to 18 months or less. Adobe, who has just introduced the new Photoshop CS6, which will soon be part of their new CS6 Suite, have declared they will now bring a new version of their Suites every other year, the odd years using to release a .5 version, featuring a lot of improvements, tweaks and some cool new stuff. Autodesk however, brings a range of new suites covering the complete scale of all their major products every twelve months.

Okay, so theres so much stuff, you might want to check out some vids below. The Playlist contains 14 clips, most of them are about 2 to 3 minutes or less.



So there are a lot of new feats found in 3ds Max/3ds Max Design, and maybe also some stuff you already knew about. A complete list of all things new can be found after the jump.


Adobe After Effects Interoperability
If you use Adobe After Effects software, you’ll find a level of interoperability in Autodesk 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design 2013 that sets a higher standard for 2D/3D data exchange. The new Media Sync functionality provides two-way transfer of cameras, lights, null objects, plane objects/solids, footage, footage layering, blend modes, opacity, and effects; with it, you can iterate more effectively and reduce rework to complete projects in less time.



Render Pass System and Photoshop Interoperability
Scenes can now be more easily segmented for downstream compositing. Thanks to an entirely new render pass system in Autodesk 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design, you can now create render elements for Autodesk Smoke 2013 software, Adobe After Effects, Adobe Photoshop software, or certain other image compositing applications more efficiently. A state recorder enables you to capture, edit, and save the current state, while a visual interface shows how compositing and render elements are wired together to create the final result. You can quickly set up and execute multiple render passes from a single file; individual passes can be modified without the need to re-render the whole scene, enhancing productivity.



ActiveShade Interactive iray Rendering
Experience an interactive creative process for finalizing renderings, with new ActiveShade support for the NVIDIA iray renderer. ActiveShade enables you to iterate more effectively by providing an interactive rendering session that constantly updates as changes are made to cameras, lighting, materials, and geometry. By shortening the feedback loop, you can more efficiently fine-tune your scene, making it faster and easier to achieve your intended look.

Perform simple compositing operations directly within Autodesk 3ds Max or 3ds Max Design 2013 with the new Slate Compositing Editor. The schematic node-based interface enables you to easily wire together rendered layers and passes and combine them with compositing nodes (like blends and color corrections); the resulting composite can then be sent to Adobe After Effects or Adobe Photoshop for further refinement.



Nitrous Viewport Performance and Quality
The Nitrous accelerated graphics core has received a number of enhancements in Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 and 3ds Max Design 2013. You’ll find increased interactivity on large scenes, together with new support for image-based lighting, depth of field, and accelerated particle flow display. In addition, improved support for shadows in large scenes and improved workflows for interior scenes all extend the Nitrous functionality.

Enhanced Interoperability with AutoCAD and Revit
Facilities working with both Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2013 and Autodesk Revit Architecture 2013 software can now take advantage of more efficient data exchange. Revit files (.RVT) can now be directly imported into 3ds Max Design 2013, enabling you to select a data view of choice to load from within the Revit file. New support has also been added for lights, daylight system, and exposure control in the importer for AutoCAD 2013 files.

DirectConnect Support
New support for the Autodesk DirectConnect family of translators enables you to exchange industrial design data with engineers using leading CAD software: AutoCAD, Autodesk Inventor software, Autodesk Alias software, Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks and Catia system, PTC Pro/ENGINEER, Siemens PLM Software NX, JT™, and certain other applications.
A wide range of file formats is supported; for certain of these you must have the CAD product also installed for it to work. The data is imported as native solids Body objects that can be interactively retesselated as needed. Users of 3ds Max Design 2013 can refine the data until they get the precision they need in their renderings.

MassFX Enhancements
Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 and 3ds Max Design 2013 provide a more integrated and accurate dynamic toolset, with a wide range of enhancements and additions to the MassFX unified system of simulation solvers. Highlights include a new mCloth module that features tearable fabric and support for dynamic ragdoll hierarchies. In addition, improved constraints, better handling of pivot points, and enhanced UI readability help improve overall workflow.


Tabbed Layouts
With Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 and 3ds Max Design 2013 you can easily create and switch between a number of viewport layout configurations, giving you efficient access to the views required for a particular task. Layouts can include both 3D and extended viewports. Selecting a different layout is as simple as clicking on its icon, or pressing a hotkey. You can share customized View Tabs with other artists and designers by saving and loading presets.

Customizable Workspaces
You can now adapt 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design to your personal way of working by selecting from a choice of default or custom workspaces. Each workspace can have individual settings for menus, toolbars, ribbon, and viewport tab presets; in addition, selecting a new workspace can automatically execute a MAXScript. This enables you to more easily configure the workspace to suit your preferences or to fit the task at hand; as an example, you might configure one workspace for modeling, and a different one for animating.

Track View Retiming
With Autodesk 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design 2013 you can now retime portions of animations to increase or decrease their speed. The retiming is achieved by changing the tangency of the existing animation curve; there is no requirement to have keyframes present in the portion to be retimed, and no extra keyframes are created in the resulting high-quality curve.