Can someone explain the state of 3ds max? How is it this possible? How do autodesk prioritize?

#1

Without being hyperbolic, 3ds is probably the worst piece of software I have ever used. I started doing a list of all the bugs and broken functions but it took all of my time so I stoped.
And it is constantly getting worse with each version. Things that actually worked before has gotten worse or stopped working, especially when it comes to the UI. What on earth are their UI team up to? Its unfathomable to me the number of bad decisions and design choices:

*In lightwave from 2004 I could have an animation loop while I edited it in the curve editor. Cant do that in max 2018, I have to stop the animation each time I want to change something. 14 years later. Unbelivable.

*The “realistic” view mode in the viewport. Blocky shadows which are pitch black. Its impossible to work in this mode, and for some reason its the deafult mode. Why? Why would someone prefer a view mode where you cant see big parts of your models because they are in pitch black shadows? Programs like C4D have viewmodes which look serously good.

*In other programs you´ve had the abilty do dock windows on various places in the interface. You do this by grabbing the window AT A CERTAIN ICON, than pulling into place. 3ds max thought this was a good idea but they didnt get the importance of grabbing windows from a certain icon. The result being you cant have windows floating on top of your interface because it wants to dock your windows if you are like 2cm from a dockable area. This places huge limitations on your ability to customize your UI, espacially if your working on a smaller monitor.

*From 2018 they changed the viewport view modes, basicly they dont work anymore. If you try to view a texture in the viewport sometimes those objekt becommes invisible, sometimes they dont. You wont know until you try.

*In the layer editor the columns sometimes get super wide, you can spend a minute adjusting it back, but it will revert to being super long directly after. Youre better of using the old version of the layer editor which is docked to the interface. This was never an issue before.

*In most menus you now have to click buttons two times for it to register. A 2018 release of a software is so buggy you have to click on buttons two times for them to register.

At least we have that “sketch” view mode.

#2

I am sorry to hear about your frustrations. We do certainly know that there are many areas that need attention, including several of the items you highlighted. We cannot always address every concern or issue in the order every person would like, but we do sincerely listen to these kinds of grievances. I will share your input with our teams.

#3

I think you need to hire some people who are competent in UI. Not trying to be rude here, but who ever is in charge of that area of max development have NO clue about what they´re doing. (Im expressing this as mildly as I can.)

For example: windows docking if you put that window within 2 cm of an area, no mather where you grab the window is such HUGE mistake, for a number of reasons.
It has very big implications: adjusting your workspace becomes a shore, or even impossible. It wasnt like this in earlier versions. Its an EASY fix, and there isnt any reason for it to exist. Anyone who has spent ANY time with another software understands why you need a seperate icon to dock windows. It just reaks of either incompetence, lazyness, or both. And that is what makes the hundreds of bugs and issues so hard to overlook.

Our team are migrating away from max. My advice would be to NOT add any features before you fix all the bugs and issues. Our experience is that max hase been getting worse with every itteration for half a decade now.

#4

The problem is that Autodesk is suffering from late-stage public-company syndrome where no one left at the company has any of the qualities that would have founded such a company. Large public companies have to stay in business for the sake of staying in business even if they have no clue as to what they are supposed to be doing. They continue to exist because their competition is just as incompetent. Take the car industry for example that got blind-sided by Tesla. No one at Autodesk really uses their products and asking customers for ideas is a really bad sign when there are so many obvious problems. Or at least, obvious to anyone that actually needs to complete a task with the software. 3D experts that are also programmers/developers are “Too expensive” (Autodesk fired these people a long time ago) and so is R&D when these are the backbone of a successful software company. Autodesk is not about creating the best possible software with money and profit being a mere byproduct. Autodesk is about creating as much money as possible with the minimum of effort and expense and unfortunately, that means that you need to walk away and find an alternative.

#5

Yes, they are incompetent and dont seem to care.
I dont think they continue to exist because the competition is bad, but because they are so big and many people have used their software for so many years.

We´ve begun migrating to C4D and its such a great program. Things doenst just work like you´d expect, but even better. Its so well design and thought out. Its inspiring to work with it.

The sooner I can leave 3ds max behind me the better. Its borderline criminal what they charge for such a dysfuntional and broken piece of software.

#6

Thanks for your input. While I cannot promise that all of your concerns will be addressed in the near-term, I can say that the product team and developers do care deeply about the success of our Max customers and the future of 3ds Max. Also, it is incorrect to assume that no one at Autodesk uses the software; many of us working on Max are decades-long users. We are trying to make some changes in priorities to improve your confidence and trust in us. In recent years we worked heavily around stability–making each release more stable than the last. There are still many defects we want to address, and we prioritize based on how many users are affected by each defect. Your UI concerns are ones many of us share and would like to address.

#7

If you are serious get rid of whoever is responsible for you UI. Its a total disaster.
A couple or more examples:

Changing all the icons i max 2018. What was the point? The new icons arent easier to read. We were used to the old icons, and whats worse some of the new icons looks like older icons which meant something different! The new create layer icon looks the old add to layer icon.

Before 2018 if you were on a subobject level the modifier name had a blue background. Now its the reverse: if your NOT on a sub objekt level its blue. I fail to see the point of this change?

Before 2018, you could navigate to different sections of a meny by right clicking and then clicking on the section name. Now that same function just opens that subsection withou takeing you there, which makes that function TOTALY USELESS and makes navigation even more of a shore.

I know I´ve said this alot now, but who ever is in charge of your UI doesnt have a single clue. We´re not updatingf to the latest version anymore because its guarantied to be worse than the previous version.

#8

Have to admit, MAX has always a little bit felt like it was designed by engineers for engineers, rather than for artists.

A lot of functions have names which are deeply counter-intuitive, for example; they might make sense from a purely technical standpoint, but if I’m trying to get geometry to do a certain something and the modifier which does it has a name that sounds nothing like it, that’s a problem…