If you are a 3ds Max customer with Autodesk® Subscription you now have exclusive access to the new tools in Extension 1 for Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2015 software. Extension 1 delivers powerful OpenSubdiv modeling workflows - the top feature request on User Voice - support for the Alembic interchange format, and enhancements to the ShaderFX visual shader editor that helps you more easily create and exchange the complex assets today’s demanding productions require.
New features
OpenSubdiv Support
Efficiently represent subdivision surfaces using OpenSubdiv libraries, open-sourced by Pixar and incorporating technology from Microsoft Research.
- Visualize your model interactively without the need to render for a better WYSIWYG experience, greater productivity, and more accurate realization of creative intent.
- Get faster in-viewport performance for meshes with high subdivision levels by taking advantage of both parallel CPU and GPU architectures.
- Reduce the guesswork when animating models and help shorten production times, with efficient smooth surface representation.
- Create complex topology in less time, by taking advantage of efficient crease modeling workflows with CreaseSet modifier and Crease Explorer.
- Easily transfer your models to and from certain other packages that support OpenSubdiv using Autodesk® FBX® asset exchange technology and achieve a consistent appearance.
Alembic Support
View massive datasets in the Nitrous Viewport, and transfer them more easily through your production pipeline with new Alembic support.
- Work with production-proven technology, co-developed by Sony Pictures Imageworks Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd.
- Move complex data through a pipeline in a manageable form: complex animated and simulated data is distilled into a non-procedural, application-independent set of baked geometric results.
- Get more from your workstation, with highly efficient use of memory and disk space.
- Enjoy faster data transfer and load times, with the ability to export and load only selected geometry.
Enhanced ShaderFX
Get more shading options and better shader interoperability between 3ds Max, Autodesk® Maya® software, and Autodesk® Maya LT TM software.
- Create a wider range of procedural materials with new node patterns—wavelines, voronoi, simplex noise, and brick.
- Create normal maps from 2D grayscale images with a new bump utility node.
- Get faster access to the shaders you need, with a searchable node browser.
Did you enjoy this article? I would love to hear your thoughts, so don’t be shy and comment below! Please don’t forget to subscribe to my RSS-feed or follow my feed on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook! If you enjoyed the following article we humbly ask you to comment, and help us spread the word! Or, if you would like, drop me an email.