While the mega changes are not here in 3ds Max 2009, the changes that are present are obvious and interesting. Courtesy of Autodesk.

I know, I know...you're thinking: "What? He's back already with another Max review?" That's Autodesk for you: always revising.

Anyway, they recently released the newest addition to its 3D arsenal, 3ds Max 2009. This revision is a quick release from its now older sibling 3ds Max 2008, which just came out only six months ago. Like all applications that are getting on in years, it becomes harder and harder to "wow" most hardcore 3D artists. I'll admit that having the tools run faster is awesome, and adding workflow improvements is great... but, like many others, I want a biggie. Secretly (or not so secretly), I'm still waiting for the day when Autodesk announces that Maya and Max will be one... or even that Mudbox is just a standard modifier in 3ds Max. Wouldn't that be awesome?! No more fighting with co-workers about which is better, Max or Maya. No more needing to learn a different application when you go to get a new job somewhere else. Just use the easy interface and great modeling tools of Max while getting the slick animation, scripting and rigging tools of Maya. Now that would be a release. But I digress...

OK, I am a game developer. That means that I use a large, but limited subset of the tools that 3ds Max has to offer. Some years, I have to review a release of 3ds Max that has very little to offer me professionally. Typically, that bugs me a bit, but this year is different. While the mega changes are not here in 3ds Max 2009, the changes that are present are obvious and interesting, even to a humble game developer such as me. The most interesting of the bunch is the collection of lighting and rendering advancements in this package. These will mostly be for those of you doing CG, illustration and visualization... but for the inventive, some of these tools will actually find their way into the game developer's workflow as well. Before going into the mental ray features, which are for the intermediate/advanced user, let's take a moment to dip our toes in with something simple, like the new user navigation tools.

This image shows mental ray's Pro materials in action. After just minutes, believable plastic, stone, glass, lacquer and wall paint are realistically achieved. Unless noted, all images courtesy of Ryan Lesser. 

The ViewCube and SteeringWheel
Autodesk is bringing these two nav tools, ViewCube and SteeringWheel, to many of its applications, and Max now has them too. The ViewCube is a simple representation of the 3D space and the SteeringWheel is a way to move through the 3D space. They are both customizable and pretty flexible. I find myself using the ViewCube more than the SteeringWheel, as it is super handy when either using my Macbook Pro with a single trackpad button in 3ds Max or on the train/plane where there is no room for a mouse or tablet. At first they look like the kind of thing that a non-3D-type or a 3D newbie might use... but after playing with them a bit I have actually found some good applications. As a note, right clicking on the ViewCube will let you configure it. I highly recommend choosing "Keep Scene Upright." Without it, I find the cube useless as it seems to spin wildly.