Has anyone used this program is it going to be a good tool for my future graphic design needs if so please let me know the good points along with the bad points of the program.
Good : Makes and animates 3d objects Bad : It's actually called 3ds max.. Doesn't peel your kiwi fruit for you..
If you want to do animation, then by all means, 3ds Max is the right tool. It is very, very robust. On the other hand, there are far much better programs to use if you don't need all the fancy tools (and animation capabilities) that Max offers. I use FormZ - it's very good, mostly because the learning curve is very minimal.
If you have time (I say 2 years+ fulltime) then yeah, knowing Max is pretty much a no-brainer because 3D graphics have become a must for any upcoming graphic designer. It opens up a completely new world, assuming you already know Photoshop well because it plays a big part in operating max to its potential. Making movies with Max is also fully-compatible with After-effects, Flash, Premiere, Combustion and other 3D Softwares via the .OBJ format.
3Ds Max is a great bit of software but takes time to learn and quite a bit of hardwork to become good at it. If you are looking at moving into the world of 3D, then you could consider software such as Daz Studio and Poser to start with. These can help you compose good scenes using prebuilt models and work on other areas important to creating a good image. You can then learn how to create textures and bump maps for these models before finally going on to model your own stuff and create images completely from scratch. This is an image I created in Daz Studio 3
Well im a MAX user.. according to my perception it depend or ur specialty.. Architectural point of view 3Ds max is a best software in the world.. but if u gonna learn about special effect like making Air,Water,smoke etc then i'll suggest u should check Maya.. about Modeling (creating object quickly) then Modo and Blender.. well i suggest u should googling about ur info.. I like architectural designing Interior&Exterior so i start my 3d from Maya but after i didn't get any good response architecturally point of view so i had search and found that Max is really good in this field if u have know how about autoCAD then its kinda 5 Starts on it.. now its being 9th month attaching with the MAX heres my one of interior render in low quality!!
Pluses: This program is the opened architecture, thus most popular in the world, therefore the amount of additional plaginov, extending possibilities of the system, achieves several hundreds. Minuses: If to look from modern positions, the program not very much well befits for creation of the difficult stages. Also the bulkyness of interface which is not transformed under the presented tasks does not play in the favour of it, secondly, in him all repeats oneself to on once or twice, that in the set time begins only to prevent. From other side, design within the framework of this program, his style in many cases does not allow to attain deep and bright for perception effects.