Autodesk releases 3ds Max 2026
Autodesk has introduced a range of updates in 3ds Max 2026, including new materials, modifiers, performance improvements, animation tools, and rendering features.
OpenPBR is now the default material in 3ds Max. This physically-based shader offers a consistent material interface across applications and supports interoperability with MaterialX and OpenUSD. OpenPBR promises an intuitive control set for a wide range of CG materials, aiming to produce physically realistic results.
The Vertex Weld Modifier has been updated to support both Mesh and Spline objects. When applied to splines, it allows the welding of open vertices—those without two connecting segments—enabling users to repair and unify splines more efficiently while maintaining editability and procedural compatibility. This change supports use cases such as cleaning up imported vector data or preparing text objects. An additional cleanup function removes dead vertices created during previous topology changes in polygon meshes.
A new feature called Preserve Stack Position has been added to the Modifier Stack Controls. When activated, this toggle enables users to return to the previously selected modifier on an object after selecting a new object, making it easier when switching between multiple objects.
The Create panel in the Command Panel now includes an Object Search Widget. Positioned at the top of the panel, this field allows users to search across all available objects. It uses the global search field’s backend to support suggestions, previously used items, and highlighted results, helping users avoid navigating through multiple tabs and drop-down menus.
Performance improvements have been made to several key modifiers. The Boolean Modifier now delivers up to 40 percent faster results when using the CARVE library, and the Array Modifier has received up to 15 percent speed improvements compared to the previous release. The Conform Modifier processes data up to 40 percent faster depending on scene complexity. The Displace Modifier can process up to 2.28 times faster. The Skin Modifier offers improved viewport performance, contributing to faster animation and timeline interactions. Processing for 3ds Max Fluids has been improved by up to 10 percent.
Updates to animation workflows include viewport performance enhancements, CAT updates, and fixes to the Biped system. Viewport interactions are more responsive due to improved multithreading and optimized hardware use. CAT now supports more stable motion layer cloning, corrected footprint node behavior, refined layer pasting, and Trackview controller selections without errant values. Several issues that previously caused crashes during Motion Editor operations and undo actions have been addressed. The Biped system now supports exact name matching when loading BIP files, preserving animation data when rigs are modified. It also supports reordering and reusing extra bones without affecting existing animations.
Three new Open Shading Language maps have been added. The Perlage Map generates randomized circular grooves resembling those found in watchmaking, including outputs for anisotropy and groove flow direction. The Flow Map Transform assists in translating 2D flow maps into a format suitable for OpenPBR’s anisotropy tangent input. Numbered File Name v2 provides improved control over image sequence playback, with frame range mapping and behavior settings for out-of-range frames.
A new spline rectangle creation mode allows users to define rectangles with three points. This method lets users create rectangles at arbitrary angles rather than aligning only to the world axes. The process involves selecting a starting corner and dragging to define the first and second edges.
Retopology Tools v1.6 has been included with 3ds Max 2026. The ReForm base algorithm has been optimized for better performance. The Flow Retopology feature, which uses cloud processing to perform retopologizing operations remotely, is now available for up to 50 jobs per calendar month. Flow Retopology can run multiple operations simultaneously and continue to process in the background while work proceeds in the application. Mesh Cleaner Modifier improvements support additional mesh cleanup tasks.
USD for 3ds Max version 0.10 now includes a Layer Editor for managing USD layers. Light linking support has been added to control light-object interactions. Class prims can now be displayed in the USD Explorer, and USD BasisCurves are viewable in the viewport. The USD plug-in is now bundled with the application.
Substance for 3ds Max has been updated to version 3.0.5, and the version of Arnold included with the release is MAXtoA 5.8.0, incorporating Arnold 7.4.0.0. New rendering features include support for transmission shadow density in the openpbr_surface and standard_surface shaders, allowing transparent materials to cast realistic shadows. The update also improves global light sampling by considering material glossiness, giving faster adaptive renders in certain lighting scenarios.
Arnold’s Cryptomatte now has an internal GPU-compatible implementation that uses less memory. This change supports higher anti-aliasing settings and improves performance in progressive and adaptive rendering modes. The triplanar shader includes a new normal_type parameter with multiple options for interpreting surface normals, providing control over bump and displacement interactions.
Updates to Arnold’s plugin for 3ds Max include material and map support in RenderView’s Isolate Selected feature, toolbar feedback improvements, and changes to ASS export behavior. Viewport support has been added for using directional Arnold lights as camera views. Stability improvements have been made to RenderView’s launch behavior, and the default for “Abort On License Fail” has been changed to True.
Alembic procedural support now includes new motion blur control parameters to reduce sampling overhead. Volume intersection performance using OpenVDB has been optimized for multi-core systems, and grid size defaults in the uv_camera baking process have been adjusted for better speed. Improvements have been made to Alembic instancing and visibility change detection.
MaterialX support has been upgraded to version 1.38.10-OpenPBR. The new version includes enhanced support for layered materials and NPR nodes. Interoperability between Arnold and MaterialX shaders is improved, allowing direct connections between Arnold closures and MaterialX surface shaders. MaterialX OSL closures are now implemented for defining layered physical materials, including those required for OpenPBR.
OpenPBR now includes corrections to its metallic lobe behavior. A new Scene Converter preset allows users to convert existing Physical Material and Arnold shaders to the new OpenPBR format introduced in the 3ds Max 2025.3 update.
Many more improvements are included, so for more information, we recommend reading the detailed breakdown in Autodesk’s official documentation.
What a sad joke…
LOL indeed. And Maya 2026 is worse.
Honestly, if there are more than 4 devs working at Autodesk’s, they are scamming the management because what they achieve is the work of 0.2 person. They do nothing,
Check their website out, a new way to create a rectangle as one of their major improvements. Hilarious, glad I’m almost out of the software.
What will you replace it with ?
Unreal, does the job I need it for. Pleasure to use as soon as you get through the initial user interface. Not for everyone I’m sure but for some it’s worth looking into.
Unreal seems amazing for rendering ( and maybe animation ? ), but you can’t model in it though..
Depends on your line of work but Max is pants to model in anyway, most people use Rhino and import from there. I appreciate there are character modellers and others where 3dsmax trumps this.
i guess its the new AI rectangle
Still waiting for an egg spline update.
Those animation improvements, multi-threading and viewport performance gains could prove vital if they’re more than mere corporate talk, I’m actually excited to check if they’re as significant as claimed. That would be a huge boost to overall user experience.
They could take a page out of Unreal’s Metahuman book and give Character Studio Biped a significant boost, however. And improve that awful Track View, just copy Maya’s.
Sad
I’m happy about the updates. all the improvements are great. Great work to the team.
Hehe good! I got the joke
Thanks bro. I am the “team.” I did it all over the weekend and I’m getting paid for the whole year.
Those who are “sad” – do not forget that 3ds max updates are released not once a year, but once a quarter.
and? i saw this stance last 2-3 years. All last update since 2-3 years are minor ones. They even removed roadmap coz they cannot keep up with it. Remember there were sculpt brushes in roadmap? They’re gone. With roadmap. Lol.
As if that is a new thing. Remember service packs and how there’d be two or three before they fixed some of the new release bugs and finally incorporated the features from the beta that were too buggy to be part of the update? Nothing has changed other than having to pay more for the updates.
And what were those amazing point updates?
Exactly! and the updates should be judged as a whole of the yearly release cycle so “why so sad already” theres more updates coming for 3dsMax
Its not the quantity its the quality. I don’t want updates all year in fact i don’t want updates for two years if they are able to fix the real pending issues and shortcomings. But that wont happen, there are atockholders and shareholders and bonuses at risk.
The thing is it is easy to play both the business game and the development game together. You just need someone to take initiative to make it happen. Because it will cost Autodesk nothing to do so.
I have a list of developers right now, and if i were out in charge i would know how to make it happen without losing the company a penny and having everyone walk off happy. I will certainly cut costs on stupid shit to make up for it but nothing too substantial for Autodesk hire ups to care.
So sign my petition postal style and i will make all of you happy.
Why the hate, max is going strong, still one of the most used in the industry, just use all software for their strengths. If your dealing with massive large environment scenes like I do Blender isn’t even an option.
Hate is not about Max, I suppose most people in what used to be Max Underground have some degree of fondness for Max, I know I do.
The Hate has to do with what you are paying for nowdays, has to do also with the abusive behaviour of Autodesk, the little to no importance user voice has and the sluggish rate at which improvement comes.
A 3dsMax license is almost as expensive as a houdini Core node locked license. That Houdini lic comes with 5 Karma render lics and a houdini Engine lic( extra engine lics are $499/y ). that lic is permanent, it is YOURS, nobody can hold a project hostage. moreover if you want maitenence it only costs $995
all subsequent years (less than Max), and that is only IF you want it.
This is what all the hate is about.
blender clowns yapping, easy to get big updates when your freeble software is severely lacking
3ds Max is still in the industry only because of its incredibly skilled user base and 30+ years of history. Otherwise, let’s be honest—it fell behind in the software race a long time ago.
You don’t switch to Blender because, with all due respect, you’re just too lazy. And hey, just because you’re too lazy doesn’t mean it’s not a valid option!
I’ve been using Max since version 3, and I still love it. But Autodesk’s yearly updates? Man, they feel like a joke—tiny, almost sarcastic upgrades that make you wonder if they’re testing our patience or just trolling us at this point.
I understand the hate, it’s been going for decades but Max definitely hasn’t fell behind in the software race. Blender is awesome but not so great as well (…yet. I hope)
I’m frustrated with Autodesk’s strategy, but I have no hate for Max itself. I put my bias aside and looked at things realistically.
It’s been about four years since I switched, and there’s almost nothing you can do in Max that you can’t do in Blender. In fact, there are plenty of things Blender can handle natively that Max simply can’t without plugins—like sculpting, the incredible Geometry Nodes, and more.
I’m not here to promote any software—just speaking objectively. And even after four years of fully switching, I still hope to see Max become a powerhouse again. Unfortunately, Autodesk seems to have other plans.
In this age of AI, we can’t survive on minor updates and just clinging to plugins.
Everyone (including me) is frustrated with Autodesk strategy, but I personally compare both software excluding company’s strategy, price of software, etc. And mentioning what a software can handle natively and what not is equal to talking about money. Both 3ds max and blender have lots of nice plugins and addons which make them really powerful. We all know that 3ds max has always relied to it’s plugins and scripts and that’s part of Autodesk’s strategy for max. Let’s not forget that these plugins are being constantly updated and developed (like tyflow and many,many, many more) so I would definitely say max is moving forward even with they little “native” updates (which are actually not painfully little and if you use max you would notice the performance improvements). Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely not a blender hater and I would love it to become better than 3ds max in my eyes. But looking at things now – for heavy scenes and basically many things combined – 3ds max is still the winner. “3ds max is dead” hate is going for decades already but it is still one of the most alive sofwares in all industries combined.
Well Blender is in the industry because of its incredibly skilled user base… but falls behind 3ds max in many, many, many cases. I absolutely agree with Heavycap.
Expected. Investors, CEOs and greed can turn gold into hydrogen sulfide (H2S).
You can’t complain about lackluster updates while paying so little for all the value Autodesk provides. AD really needs to increase the monthly subscription fee. Right now the stock is doing okay, but it could be doing so much better! All the companies renting 3dsmax can easily afford a higher monthly fee, especially when they jump all over the improvements this release brings. GO ADSK!
10% rise every 6 months, no-one will notice that…………….
I can’t tell if you’re trolling or not…
Just being an Autodesk team player. Buy ADSK stock! Shareholder value is king!
I used Max since it’s 3ds Dos 3 days…
I was a first taker on 3dsMax1… and waited to compare it ti AW-Maya – when 2 years later it made it.
O wrote my thesis in 1993 on 3d Animation on SGI Risk systems and Wavefront –
I built many beta dual processor Alpha NT-machines in the 90’s to use Max – and I used it for character animation in the 90’s and 00’s and 10’s for corporate productions…
As a multi-disciplinary creative I saw Macromedia Director, Flash, Softimage/XSI, Freehand, and other platforms die in the greedy hands of useless marketeers, admin, and politics… Like institutionalised useless politicians, these middle men killed the work of passionate developers into the hands of creatives…
I will not support Autodesk anymore…
I will not support career politicians, and the propogandist of world domination anymore…
I will support alternatives like Blender… and independant parties and politicians…
Max is dead to me.. becuase Autodesk and their bureaucracy killed it… _ If they admit their failure and bring a “DODGE” to their system.. I will rethink… but it is now all grifting.
Well said Jacob.
Think of the shareholders! Without them 3dsmax would have to survive on ingenuity, forward thinking design and first class tooling.
What a load of absolutely worthless crap. Is there any feature in there that will make your production life immeasurably better or more efficient? Always the mythical viewport performance improvements that no one really knows for sure.
It was always the ‘next big thing’ that was the killer for me (and the axing of perpetual licences)
Excalibur, People Power/Geppetto, Deals to develop PFlow further, MCG, Bifrost etc.
Lots of promise/roadmaps – substantial things actually delivered or matured, not so much
I stopped updating when Autodesk ended support for my perpetual license. While I used to update every version since MAX1, now that I’m on 2022, I don’t miss any of the new offerings. Not updating has its advantages—all my old plugins and scripts still work, and I save a lot of money. I filled the feature gaps by using Tyflow, which has lots of great new features, and I update that. I don’t understand how Tyflow can do so much and Autodesk can’t. I thought Autodesk might introduce some major feature like Bifrost after ending perpetual licenses, but they didn’t, and I doubt they ever will. Remember, Naiad was thirteen years ago. More and more people I work with are switching to Blender. This update follows the pattern.
Same here, and I didn’t even update to 2022 as there were some issues, I just kept working in 2021.
TyFlow added 25+ years of features in Autodesk-years. The single most useful addition to Max in recent years, and probably so relevant that a considerable number of people can keep using Max.
The company has absolutely no vision for this product. Regular lay-offs, teams way to small to really have an impact on the app, absolutely no intention to innovate, useless updates to workflows and features that no one asked for (except for behind-the-door talks), and a general trend towards black-box development without any interaction/feedback from users, and that was already the case 10 years prior to the AI hype.
I honestly wonder how anyone can even suggest to be supportive of what happened with Max and how it’s evolving (bad choice of a word when it comes to Autodesk).
For everyone who still thinks it’s going just fine – follow up on the encouragement from Autodesk reps in recent years, and, by all means, go ahead and join the beta. See for yourself.
Probably just spinning MS DirectX updates as performance updates.
Don’t know about you but I might be using that major rectangle feature about once this year..
We want EEVEE “IN” 3dsmax !
That Is all.
I would like to know how the development of 3ds Max works at Autodesk. Who decides, “Okay, we absolutely need a new Object Search Widget,” even though there are so many other areas that could be improved, which are a thousand times more important? Maybe they should clean up the mess in the unwrap modifier first.
One thing they don’t do is pay any attention to their users, that much is clear.
This update seems to have more in it than many in the past, I suppose I’m surprised at the number of improvements if I’m being honest. The rectangle thing is dorky but w/e.
I will say this, having to use cloud credits to do modifier operations that should already be fast and that already work quickly on other software does not bode well for the future of paid 3d software in general. It’s like BMW trying to make a subscription for the heated seats.
I’ve watched people complain and whine about these releases for over a decade but it’s basically “old man yells at cloud” in the modern age. I can’t help but notice that AI seems to be rapidly heading in a direction to make most pre-rendered CG obsolete anyways, whether we like it or not. And before anyone says “Yeah but it looks like crap, it’s not ready!” I point you to the Scorpion King or Spawn from the 90’s. We ate it up anyways.
As game engines get massive development budgets and progress year over year, maybe the age of the huge DCC app is an evolutionary dead end, and we’re all dinosaurs kicking about in the tar pits. I’m getting that same feeling as when Mental Ray started to suck, but I’m getting it about the entire pre-rendered side of the industry.
It seems like lately the open source AI world advances only slightly slower than the private one, and for huge double digit savings. And open source software such as Blender already can interface with realtime AI rendering. The features on Blender are advancing faster than anything else, except maybe Houdini (idk.) I don’t know if any of you noticed, but a Blender viewport rendered movie that cost like $4-6M just beat Pixar for an Oscar.
The obvious conclusion is that the current capitalist methods of software development in consumer level advanced graphics are becoming less efficient than open source ones. So much value has been sucked out of the development process that R&D no longer happens, almost anywhere outside of open source. Half the features on this list are integrating open source stuff.
If you pay close, close attention, it’s not like they aren’t broadcasting it. The biggest new feature is a half finished implementation of USD which is basically a tool to help you migrate away from whatever DCC you are locked into. I’ve never seen a company brag so much about the tool they are building to accidentally end their own M&E product lines. But at the same time, it’s nice to have the option to save what work you can.
btw:
Good old
https://maxplugins.de
is still alive!
😀
I’m moving to Womp!
As a long-time user. I get the complaints. I also appreciate 3D Studio Max is rock solid and there is no other tool that can provide the same level of predictability on very large scenes. However, you mean to tell me that you can’t create a way to measure an object so that we as designers are not completely embarrassed by trying to drag out a box and use it like a measuring stick.
or quickly measure the length of a curve.
Command Panel\Utilities tab\Measure
Am I missing something here?
Length of curve is easy. Under the utilities tab (wrench on the far right) there is a utility plugin called ‘Measure.’ It also provides simple, bounding box oriented sizes of objects, surface area, and center of mass.
The general lack of updates to the tools are appalling as most of them have not been updated for 20 years. Let’s not get started on double precision floating points and their default use of inches under the surface. Try using Unreal and see how a program should work.
I used unreal for 2.5 years developing a game. It’s very far from perfect. Unreal has it’s fair share of outdated nonsense and poor design decisions built in, as does any legacy software, including Max. Been using 3d studio/max for almost 30 years so I’m well aware of the history and decline in terms of innovation and development. It’s tragic to watch it unfold.
Single precision floating point made perfect sense when 3d studio was initially released, and for decades afterwards. Though I believe Max is dimensionless under the hood(not fixed to inches). Math co-processors were not common place for PC’s at that time, so any flavor of floating point was fairly cutting edge. Also, working memory was limited to 640k and floppy discs were 1.44 MB. Double precision would have doubled the size of scene memory and storage for no benefit. And, there were zero 3d video PC cards available during that era.
Unreal is far from perfect, the big difference it’s free, 3dsmax isn’t. The double precision I would say is overkill but perhaps they could have created a double co-ordinate system which would allow you to display the model as per CAD and OS coordinates whilst under the hood keeping to single precision for speed and memory? 3dsmax uses inches as the default unit. The main point is the lack of development from the very small team at Adesk.
3dsmax is not rock solid, if you use Forest Pack and Vray it’s a little bit unstable imo, now Adesk will blame the plugins, blah, blah, blah, now they could have updated their software to avoid these plugins, scattering is not rocket science, you could argue Arnold is equivalent to Vray, this we know isn’t true……. I’ve argued for a long time they have an amazing program that could easily be refined every year with improvements on every tool and modifier, a lot of us would be happy with this as a minimum. The joke of these minor tools being irritable to use sums up their attitude.
Arnold and Vray are on par with each other as long as raw quality is concerned. Except for Arnold being better at some shaders like skin and hair rendering while vray surpassing Arnold’s one major weakness against it, workflow and elements output, Arnold’s compositing elements and baking workflow is an utter mess compared to Vrays ease of use.
I appreciate that Arnold is a very good renderer, but, it pales into comparison with Vray and it’s eco system, I’m no Vray evangelist but 3dsmax having the excuse of being stable isn’t true, it’s certainly not something you lump in with any update to be grateful for. Do you use any plugins yourself? Perhaps, if you are using 3dsmax with Arnold then it’s very stable? If the compositing element is a mess then that’s enough reason to ditch it imo.
From times, when there were permanent licenses, developers had to “fight” every year for old 3ds max costumers to buy new release. Now, there is no need, they will pay subscription every year one way or the other.