Archive notice: This article was originally published on April 18, 2017. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
First and foremost, of course, is the change of render engine: Mental Ray integration is being replaced by Arnold 5 (We already reported on this here.) With Arnold, projects can be rendered through the 3ds Max viewport on a single workstation. Output generated in another way, for example via command line or network rendering, carries a watermark. An additional commercial license is required for normal rendering in this way.
Nvidia will, however, continue to offer Mental Ray for 3ds Max as a third-party plug-in, including a free license with restrictions similar to the free Arnold version now integrated into 3ds Max.
New Max 2018 Features
3ds Max 2018 can now create volumetric effects with OpenVDB support; according to Autodesk, atmospheric effects are now also part of the feature set. Procedural objects as proxies allow scene exchange with other Arnold plug-ins. A large selection of integrated Arnold shaders and materials is available, and third-party shaders compiled for Windows and Arnold 5 are supported.
The image-based lighting workflow has been simplified and includes separate background and environment options. Support for AOVs for compositing and postprocessing is now also available. Further new functions include depth of field, motion blur and camera shutter effects, as well as a VR camera.
Autodesk has also updated the node-based programming environment Max Creation Graph, which has been included in the software since Max 2016. Seventy-eight new operators have been added, though most changes are workflow-based: such as the ability to import graphs by dragging .mcg files into the viewport. Users can edit motion paths directly in the viewport using Bezier-style controls.
An overview of the features of the 2018 version is available here on the Autodesk website.
Availability & Price
Version 2018 is already available to 3ds Max subscribers. 3ds Max costs 200 euros per month; the annual subscription is available for 1,600 euros. The Autodesk software is compatible with Windows 64-bit. A free 30-day trial version is also available.
