Finally, at 3.18.14, Autodesk released the 2015 version of its software packages. Many new things that had been requested for so long by the 3ds max users are now added to the 3ds max 2015.

Although, 3ds max 2015 doesn’t have any feature that can be considered as “major” as lots of max users were expecting much more than this like, an integrated or a whole new Fluid Simulator for the new version.

However, Maya has got Bifrost (Naiad Technology) and Bullet Physics Engine which is really a great update in its dynamic part. Unfortunately, Max folks have to wait to get that in.

The new tools with that have been introduced in the 2015 version of 3ds max are quite handy and save you lots of time. Let’s have a look at these features.

1. Populate Enhancements

   Populate Crowd system now supports more behaviors for characters including seated, walking, running, turning, jogging and passing. User can control the poly counts of the crowd characters and save textures for editing.

2. Quad Chamfer

   Now you don’t have to worry about the triangles and weird deformations on turbosmooth while chamfering a complex edge. Unlike 3ds max’s old Chamfer, Quad Chamfer creates quad and help modelers to give a nice finish to the edges without messing up with triangles.

3. Enhanced Scene Management

   State sets with the interoperability support between 3ds max and Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects.

4. ShaderFX

   Now you can create your own complex shaders and visualize them in realtime in 3ds max viewports by utilizing the new ShaderFX feature of the 3ds max 2015.

5. Placement Tools

   You can conform or place objects easily over a random surface with positioning and orienting it side-by-side with the help of new Placement tool of 3ds max. It also includes auto-parenting behavior for interactive parenting. This tool is now on the main toolbar as Select and Place button.

6. Stereo Camrea support

   Last year Autodesk released it as an extension for 3ds max 2014 and now it’s included within 3ds max 2015.
   Users can now create stereoscopic content by making use of Stereo Camera feature.

7. Accelerated viewport Performance

   Accelerated viewport performance is one of the great features of 3ds max 2015. You can now easily work with dense meshes and big scenes without sacrificing the speed.

8. Point Cloud Support

   Point Cloud Support makes it easier to import and use the Point Cloud inside 3ds max. User can view them in true color, adjust the extent displayed using the section box and create new geometry by snapping to the point cloud vertices.

9. Improved ActiveShade Rendering

   ActiveShade is faster than before and now supports the Mental Ray renderer and also captures the viewport navigation and certain scene changes like creating, moving and deleting objects.

10. Python Scripting

    3ds max now includes Python API which can help users to integrate the 3ds max with a Python based pipeline and also provides other scripting facilities and support.
    
    

    Other Updates
    -Particle Flow with an updated UI.
    -Undo and Redo buttons are back on the main toolbar.

So, these are the new features this year for max. Many people possibly, may not be happy with these features, as, with the return of Mr. Tom Hudson and Max’s growing team they were expecting some more exciting and useful features. Many people are posting comments and showing their anger about this update in many forums and discussion groups.

You can read or join the discussion at Autodesk Discussion Group or at MaxUnderground and give your opinions about these new features.

If you ask me about this update, I, too, am disappointed by this update. These new features, no doubt, are useful and productive in many ways but I am expecting some more updates in Animation-Rigging and Dynamics part of the max. I personally feel that Max is progressing very slowly however; there is no such thing with Maya. Maya’s updates are quite satisfying.

But I still have faith in The Max Makers and still with Max, maybe the development team needs some more time. While reading the related threads, I come to know that the Max 2015 features got finalized before the new 3dsmax management came so; we better don’t lose hope and wait for the next update.