Installing Autodesk programs

[LHammonds]

I have a student account and can download all of Autodesk's programs free of charge (3ds Max, Maya, MotionBuilder, Mudbox, SoftImage, AutoCAD Revit, etc.)

 

I just downloaded the 2012 versions and thought I'd share my "experience" upgrading from older versions. I won't get into the ugly details but if you have most of these programs, this is what ya gotta do:

 

1. Visit WindowsUpdate and get your operating system fully patched so it doesn't interfere with the install process.
   
2. REBOOT (this clears away any lingering install steps)
   
3. Disable your anti-virus scanner
   
4. Make sure your Internet connection is working and active
   
5. Install AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite 2012
   
6. While waiting for Revit to install, you will notice at one point that it will look like it is frozen and unresponsive. DO NOT mess with it. In their infinite wisdom, they decided to remove the library from the install you downloaded and the installation process HAS to download it for the install to work. It will not give you any indication that it is downloading anything. It will just sit there saying something like "Installing component 5 of 8" and may take an hour to download on a descent home internet connection.
   
7. REBOOT (if you do not do this, the next install will fail)
   
8. Install 3ds Max 2012
   
9. REBOOT
   
10. Install Maya 2012
    
11. REBOOT
    
12. Rinse, lather, repeat for all other programs
    
13. Enable your anti-virus scanner
    
14. Now start each program and activate the software. This activates the 3-year student license.
    

 

I would advise finding the "offline" help files so you don't have to have an Internet connection just to get help or go through the tutorials.

[Alecu]

I have a student account and can download all of Autodesk's programs free of charge (3ds Max, Maya, MotionBuilder, Mudbox, SoftImage, AutoCAD Revit, etc.)

 

I just downloaded the 2012 versions and thought I'd share my "experience" upgrading from older versions. I won't get into the ugly details but if you have most of these programs, this is what ya gotta do:

 

1. Visit WindowsUpdate and get your operating system fully patched so it doesn't interfere with the install process.
   
2. REBOOT (this clears away any lingering install steps)
   
3. Disable your anti-virus scanner
   
4. Make sure your Internet connection is working and active
   
5. Install AutoCAD Revit MEP Suite 2012
   
6. While waiting for Revit to install, you will notice at one point that it will look like it is frozen and unresponsive. DO NOT mess with it. In their infinite wisdom, they decided to remove the library from the install you downloaded and the installation process HAS to download it for the install to work. It will not give you any indication that it is downloading anything. It will just sit there saying something like "Installing component 5 of 8" and may take an hour to download on a descent home internet connection.
   
7. REBOOT (if you do not do this, the next install will fail)
   
8. Install 3ds Max 2012
   
9. REBOOT
   
10. Install Maya 2012
    
11. REBOOT
    
12. Rinse, lather, repeat for all other programs
    
13. Enable your anti-virus scanner
    
14. Now start each program and activate the software. This activates the 3-year student license.
    

 

I would advise finding the "offline" help files so you don't have to have an Internet connection just to get help or go through the tutorials.

 

Well,they are very hard to install. I didn't like the fact that it doesn't come as a normal dvd image like msdn software from microsoft. Instead it had a custom downloader that downloaded files through all your disk partitions.

And they eat your disk space like crazy. On the other hand this is probably the greatest treat for a student and it is really nice of them. I have access to microsoft products such as microsoft visual studio or windows server 2008 through mdsnaa,specially made by microsoft for students. But it's not as widely available as autodesk because you usually have to be a student in computer science.

 

But, I am still sticking with blender and will probably do so for a long time. Maybe in 2004, blender was behind maya and 3d max, but now it caught up to them in many aspects and it doesn't restrain me at all from modeling complex things. 3d max and maya are for money and blender is for passion in my opinion.

 

 

By,the way,are there any major differences between 3d max 2011 and 3d max 2012?

And what version should I use, 64bit or 32bit? I have both installed but it uses a lot of space. Can a 64 bit version open 32 bit 3d max files?

Edited April 28, 2011 by Alecu

[LHammonds]

By,the way,are there any major differences between 3d max 2011 and 3d max 2012?

Performance is a major point.

Autodesk's product comparison page

 

Here is a video that shows 2011 performance 1st and then 2012 performance doing the same activities.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz6bOU4JX1w

 

Key New Features in Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Software

• Nitrous Accelerated Graphics Core (
  ,
  ,
  )
  Accelerated by modern GPUs and multicore workstations, Nitrous enables artists to iterate faster and handle larger data sets with limited impact on interactivity. Advanced scene management techniques, along with multithreaded viewport scene traversal and material evaluation, result in a smoother, more responsive workflow.
  
• Substance Smart Textures
  Artists can achieve a vast range of look variations with a new library of 80 Substance smart textures and filters — tiny, multi-output, customizable and resolution-independent textures
  
• mRigids Rigid-Body Dynamics
  mRigids is the first module released in the new MassFX unified system of simulation solvers. Artists can use the multithreaded NVIDIA PhysX engine to create more compelling, dynamic rigid-body simulations directly in the 3ds Max viewport.
  
• iray Renderer
  Using the newly integrated, NVIDIA GPU accelerated, iray rendering technology from mental images, artists can set up their scene, press “render” and get more predictable, photoreal result without worrying about rendering settings — similar to a “point-and-shoot” camera.
  
• Enhanced UVW Unwrapping
  Artists can create better UVW maps in less time, with a new Least Squares Conformal Mapping (LSCM) method, enhancements to existing tools, and more streamlined workflows.
  
• Sculpting and Painting Enhancements
  Artists can enjoy greater control over brushstrokes and their effects on geometry, thanks to new sculpting and painting workflows.
  

 

And what version should I use, 64bit or 32bit? I have both installed but it uses a lot of space. Can a 64 bit version open 32 bit 3d max files?

In the Blender world, it is almost always 32-bit version because of related software and plugins (e.g. Python).

 

I don't know about related software with 3ds Max. It might be that they typically have 32-bit and 64-bit of everything...I simply don't know. I also don't know if you get a performance benefit from 64-bit over 32-bit. Your PC would definitely need to be well into the 64-bit range to make sufficient use of the system (e.g. a 64-bit OS with only 3 or 4 GB of RAM is a waist and consumes more than a 32-bit counterpart)

[Alecu]

Wow, just the first lines from the post said it all for me: performance :D . The 2011 versions ran very slow on my pc. It's also nice to hear about lscm unwrapping though it came a bit late lol.

 

That model in the video is really interesting. But it can be done in blender too just as well for those that are scared about using blender.

 

Also,32bit vs 64bit, you are completely right. I guess for normal oblivion mods 32bit is more than enough.

 

Thank you for your answer and briefing.

[LHammonds]

I was going to convert the war machine model last night into Blender format but was too tired when the day was done and simply forgot and didn't care about anything on the PC (did not sleep the night before).

 

It will be interesting to do some comparisons of Blender 2.49b, Blender 2.57 and Max 2012 with that model on my computer. I also have a Batman Tumbler by Russel Tawn that can put the hurt on a PC when viewing it.

[Alecu]

I was going to convert the war machine model last night into Blender format but was too tired when the day was done and simply forgot and didn't care about anything on the PC (did not sleep the night before).

 

It will be interesting to do some comparisons of Blender 2.49b, Blender 2.57 and Max 2012 with that model on my computer. I also have a Batman Tumbler by Russel Tawn that can put the hurt on a PC when viewing it.

 

They do seem to have a bit more polygons than needed. I mean,even if that war machine has 100 parts, 1.5kk polygons is way too much for an editable model. I know at rendering times, subsurf and polygons are usually pumped up. It's still really interesting how would it run in blender. Though I believe it will run really slow.

[Ghogiel]

They do seem to have a bit more polygons than needed. I mean,even if that war machine has 100 parts, 1.5kk polygons is way too much for an editable model. I know at rendering times, subsurf and polygons are usually pumped up. It's still really interesting how would it run in blender. Though I believe it will run really slow.

150k tris is normal. The latest high poly sub D mesh I made is about that. That is before actually adding any subdivision on it.. when I do so I get several million tri..

 

If you do any sort of complex hard surface modelling you can quickly hit 100k. I do every time. For anything like warmachine I think 150k is pretty damn good going actually.

 

Warmachine is done in basically the same technique, and I bet anything, the guy who did that mesh is waaaaay better than me, and in comparision has likely optimised his modelling quite well.

 

lscm for max has been available as a plugin for several years. So if you are using an older max version you can get that functionality.

Edited May 29, 2011 by Ghogiel

[Loktyre]

Most models, and modelers I work with especially when working on organic modeling in Maya, Max, and Zbrush all end up with way more polygons than is necessary for animation, and rendering. However most organic models can be used to make displacement maps, and for games normal maps. Mechanical models can use displacement maps as well, but I find robots, ships, and structures are easier to work with when you simply build them shape after shape, extrusion after extrusion. That's one of the only benefits I gain to making models with 100 thousand plus triangles. So there is an applicable use for them with or without using them for displacement map and normal map creation. Most of the models that exceed a reasonable amount of triangles are discarded or archived for later use as exporting them to OBJ, FBX or MA or MB would generate a file of ridiculous size. Unfortunately not everyone has the option of opening such large files because Maya or Max would either freeze or crash entirely.

 

Blender would handle them well. I don't know if blender supports displacement map creation internally like Maya or Max does. However each model that exceeds 100,000 and even 1 million triangles isn't hard to work with in Maya or Max. It's still easy to move them around and manipulate them with a still decent frame rate.

 

Viewport 2.0 is a new feature. This allows you to take advantage of your hardware as you would in games. It also allows you to manipulate and transform objects and an entire scene with objects that exceed 100,000 triangles, along with HD textures, and lighting. Unfortunately, Viewport 2.0 isn't supported on many hardware configurations, and thus wont allow everyone to use it. Performance is a huge issue for me, and was the reason I upgraded to a machine that's designed specifically to work with programs like Maya, Max, Flare, and Autocad, and After Effects. Maya can for example take use, and advantage of your computer hardware. It can also run on very low spec computers as can Max.

 

So far the only use I've found for models with what you might consider an insane amount of polygons is for displacement maps. Taking displacement maps and applying them to lower resolution models is typical as displacement maps can simulate the same amount of detail almost exactly to the last triangle in MentalRay as would be on a model that exceed 2,000,000 polygons.

 

I've also found models that are within 30 to 70k triangles are easy enough to rig, and animate without Maya lagging. Simulation and dynamics, especially with Ndynamics is also another example of how a massive amount of polygons can be used. Fluids, and dynamics in Maya can take use of both polygonal objects, and surfaces.

 

As for 64 bit vs 32 bit. I've used 32 bit since Maya 6. After upgrading to 8.5 a few years ago I eventually went with 64 bit to support larger RAM. Maya can take a lot of you, and when you're using more than 4 to 6 cores for every single frame, you're going to use more ram. So having a 64 bit Windows operating system has it's definite benefits over 32 bit system. It's the same as in Vue 6 and 7. You can allocate the amount of memory the rendering software can use, and how many cores you wish to dedicate to rendering.

Edited May 29, 2011 by Loktyre

[LHammonds]

Ah, I never got back to replying. I found the war machine folder while doing some spring cleaning (my PC seemed to be dying).

 

Blender 2.49b was able to open and edit it, however, it was way too slow to be of any use.

 

Blender 2.57 was also able to open but also had similar performance. It seemed a bit more responsive but still too slow to do anything of use with it.

 

Keep in mind that when I imported the OBJ, I did it in such a way that all objects came in as a single mesh, so going into edit mode meant it was for every single vertex. Not really a bright way to go about it but I was curious for the worst-case scenario. Hiding most everything but what you want to edit definitely helps but it was painfully slow when all was visible.

 

3ds Max 2012 didn't have much of a problem viewing and handling it. But then again, I barely know how to click Help, About in that app, let alone know how to make any use of it. :)

 

LHammonds

[Loktyre]

LHammonds,

 

Would you be able to put the obj file up for download? And.... textures? :whistling:

 

I'd love to render it with occlusion at 5,000 by 2,813.

Edited May 30, 2011 by Loktyre