The 3D Studio R1-4 and MAX are programmed by The Yost Group.
(God Save Garag Jost,Lost Prince of the Mark Ting Empire, and His Magicians: Tam, Son of Hud, and Silver Dan, The Keykeeper...)

The Yost Group are:
Dan Silva: co-creator of 3D Studio
Tom Hudson: co-creator of 3D Studio
Don Brittain: formerly VP of Research for Wavefront (1986-1992)
Rolf Berteig: IPAS programmer extraordinaire
Jack Powell: co-designer and documentation sculptor
Gary Yost: the Leader...

plus

Gus Grubba: image processing and device drivers
Mark Meier: developer documentation issues

They work exclusively for and close with Autodesk, so 3D Studio R1-4 DOS was distributed as AUTODESK 3D Studio. They have written also the Autodesk Animator, Autodesk Animator Pro, BUT NOT Autodesk Animator Studio Win.

Then, short before the release of MAX, the Multimedia Division of Autodesk was renamed to Kinetix, A Division of Autodesk. Now, MAX ships as Kinetix 3D Studio MAX, to irritate the people...

This is the story.
For the URLs, visit BOBOLAND 5 and follow the 3D Studio links...