Overview new features 3ds Max 2021

We have 3ds max 2021 with us! Lots of new features!
I will cover some of the new OSL nodes, together with QT interfaces, Physical material enhancements, Important improvements on viewport like the new AO, improvements on IBL from skylights. Material nodes can be selected now with a single click instead of double click.
Mikkt display on viewport, baking and rendering!

Also we had improvements on modeling: Weighted normals, Explicit Normals preservation across several modifiers (that I dont cover on this video), and yeah, lets not forget our beloved chamfer improvements! Now also available from edit poly.

On the rendering side we had Arnold as default, as well Physical material as default, Arnold had multiple updates, and the star is the new Baketotexture, basically a total new interface done from zero to replace the old rendertotexture, compatible with Arnold and any third renderer.

I didnt cover incorporation of Python 3, because is not very "visual" to showcase, but a lot of work has been added in to it.
Other than that multiple improvements on performance on multiple areas.

And.... Dont forget the new web installer (way faster than before), with more options to install, max will open faster.... and there is no SDK break with 2020, so all your plugins from 2020 will work in 2021.

Models are free to download from sketchfab from different artists:

[pvtrcorps]

Hi! Here a Blender user.. and man, Those OSL HDRIs are amazing! It is a pleasure to see this viewport.
Competition can only benefit us all!
Great videos Eloi! You are my reference to see the progress of the neighbor's tools ;)


(English is not my first language)

[LucasD]

This video has been sticky’d as the top post at the r/3dsmax subreddit, thanks a lot Eloi.

Thanks for this video, this upgrade looks cool, lets hope we are getting more along the year.

[spiralingspiral]

As a Blender user, I think I might want to sign up for Max Indie sometime...

[RealTimeFilms]

There was a previous 3ds max release with persistent AO in viewport. It was 3ds max 2011 or something. And then in the next version they introduced Nitrous, and that feature was gone. But that persistent AO was still available in the next versions, but you just needed to change the viewport to Legacy Direct3D.

[LucasD]

<3 single click slate node selection! <3

[patatica]

Amazing video!!! Thank you so much Eloi!

[DavidBacad]

Amazing breakdown once again! Always appreciated!

[pixelion]

hola Eloi, thank you for your video ! I wanted to ask you what do you think about OSL but related to the futur. TV shows like the mandalorian are starting to use realtime 3D. Thanks to Unreal, they can put it on large led screen to directly film the actor in the environnement. Do you think that the PBR workflow is bound to catch up with actual rendering and it will become the standard to combine video games and Movies ? Do you think that OSL will be the standard to control this PBR workflow and end up beeing the ultimate king ? thanks

[orphydiancg]

can you do a tutorial with all these new OSL shaders as well as with some old ones! there is not enough...material lol out there and I doubt there will be for this.

[abdelrahmanmohmed]

What's about emissive material which make object glow but its appear in viewport not only render like unity5 and umreal engine ?

[yasaipicles]

I know this has been answered before. But where can I get that hdri overlay controls that u have there? Or is it something custom you made?

[GenoGENOVA]

I wonder if with this HDRI skylight the shadow are also easier to control or will they still be very dependent of the HDRI map, that are most of the time very soft shadow :(

[orphydiancg]

I've checked the roadmap again and I'm starting to fear there will be no significant stuff coming for BOOLEANS anymore. Did the guys just removed that from the roadmap ? It was there from the beginning.

[knl]

I have started using the 2021 version, its an improvement over 2020 but now I am stuck with this weird problem in uwv editor modifier, every time in click on edit UV button 3ds max crashes every time without fail. there are no solutions to this problem for 2021 so the only solution I see is to revert to 2020. I will use 2021 when the problem is fixed also I have reported it 3 times already. anybody else going through the same error.

[LightShadow]

Unlike the latest max version - the plugins are not yet ready for 2021. This was a big advantage upon the release of max 2020.

[Electricvfx]

Osl is cool sadly not supported by redshift yet. Hopefully soon.

[planetsmith]

It would be great, if you could cover also the new possibilities for Vray. How to use the new "Bake to texture" with Vray? Which parts of Max2021 are Vray compatible? Thanks

[dasnico]

when can we expect sss/volumetrics? propbably another year or 2. Bloom and glare should of been in this update periode.

[AstroSquid]

Does Arnold use MikkT, or any of the render engines, or is it just the viewport?