3ds Max 2017

REVIEW: The latest release from Autodesk enhances a lot of existing features, but is this enough to make 3ds Max 2017 worthwhile?

Our Verdict

While not particularly groundbreaking, 3ds Max 2017 is a solid release that will at least make the day-to-day life of developers a little easier.

For

  • Text tool enhanced
  • Enhanced UV mapping
  • Enhanced Object tool
  • New boolean system
  • Scene converter

Against

  • Lack of new features

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Every year when Autodesk releases its latest version, it faces a barrage of critical feedback. This has been the case for a number of years, including 3ds Max 2014, mainly due to the lack of useful features and an apparent refusal to implement some of the most requested features over at Autodesk Uservoice.

I’ll stay out of that conversation and focus on reviewing the new features. According to Autodesk’s website there are 23 new features – though a quarter of these are enhanced versions of existing tools. The documentation on these tools points towards the fact that the majority of new tools are there to make an artist’s life easier. That’s great, but the lack of new, groundbreaking features is a little disappointing. In every release, artists want to see a healthy mix of improvements to the existing offering and the addition of new features which are going to push the software forward. I think Autodesk lacks the balance in this release.

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The Verdict
6

out of 10

3ds Max 2017

While not particularly groundbreaking, 3ds Max 2017 is a solid release that will at least make the day-to-day life of developers a little easier.

Paul Hatton
Writer

Paul is a digital expert. In the 20 years since he graduated with a first-class honours degree in Computer Science, Paul has been actively involved in a variety of different tech and creative industries that make him the go-to guy for reviews, opinion pieces, and featured articles. With a particular love of all things visual, including photography, videography, and 3D visualisation Paul is never far from a camera or other piece of tech that gets his creative juices going. You'll also find his writing in other places, including Creative Bloq, Digital Camera World, and 3D World Magazine.