Autodesk 3ds Max 2024: Unveils Exciting Updates and Features

Welcome to Autodesk 3ds Max 2024.1 Update!

Amaze with excellence, as Autodesk 3ds Max empowers your creativity with powerful features. Experience enhanced modeling, animation, and rendering tools. The advanced Boolean modifier ensures clean geometry, while Array updates facilitate procedural nature scenes. Consistent color management across the pipeline is guaranteed through Viewport to final render. Animation enhancements further animate characters seamlessly in Autodesk 3ds Max.

Boolean Modifier Improvements

Numerous enhancements have been made to the Boolean modifier in this release, including a fresh caching approach, normalization support, and a range of bug fixes.

New Boolean caching method

An innovative caching technique has been introduced to the Boolean Modifier. The outcome of Boolean operations is now stored within the scene file, significantly boosting loading speeds by up to 7 times for boolean scenes. Please remember that in order to utilize this new caching method, your scene should include the enhancements to the Boolean Modifier found in Autodesk 3ds Max 2024.1.

Array Modifier Updates

Craft intricate and stunning designs using the Array modifier’s latest enhancements and updates, all achieved through procedural methods.

• Craft natural designs using the Phyllotaxis distribution type, a new addition to the Array modifier. This distribution generates spiral-based patterns from the center outward, offering unique and organic arrangements.
• Apply Material IDs to mesh data individually for faces and elements using novel techniques such as random, ordered, first, middle, and last. Furthermore, additional controls for N times and Phase have been integrated for enhanced customization.
• Introducing the “progressive” feature within Array’s Transform controls for Radial, Spline, and Phyllotaxis distribution types. This allows you to modify transform data, enabling a gradual transition from the initial to the final mesh distribution.

Create Custom Defaults

Context menus within the user interface now offer the option for user-defined defaults.

As an extension of the enhanced context menu (refer to Animation Controller Improvements), you now have the capability to establish user-defined default configurations, which were formerly accessible solely through Maxscript. This enables the customization of attributes within various components such as spinners, checkboxes, radio buttons, text fields, dropdown menus, and colors directly from the UI.

Animation Controller Improvements

Enhancements have been made to the Copy and Paste Animation commands, providing advantages for both modelers and animators, building upon the existing functionalities within Autodesk 3ds Max.

Matching controllers are no longer a prerequisite for accessing Copy and Paste Animation via the right-click Context Menu. Autodesk 3ds Max now automatically assigns the correct controller, ensuring a seamless Copy and Paste workflow. You can directly Copy and Paste – Copy (or Paste – Instance) from object or modifier parameters in the main UI, and Controllers in Track View without prior data preparation. This enhancement streamlines Animation and Modeling processes, simplifying the movement and linkage of data among parameters, controllers, or different objects.

The UI controls Context Menu has also been updated to include options like Assign Controller and Reset to Default Control. This unified system offers visibility into the copied and pasted controller parameter.

Smart Extrude Improvements

Enhancements concerning smoothing and normals have been implemented within the Smart Extrude workflow.

Smart Extrude workflow enhancements include:

• Improved polygon smoothing for Editable Poly objects during Smart Extrude operations.
• Positive Smart Extrude, when co-planar to original surfaces, uses existing normals for a smoother result.
• Inward/outward extrusions through Smart Extrude automatically smooth faces not planar to existing geometry if within 30 degrees tolerance, akin to a Smooth Modifier with a 30-degree threshold.

In summary, the Autodesk 3ds Max 2024.1 Update introduces a range of enhancements that amplify the software’s capabilities, offering users a more streamlined and efficient workflow for their creative projects.

Check out What’s New in Autodesk 3ds Max to see how Autodesk 3ds Max has evolved since 2016.