# What is the difference between 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design?

What is the difference between 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design?

##### Post Metadata
- Posted at: about 3 years ago
- Author title: Pinned by G2 as a common question



## Comments
### Comment 1

<p>The main difference between 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design is in who they were originally made for and the type of features included. 3ds Max is more general-purpose it’s widely used in game development, visual effects, animation, and product design. It has some advanced features like the SDK and certain scripting tools that are more useful for game and VFX artists. 3ds Max Design, on the other hand, was created mainly for architects, interior designers, and visualization professionals. It focuses more on accurate lighting simulation, photorealistic rendering, and real-world scale modeling. It also came with features like<strong> </strong>photometric<strong> </strong>lighting and lighting analysis tools that help in architectural work. 3ds Max for games, animation, VFX, and general 3D work.3ds Max Design for architecture, interiors, and realistic visualization. Today, Autodesk has merged most features, so both are quite similar, but the original idea was to make 3ds Max Design more tailored for designers like us, while 3ds Max was for a broader creative field.</p>

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: 9 months ago
- Author title: Muzammil Malick



### Comment 2

3ds Max Design version has an additional module for lighting analysis (Exposure) useful for architects, and - unlike the Max version - it does not include the Software Development Kit (SDK) for 3rd party developers.

##### Comment Metadata
- Posted at: almost 3 years ago
- Author title: Project Manager: Civil & Environmental Engineering




## Related Product
[3ds Max Design](https://www.g2.com/products/3ds-max-design/reviews)

## Related Category
[3D Modeling](https://www.g2.com/categories/3d-modeling)

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