3dsmax 2018 the lamest one in years...

[alexyork]

Well I just got off the phone with max tech support and they are now aware of the Render Setup Dialog not taking focus on mousedown (seems it only "takes" when you do mouseup), so fingers crossed that gets fixed.

They are already aware of the fact that you can't just click and select physical cameras without their targets being selected too, and are fixing it soon.

They are also aware of the issues we have with slow 4k UI response and the fact that the UI icon colours are really hard to tell apart, so the icons all look the same. Think they might tweak this down the line.

I also put some requests in for improvements to the map/material browser. Hope they listen.

For the Corona guys:

There was one issue which I think might be something for the Corona guys to address - draw a daylight system, use a coronasun, and now try to click and select the sun - doesn't work. Now drag a small selection box around the sun - doesn't work. Now drag a really big selection box around the sun - works. So there's an issue here. Doesn't happen with standard max sun, only corona sun.

[Juraj]

slow 4k UI

This is for real ?

I pondered about updating from 2016 just to get crisp, well-scaled HighDPI look. That would be super ironic if it doesn't even perform well.

[alexyork]

slow 4k UI

This is for real ?

I pondered about updating from 2016 just to get crisp, well-scaled HighDPI look. That would be super ironic if it doesn't even perform well.

It's... ok. The viewports are generally alright most of the time but moving the UI around and opening stuff is a bit sluggish compared to 2016.

I would say wait for the next hotfix and if they fix these main issues then it woul dbe worth upgrading. But frankly the 2016 UI was ok at UHD with 1.5x windows scaling on anyway... the new 2018 icons are shit. Really hard to see the difference between them. They're not colourful enough IMO.

[pokoy]

I don't think there's going to be a 2018 UI update, changing the UI code may introduce a lot of problems so it's more likely that only future versions will see improvements in that area. IIRC, the logic is that problems/issues with new features (such as the UI) aren't regressions hence no fixes in Product Updates, only in full releases.

[davemahi]

Is anyone else experiencing the issue that you pretty much have to click or drag or enter text fields in max twice for anything to happen? E.g. if you go into the dimensions of an object, click and drag the contents of the box, you expect it to be highlighted so you can change the value. But it doesn't.... you have to click in it manually first, or click + drag twice. This is happening for all of us in the studio...

YES! incredibly annoying. The number of times I have accidentally started a render :(

For me this is happening only in Max 2018, and only in the Render Setup window. So if I, for example, stop rendering in the VFB, and then jump back to Render Setup to change some value, I have to click anywhere inside it first. It's like changing focus to that window first, before anything else can be done.

I have reported this bug to Autodesk. I talked with the UI designer and they are aware of this. I really feel they are listening, so if you have problems get in touch, or better yet sign up to be on the beta.

[alexyork]

Is anyone else experiencing the issue that you pretty much have to click or drag or enter text fields in max twice for anything to happen? E.g. if you go into the dimensions of an object, click and drag the contents of the box, you expect it to be highlighted so you can change the value. But it doesn't.... you have to click in it manually first, or click + drag twice. This is happening for all of us in the studio...

YES! incredibly annoying. The number of times I have accidentally started a render :(

For me this is happening only in Max 2018, and only in the Render Setup window. So if I, for example, stop rendering in the VFB, and then jump back to Render Setup to change some value, I have to click anywhere inside it first. It's like changing focus to that window first, before anything else can be done.

I have reported this bug to Autodesk. I talked with the UI designer and they are aware of this. I really feel they are listening, so if you have problems get in touch, or better yet sign up to be on the beta.

If you've already reported this then this is concerning, because the tech support chap I spoke to this morning had no idea about this bug. So something's not right there. I feel like this happens often with Autodesk. Left hand not talking to the right.

In the case of this UI bug, it's a bug for sure and not a feature request - no other dialog suffers from this issue as far as I can tell - so I'm hopeful it will make it into a hotfix. The UI icon colours etc.. yeh, 2019+ at best.

[peterguthrie]

yep, I think that is exactly the problem Alex. is there a thread on the area forum where I can contribute? (will try to remain calm... promise)

[alexyork]

yep, I think that is exactly the problem Alex. is there a thread on the area forum where I can contribute? (will try to remain calm... promise)

The best thing to do is probably fill out their bug report form. I just can't imagine that nobody on their internal development team or on their beta test/QA didn't spot this... We all spotted it in the first 5 mins of installing 2018 haha

[peterguthrie]

submitted a report, lets see if anything happens... (not holding my breath)

[kellymic]

@peter: I see two defects logged under your email address. 

#1 - File save issue, verified.  For future reference the defect id is MAXX-35755.

#2 - Render dialog click issue.  In our list of defects to be triaged, QA will review it soon.  Defect id is BSPR-29624.

@alexyork and others - If you are interested in joining the 3ds Max beta you can apply here:

https://beta.autodesk.com/key/3dsMaxBetaApplication

[kellymic]

On the primary topic of this thread, how do you folks feel about the features in 3ds Max 2018 now that the three updates are out? 

We are working hard on quality, new features, and listening to you as well. 

[Nejc Kilar]

On the primary topic of this thread, how do you folks feel about the features in 3ds Max 2018 now that the three updates are out? 

We are working hard on quality, new features, and listening to you as well.

Personally (I am primarily a c4d user) I think the 2018 releases were quite great to be honest. What caught my attention was that every release had an update to a really usable tool (Splines, Motion Paths (long overdue, heh), PathDeform update, QT5 and obviously fluids). Some of these things were also suggested by users in the forums which is a big plus to me.

What I really really like is you guys being active in the community and listening to  it - just like what you are doing right now. Kudos for that!

My biggest concern, as always, are still your overlords (Autodesk). The track record has been spotty to say the least. By far the biggest issue for me though are the subscriptions - I just have a really hard time getting aboard with that.

Obviously the two statements above are probably nothing you can do about it but still :) From a pure software standpoint I  like the progress this year. Good work :)

[alexyork]

On the primary topic of this thread, how do you folks feel about the features in 3ds Max 2018 now that the three updates are out? 

We are working hard on quality, new features, and listening to you as well.

We're just disappointed that 2018 has broken so many key basic features that were totally solid in 2016. We historically always skip the "odd" versions of max, which are always the more feature-packed experimental releases, in favour of the "even" versions which follow, which until recently have been really solid, especially after a service pack or 2. But with 2018, and 3 SPs down, we're finding it to be far less stable, with a clunky and unreliable UI, slower and less responsive UI and viewports, and loads of annoying selection issues, and a bunch of bugs that have been reported literally years ago. It's frustrating that these issues are not resolved and retail releases are going out with such obvious problems that can't take any time at all to identify. We regret moving from 2016.

[Philip kelly]

And having to pay through the nose for it.

[kellymic]

We're just disappointed that 2018 has broken so many key basic features that were totally solid in 2016.

Please email me the issues you are referring to.  I apologize if you have already done this but I would like to be clear on all of this and take a look.