3ds Max 2016 software has shipped and you may have heard or even seen the new features, but do you know how they work or what tips or insights you can gain for using them? In this class we’ll take a deep dive into the top new features in the latest release and explore some key benefits of some of the other new features. Did you know you could create new modifiers with the Max Creation Graph editor? What does the updated Xref system mean for you? What is the difference between TurboSmooth and Open Subdiv? Did you know you could create your own customer templates? This fast-paced session will cover these features, and hopefully more.

In this class, Jon Ferguson, Peter Pang, and Markee Foster will share their vast knowledge and experience regarding the creation of a truly collaborative virtual reality (VR) experience across state lines. What happens when you take virtual reality, remove the cords, and push it to the cloud with NVIDIA Holodeck, the HTC Vive, and BIM 360 software? Limitless possibilities, letting national architecture, engineering, and construction firms like Layton Construction service all geographic areas, with the best and highest VR experiences available.

The AppBundle used for distribution is now being widely adopted by Autodesk products as a way to standardize the format across software products. It enables you to easily package an app or plug-in to be loaded in many different products and versions. It is the recommended format to easily bundle together the resources, and manage its description, configuration, and compatibility. We will cover the format and structure of it, and how it is being used by the App Store to distribute apps, plug-ins, tutorials, and content. We will learn the structure and properties of an AppBundle, keeping in mind that it is compatible with most of the Autodesk products, like Maya software, 3ds Max software, AutoCAD software, Revit software, Inventor software, Navisworks software, Fusion 360 software, and BIM 360 software. It is also the format adopted to run remote jobs with the Forge Design Automation API on the server side. This packaging practice is also beneficial for apps or plug-ins installed in local systems.

A typical approach to teaching computer-generated imagery (CGI) is through lectures and a series of homework, then reviewed by teachers. This approach is highly ineffective, requiring additional educational materials and help from teachers during all practical exercises. The most effective learning method is through in-class training with a teacher’s guidance. Meanwhile, using old teaching methods leads to a longer and steeper learning curve, and to an inability to solve practical problems during everyday work. In this lesson, we will tell you about a new approach to teaching CGI based on the Heuristic teaching model. We will reveal how to build a training system that empowers students to learn from zero all stages of photoreal rendering creation in 23 days. As a result of that training program, students learn to create a room 3D project in six hours.

Both mechanical and architectural design rely on visualization technologies to showcase designers’ ideas. Increasingly, that relies on generating highly realistic materials and lighting. This class will look at the speaker’s pick of the top-seven OSL shaders that you can apply to your scenes in 3ds Max 2021 software to render photorealistic images and animations. Learn where to find and download OSL shaders that you can use in a visualization, and how to customize your own OSL shaders. Use multiple shaders to create a unique material for your models. Get ahead of the competition by learning to create visually compelling photorealistic renderings using these top-seven OSL shaders in a streamlined workflow.

This class will concentrate on how 3D model data from Autodesk Inventor can be consumed within Autodesk VRED Design. The main areas of focus will include: 1) basic principles for import and scene setup; 2) how material definitions can be automatically mapped; 3) using the capabilities of VRED to run successful design reviews and drive a point of sale configurator; 4) how model changes can be managed; 5) creating simple animations and importing complex mechanism clips via 3ds Max; 6) how the information can then be interacted with using the native support for virtual reality.

This session has been developed due to requests from clients and describes the process of using a Revit model, the ease of transferring to Revit Live, and the capacity to enhance this with animation in 3ds Max and then move to VR with 3ds Max Interactive. The session, in collaboration with John Lewis, will encompass this workflow as part of their immersive experience for the refurbishment programme of their retail outlets. The course will look at how spatially the existing stores can benefit from using VR to enhance and optimise their space. The session with John Lewis was originally developed over 4 days, with this session outlining how to get existing data from Revit or CAD into VR. The principle development flow of how to use the Revit model and CAD data, with Revit Live, will be outlined and how to get a basic understanding of spatial awareness of the store and then move this model and information into 3ds Max to enhance with animation and effects. We'll also look at representation of this in 3ds Max Interactive (Stingray) to have additional interactive capacity; for example, picking up certain objects and changing the texture of carpet and wall surfaces.

In the real world, one program just can’t do it all. Sketching, massing models, final design, animation, and rendering of engineering models—this class will discuss the workflow for using multiple Autodesk products in a production environment. Discover the ins and outs of this workflow, starting with a sketch, moving to Inventor software for final design, then finishing with 3ds Max software and Arnold to render the final animation. Learn how Autodesk Drive can help manage the workflow files, review the Inventor-to-3ds-Max import process, and see how to render photo-quality images. We’ll cover how to use Arnold materials and lights to light the scene and composition to create compelling images. And we’ll show you how the Camera controls can adjust the scene exposure and depth of field. Get ahead of the competition by learning to create your renderings using photographic composition in a streamlined workflow.

The KEYS Metaverse is a first-of-its-kind universe built for the evolution of building information modeling (BIM) in real estate, business, socialization, interaction, commerce, and entertainment. The community will be directly involved in creating the KEYS Metaverse, maximizing easy-to-use tools and technical pipelines for custom import of 3D assets in order to ideate and establish their own designs, businesses, event venues, in-game assets, and mini games. Our main differentiator will be the KEYS proprietary metaverse engine, which allows for the decentralized streaming of AAA game-quality content to any device, from mobile to desktop to virtual reality (VR). By using the technology of 3D software, BIM, generative design, NFTs, and Web3, the future of metaverse development has never looked so bright. This project wouldn't be possible without maximizing Autodesk partners and software, including Unreal Engine, Revit software, SolidWorks, Maya software, 3ds Max software, and so on.

Both mechanical and architectural design rely on visualization technologies to showcase designers’ ideas. Increasingly, this showcasing relies on generating highly realistic materials and lighting. This class will look at the speaker’s pick of the top seven OSL shaders that you can apply to your scenes in 3ds Max 2023 software to render photorealistic images and animations. Learn where to find and download OSL shaders that you can use in a visualization, and how to customize your own OSL shaders. Use multiple shaders to create a unique material for your models. Get ahead of the competition by learning to create visually compelling photorealistic renderings using these top seven OSL shaders in a streamlined workflow.

Studies show that watching someone perform a task doesn't really teach students how to do it. In fact, it often gives a false sense of confidence in one's ability to perform a task. This talk will outline a proven, highly effective process that is in use at Georgia Institute of Technology to teach professional-level software certifications. Not only is this a remote teaching strategy, it's a remote teaching strategy that is more effective than many in-person teaching strategies! The talk will use content from the speaker’s introductory college-level CAM class using Fusion 360 software, as well as Canvas Network for the instructional materials. But you can apply the principles to any skill or process, including hands-on technical skills, and any classroom platform, including Blackboard, Microsoft Teams, and Google Classroom.

This talk will capture the success story of digitizing the merchandising strategies that maximize computer-generated imagery (CGI) for retailers like Lowe's, leading to savings in the millions of dollars. This talk will discuss the story of how 3ds Max software as main DCC for product visualization and V-Ray for Maya software was interleaved with in-house, developed, proprietary pipeline tools to achieve these results. The hyper-real, reusable images and assets transformed the merchandising efforts into affordable, inspirational outputs with the far shorter turnaround time, eliminating the huge logistics costs of material, space, and skilled photographers. Today’s COVID-19 situation of social distancing and constraints in physical mobility of people and material makes digitizing-of-merchandising initiatives a very compelling business strategy for all retailers around the globe. In summary, this is a proven story of innovative software maximized to achieve a direct impact on critical business parameters.

Maximize the power of Pixar's USD with Arnold software in production scenarios. We'll show examples of exporting and importing USD assets—including full shading, material assignments, and render setup—from any of the applications that Arnold supports, such as Maya software, 3ds Max software, Houdini, or Cinema 4D. We’ll also demonstrate how you can take advantage of the power of USD's composition and variants to address common scenarios in modern studio pipelines. All of Arnold software’s effort for USD is open source. You'll learn what's out there and how you can contribute.

In this hands-on lab, users will discover how to import Inventor software constraints and joints for use in 3ds Max 2016 software. Explore State Sets to view your Inventor model in different color configurations. Finally, animate your Inventor model in one of the new 3ds Max start-up templates.

Facial setup can be a complex task, but when it is done right, it can be done quickly with flexible results. This class explores methods for setting up faces using a blend of bones and morph targets with the goal of having production-ready controls and flexibility for animators to do their jobs. When morph targets are blended with bone systems and compound targets, the result can be very organic and produce a natural system. Building targets that blend together can be time consuming, but with a few tricks it can be fast and easy to blend compound targets.

No matter how long you've been using 3ds Max software in production, you always have some portion of the software you've never explored or some unknown nugget of information that could save you a lot of time. This class is all about those quick tips and tricks that cover little-known tools or unusual uses for tools you already know in 3ds Max.

Engage with 2 principal designers of 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design software in a roundtable discussion about the art of storytelling as a means to create compelling presentations. Ian Hooper and Kelcey Simpson will show how to use the language and repertoire of storytelling techniques with the capabilities available today in 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design. Come and exchange experiences in crafting a narrative framework and learn how to bring your designs to life.

In this class we will cover the essentials of data backup and restoration of critical design information, and we'll differentiate between normal backup strategies and archival technologies and methods. We will also discuss data retention policies and requirements. We will explore several different technologies, both local and remote, for backing up mission-critical data, and we will discuss the necessity of archival storage and we'll explore the appropriate media to meet data-retentions requirements. The class will also cover disaster recovery planning and techniques to maintain business continuation and data security in extreme circumstances, from fires, to natural disasters, to zombie apocalypses.

Technology changes dramatically every year, especially in just the last few months of 2014, resulting in significant improvements for users of AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor, 3ds Max, Maya, Showcase, Civil 3D, Autodesk Simulation and more, but only if you know what to choose and why. Learn important tips and tricks on processor selection, graphics card selection, memory, disks drives, monitors, mobile workstations, new usability features and more. This class will help you understand the most recent technology changes, and how to make your configuration choices to get the best performance for what you are willing to spend. We will cover performance data as well as tips for proper set up. This course is geared for a beginner to intermediate level, and you just might see technologies you didn't know existed.

AR/VR is a hot topic, and creating these kind of experiences require some knowledge of Real-Time engines. To go beyond simple templates and add interactivity, simulation and immersion, Stingray (3ds Max Interactive) offers different tools such as Flow, Stories and scripting. This last method is by far the most efficient and customizable, but can seem intimidating.

The session will be led by myself and facilitated by Paul Kind, who has been through the entire process of leaning scripting from scratch in Stingray (3ds Max Interactive).

This class is aimed at introducing scripting in Stingray (3ds Max Interactive)as a means to add interactions in your Immersive Experience and improve productivity. There is no pre-required knowledge of scripting, though a familiarity with Stingray (3ds Max Interactive) is required.

We start with the very basics, explaining concepts like variables, tables, and API calls, and move towards how scripting is integrated into Stingray (3ds Max Interactive) to create simple interactions via custom Flow nodes.