Autodesk 3ds Max Reviews & Insights

Score8.2 out of 10

36 Reviews and Ratings

Community insights

TrustRadius Insights for Autodesk 3ds Max are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, third party data sources.

Pros

Lightweight and Fast: Many users have praised Autodesk 3ds Max for its lightweight nature and fast performance. They find the software efficient in various tasks such as hardsurface modeling, lighting, material creation, and importing/exporting common formats.

Artist-Friendly Interface: Several reviewers appreciate the user-friendly interface of 3ds Max, which caters to both beginners and experienced users. Its intuitive design makes it easy to navigate and utilize the software's features effectively.

Fast Render Times: Users consistently highlight the impressive render times of 3ds Max. The software allows for quick and efficient rendering of highly realistic images. Overall, these positive attributes contribute to a smooth workflow and enhance productivity for artists using Autodesk 3ds Max.

Reviews

13 Reviews

Autodesk 3ds Max has come a long way since it was Discreet's 3D Studio MAX but it is still the same great program!

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 10, 2025

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I began using 3ds Max when it was on Windows NT as 3D Studio MAX. I used to make 3d animations for web and advertising for a Graduate Program in Computer Animation & Graphics Design back in 2000. I use it today to help the Marketing Group at the University I work for to create 3D images for Print and Marketing Campaigns. I use it to create 3d animations and graphics for web sites and recruiting web spots and tv ads we run in local markets to attract students to new programs of study we have coming to the University. I also create ads for local evens for web and tv with it. The business problems it addresses are the need for flashy and snappy graphics and ads that attract attention and gain "word of mouth" on the ads to help drive the message we are trying to get out there, like an upcoming event, is on the horizon and you should get info NOW. We use it in tv ads to help get those prospective students who don't spend every second on their phone/internet. It works good for our needs.

Pros

Creates 3D images for print
Creates 3D animations/graphics for web and media
Makes Photo-realistic images and animations

Cons

Adding AI to images and animations could be easier to create/begin
The learning curve for the product is steep, it could be easier.
The price is high, it could be cheaper

Likelihood to Recommend

For print media for marketing and for 3d animations for web spots and TV ads/movies/programs. It is less suited for quick 3d graphics or images that you get from AI image programs, but it is much more powerful than most AI image programs.

Walter K. Gibson, Jr.

Assistant Director of Admin Systems in Information Technology at The University of Virginia's College at Wise (1001-5000 employees)

Vetted Review

24 years of experience

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3ds Max is as capable of a 3d software package as you can find.

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

March 15, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

When a client seeking 3d visual assets asks, "can you...." I can interrupt them before they finish the sentence and answer, "yes" before I even know what they need. 3ds Max allows me to do that with confidence. It's amazingly powerful and mature. Like all powerful software, to get the most from it you need to drive it with better than average hardware and there is a learning curve, but all powerful things require some knowldege to get the most out of them. I use it everyday in my business.

Pros

Hardsurface modeling
3d Lighting
Material creation
Import and export of common formats
Animation and particle simulation

Cons

Some interface windows don't expand large enough requiring unnecessary scrolling
Some processes are not multi threaded
Backup of customized user interface is not handled well

Likelihood to Recommend

I've used many 3d programs I've not found any more capable or well suited for about anything you throw at it. I've had scenes with over 20million polys that I can work in just fine. It's well suited to produce absolute photorealistic renders especially when you pair it with plugins like V-Ray Render.

One area where is may not be as suitable is if you have to model something in a coordinate space that is a long way from 0,0,0. Max is not double precision, so when a model is very tiny or very large or a long way from the origin, odd things occur. But, this is easily mitigated by modeling near the origin or reducing or enlarging the scene by some factor to make it not too small or too large. Then, after you are finished, you can scale it up or down by that factor again and export a perfectly scaled model for use in some other program.

Rob Holmes

Owner / Designer at NVision4D (1-10 employees)

Vetted Review

25 years of experience

Great 3D Modeling & Rendering Software for Industry

Rating: 10 out of 10

February 20, 2023

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

1. Best software to make 3D Model of products and render high quality visuals.
2. We have been using 3ds Max for more than 3 years in the organization and helped us quickly create 3D models with infinite modifiers that help us to build the 3D Model.
3. It has lots of options to help us in increasing efficiency. for e.g. FFD.

Pros

Efficient in Modeling assets using Image Plane
Efficient in 3D Model creation using modifiers.
Helpful in rendering using 3rd Part render engines.

Cons

Easy navigation needs to be added like how maya have for efficient interaction
On screen tool to easily change the interaction of mouse and keyboard as per other software's like Maya or Marvelous Designer

Likelihood to Recommend

1. Helpful in rendering high quality visuals.
2. Helpful in creating walkthroughs on interior designs or virtual apartments.
3. Helpful to render high quality exteriors for marketers.
4. Its not helpful in interaction for creating quad of a mesh, it needs improvement here.
5. Retopology is efficient.
6. Can be used as base 3D package to learn, Even student version is also officially available by Autodesk.

Vivek Kumar

Lead at Avataar (201-500 employees)

Vetted Review

3 years of experience

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Perfect 3D solution

Rating: 10 out of 10

May 31, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I am using it for motion graphics. I make montages, channel promo, channel Ident and use it for 3d typography. It helps to create beautiful 3D graphics and animations. In broadcast industry its highly used to make opening of any programme. I am using this software from past 14 yrs and I dont find any other 3D software that virtuous. Its a overall 3D package whether its texturing modelling rendering or animation. We can make complex dynamic animation with ease with the help of this software. Its a good 3D package one can have.

Pros

animation
modelling
texturing
rendering
motion graphics
dynamics
Particles

Cons

uv map

Likelihood to Recommend

Autodesk 3ds Max works well in character animation, motion graphics and making dynamic animation. Its a wonder software for 3D animation. I like its rendering. Its great for interior designing as well. Gives realistic material outcome. Its render outcome is very realistic. I have designed many characters and have not faced any issue in this software so far.

Roohi Malhotra

Sr. Graphic Designer in Professional Services at Sansad TV (501-1000 employees)

Vetted Review

14 years of experience

View profile

Great modelling program

Rating: 10 out of 10

Incentivized

March 16, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

3ds max is used to block in proportion models. it is a fast and easy-to-use modeling program. I also use it to animate and show off models for design purposes. the fact it can do all of this and is widely used makes it invaluable for us as a team.

Pros

Modelling polly
Rendering
Import 3d data and convert

Cons

could do with Nurbs modelling functions
have a plugin to make controls like Alias

Likelihood to Recommend

3ds max is great for animation and quick modeling. It is not great for Engineering info or technical specifications.

Verified User

Consultant (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

10 years of experience

Autodesk 3ds Max Overview

Rating: 8 out of 10

January 3, 2022

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

In my company [Autodesk] 3ds Max [is used] for modeling, texturing, rigging, lighting, and rendering. [Also,] sometimes [for] making cool fx things and particles but mostly we use it for modeling characters, building, and some other objects like table chair [and] much more. It is used for texturing also in [a] big scale for rendering purposes.

Pros

Modeling
Texturing
Rendering
Rigging
Lightning
Architect modeling

Cons

Easy modeling
[Takes] less time for rendering
Making a good fx effect

Likelihood to Recommend

[Autodesk] 3ds Max is very good for hard surface modeling, there are many things to do for such as texturing or rendering. It has a great support of plugings like vray, fumefx, thinking particle, rayfire , phonix fd, and much more. But this software has some limitations for fx work for [a] big scale.

Arbaz Malik

FX TD in Product Management at Red chilli (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

4 years of experience

View profile

Excellence rendering and animation software

Rating: 8 out of 10

Incentivized

November 2, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Autodesk 3ds Max is used to render the images and to make the models with high quality and graphics. It also provides so many built-in functions that help a lot to design the model with high accuracy coordinates. I basically use it to make my gaming models to make my game attractive.

Pros

it renders the images so nicely
it provides good animations to the models
it provides good shading and lighting effects

Cons

you can improve its UI
the controls of Autodesk 3ds Max are quite difficult and need improvement
need some extra plugins and tools to make all possible models for game

Likelihood to Recommend

Autodesk is basically used to create models and animations, generally. The automobile industry and the gaming industry use it more as they provide better rendering outputs with better animation quality. It is also used in the AR/VR industry to make 3D objects, and similarly by the civil industry. And it provides good texturing effects, too.

Vipul Tamboli

Augmented & Virtual Reality Intern in Information Technology at The MAD : The Marketers And Developers (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

2 years of experience

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Autodesk 3ds Max - A simple yet Powerful tool for creating 3d Contents

Rating: 6 out of 10

Incentivized

October 26, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

My Institute teaches Civil Engineering to the incoming students and in that case, we use Autodesk 3dsMax for 3d Modelling of Buildings, Towers, Trusses, Terrains etc. Also, we are currently working on introducing Augmented Reality & Virtual Reality to the students, as it is the technology of the future. In regards to that, we use Unity with Autodesk 3ds Max to model the scene/objects and add interaction to it. Our Institute is currently working on an app in collaboration with JioGlass ( A Reliance Jio Initiative) under Jio Tesseract program. In this, our students with the help of 3ds Max are modeling all the historic architectures present in the Rajasthan state of India. With 3ds Max it is quite easy to model complex geometries too. Also within the Autodesk Umbrella, Max is quite helpful in interoperability. It is easy and useful for beginners in the case of animation and rendering also.

Pros

3ds Max includes some of the inbuild modifiers which can be very good in the case of beginners.
3rd party Rendering support makes 3ds Max a powerful software for rendering out realistic images.
Autodesk 3ds max in comparison to its rivals is lightweight and fast, also the animation case also.

Cons

Autodesk 3ds Max can't be used on old or low-end PC's, this kind of results in very low performance when we use i3 or low processors.
Inbuilt rendering of the software is not up to the mark and Keeping in mind the size of the software on the disk, it must have something great in it to create good renders.

Likelihood to Recommend

Scenarios where Autodesk 3ds Max is well suited:
1. Modeling less complex geometries.
2. For beginners it is good, meshes, poly's, vertexes etc can be easily understood.
3. Easy UI and interoperability.

Scenarios where it is less appropriate:
1. Inbuild Rendering (Scanline) can be made better.
2. Performance over low end/Old Pc's need refinement.
3. Bulky Size on disk.
4. Animation is the area which can be made better also.

Jitendra Choubisa

Assistant Professor in Engineering at Techno India NJR Institute of Technology, Udaipur (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

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The tool for the 1 per cent.

Rating: 1 out of 10

Incentivized

October 25, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I am the only person at my current organization who uses 3d max. The quality of the renderings when combined with-ray is second to none. The learning curve though is steep, so if you didn't learn it during college, I doubt an Architecture business is going to train you when they can outsource the production of renderings. I use it to test ideas that are impossible to model in Revit, and I render final presentation images from models imported from Revit when specifically required by a client. Today is hard to justify the extra time that 3dsmax requires for rendering production, there is software that does it faster, and in real-time with acceptable quality. I think for 3ds max to compete with this other software, a more intentional direction towards architecture needs to happen. Also, the interaction with Revit is not easy or intuitive. It is the best tool, for professional results, but probably the hardest to master as well.

Pros

complex geometry modeling
rendering quality
materials mapping control
parametric modifiers
foreign geometry cleaning

Cons

working in 2d is very frustrating and unreliable. It just lacks the precision
How scaling affects units (or doesn't) There needs to be a way for modifiers to address a change of scale in the object.
Booleans are not intuitive. Especially for architecture, creating an opening and putting a door or a window is an incredibly cumbersome process.

Likelihood to Recommend

If you are trying to impress an important client or win a design competition this is your tool. At the same time, probably 1 percent of architecture projects really need or pay for this quality of rendering. It would separate you from the competition but make sure you can afford the extra time, the expensive license, and the intensive training.

Verified User

Employee in Professional Services (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

15 years of experience

A single destination for all the 3d modelling requirements

Rating: 9 out of 10

Incentivized

January 29, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use 3ds Max for making complicated 3D sets which are not easy to make in Maya or other software, the renders which 3ds Max V-Ray gives no other software gives that crisp renders. I like using 3ds Max for modelling heavy grager sets.

Pros

V-Ray 3ds Max is an awesome third-party plugin for architecture renders in 3ds Max.
Complicated models can be made in a simple way in 3ds Max also P-particles, M flow works better then before.
Interface is very easy to use. Very open, attractive, and very much ease of use for new users.

Cons

There is nothing to change or add on anything. I think company is capable and has a team for development and research so to give the best to its user and to sustain in the industry even if people are willing to work on unreal engine and Unity 3D.

Likelihood to Recommend

Because the new users can easily get the interface and work easily without any confusion.

vijay kumar

Sr Lighting Artist in Research & Development at Labyrinth cinematic sollutions pvr.ltd (11-50 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

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Autodesk 3ds Max - A simple yet Powerful tool for creating 3d Contents

Rating: 6 out of 10

Incentivized

October 26, 2021

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Pros

3ds Max includes some of the inbuild modifiers which can be very good in the case of beginners.
3rd party Rendering support makes 3ds Max a powerful software for rendering out realistic images.
Autodesk 3ds max in comparison to its rivals is lightweight and fast, also the animation case also.

Cons

Autodesk 3ds Max can't be used on old or low-end PC's, this kind of results in very low performance when we use i3 or low processors.
Inbuilt rendering of the software is not up to the mark and Keeping in mind the size of the software on the disk, it must have something great in it to create good renders.

Likelihood to Recommend

Jitendra Choubisa

Assistant Professor in Engineering at Techno India NJR Institute of Technology, Udaipur (51-200 employees)

Vetted Review

6 years of experience

View profile