Archive notice: This article was originally published on March 24, 2009. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Autodesk launched 3ds Max 2010 with nearly 350 additional features for 3D modeling, animation, and rendering.
The release added a render-quality viewport, more than 100 Graphite modeling tools, scene-management functions, and expanded software interoperability and pipeline integration.
“3ds Max 2010 is a feature-rich release,” said Autodesk Media & Entertainment Senior Vice President Marc Petit. He said it would help artists work faster, explore more ideas, and produce work in less time.
Volition Senior Technical Artist Jeff Hanna highlighted xView mesh analysis for identifying missing UVW coordinates, overlapping vertices, open edges, and other invalid game geometry.
Creative Tools
Graphite provided at least 100 modeling and texturing tools. Viewport effects included soft shadows, exposure control, and ambient occlusion for near-photorealistic feedback.
Scene Management
Containers allowed multiple objects and scenes to be treated as one referenced unit. A Material Explorer simplified object and material work, while multithreaded xView analysis displayed mesh issues directly in the viewport.
Interoperability and Pipeline Integration
3ds Max 2010 included mental images’ mental mill technology for creating, testing, and maintaining hardware-independent shaders with real-time feedback. Improved OBJ and ProOptimizer support strengthened Mudbox interoperability.
C# and .NET support allowed developers to customize and integrate 3ds Max into pipelines. The release also included the 3ds Max 2009 Creativity Extension.
Price and Availability
The English version was expected in spring 2009 at a recommended price of €3,900.
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