Chief among them is its options for programming and customization: 3ds Max’s scripting language, maxscript, is relatively easy for artists to learn and can be used to create simple scripts with incredible results quite easily. But that being said, 3ds Max has some features that it does especially well. If you can think of it, 3ds Max has it - it’s got it all. It’s behind a plethora of projects in the Architectural, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industries, as well as the stunning visual effects in games like Call of Duty and Halo, and in movies like Avatar and Mad Max: Fury Road. And after a few rebrandings and releases, Autodesk 3ds Max became what it is today: a professional-grade design software. On Halloween, 1990, Autodesk 3D Studio was released. It was back in the early nineties - the first days of Autodesk - and made a great replacement for the short-lived AutoShader. This incredible piece of software started out as a program for DOS computers as the brainchild of Gary Yost.

In the design world, it’s a heavyweight champion.ĭo you know what does the “s” stands for in “3ds Max”? Well, nothing exotic - it’s just “studio.” But considering the fact that it’s a classic and an industry standard, the straightforward terminology holds up. What is 3DS Max? It’s a popular 3D graphics software from Autodesk (no, it’s not Maya - which we’ve reviewed here!) that regularly disrupts three-dimensional design with innovative and powerful tools and functions. 3ds Max screenshot from New Horizons learning center