Autodesk has announced the release of 3ds Max 2025, and here’s an overview of what’s new, with render4you 3DS Max render farm excited to support these latest advancements.
First up, 3ds Max 2025 has adopted OpenColorIO as the default color management system for new projects, marking a step toward streamlining modern color workflows. The VertexPaint tool has been integrated into this color-managed workflow, allowing for precise color adjustments directly on models. Furthermore, a new Color Space Conversion operator for Data Channel modifiers facilitates the conversion of color data across different rendering spaces, enhancing flexibility in post-processing workflows.
The update also improves the Global Search feature, which has been revamped to offer an expanded list of commands, tools, and settings to streamline the search process, making it quicker and more efficient for users to find and execute commands. The search feature now memorizes the last five used items, offering rapid access to frequently used functions, and introduces a category display for better organization. Additionally, a dockable search window and customizable search bar width aim to improve the user interface.
Improvements have also been made to the Retopology Tools, with the integration of preprocessing and OpenVDB remeshing as standalone processes. These tools are critical for optimizing 3D models for animation and rendering, reducing complexity while maintaining fidelity. The update to the Autodesk ReForm algorithm enhances performance and stability, promising up to 8% faster processing times. Such optimizations are indicative of Autodesk’s focus on efficiency and user satisfaction in complex modeling tasks.
A newly introduced Menu Editor enhances customization capabilities, allowing users to easily adjust menus and quad menus within the software. This feature supports the creation, renaming, and reorganization of menu items. A Developer Mode within the Menu Editor provides additional functionality for integrating third-party plugins, further extending 3ds Max’s versatility.
The integration of the updated Universal Scene Description (USD) plug-in in 3ds Max 2025 includes improved import capabilities for camera and light animations, as well as blendShapes. There’s also the ability to select and move USD primitives directly in the viewport and more.
Arnold for 3ds Max 5.7.0.0 integration introduces a major overhaul of the GPU renderer, global light sampling in volumes, and the introduction of dithered samples in progressive and adaptive rendering. These updates collectively aim to reduce rendering times, improve render quality, and enhance the overall efficiency of the rendering process. The update also includes several performance optimizations and new features that significantly improve the rendering experience, particularly for complex scenes and high-resolution outputs.
Among the other notable improvements are changes to the Character Animation Toolkit, enhancing animation workflows and addressing long-standing issues based on user feedback. These improvements include stability fixes related to CAT object deletion, working with Wire Parameters, and using CAT bone twist weights. Additionally, enhancements have been made to the copy/paste functionality of CAT layers, particularly in Extraction mode, improving the software’s usability in complex animation projects. Issues related to viewport refresh, scene loading due to loop references, and handling of empty animation layers have also been addressed, significantly boosting the software’s reliability and performance in animation tasks.
Furthermore, Autodesk has introduced an Assign Controller arrow navigation fix, correcting a previously encountered issue where using arrow keys to navigate the Controller list could trigger a crash. This fix enhances the usability of the Assign Controllers Rollout, making the interface more intuitive and less prone to errors. The List Controller has also seen adjustments to its scaling, ensuring that the controls remain accessible and properly displayed across different window scalings.
Another user-requested feature, the Save Incremental option, has been added to the File menu. This option facilitates better project management by allowing users to save incremental copies of their scenes.
The release also brings updates to the OpenSubdiv modifier, upgrading it to version 3.6. This update provides faster results and ensures compliance with the VFX Reference Standard. The Mesh Cleaner modifier has received updates as well, introducing new options for cleanup tasks such as addressing zero area UV, non-planar faces, and isolated vertices.
Additionally, improvements to viewport shadows have been added, with the default size limit for shadow maps increased from 512 to 4096. This change, stored in the 3dsmax.ini file and persisting across sessions, allows for higher quality shadows in the viewport. Lastly, the Slate Material Editor now allows users to quickly open a View Image File window by right-clicking on a Bitmap node.
At render4you renderfarm, we’re committed to providing top-tier rendering solutions and are thrilled to support the advanced capabilities of 3ds Max 2025.