3ds Max features shaders (such as ambient occlusion and subsurface scattering), dynamic simulation, particle systems, radiosity, normal map creation and rendering, global illumination, a customizable user interface, and its own scripting language.

[4] The original 3D Studio product was created for the DOS platform by the Yost Group, and published by Autodesk.

The release of 3D Studio made Autodesk's previous 3D rendering package AutoShade obsolete.

When it was re-released (release 7), the product was again branded with the Autodesk logo, and the short name was again changed to "3ds Max" (upper and lower case), while the formal product name became the current "Autodesk 3ds Max.

[1] Architectural and engineering design firms use 3ds Max for developing concept art and previsualization.

Specifically, an array of values called knots specifies the extent of influence of each control vertex (CV) on the curve or surface.

Knots are invisible in 3D space and can't be manipulated directly, but occasionally their behavior affects the visible appearance of the NURBS object.

[10] Surface tool was originally a 3rd party plugin, but Kinetix acquired and included this feature since version 3.0.

It is often seen as an alternative to "mesh" or "nurbs" modeling, as it enables a user to interpolate curved sections with straight geometry (for example a hole through a box shape).

Although the surface tool is a useful way to generate parametrically accurate geometry, it lacks the "surface properties" found in the similar Edit Patch modifier, which enables a user to maintain the original parametric geometry whilst being able to adjust "smoothing groups" between faces.

[11] Earlier versions (up to and including 3D Studio Max R3.1) required a special copy protection device (called a dongle) to be plugged into the parallel port while the program was run, but later versions incorporated software based copy prevention methods instead.