Autopilot and flight director use (744) is required for procedures requiring RNP2 or less (US SIDs and STARs, RNAV approaches). Otherwise it is at the Captain's discretion. All sim training emphasizes the use of autoflight, to the extent that many new FOs cannot easily revert to manual flight when the automatics get into the "What's it doing now?!?" mode. I even saw one crew NOT recommended for a PC on a warmup (requiring another sim session) because the Captain did not use all the magic (including VNAV) for a 2-engine visual approach -- even though he flew a perfectly acceptable manual approach.
Unfortunately, policies and procedures are being dictated by pilots who have little experience in the airplane and/or who don't understand the necessity of building good stick-and-rudder skills beyond the FMS. Then they wonder why so few pilots bid over to the 747 Classic fleet...