Welcome to CGPress!
Jul 31, 2014 by CGP Staff
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After many months of hard work the doors of CGPress are finally open to the public!
To all long-time readers, please head over to the 3DS Max section of CGPress to find continuous reporting on 3DS Max news.
We have been increasingly covering general CG news for a while and we’re happy to finalize the transition of the site in that direction. The question is, how can we provide a macro view of CG news while still offering a micro (localized) one? How can we avoid the deluge of disconnected, de-contextualized news items that is a trademark of this age?
You’ll notice we have included a number of localized news channels, which allow us to provide in-depth news coverage centering on specific CG software while keeping the noise completely out of the line (each news channel has its own Twitter account, too). The site has been rebuilt from the ground up, offering new sections and capabilities (see the Tutorials and Resources sections for an example), with more features on the way.
Our focus and independent editorial line, however, remain unchanged. The news continues! So please join us once again, there are many new, good things to come.
To all long-time readers, please head over to the 3DS Max section of CGPress to find continuous reporting on 3DS Max news.
We have been increasingly covering general CG news for a while and we’re happy to finalize the transition of the site in that direction. The question is, how can we provide a macro view of CG news while still offering a micro (localized) one? How can we avoid the deluge of disconnected, de-contextualized news items that is a trademark of this age?
You’ll notice we have included a number of localized news channels, which allow us to provide in-depth news coverage centering on specific CG software while keeping the noise completely out of the line (each news channel has its own Twitter account, too). The site has been rebuilt from the ground up, offering new sections and capabilities (see the Tutorials and Resources sections for an example), with more features on the way.
Our focus and independent editorial line, however, remain unchanged. The news continues! So please join us once again, there are many new, good things to come.
Fantastic work Pablo and team! The new site looks fantastic and I’m thrilled to see the new iteration of a site we all love!
The site is beautiful, I’m sure the content will also be. But is it only me who’s afraid that another important Max related thing is no-more? Damn.
But good luck in this new endeavour.
The new site is a beautiful piece of work, but I must say that I prefer the old simpler site. I didn’t have to dig into the far reaches of space to find news on a certain topic.
Congratulations ! but after this what will happend for maxunderground related and users group ?
I liked the old design much, much more 🙁 It was my daily start web site and just about max. Now its about everything. there are to much similar sites out there, plesae change that. in the 3dsmax section, there is something about libre office, why ? and cinema 4d , why ? Please keep it simple and clean, at least for the 3dsmax section, I don´t care for the other subjects. And it is much slower than before :(thank you
I wish you could keep maxunderground separate from this, maxunderground was a symbol in the world of max. sad.
I wish you the best of luck for this site project…ok,now…where’s the good old maxunderground site?
IMHO it’s very sad maxunderground is gone it was always number one address for max related news and a great platform for discussions with like-minded people. Honestly now the website does not look like something special anymore but just like “yet another cg news site”.
My 2 cents
-Robert
In my option the header section is wasting way to much space, you have to scroll down to even see the first couple of news items. It’s too big without a purpose.
I’d also prefer a more dark/maxunderground color scheme. It feels a bit too “random modern”.
But the one thing that really is a pity is the change from “maxunderground” to “cgpress”. It’s like changing “coca cola” to “black water with sugar”
R.I.P. Maxunderground 🙁 New site looks pretty but too much like all the others. Don’t see myself visiting as much since I preferred the visual simplicity of the old site.
Nice Job ! It’s Looking great !
Didn’t see this one coming, pressed the MU link button several times until I realized it’s getting redirected. I don’t mind the redesign/relaunch and think the spirit will remain the same (hopefully, I used to visit MU every day like many others)! But to be honest, I’m missing the old color scheme.
Btw, what happened to the forum? But whatever the plans are, all the best!
p.s. Many thanks for the plug on the main banner, unfortunately I haven’t updated my site for at least 3 years (I knew for so long I should…) So if you find it boring over there, it probably is 😉
Well,I’m not sure what to say really so I’ll be honest, my first reaction was to absentmindedly check the calender and see if it says April, but it didn’t,,,
While I may be able to understand your ambition of creating an all round CG news blog, I probably will never understand how a decade old identity could be discarded just like that, I can’t believe that special place is no more, I’m still hoping we can see that name again somewhere, but in the end I guess I owe you a good luck after all this time, so good luck.
progress is a great thing but i am sad the old name is discarded just like that.
and to be honest, while looking more professional and sleek – the site does seem somewhat generic looking.
nondescript name cgpress underlines that even more.
non the less i love the content and hope it can stay 3ds max centric.
the community needs it desperately.
Just can’t understand it, WHY? it was just simply the most informative, most up-to-date Max website out there, I’ve clicked on your site everyday for years for the latest news, reviews, tutorials, animations, to me it offered everything a “Maxer” could ever want. Loved the format, it was part of my family. Gutted, won’t be able to sleep tonight.
My only ‘problem’ with this is that will this new site bring Eddie Perlberg, Cris Bond or other top important people of Max to join in a discussion like that big thread about Max last year?
Here was the place for that to happen, I don’t think something like that would have happened on CGSociety (as an example).
Let’s wait and see.
The other thing that troubles me is the Modo section above. Man … Modo looks like iPhone nowadays. It doesn’t do half of what the competition do, but it has that ‘cool’ appeal that everybody wants to be a part of.
Congrats for the new page, but as others, I prefer maxunderground more (its question of time to adapt to new things I guess). But the page lost personality, looks like 10 other cg generic sites. Maxunderground was maybe not “cool” but was fast and direct to read, for 3dsmax news.
Hmm…. It’s OK but I really don’t like it.
I reloaded the bookmark several times before I realised it’s changed. Nice and colourful but I liked the fact that the old page loaded and there were all the (relevant) news stories. Now I just get a massive header and the news is a large scroll down. It looks like someone in ‘management’ decided to stick their oar in to make it more ‘zingy’ whilst taking away all the ease of use that made it so popular in the first place. A shame.
Wow, talk about a buzzkill first thing in the morning. I thought the very large “CGPRESS” banner up top was just some in-your-face ad before thinking I stumbled onto some kid’s blog. This was followed with sadness that our iconic Maxunderground website is no more. Not even a warning of any kind. Kind of like our deep down fears of Autodesk putting the axe to another beloved 3D application – 3DMax. Ironic, no?
now you seem to be just like everyone else? hardly an improvement. maxunderground for years the first place i go each morning for news in the 3dsmax world. disappointing. i believe the phrase is “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”
Hi all!
Thanks for all the comments and feedback. We’re listening and reading each and every one of them. We will be making changes to the site to make sure content is accessible, quick and easy to reach. Please keep in mind this is its first iteration, your criticism is needed and much welcome to improve it.
Question: would you prefer to see the big image slider removed from the 3DS Max section so news is brought closer to the top? (we can use the top row images to highlight news)
As you can see we have re-enabled links in the index pages, so there’s less need for clicking on news items. Pls keep the ideas and criticism coming.
We can assure you that Max coverage will remain as strong as always. We’re adding, not subtracting.
It’s really great to see how much people liked MU. I have no doubt we’ll accomplish the same with this one.
A special thanks goes to those who sent us their good wishes. Thanks folks, it’s much appreciated.
All the best Pablo and team. MU is literally the 3rd most visited site on my Google chrome ‘new tabs’ page. (Facebook and Outlook.com win). Like others I also had to click the link a few times before realising it had seriously changed.
Definitely strange that there was no prior warning or leadup. But I am optimistic about the future. I hope the name Max Underground lives on..
the other thing that i loved about MU was that when you hit the first page you can see everything, now you have to scroll or click somewhere and scroll, again seems unfocused.
Like many others, I was pretty surprised to start my day on MU (like every other day) only to find it has changed. I kept refreshing before I figured out it was actually re directing me to an entirely new site. I’ve been visiting Max Underground for years and I also find it strange that there was no warning.
The site look OK, but as previously mentioned, it looks pretty generic. MU had such a more simple look and feel. There was no hunting around trying to find relevant links. They were all right there. I don’t think there were any MU users complaining about the old set up were there? Just really odd to change a staple in the Max community just for the sake of changing.
I guess time will tell if the changes grow on me or not (I’ll give it an honest shot) but I don’t know if I see myself logging onto cgpress.com first thing every morning like I did with MU
MaxUnderground has been run by an incredibly dedicated team and selflessly lead by the efforts of its editor-in-chief for many years now. The quality of writing is incredibly high – it’s definitely a place where you can trust. It’s such a staple in the 3ds Max community there have been epic threads including Autodesk management which has given users a real voice. It’s *the* go to site for Max related news and since the old links redirect that means CGPress is the site for Max news.
IMHO – this is the next step. I expect everything great about MaxUnderground will continue here and the more general focus will bring new users, new opportunities, new articles, more volunteers, etc. I for one am really excited at the potential! Onward! 🙂
The original MaxUnderground page, with it 1999 design was actually “The best 3d Page in the Universe” (http://maddox.xmission.com/ if you know what i mean 🙂
Pity it has traded the recognizable, nostalgic, indistinguishable and meanwhile popular “Retro” Look&Feel against some WordPress Theme (or whatever this is). If would have remain as such for the next 5 years, it would have become the cult 3d page. But it is probably how the world turns around today, either you remain the crocodile or you evolve into something else.
Wish you lot of success in the future! 🙂
I was actually very disappointed to see the big change. You could see it coming as there ended up being more and more NON related 3dsmax stuff on MU. MU was a go to spot for 3dsmax though and will be missed. If I wanted general CG news there are already a ton of sites to go to.
I guess we are all going to have to find another portal that is 3dsmax specific.
Good luck
I like what you’ve done with the site but I also agree that the simplicity and directness of the old site was it’s charm. I too was sitting here like a dummy hitting refresh, thinking that I got sent to something unrelated (For a split second I thought the site was fxguide)
Good work to all and I’m sure everyone will adapt 😉
Jason
Speaking only for myself here, I had one of the biggest “WTF!?” moments of my nearly 20 years of internet life. Like many of you, I reloaded several times and my first assumption was that someone (CG Persia? – see how close “CGP” is to the name of the worst software pirate place out there) hijacked the site and redirected me somewhere else. I was in panic.
After the panic came the realization I have to search through the articles to figure out what this place is. That’s how I got here.
A gently explanation in the title would have been nice…
I am sad. I feel cheated.
Of course, I will continue posting whenever a relevant thread comes up involving Thinkbox products. But it won’t be the same.
OH Noooooo !!!!!! Please give me back my maxunderground.com Please !!!
MU <3
CGP, I too was certainly taken back and thought there was some redirect going on. Not to hash on all of your hard work on this endeavor but when I saw this I was a bit taken back. MU has meant to me a large subculture, a culture driven by smart eclectic individuals that make max thrive and be what max is today.
Cheers for your continuing hard work Pablo and crew, I would be remiss if I didn't state that I already miss the look/feel of MU. Maybe, at the very least, in the max section MU could live on?
Yeah… I had to do multiple reloads, and it looked like a hijack.
You can say all the same content is there… but it looks like now digging is required…I think there’s a lot in a name, and the implication is that this is now the site for things and also Max.
Like Pablo said, this is just the first iteration. The thinking, quality and people behind the site are the same, but I can absolutely understand the need to expand after 14 years of concentrating on Max.
I hope that everyone who is missing MU right now will give the new site a chance. Constructive criticism will only make the site better in the long run!
Hello,
First off, I would like to thank the MU team for their unwavering dedication of maintaining MU and outputting 3dsmax news through out the years. I understand the effort put into maintaining the upkeep is no easy task and am very grateful the MU crew has kept MU around to withstand the test of time. I have been a lurker of MU for many years now. However, today I find MU gone. I first thought it was some kind of fluke but then I figured out it wasn’t. I hope you don’t take this offensively for I understand that the crew has been hard at work updating the site, however I have to come out of the woodworks and say this. I frankly believe the old layout as well as the maxunderground domain was much more unique, easier to navigate, and had the culture and history that was one of its own. Not to sound harsh but I don’t understand why the site needed a overhaul when it seemed to be working. Was MU having financial difficulties and maintaining it becoming a burden? Is that the reason why the decision was made to change the main content of the site expanding it into other aspects of CGI? Was it the reason the site needed a “web 2.0” look to try to harness more visitors? If that was the case, it should have been addressed beforehand. I would have gladly donated some funds for support. MU was the beacon of hope for 3dsmax as the prospect of 3dsmaxs future, though speculative, is veiled in fog of uncertainty. Now I am afraid the if MU goes, it will have some sort of negative impact on max’s said future. However large or small, I believe this is no overstatement. Before this change becomes final, please reconsider the approach. Thank you.
Maybe you can make it possible to have both versions if the content is the same ? So eveyone can choose the right look and feel ? I would prefer the old one A LOT ! It was special, this one is just boring as so many other unimportant web sites….
very sad day with the demise of maxunderground…
now we have a generic “catch all” site..nothing special, no focus
I must sadly also join the majority voice in this thread, and shed a tear for MU. I trust Pablo to find the correct balance.
Can the maxunderground.com redirect at least take users directly to the Max section? And what about having that section keeping more of the old look and feel? I am really missing it already 🙁
I am very disappointed that Max Underground is gone.
It was the first thing I looked at online when I started my day.
Will the new site continue to track 3ds Max happenings?
Wow, this was a surprise! It took a couple of refreshes before I figured out what had happened. I am going to wait a bit before drawing any conclusions, but I am definitely leaning into the positive about this. It seems like we finally will get a popular CG news-site that has Max-bias, which will only strengthen the direction MU set out! The design is a bit generic, I have to agree, but as long as the content matches the standard of MU, I am all ready for the change!
Hi Maxunderground
can you please at least make the old theme back?
I dont mind the new design I am sure I wil get into it eventually. But I am sad at the name change it was a cool name, this is too generic and close to CG persia. As long the as the strong maxfocus stays I guess all be well.
Hey Pablo!!
great job…for a moment I was afraid that something weird happened to MU!! 😀
this is definitely an important step forward!!!
keep it coming!!
Pablo and team congrats on moving forward. I haven’t been deterred from visiting but it does load much slower than maxunderground… Why all the empty space on the left and ride sides but you stick an advertisement in the white area? I’m talking about the big ad above the ‘latest news’ column. Also so much wasted space at the top. Like someone else said we have to scroll down to actually see the news.
You’ve got two seperate image sliders at the top, maybe incorporate them into one? Also the separate row for the news edition categories ,is that really justified? But If I scroll halfway down the page, that looks like a real news website with lots of great articles. Best of luck!
It’s great to see and updated design. A bit sad to see maxunderground go. Like many others I liked MU because it was a niche where just 3ds Max users could hang out and communicate. It seems like this is going more of the route like CGTalk, 3dTotal and many other sites. It almost looks very similar to some. I hope the best of luck. I’ll miss MU for sure.
I would suggest reducing the header and making it very minimal. People should see content within what’s call ‘the folder’. which is the first 700 px vertically, or in other words, what users see on the page before having to scroll. Currently for me it’s just adds and a header. Keep an eye out for that. It will quickly deter people from wanting to visit this site.
best of luck
Hey thanks for all the suggestions everyone! We have begun to implement some of your suggestions and are discussing how to implement others. We appreciate the feedback and feel free to let us know of any other ideas you might have.
Better!
I know you probably won’t go back to the old color scheme but I personally like darker colors… How about matching Max’ UI colors? 😉
Where is the forum? I know it isn’t super busy but it is useful. It sucks and is nearly impossible to try and search for info on facebook groups. I really wish people would still group up on the forums. 🙁
I am also deeply appreciative to Pablo and MU/CGP team for all the work they have done over the years for the community. This site is a great step forward and feels very natural to transition. Good job!
Another question: is it really necessary to have an image desplayed for every article on the main page? You could include images in the main article only… Just a thought to make the main page’s appearance a bit lighter.
Same goes for mobile devices, images take up a lot of space (and bandwidth) right now, it would really be cool to have a text-only page when viewing on mobile devices.
Is there a way to view ALL news and articles at once? The main “cg news” contains things that the “3ds Max” section does not, and vice versa.
@JohnnyRand…if you click on the “3ds Max” section the forum link appears at the top. Tripped me up at first too.
I’m perfectly fine with getting my 3DS MAX news with C4D news. In the end we are all into cg. Here is the press. However for awhile I will continue to use the re-direction from maxunderground. I think it would be great to have two buttons on the main interface as a tip of the hat: cg press, and mu
so I was not the only one that tried refreshing the page. Most has been said about the new look and name. Let´s see how the page evolves. Maybe the look and feel will eventually return to the cool style it had.
Ahhhh
Thanks @Mitch !
@Eric I think the best way to describe it is like Scriptspot without /Bobo. Getting used to it though, you guys do ultimately kickass 😉
A massive thanks for the former MU site, sad as I am to see it go. Hope this new one will be all we hope it to be.
If I may borro a quote from Muhammad Asad:” If water stands motionless in a pool it grows stale and muddy, but when it moves and flows it becomes clear: so, too, man in his wanderings.”
Btw, could we please have light colored text on dark background for easier reading?