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32-bit vs. 64-bit

This refers to the version of your operating system. For Windows, check your system properties to verify which version you may need.

Locate additional information in the help section at the bottom of this page or go to http://support.microsoft.com/.

By clicking Download Now, I represent that I have read the Autodesk Privacy Policy and agree to the use, processing, and storage of my personal data in accordance with the policy (including cross-border transfers as described in the policy).

*Free product trials are subject to the terms and conditions of the end-user license and services agreement that accompanies the software.

Download Instructions

  1. Close all open applications.
  2. Click Download Now. In Microsoft® Internet Explorer®, click Run, click Run again, and then Install. In Firefox®, click Save File; once file is saved, click the .exe icon in the dialog box.
  3. Select Install.
  4. Follow the Installation Wizard instructions to complete the installation.

System Requirements

32-Bit 3ds Max 2012 or 3ds Max Design 2012 for Windows

Operating system: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Professional operating system, Microsoft® Windows Vista® Business operating system (SP2 or higher), or Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional operating system (SP3 or higher)

For general animation and rendering (typically fewer than 1,000 objects or 100,000 polygons):

  • Intel® Pentium® 4 1.4 GHz or equivalent AMD® processor with SSE2 technology*
  • 2 GB RAM (4 GB recommended)
  • 2 GB swap space (4 GB recommended)**
  • 3 GB free hard drive space
  • Direct3D® 10 technology, Direct3D 9, or OpenGL-capable graphics card† (256 MB or higher video card memory, 1 GB or higher recommended)
  • Three-button mouse with mouse driver software
  • DVD-ROM drive††
  • Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 8.0 internet browser or higher or Mozilla® Firefox® 3.0 internet browser or higher
  • Internet connection for web downloads and Autodesk® Subscription-aware access

64-Bit 3ds Max 2012 or 3ds Max Design 2012 for Windows

Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional x64, Microsoft Windows Vista Business x64 (SP2 or higher), or Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 (SP3 or higher)

For general animation and rendering (typically fewer than 1,000 objects or 100,000 polygons):

  • Intel® 64 or AMD64 processor with SSE2 technology*
  • 4 GB RAM (8 GB recommended)
  • 4 GB swap space (8 GB recommended)**
  • 3 GB free hard drive space
  • Direct3D 10, Direct3D 9, or OpenGL-capable graphics card† (256 MB or higher video card memory, 1 GB recommended)
  • Three-button mouse with mouse driver software
  • DVD-ROM drive††
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 or higher or Mozilla Firefox 3.0 or higher browser
  • Internet connection for web downloads and Autodesk Subscription-aware access

For large scenes and complex data sets (typically more than 1,000 objects or 100,000 polygons):

  • Intel® 64 or AMD64 processor with SSE2 technology*
  • 8 GB RAM
  • 8 GB swap space**
  • 3 GB free hard drive space
  • Direct3D 10, Direct3D 9, or OpenGL-capable graphics card† (1 GB or higher video card memory)
  • Three-button mouse with mouse driver software
  • DVD-ROM drive††
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 8.0 or higher or Mozilla Firefox 3.0 or higher browser
  • Internet connection for web downloads and Autodesk Subscription-aware access

3ds Max 2012 or 3ds Max Design 2012 for Macintosh

Boot Camp
You can install Autodesk 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design 2012 software on a Mac® computer on a Windows® partition. The system must use Boot Camp® application program to help manage a dual OS configuration and meet the minimum system requirements.

  • Intel®-based Mac Pro or MacBook® Pro computer¹
  • Mac® OS X 10.5.x or higher operating system
  • Boot Camp V 2.0 or higher
  • Minimum 2 GB RAM (4 GB recommended for 32-bit Windows, 8 GB or more for 64-bit Windows)
  • Minimum 20 GB disk space for Apple OS partition, minimum 20 GB for Windows OS partition

Mac Virtualization on Parallels Desktop
Autodesk 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design 2012 can be used on the Mac via Parallels Desktop® for Mac software without having to boot directly into the Windows OS so it is easy to switch between platforms. The system must meet the following requirements:

  • Intel-based Mac Pro or MacBook Pro¹
  • Mac OS X 10.5.x or higher
  • Parallels Desktop 4.0 (4.0.3844 or higher)²
  • Minimum 4 GB RAM (6 GB system memory for 32-bit Windows, 8 GB or more for 64-bit Windows recommended)
  • Minimum 40 GB available disk space (100 GB recommended)

For more details, read the 3ds Max for Mac FAQ.

¹64-bit Windows Vista requires an Intel Core® 2 Duo or Intel® Xeon® processor.
²Parallels Desktop is the only supported virtual machine software at this time.


* Autodesk 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design 2012 have been optimized to take advantage of the SSE2 extended instruction sets supported on Intel® Pentium® 4 or higher, AMD Athlon™ 64, AMD Opteron™, and AMD Phenom™ processors. Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 will not operate on computers that do not support SSE2. Several utilities are available on the Internet that report CPUID, including supported instructions sets.

** Autodesk recommends settings that allow Microsoft Windows to manage virtual memory, as needed. There should always be at least twice as much free hard disk space as system memory (RAM).

† Some features of 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design 2012 are enabled only when used with graphics hardware that supports Shader Model 3.0 (Pixel Shader and Vertex Shader 3.0). In addition, Quicksilver hardware rendering requires additional GPU resources to work effectively. A minimum of 512 MB of graphics memory should be used. A minimum of 1 GB is recommended for the most complex scenes, shaders, and lighting modes.

The integrated iray® rendering technology from mental images runs well on CPU processing alone but can be accelerated by NVIDIA GPU CUDA technology. Check to see if your graphics card is CUDA ready. Learn more about graphics hardware compatibility.

†† Autodesk 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design 2012 are available only on dual-layer DVD media (or electronic download where available). CD media is no longer available. DVD-ROM drive is not required if installing using electronic download. However, to accommodate the installation files, you will need 9 GB of hard disk space and an additional 16 GB of space for temporary files created during the installation.

Autodesk reserves the right to alter product offerings and specifications at any time without notice, and is not responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear on this page.

Autodesk is not responsible for errors or failures of Autodesk software arising from the installation of updates, extensions or new releases issued by third party hardware or software vendors for the qualified software or hardware identified in this document (or for any other third party software or hardware that you may use in connection with Autodesk products).