So 3ds Max 2019 has been out for a several weeks. As is customary for me, I'd like to share a few thoughts on the new release.
The most important new feature in 2019 is, in my opinion, support for OSL (Open Shader Language). It opens up the material editor in a whole new way. It adds a whole new dimension to creating shaders similar to Substance Designer. Not only does it add an entire array of new basic texture nodes, it adds the ability to create (programmatically) new shaders in a way never before possible in Max. Before OSL, new texture nodes required creating new texture classes in C++. While I've now gained more experience building Max plugins in C++... I can say with authority that it's not always easy and is certainly time consuming. With OSL, the process is quick. In fact, in the last week while doing OSL R&D I've already written three OSL shaders to mimmick some Source shaders that I'll be adding to WW in the near future.
OSL kicks ass!
And, of course, there were many great additions in the 2018.1-2018.4 updates that were all early exposures to 2019 features. Those include Fluids, MaxBatch, Boolean updates, New Spline Tools and several MAXScript enhancements (that improved Max in general and Wall Worm specifically).
2019 is certainly worth your time. This year is the first year (to my knowledge) where almost all mainstream plugins have been recompiled for an SDK-breaking release within the first couple of weeks. Wall Worm is among the list of 3rd Party developers that have already supported 2019..
I look forward to moving some projects to 2019 ASAP.
The most important new feature in 2019 is, in my opinion, support for OSL (Open Shader Language). It opens up the material editor in a whole new way. It adds a whole new dimension to creating shaders similar to Substance Designer. Not only does it add an entire array of new basic texture nodes, it adds the ability to create (programmatically) new shaders in a way never before possible in Max. Before OSL, new texture nodes required creating new texture classes in C++. While I've now gained more experience building Max plugins in C++... I can say with authority that it's not always easy and is certainly time consuming. With OSL, the process is quick. In fact, in the last week while doing OSL R&D I've already written three OSL shaders to mimmick some Source shaders that I'll be adding to WW in the near future.
OSL kicks ass!
And, of course, there were many great additions in the 2018.1-2018.4 updates that were all early exposures to 2019 features. Those include Fluids, MaxBatch, Boolean updates, New Spline Tools and several MAXScript enhancements (that improved Max in general and Wall Worm specifically).
2019 is certainly worth your time. This year is the first year (to my knowledge) where almost all mainstream plugins have been recompiled for an SDK-breaking release within the first couple of weeks. Wall Worm is among the list of 3rd Party developers that have already supported 2019..
I look forward to moving some projects to 2019 ASAP.