Autodesk 3ds Max: Профессиональная 3D-графика

3D computer graphics program

Autodesk 3ds Max, formerly 3D Studio and 3D Studio Max, is a professional 3D computer graphics program for making 3D animations, models, games and images. It is developed and produced by Autodesk Media and Entertainment. It has modeling capabilities and a flexible plugin architecture and must be used on the Microsoft Windows platform. It is frequently used by video game developers, many TV commercial studios, and architectural visualization studios. It is also used for movie effects and movie pre visualization. 3ds Max features shaders (such as ambient occlusion and subsurface scattering), dynamic simulation, particle systems, radiosity, normal map creation and rendering, global illumination, a customizable user interface, and its own scripting language.

The original 3D Studio product was created for the DOS platform by the Yost Group, and published by Autodesk. The release of 3D Studio made Autodesk's previous 3D rendering package AutoShade obsolete. After 3D Studio DOS Release 4, the product was rewritten for the Windows NT platform, and renamed "3D Studio MAX". This version was also originally created by the Yost Group. It was released by Kinetix, which was at that time Autodesk's division of media and entertainment. Autodesk purchased the product at the second release update of the 3D Studio MAX version and internalized development entirely over the next two releases. Later, the product name was changed to "3ds max" (all lower case) to better comply with the naming conventions of Discreet, a Montreal based software company which Autodesk had purchased. When it was re released (release 7), the product was again branded with the Autodesk logo, and the short name was again changed to "3ds Max" (upper and lower case), while the formal product name became the current "Autodesk 3ds Max".

Version Codename Year Operating system Hardware platform 3D Studio Prototype THUD 1988MS DOS 16 bit x86 originally32 bit x86 using DOS extender 3D Studio Release 1.0 THUD 1990 3D Studio Release 2.0 1992 3D Studio Release 3.0 1993 3D Studio Release 4.0 1994 3D Studio MAX 1.0 Jaguar 1996Windows NT 3.51, Windows NT 4.0IA 32 3D Studio MAX R2 Athena 1997 Discreet 3dsmax 5 Luna 2002 Windows 98, Windows 2000 and Windows XP Discreet 3dsmax 6 Granite 2003 Windows 2000 and Windows XP Discreet 3dsmax 7 Catalyst 2004 Autodesk 3ds Max 8 Vesper 2005 Autodesk 3ds Max 9 Makalu 2006IA 32 and x64 Autodesk 3ds Max 2008 Gouda 2007Windows XP and Windows Vista Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 Johnson 2008 Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 Renoir 2009 Autodesk 3ds Max 2011 Zelda 2010Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Excalibur / Rampage 2011 Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 SimCity 2012Windows XP and Windows 7 Autodesk 3ds Max 2014 Tekken 2013Windows 7x64 Autodesk 3ds Max 2015 Elwood 2014Windows 7 and Windows 8 Autodesk 3ds Max 2016 Phoenix 2015Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows 8.1 Autodesk 3ds Max 2017 Kirin 2016Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 Autodesk 3ds Max 2018 Imoogi 2017Autodesk 3ds Max 2019Neptune2018 Autodesk 3ds Max 2020Athena2019 Autodesk 3ds Max 2021Theseus2020Windows 10 and Windows 11Autodesk 3ds Max 2022Heimdall2021Autodesk 3ds Max 2023Vesta2022Autodesk 3ds Max 2024Olympus2023Autodesk 3ds Max 2025Midgard2024

Introduced with Max 2016, Max Creation Graph (MCG) enables users to create modifiers, geometry, and utility plug ins using a visual node based workflow. With MCG the user can create a new plug in for 3ds Max in minutes by simply wiring together parameter nodes, computation nodes, and output nodes. The resulting graph can then be saved in an XML file (. maxtool) or be packaged with any compounds (. maxcompound) it depends on in a ZIP file (. mcg) which can be shared easily with 3ds Max users.

Many films have made use of 3ds Max, or previous versions of the program under previous names, in CGI animation, such as Avatar and 2012, which contain computer generated graphics from 3ds Max alongside live action acting. Mudbox was also used in the final texturing of the set and characters in Avatar, with 3ds Max and Mudbox being closely related. 3ds Max has been used in the development of 3D computer graphics for a number of video games. NURBS curves and surfaces have the important properties of not changing under the standard geometric affine transformations (Transforms), or under perspective projections. The CVs have local control of the object: moving a CV or changing its weight does not affect any part of the object beyond the neighboring CVs. (This property can be overridden by using the Soft Selection controls). Also, the control lattice that connects CVs surrounds the surface. This is known as the convex hull property.

Surface tool was originally a 3rd party plugin, but Kinetix acquired and included this feature since version 3.0. The surface tool is for creating common 3ds Max splines, and then applying a modifier called "surface." This modifier makes a surface from every three or four vertices in a grid. It is often seen as an alternative to "mesh" or "nurbs" modeling, as it enables a user to interpolate curved sections with straight geometry (for example a hole through a box shape). Although the surface tool is a useful way to generate parametrically accurate geometry, it lacks the "surface properties" found in the similar Edit Patch modifier, which enables a user to maintain the original parametric geometry whilst being able to adjust "smoothing groups" between faces.

This is a basic method, in which one models something using only boxes, spheres, cones, cylinders and other predefined objects from the list of Predefined Standard Primitives or a list of Predefined Extended Primitives. One may also apply Boolean operations, including subtract, cut and connect. For example, one can make two spheres which will work as blobs that will connect with each other. These are called metaballs.

Box: Produces a rectangular prism. An alternative variation of box called Cub proportionally constrains the length, width, and height of the box. Cylinder: Produces a cylinder. Torus: Produces a torus – or a ring – with a circular cross section, sometimes referred to as a doughnut. Teapot: Produces a Utah teapot. Since the teapot is a parametric object, the user can choose which parts of the teapot to display after creation. These parts include the body, handle, spout and lid. Primarily used to test shaders (rendering settings). Cone: Produces upright or inverted cones. Sphere: Produces a full sphere, semi sphere, or other portion of a sphere. Tube: Produces round or prismatic tubes. The tube is similar to the cylinder with a hole in it. Pyramid: Produces a pyramid with a square or rectangular base and triangular sides. Plane: Produces a special type of flat polygon mesh that can be enlarged by any amount at render time. The user can specify factors to magnify the size or number of segments or both. Modifiers such as displace can be added to a plane to simulate a hilly terrain. Geosphere: Produces spheres and hemispheres based on three classes of regular polyhedrons.

Hedra: Produces objects from several families of polyhedra. ChamferBox: Produces a box with beveled or rounded edges. OilTank: Creates a cylinder with convex caps. Spindle: Creates a cylinder with conical caps. Gengon: Creates an extruded, regular sided polygon with optionally filleted side edges. Prism: Creates a three sided prism with independently segmented sides. Torus knot: Creates a complex or knotted torus by drawing 2D curves in the normal planes around a 3D curve. The 3D curve (called the Base Curve) can be either a circle or a torus knot. It can be converted from a torus knot object to a NURBS surface. ChamferCyl: Creates a cylinder with beveled or rounded cap edges. Capsule: Creates a cylinder with hemispherical caps. L Ex: Creates an extruded L shaped object. C Ext: Creates an extruded C shaped object. Hose: Creates a flexible object, similar to a spring.

Earlier versions (up to and including 3D Studio Max R3.1) required a special copy protection device (called a dongle) to be plugged into the parallel port while the program was run, but later versions incorporated software based copy prevention methods instead. Current versions require online registration. Due to the high price of the commercial version of the program, Autodesk also offers a free student version, which explicitly states that it is to be used for "educational purposes only". The student version has identical features to the full version, but is only for single use and cannot be installed on a network. The student license expires after three years, at which time the user, if they are still a student, may download the latest version, thus renewing the license for another three years.