Wednesday, December 12th, 2018 Posted by Jim Thacker

Autodesk releases 3ds Max 2019.3

Autodesk has published the feature list for 3ds Max 2019.3, the latest version of its 3D animation software, including interactive rendering in the ActiveShade viewport, and extended OSL and Alembic support.

Updated: The release is now officially shipping. You can read Autodesk’s blog post about the new features here, and a list of bugixes in the update here.

Interactive rendering in the ActiveShade viewport
Unlike Maya 2018.5, which shipped late last month, 3ds Max 2019.3 isn’t purely a bugfix release, although it doesn’t add a lot of new features.

However, it does make one significant change, in the shape of the update to 3ds Max’s ActiveShade render preview, which makes it possible to “interact and render simultaneously in the same viewport”.

Previously, it was possible to pan or zoom within an ActiveShade viewport, but the view had to be updated manually before changes to scene geometry could be displayed.

According to Autodesk, the new interactive ActiveShade viewport “allows you to see your scene in a near-final rendering quality as you are working”.

Better support for OSL, better interoperability with Maya and Revit
Support for Open Shading Language, added in 3ds Max 2019, has been further extended, with OSL node properties now supported in the viewport, and better bracket and syntax highlighting in the source editor.

When transferring data between Maya and 3ds Max in Alembic format, Maya’s Custom Attributes are now grouped to support attributes on transforms and shapes; and vertex colour sets are now supported.

Interoperability with Revit has also been improved: files created in older versions of Revit Revit 2018 no longer need to be upgraded for import; and Revit lights now render correctly when importing in FBX format.

Updated: You no longer need to upgrade Revit 2018 files, not files created in any older version of Revit, as our original story stated. To do so, you need 3ds Max 2018 and Revit Interoperability for 3ds Max installed.

Pricing and availability
3ds Max 2019.3 is compatible with Windows 7+. 3ds Max is available on a rental-only basis, with a subscription costing $190/month or $1,505/year.

Read a list of new features in 3ds Max 2019.3 in Autodesk’s online documentation