Autodesk surpises this week??? what is it?

[rojren]

Well, if my silly comments are drawing the ire...


After 19 years working with various AutoCAD incarnations (with 8 years as a defacto CAD Manager) I can assure you my comments are not nearly as silly as of some of the ill-considered decisions and dumb marketing drivel that Autodesk has been guilty of over those years.

[Viper]

I've been thinking, and it's a little early for max 2009. That usually goes about mid-year.

[chrono]

Yeah, normally the 'new' MAX is pimped at large con's & meetings. This is why I said MudBox because it's not been updated in a version for a good while and Maya has already had a "recent" release.

But then again they may have bought up someone else.

[NanoGator]

Originally Posted by Guerrilla

What's wrong with FBX?

[Dravt-A]

Area : Ken Blog detail

So, it was 3ds max 2009.

[chrono]

Ah, it's merely a product split so they can consolidate branch's later on. :\

[Melak]

Huh, now I don't get that. The difference between "Design 2009" (why'd they change their naming scheme to 200x anyway?) and "2009" is that one includes the SDK, and the other some "Exposure lighting analysis feature". And that's worth two different applications? You can't just have both on the DVD?

[Nutsy]

See i was right... Yet im some how disapointed... Hoping for some thing actualy worth while than a patch disguised as a totaly new product version

[Viper]

Perhaps for you guys this isn't a good update, but for me, it's great!

Reveal Workflow - This sounds really good! Should be a good tool.

Photometric Lighting Enhancements - Great! Photometric lights are a bit of a pain right now and I hope they fix some issues that requires workarounds.

And woot!! New Mr toys to play with

mental ray
• ProMaterials (Not sure what it is, but any new shader types are welcome)
• New mental ray Proxy Objects (This is a great feature in Vray and getting it in MR will be great too)
• Enhanced Accessibility of Production Shaders (Don't really use it, but they are extremely usefull)
• Enhanced Per-object Render Settings (Not sure what this is )
• Improved Render Final Gather and Global Illumination (These are always good to hear getting improved. Mind you though, they are already great and blazing fast, improving on it should result in some ultra fast renders!)
• New mental ray Render Elements (This is great too. Current MR Elements kinda suck)

[JeffrySG]

So the pricing is the same for both versions, though? I'm a little confused by this as well. I can see wanting to get viz users into some type of max jr. that costs a little bit less but they are basically the same. Hmmm.....

Pricing and Availability
Autodesk anticipates that 3ds Max 2009 and 3ds Max Design 2009 will be available in English during spring 2008. The Autodesk suggested retail price for 3ds Max 2009 or 3ds Max Design 2009 software is US$3,495*. The Autodesk suggested retail price to upgrade from 3ds Max 2008 to either 3ds Max 2009 or 3ds Max Design 2009 is US$895*. Product availability will vary by country. Details and purchasing options are expected to be accessible starting March 25, 2008, at: Autodesk - Purchase Options. Information and selected content from Autodesk World Press Days may be found at http://www.worldpressdays08.com/.

From March 31, 2008 to July 17, 2008, existing Autodesk VIZ 2008 software Subscription customers will be able to cross-grade to 3ds Max Design 2009 for US$249**. During this same timeframe, Autodesk VIZ 2006, 2007, and 2008 customers who are not on Autodesk Subscription will be able to cross-grade to 3ds Max Design 2009 for US$895**, if they purchase Autodesk Subscription for 3ds Max Design 2009.

Autodesk Subscription will be available for purchase simultaneously with the product purchase or upgrade. The Autodesk suggested retail price for Autodesk Subscription for 3ds Max or 3ds Max Design will be US $495* per year.