Autodesk announced the release of Autodesk 3ds Max 2012, the latest version of the company's 3D modeling, animation, rendering and compositing application. Mapping to the Excalibur (XBR) initiative - a phased plan for the restructuring of 3ds Max - the new version provides fundamental improvements in workflow, user interface and performance that will give artists enhanced creative capabilities and help them to be more productive.
Achieving a key goal of the XBR initiative, 3ds Max 2012 introduces a rewritten, multi-threaded graphics core that provides significant improvements to viewport performance and quality. In addition, new creative toolsets and enhanced iterative workflows help increase overall productivity. The 2012 version also features single-step interoperability with products contained in Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite Premium 2012, offering artists easier access to specialized tools for the task at hand.
"Artists are facing shorter deadlines coupled with increasing expectations for quality," said Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment. "3ds Max 2012 delivers powerful tools that take advantage of recent hardware advances, along with better interoperability with the other products included in our Entertainment Creation Suites. Together these enhancements help artists to make creative decisions early, validate them and deliver better results faster."
"The first time I loaded a scene in 3ds Max 2012 I could see the soft lighting and shadows right in the viewport. This had the biggest impact on me. I suddenly felt more productive; like the barriers to my creativity were falling away," said Stephen Lebed, 3ds Max beta tester and visual effects supervisor at MECHnology.
Nitrous Accelerated Graphics Core - Accelerated by modern GPUs and multicore workstations, Nitrous enables artists to iterate faster and handle larger data sets with limited impact on interactivity. Advanced scene management techniques, along with multithreaded viewport scene traversal and material evaluation, result in a smoother, more responsive workflow.
Substance Smart Textures - Artists can achieve a vast range of look variations with a new library of 80 Substance smart textures and filters - tiny, multi-output, customizable and resolution-independent textures
mRigids Rigid-Body Dynamics - mRigids is the first module released in the new MassFX unified system of simulation solvers. Artists can use the multithreaded NVIDIA PhysX engine to create more compelling, dynamic rigid-body simulations directly in the 3ds Max viewport.
iray Renderer - Using the newly integrated, NVIDIA GPU accelerated, iray rendering technology from mental images, artists can set up their scene, press "render" and get more predictable, photoreal results without worrying about rendering settings - similar to a "point-and-shoot" camera.
Enhanced UVW Unwrapping - Artists can create better UVW maps in less time, with a new Least Squares Conformal Mapping (LSCM) method, enhancements to existing tools, and more streamlined workflows
Sculpting and Painting Enhancements - Artists can enjoy greater control over brushstrokes and their effects on geometry, thanks to new sculpting and painting workflows