Autodesk 3ds Max: Create massive worlds and high-quality designs

Autodesk 3ds Max® professional 3D modeling, rendering, and animation software enables you to create expansive worlds and premium designs.

Breathe life into environments and landscapes with robust modeling tools.
Create finely detailed designs and props with intuitive texturing and shading tools.
Iterate and produce professional-grade renders with full artistic control.

3ds Max overview (video: 4:48 min.)

Hiking in 2077 (video: 45 sec.) Video courtesy of Jody Sargent

Underwater environment scene created with 3ds Max

Environmental concept art of a black hole

Design visualization of a home in a cliff

Environment art created by Masayuki Koyama

Why use Autodesk 3ds Max?

Power creativity with easy-to-use tools

Fuel the imagination with worldbuilding and asset creation tools.

Boost productivity with automation

Automate repetitive, time-consuming tasks so you meet deadlines.

Enjoy a rich, flexible toolset

Stay in the creative flow with tools in an artist-friendly UI.

What you can do with 3ds Max

Create realistic 3D designs with powerful tools

Whether you’re building expansive gaming worlds or visualizing intricate architectural designs, 3ds Max has the modeling toolset you need to bring your 3D assets to life.

Produce high-quality renders

From light mixing to color correction, the built-in Arnold renderer provides a rich experience and handles your most complex characters, scenes, and effects.

“Having robust 3D software to handle polygons, huge scenes, and … different needs is essential.”

—Jon Formento, Founder, Creative Director, and 3D Designer, jformento.

“Almost all of the content you see in [Forza Horizon 5] has been create[d] inside 3ds Max.”

—Dan Wulczynski, Lead Technical Artist, Playground Games

“Full CGI has many advantages. … We can choose any light, atmosphere, and … location we want.”

— Jakub Vlček, CEO, Punctum Images

“[With] 3ds Max and AutoCAD, I bridged the gap [between] abstract creativity and … tangible projects.”

— Sara Moheimani, 3D Artist

See 3ds Max in action

Relive the past using VFX

3D generalist Thomas Berg breaks down VFX scenes from his work on Olav and two war documentaries.

Embrace open standards

Discover how support for glTF allows users to open, create, and edit large amounts of 3D data with ease.

Create simulations

Edstudios details how to import geometry and particle simulations from 3ds Max and TyFlow to Omniverse Create.

When to choose 3ds Max or Maya

3ds Max and Maya are used by creative studios around the world for animation, modeling, visual effects, and rendering.

3ds Max resources

3ds Max Learning Channel

Tutorials of all levels to help you learn 3ds Max.

Free 3ds Max courses

Improve your skillset with courses presented by industry professionals for 3ds Max.

AREA by Autodesk

Get inspired with articles featuring artist interviews, career advice, industry news, and more.

Media & Entertainment Collection offers more

Create breathtaking scenes and characters for film, TV, and games.

Media and Entertainment Collection

Enjoy all the creative tools you need to build a powerful, scalable 3D animation pipeline for complex simulations, effects, and rendering.

Media & Entertainment Collection includes:

Frequently asked questions (FAQs)

What is 3ds Max used for?

3ds Max is used to model, animate, and render detailed 3D characters, photorealistic designs, and complex scenes for film and TV, games, and design visualization projects.

Who uses 3ds Max?

3ds Max is used by 3D modelers, animators, and lighting artists for game development, film and TV productions, and design visualization projects.

Autodesk 3ds Max vs. Autodesk Maya

Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Maya are used by creative studios around the world for animation, modeling, visual effects, and rendering. Learn when to choose 3ds Max and when to choose Maya.

Which operating system does Autodesk 3ds Max run on?

Autodesk 3ds Max runs on Microsoft® Windows® 11 and Windows 10. See 3ds Max system requirements for details.

How do I download 3ds Max?

Autodesk provides download and install instructions for individuals and administrators. Your available downloads appear in Autodesk Account. Find your product, select a version, platform, language, and download method. For more information, visit the Autodesk Support.

Can I install 3ds Max on multiple computers?

With a subscription to Autodesk 3ds Max software, you can install it on up to three computers or other devices. However, only the named user can sign in and use that software on a single computer at any given time. Please refer to the Software License Agreement for more information.

Key features of 3ds Max

From detailed characters and props to jaw-dropping environments and worlds, 3ds Max® is the tool of choice for creating immersive gaming experiences and complex designs.

Polygon modeling

Create 3D props, vehicles, and characters with geometry based on vertices, edges, and faces.

Procedural modeling

Quickly build complex surfaces for cityscapes, forests, and landscapes using automated modeling.

Interactive viewports

Reduce design iterations with render-quality viewport previews of PBR materials and camera effects.

High-quality materials

Make realistic objects with Physically Based Rendering, Open Shading Language, and Bake to Texture.

Integrated Arnold renderer

Render complex scenes and designs with Arnold for 3ds Max.

Multiple file format support

Easily share assets with support for file formats like glTF, USD, FBX, CAD formats, and more.

Features of 3ds Max 2024

3D modeling

Enhance designs with uncompromising accuracy by automatically reconstructing polygonal mesh data into clean quad-based topology.

Interactively extrude faces on 3D objects using flexible extrude operations like cut-through and overlap. Rebuild and stitch adjacent faces automatically.

Mesh and surface modeling

Create parametric and organic objects with polygon, subdivision surface, and spline-based modeling features.

Modifier stack workflow

Conceptualize, iterate, and explore design ideas using a range of robust modifiers that are non-destructive and easy to use.

Create curved or angular 3D shapes using several intuitive spline tools.

Texturing and shading

Open Shading Language (OSL) support

Using new or pre-existing OSL maps with any supported renderer, generate high-quality textures that display accurately in the viewport.

Bake to texture

Experience streamlined, intuitive, and fully scriptable texture baking with support for PBR (physically based rendering) materials, overrides, and OSL workflows.

Add material finishes, change textures, and use vibrant colors to create photorealistic designs.

Illuminate and enhance your scenes using photometric lights and standard lights.

3D rendering

Integrated Arnold renderer

Use the Arnold GPU renderer to view scene changes in real time, including lighting, materials, and camera.

Reduce design iteration with render-quality viewport previews, displaying PBR materials and camera effects directly.

See your scene in a near-final rendering quality as you work.

Simulate real-life camera settings such as shutter speed, aperture, depth of field, and exposure.

Seamlessly change materials, lights, cameras, and renderers from one to another.

Animation and effects

Character animation tools

Create procedural character animations and rigs with CAT (character animation toolkit), biped, and crowd tools.

Preview and adjust animation paths directly in the viewport.

Create realistic behaviors and replicate gravity and collision effects for liquids like water, oil, and lava.

Particle flow effects

Produce sophisticated particle effects such as water, fire, spray, and snow.

Extensive plug-in library

Access hundreds of industry-leading, third-party plug-ins from our extensive community.

Workflow and pipeline

Use Safe Scene Script Execution to protect your work against malicious scripts that could be part of scene files. The Malware Removal functionality detects and removes known malicious scripts from scene files and start-up scripts.

Get tighter pipeline integration with support for Python 3.

Pipeline integration support

Easily customize 3ds Max to fit your production pipeline needs.

3D modeling and rendering software for design visualization, games, and animation

3ds Max offers a rich and flexible toolset to create premium designs with full artistic control.

• Create massive worlds in games
• Visualize high-quality architectural renderings
• Model finely detailed interiors and objects
• Bring characters and features to life with animation and VFX

Render high-quality scenes

The built-in Arnold renderer provides a rich experience and can handle your more complex characters, scenes, and effects.

• Save time with centralized creative tools for interactive light mixing, color correction, and lens effects on the rendered image
• Work faster with an artist-friendly user experience and intuitive controls
• Iterate and produce high quality renders and variations faster

Work faster and meet deadlines with 3ds Max

3ds Max lets you scale your workflow with automation, allowing you to spend more time on creativity.

• Use 3ds Max as a compute engine to scale content production
• Extend built-in workflows with accessible APIs
• Accelerate manual steps to boost productivity

Use cases

Real-time rendering for product design

See how to set up the scene and the 3ds Max viewport for optimal visualization quality.

Creating a 3D baby velociraptor

Guga Baraldi, 3D generalist artist, breaks down his sweet-as-pie Pet Birthday render.

Create detailed 3D walkthroughs

Learn how to use 3ds Max to create immersive 3D walkthroughs with Andrey Plaksin.

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3ds Max in action

CGI Furniture

Modernizing production with 3ds Max

CGI Furniture develops photoreal 3D product models for international clients looking to grow their business with computer-generated imagery.

Image courtesy of CGI Furniture

Nigel Hunt

The future of design visualization

See how arch viz has evolved over the last 30 years and how it’s increasingly colliding with the world of visual effects.

Image courtesy of Nigel Hunt

REALTIME UK

Behind the scenes of Game of Thrones

RealtimeUK shares how they created 3D assets for the Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming game.
Image courtesy of RealtimeUK

Buy from Autodesk

When you buy direct from us, you get the best value and terms we have to offer.

Why buy with Autodesk? See more reasons to buy with Autodesk

Need expert sales advice?

Our hotline team is happy to help. You can also place a purchase order by phone

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

How much does a 3ds Max subscription cost?

The price of an annual 3ds Max subscription is

and the price of a monthly 3ds Max subscription is

. The price of a 3-year 3ds Max subscription is

How do I convert my 3ds Max free trial to a paid subscription?

Launch your trial software and click Subscribe Now on the trial screen or visit the 3ds Max product page. When buying your subscription, enter the same email address and password combination you used to sign in to your trial. Learn more about converting a trial to a paid subscription

Where can I get a 3ds Max perpetual license?

3ds Max software is available with a subscription only. We no longer sell perpetual licenses. Learn more about our software licensing program.

Which versions of 3ds Max can I use if I subscribe to the current version?

Your 3ds Max subscription gives you access to install and use the 3 previous versions. Available downloads are listed in your Autodesk Account at manage.autodesk.com after subscribing. See also previous releases available for subscribers.

Can I install 3ds Max on multiple computers?

With a subscription to 3ds Max software, you can install it on up to three computers or other devices. However, only the named user can sign in and use that software on a single computer at any given time. Please refer to the Software License Agreement for more information.

How do I stop auto-renewal or cancel my subscription?

Sign in to manage.autodesk.com, select Billing & Orders, click Edit Payment, and turn off auto-renew. Your subscription details will then list an expiration date instead of a renewal date. Your subscription remains active until the expiration date.

При подготовке материала использовались источники:
https://www.autodesk.com/products/3ds-max/overview
https://www.autodesk.com/products/3ds-max/features
https://www.autodesk.com/products/3ds-max/overview1