What's New in Autodesk 3ds Max 2018

As you proceed through the documentation, keep an eye out for the icon, indicating a new feature, and the icon, indicating a change to an existing feature. You can also search for information about new or changed features. For topics that describe new program features, search for "new feature". For changes in existing features, search for "changed feature".

Highlights

Arnold renderer: The MAXtoA plugin includes Arnold version 5 Volumetric effects with OpenVDB support Atmospheric effects Procedural (proxy) objects allow scene interchange with other Arnold plugins Extensive array of built-in Arnold professional shaders and materials Supports 3rd party shaders compiled for Windows and Arnold 5 Easy Image-Based-Lighting workflow with separate Environment and Background capabilities Arnold Properties modifier controls rendertime effects and options per-object Arbitrary Output Variable (AOV) support for compositing and post-processing Depth-of-Field, Motion Blur and camera Shutter effects New VR camera New easier-to-use layered Standard Surface with Disney compatibility, replacing Arnold Standard Shader New melanin-driven Standard Hair Shader with simpler parameters and artistic controls for more natural results Supports Photometric lights for easy Revit interop. Full support of 3ds Max Physical material and legacy maps. All-in-one Arnold light supports textured area lights, mesh lights, Skydome and Distant light sources. New Portal mode for Quad and Skydome lights to improve sampling interior scenes. New Roundness and Soft Edge options for Quad and Spot lights. Scene Converter presets and scripts to upgrade legacy scenes.	User interface improvements: QT5 framework with enhanced docking Timeline tear-off Ongoing Hi-DPI icon conversion (370 icons converted) Tear-off menus Faster switching between workspaces Modular main toolbar.	MCG: Easy Map adds the ability to map over an operator by connecting an array of values for graph simplicity Live Type displays computes types in the editor as you work MCG type resolver improved so you no longer need to add extra nodes to provide hints about the type system in MCG Compiler significantly improved to better optimize graph expressions, particularly with functions No longer need to unpack MCG graph and MCG now uses compounds from the package Consumes graphs in package form (.mcg) by simply dragging in the viewport Automatic tool input generation More artist friendly operator/compound naming and categorization New Node Properties window with better operator/compound descriptions 78 new operators See MCG Help for more information.
Motion paths: Previews the path of animated objects directly in the viewport. You can adjust motion paths using transforms, and convert them to and from splines See Motion Paths for more information.	State sets: SlateSDK based UI gives you a more consistent look and functionality New node based render pass management See State Sets Compositor View for more information.