Gmax is a 3D modeling application based on Autodesk

Autodesk

Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational corporation that focuses on 3D design software for use in the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media and entertainment industries. The company was founded in 1982 by John Walker, a coauthor of the first versions of the company's...

's 3ds Max application used by professional computer graphics artists. Whereas 3ds Max is a comprehensive modeling, animation, and rendering package with some secondary post-production and compositing features, Gmax is much more limited due to its singular intended use—game content creation. Tools and features rarely used or completely unrelated to creating 3D game models were removed (most if not all of the more complex rendering, materials, shaders, physics simulation, and some of the more advanced geometry tools, plus the rendering engine), leaving the core modeling, texturing, and basic animation rigging and keyframing capabilities. In 2005, the software was discontinued at version 1.2

Features

Gmax can be expanded by "game packs," which feature customized tools with the purpose of creating and exporting customizable content to games and websites. As Gmax was bereft of its progenitor's rendering

Rendering (computer graphics)

Rendering is the process of generating an image from a model , by means of computer programs. A scene file contains objects in a strictly defined language or data structure; it would contain geometry, viewpoint, texture, lighting, and shading information as a description of the virtual scene...

 engine, game packs were typically required to provide such a feature for Gmax if deemed necessary (Maxis

Maxis

Maxis is an American company founded as an independent video game developer in 1987. It is currently a subsidiary of Electronic Arts . Maxis is the creator of one of the best-selling computer games of all time, The Sims and its first sequel, The Sims 2...

 was the first company to write a dedicated renderer for their Gmax gamepack, BAT (Building Architect Tool) for SimCity 4

SimCity 4

SimCity 4 is a city-building/urban planning simulation computer game developed by Maxis, a subsidiary of Electronic Arts. It was released on January 14, 2003. It is the fourth installment in the SimCity series. SimCity 4 has a single expansion pack called Rush Hour which adds features to the game...

).

The introduction of Gmax and Autodesk's distribution of the core tools was thought to be aimed towards remedying the 'limited-options piracy' of 3D modeling packages that had been widespread among amateur 3D modeling and game mod communities to that point. Until the introduction of Gmax, and a similar 'game modeler' version of Maya

Maya (software)

Autodesk Maya , commonly shortened to Maya, is 3D computer graphics software that runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS and Linux, originally developed by Alias Systems Corporation and currently owned and developed by Autodesk, Inc. It is used to create interactive 3D applications, including video...

 soon after, amateur modelers had extremely limited access to the tools needed to do so. Gmax enabled modelers to have legitimate access to content creation tools similar to those used by professionals.

Redistribution

Microsoft distributed Gmax with Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator

Microsoft Flight Simulator is a series of flight simulator programs for the Microsoft Windows operating system, although it was marketed as a video game. It is one of the longest-running, best-known and most comprehensive home flight simulator series...

(MSFS) beginning with the 2002 version. Most of the freeware and also payware add-on aircraft and scenery is done with Gmax and it's considered to be the standard modeller for MSFS, although it does have competition in the form of the more user-friendly Flight Simulator Design Studio

Fsds

Flight Simulator Design Studio is a computer design program intended solely for the design, creation, and animation of aircraft and scenery objects for Microsoft Flight Simulator. It is published by Abacus.-History:...

. It can make use of special animations through XML

XML

Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....

 coding written into parts.

Cancellation

As of October 16, 2005 AutoDesk Media and Entertainment has discontinued and no longer supports Gmax. Instead, the company has decided to focus on 3ds Max. However, the last version of Gmax is available for free to download from the official support website.

Software license agreement

There has been some debate as to whether exporting Quake 3

Quake III Arena

Quake III Arena , is a multiplayer first-person shooter video game released on December 2, 1999. The game was developed by id Software and featured music composed by Sonic Mayhem and Front Line Assembly...

models for use with a game other than Quake 3 is a violation of the gmax software license agreement

Software license agreement

A software license agreement is a contract between the "licensor" and purchaser of the right to use software. The license may define ways under which the copy can be used, in addition to the automatic rights of the buyer including the first sale doctrine and .Many form contracts are only contained...

 (or EULA). Product manager Paul Perreault has publicly stated that "gmax is a tool to create 3d content—what you create with gmax is your business, not ours." He continues, "Discreet is not opposed to exporting data from gmax—provided Discreet is the decision maker about what formats are supported." Export to the Quake 3 model format is officially supported by Discreet. Therefore using gmax to create and export models to the .md3 format does not appear to be a violation of the terms of the gmax EULA.

See also

• 3D computer graphics software
  3D computer graphics software
  3D computer graphics software refers to programs used to create 3D computer-generated imagery. This article covers only some of the software used.-Uses:...
  
  
• Blender
  Blender (software)
  Blender is a free and open-source 3D computer graphics software product used for creating animated films, visual effects, interactive 3D applications or video games. The current release version is 2.60, and was released on October 19, 2011...
  
  
• Crystal Space
  Crystal Space
  Crystal Space is a framework for developing 3D applications written in C++ by Jorrit Tyberghein and others. The first public release was on August 26, 1997. It is typically used as a game engine but the framework is more general and can be used for any kind of 3D visualization. It is very...
  
  
• Milkshape
• OGRE Engine
  OGRE Engine
  OGRE is a scene-oriented, flexible 3D rendering engine written in C++ designed to make it easier and intuitive for developers to produce applications utilizing hardware-accelerated 3D graphics...
  
  
• Panda3D
  Panda3D
  Panda3D is a game engine which includes graphics, audio, I/O, collision detection, and other abilities relevant to the creation of 3D games.Panda3D is open source and, as of May 28, 2008, free software under the revised BSD license. Releases prior to May 28, 2008 are not considered Free Software...
  
  
• 3ds Max
• Irrlicht Engine
  Irrlicht Engine
  Irrlicht is an open source 3D engine written in C++. It is cross-platform, officially running on Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Windows CE and due to its open nature ports to other systems are available, including Xbox, PlayStation Portable, SymbianOS and iPhone.Irrlicht is known for its small size...
  
  

External links

• Official Gmax support web site
• Trainz Content Creation Pack GMax game pack for Auran
  Auran
  N3V Games is an Australian video game developer and publisher based in Brisbane, Queensland.-History:Auran was established by Greg Lane and Graham Edelsten in 1995, and released its first game, Dark Reign: The Future of War, in 1997...
  
  's Trainz
  Trainz
  Trainz is a series of 3D train simulator computer games developed by Australian game developer N3V Games . First released in 2001, the series has a large online community that creates and shares user-created content. The game has been released in several versions, including localized versions...
  
  railway simulator
• gMax game pack chooser for Microsoft Flight Simulator