Golaem 6 for Autodesk Maya

Artikel Animation, Artikel Crowd, Artikel Golaem, Artikel Golaem Crowd, Artikel Maya,

[ #Maya #Crowd #Golaem ]Golaem announces Golaem 6, giving Crowd TDs more access, under the hood of the simulation engine. You can now customize the way your characters perceive and react to their environment, giving them custom Artificial Intelligence capabilities. Other additions include an Emit/Kill behavior, a behavior for Traffic Simulation as well as some improvements on the acclaimed Golaem Layout Tool.

These new features are based on user feedback and requests, Golaem is being used by renowned studios on more and more demanding projects such as Pirates of the Caribbean by Atomic Fiction, Halo Wars 2 by Blur, Hacksaw Ridge by Slate VFX, Captain Underpants by Mikros Image, Game of Thrones... Talk about Stadiums, city streets, battles, creatures, forests, cars... Golaem helps you to populate all your projects!

>> See Also: Golaem Crowd tutorial: Populating a stadium

New Features
•Perception: Customize the way characters are aware of each other
•Channel Operators: Give a brain to your characters
•Customizable Transitions: Build animation state machines
•Emit / Kill behaviors: Summon or dismiss characters at will
•Traffic Behaviors: Add traffic to your virtual cities
•Layout Tool Improvements: Layout or retake your scenes
•Extensibility: Integrate Golaem in your pipeline or build tools around it
•Added a Freeze On Collided mode in the MasterSlave Behavior (eg sticky arrows)
•Added collision support of Apex Cloth Behavior and Crowd Rigid Bodies (max 32 spheres and 32 planes)

Some Improvements
•Support of non-triangulated geometry in the Character Geometry File (gcg)
•Simulation Cache file quantization format attribute in the CrowdManager Node
•Improved performances when using a MEL expression in an Input Channel Operator
•Conversion Factor can be set for Spine / Limbs / Effector nodes in the Character Maker
•New Export Animation In One File Per Entity FBX Mode in the Simulation Exporter
•New Export Animation In One File FBX Mode in the Simulation Exporter
•Added Expression as Target Mode in the Steer and GoTo Behaviors
•Added a Use Kinematic Target option in the Physicalize Behavior
•Added a Use Kinematic Target option in the Crowd Rigid Body node

Some Bug Fixes
•Fixed blendshape deformation computation when controlled by a distant bone
•Fixed mirror animations looks awkward in some specific cases
•Fixed wrong ground adaptation when playing mirror animations
•Fixed the crash that occurs when baking sparse Simulation Caches in FBX or Alembic
•Fixed the crash that occurs when using the Emit and Perception Behaviors


PERCEPTION: CUSTOMIZE THE WAY CHARACTERS ARE AWARE OF EACH OTHER'S

CHANNEL OPERATORS: GIVE A BRAIN TO YOUR CHARACTERS

CUSTOMIZABLE TRANSITIONS: BUILD ANIMATION STATE MACHINES

EMIT / KILL BEHAVIORS: SUMMON OR DISMISS CHARACTERS AT WILL

TRAFFIC BEHAVIORS: ADD TRAFFIC TO YOUR VIRTUAL CITIES

LAYOUT TOOL IMPROVEMENTS: LAYOUT OR RETAKE YOUR SCENES

Check out the documentation release.

Availability

The complete scene population solution Including the Layout Tool cost 7000 € for Permanent License and Support & Upgrade 1750 € per year. There is also a range of rental options.
Visit Golaem's Website for different options.

  More Golaem Plugin [post_ad]

[ #Maya #Crowd #Golaem ]Golaem announces Golaem 6, giving Crowd TDs more access, under the hood of the simulation engine. You can now customize the way your characters perceive and react to their environment, giving them custom Artificial Intelligence capabilities. Other additions include an Emit/Kill behavior, a behavior for Traffic Simulation as well as some improvements on the acclaimed Golaem Layout Tool.

These new features are based on user feedback and requests, Golaem is being used by renowned studios on more and more demanding projects such as Pirates of the Caribbean by Atomic Fiction, Halo Wars 2 by Blur, Hacksaw Ridge by Slate VFX, Captain Underpants by Mikros Image, Game of Thrones... Talk about Stadiums, city streets, battles, creatures, forests, cars... Golaem helps you to populate all your projects!

>> See Also: Golaem Crowd tutorial: Populating a stadium

New Features
•Perception: Customize the way characters are aware of each other
•Channel Operators: Give a brain to your characters
•Customizable Transitions: Build animation state machines
•Emit / Kill behaviors: Summon or dismiss characters at will
•Traffic Behaviors: Add traffic to your virtual cities
•Layout Tool Improvements: Layout or retake your scenes
•Extensibility: Integrate Golaem in your pipeline or build tools around it
•Added a Freeze On Collided mode in the MasterSlave Behavior (eg sticky arrows)
•Added collision support of Apex Cloth Behavior and Crowd Rigid Bodies (max 32 spheres and 32 planes)

Some Improvements
•Support of non-triangulated geometry in the Character Geometry File (gcg)
•Simulation Cache file quantization format attribute in the CrowdManager Node
•Improved performances when using a MEL expression in an Input Channel Operator
•Conversion Factor can be set for Spine / Limbs / Effector nodes in the Character Maker
•New Export Animation In One File Per Entity FBX Mode in the Simulation Exporter
•New Export Animation In One File FBX Mode in the Simulation Exporter
•Added Expression as Target Mode in the Steer and GoTo Behaviors
•Added a Use Kinematic Target option in the Physicalize Behavior
•Added a Use Kinematic Target option in the Crowd Rigid Body node

Some Bug Fixes
•Fixed blendshape deformation computation when controlled by a distant bone
•Fixed mirror animations looks awkward in some specific cases
•Fixed wrong ground adaptation when playing mirror animations
•Fixed the crash that occurs when baking sparse Simulation Caches in FBX or Alembic
•Fixed the crash that occurs when using the Emit and Perception Behaviors


PERCEPTION: CUSTOMIZE THE WAY CHARACTERS ARE AWARE OF EACH OTHER'S

CHANNEL OPERATORS: GIVE A BRAIN TO YOUR CHARACTERS

CUSTOMIZABLE TRANSITIONS: BUILD ANIMATION STATE MACHINES

EMIT / KILL BEHAVIORS: SUMMON OR DISMISS CHARACTERS AT WILL

TRAFFIC BEHAVIORS: ADD TRAFFIC TO YOUR VIRTUAL CITIES

LAYOUT TOOL IMPROVEMENTS: LAYOUT OR RETAKE YOUR SCENES

Check out the documentation release.

Availability

The complete scene population solution Including the Layout Tool cost 7000 € for Permanent License and Support & Upgrade 1750 € per year. There is also a range of rental options.
Visit Golaem's Website for different options.

  More Golaem Plugin [post_ad]

Read more »

Miarmy 5.5 for Autodesk Maya

Artikel Animation, Artikel Basefount Technology, Artikel Crowd, Artikel Maya, Artikel Miarmy, Artikel Simulation,

[ #Maya #Crowd #Miarmy ] Basefount has announced its crowd-simulation system for Autodesk Maya - Miarmy 5.5 with adding a new intelligent instancing system for crowd agents, and support for the Redshift renderer.

Highlight features:

Clone Agents
Basefount introduced the Clone feature in this version of Miarmy. Clone is an intelligence instance. It not only the instance, but also it supports logic simulations. Clone allows users build a large number of simple crowds with intuitive method. Especially in stadium, square or terrain, we can fast deploy huge number of actors for simulation and rendering. For dealing with 200K agents in scene, we can get 20X faster in simulation and 100X faster for rendering (currently supports Arnold & V-Ray

​Direct Logic Engine Upgrade
In the new version of Miarmy, we finished the Direct Logic Engine and also expanded it to 3d space. With the new engine, we can skip most of the logic setup, and directly build most of logic with simple setup. For example if you want to your actors walk along the road, just tell them “follow the road”. Auto avoid and auto fight logic also added into the engine.

Faster Placement & Viewport
We improved the speed of viewport and the placement infrastructure and many related nodes. Now it can be 2-3 times faster than before verison for displaying the agents and clone agents.

Redshift Renderer Supports
Redshift Render is based on GPU and very popular nowadays, we added this renderer procedural support in this version so that we can render big number of agents in the scene

Minor New Features
• Expression can be execute after dynamics
• PP attribute in output language
• Pipeline scripts for auto action creation and build OA (for too many different
• Cache Agent Color
• Blendshape Copy to OA
• Relative speed input language
• Auto fight, meet/fight && front near stop

Improvements
• Depth first priority full tree in logic tree, more intuitive logic setup method
• 3 levels of LOD
• block some agents' RBD target (RBD target can ignore some agents randomly)
• (Direct Logic) Road rotation speed
• Lock name and proportions in place node (agent type can swap order)
• Arnold Opaque fix
• RBD collide debug nodes
• Arnold render catalog file
• Auto avoid (block push left/right)
• Noise id based on agent id instead of scene index

Visit Basefount's website for full list of new features in Miarmy 5.5

>> See Also: Creating Crowd tutorial

Availability

A node-locked licence costing $2,850 and a site licence $5,250.
The price for Rental is $1,450/quarter for a node-locked licence or $2,450/quarter for a site licence.
See the full range of options here.
Miarmy 5.5 is available for Maya 2014+ on Windows XP+, Linux and Mac OS X 10.6+..

  More Crowd Plugin [post_ad]

[ #Maya #Crowd #Miarmy ] Basefount has announced its crowd-simulation system for Autodesk Maya - Miarmy 5.5 with adding a new intelligent instancing system for crowd agents, and support for the Redshift renderer.

Highlight features:

Clone Agents
Basefount introduced the Clone feature in this version of Miarmy. Clone is an intelligence instance. It not only the instance, but also it supports logic simulations. Clone allows users build a large number of simple crowds with intuitive method. Especially in stadium, square or terrain, we can fast deploy huge number of actors for simulation and rendering. For dealing with 200K agents in scene, we can get 20X faster in simulation and 100X faster for rendering (currently supports Arnold & V-Ray

​Direct Logic Engine Upgrade
In the new version of Miarmy, we finished the Direct Logic Engine and also expanded it to 3d space. With the new engine, we can skip most of the logic setup, and directly build most of logic with simple setup. For example if you want to your actors walk along the road, just tell them “follow the road”. Auto avoid and auto fight logic also added into the engine.

Faster Placement & Viewport
We improved the speed of viewport and the placement infrastructure and many related nodes. Now it can be 2-3 times faster than before verison for displaying the agents and clone agents.

Redshift Renderer Supports
Redshift Render is based on GPU and very popular nowadays, we added this renderer procedural support in this version so that we can render big number of agents in the scene

Minor New Features
• Expression can be execute after dynamics
• PP attribute in output language
• Pipeline scripts for auto action creation and build OA (for too many different
• Cache Agent Color
• Blendshape Copy to OA
• Relative speed input language
• Auto fight, meet/fight && front near stop

Improvements
• Depth first priority full tree in logic tree, more intuitive logic setup method
• 3 levels of LOD
• block some agents' RBD target (RBD target can ignore some agents randomly)
• (Direct Logic) Road rotation speed
• Lock name and proportions in place node (agent type can swap order)
• Arnold Opaque fix
• RBD collide debug nodes
• Arnold render catalog file
• Auto avoid (block push left/right)
• Noise id based on agent id instead of scene index

Visit Basefount's website for full list of new features in Miarmy 5.5

>> See Also: Creating Crowd tutorial

Availability

A node-locked licence costing $2,850 and a site licence $5,250.
The price for Rental is $1,450/quarter for a node-locked licence or $2,450/quarter for a site licence.
See the full range of options here.
Miarmy 5.5 is available for Maya 2014+ on Windows XP+, Linux and Mac OS X 10.6+..

  More Crowd Plugin [post_ad]

Read more »

Slice tool V2.0 for Maya

Artikel Maya, Artikel Modeling, Artikel Sculpting, Artikel Simulation,

[ #Maya #Slicetool ]Slice Model is a Maya plugin Toolset for procedurally generating Slices out of complex Poly-Models..
Useful Tool for Artists, for creating interesting abstract model shapes & animations: like Voxel style models, stair cases designs, abstract wooden, cardboard or 3d-print style sculptures, flipping cardboard style animation/simumation etc..

New Features include:
- Graph ramp based Slice spacing/distribution & Jitter.
- Wobble Animation of slices (inspired by Li Hongbo's Soft Paper Sculptures.

>> See Also: Slice Model tool for Maya

Availability

Download Slice tool V2.0 for Maya on Gumroad
  More Maya Plugin [post_ad]

[ #Maya #Slicetool ]Slice Model is a Maya plugin Toolset for procedurally generating Slices out of complex Poly-Models..
Useful Tool for Artists, for creating interesting abstract model shapes & animations: like Voxel style models, stair cases designs, abstract wooden, cardboard or 3d-print style sculptures, flipping cardboard style animation/simumation etc..

New Features include:
- Graph ramp based Slice spacing/distribution & Jitter.
- Wobble Animation of slices (inspired by Li Hongbo's Soft Paper Sculptures.

>> See Also: Slice Model tool for Maya

Availability

Download Slice tool V2.0 for Maya on Gumroad
  More Maya Plugin [post_ad]

Read more »

Free download Wedge Tool v1.0 for Maya

Artikel Download, Artikel Maya, Artikel Modeling, Artikel Script,

[ #Maya #Modeling ] Wedge Tool - is simple modeling script for Autodesk Maya which builds upon existing Maya's Wedge tool and makes it faster and more interactive with the option to easily adjust the size of the wedge arc.

>> See Also: Hardmesh 2.0 for Autodesk Maya

Availability

Download Wedge Tool v1.0 for Maya here
  More Maya Plugin [post_ad]

[ #Maya #Modeling ] Wedge Tool - is simple modeling script for Autodesk Maya which builds upon existing Maya's Wedge tool and makes it faster and more interactive with the option to easily adjust the size of the wedge arc.

>> See Also: Hardmesh 2.0 for Autodesk Maya

Availability

Download Wedge Tool v1.0 for Maya here
  More Maya Plugin [post_ad]

Read more »

SLiB Match 1.0 for Autodesk Maya 2015 - 2017

Artikel Arnold, Artikel Camera, Artikel Maya, Artikel Photo Match, Artikel Redshift, Artikel SliB Match, Artikel Vray,

[ #Maya #Plugin #PhotoMatch ] DGDM has released SliB Match 1.0, the plugin for maya which mathematically calculates the camera viewpoint of a given background image and creates an oriented maya camera that's position and field of view perfectly match the perspective of the background image. This allows to place 3D objects inside your maya scene as if they were part of the background image.

Some Features of SLiB Match:
• intuitive gui
• Save/load vanishing line positions for later use
• create camera projection shader with a single click
• one-click texture baking [Redshift only]
• RenderZoom function

>> See Also: Free Trial Ziva VFX for Maya 2014-2017

Availability

Download SLiB Match 1.0 for $30 on store.cgfront.com
  More Maya Plugin [post_ad]

[ #Maya #Plugin #PhotoMatch ] DGDM has released SliB Match 1.0, the plugin for maya which mathematically calculates the camera viewpoint of a given background image and creates an oriented maya camera that's position and field of view perfectly match the perspective of the background image. This allows to place 3D objects inside your maya scene as if they were part of the background image.

Some Features of SLiB Match:
• intuitive gui
• Save/load vanishing line positions for later use
• create camera projection shader with a single click
• one-click texture baking [Redshift only]
• RenderZoom function

>> See Also: Free Trial Ziva VFX for Maya 2014-2017

Availability

Download SLiB Match 1.0 for $30 on store.cgfront.com
  More Maya Plugin [post_ad]

Read more »

Free BWeld script | Geometry fillet welds in Maya

Artikel Download, Artikel Maya, Artikel Modeling, Artikel Script,

[ #Maya #Script ] BWeld is a free script for Maya, which is very useful in creating details for models and renders or adds more realism to the final result. The script is really easy to use, it can handle both curved and flat filleted welds that look pretty realistic.

>> See Also: Welder 2.2 for 3ds Max | Script for creating welds quick and easy

Availibility

Free for download BWeld for Maya

  More Maya Plugin [post_ad]

[ #Maya #Script ] BWeld is a free script for Maya, which is very useful in creating details for models and renders or adds more realism to the final result. The script is really easy to use, it can handle both curved and flat filleted welds that look pretty realistic.

>> See Also: Welder 2.2 for 3ds Max | Script for creating welds quick and easy

Availibility

Free for download BWeld for Maya

  More Maya Plugin [post_ad]

Read more »

What's new Arnold Render v5.0

Artikel 3ds Max, Artikel Arnold, Artikel Cinema 4D, Artikel Maya, Artikel Rendering, Artikel Solid Angle, Artikel Video,

[ #Arnold #SolidAngle ] Building on Arnold’s leadership in production ray-tracing, Arnold 5 represents an evolution in rendering for artists everywhere. Not just a feature release, Arnold 5 also represents a significant transition to a new architecture, paving the way for major developments to come. With a significant update to the Arnold core, faster rendering, new feature additions, enhancements to existing workflows and exciting new capabilities, Arnold 5 will help artists create more stunning imagery than ever.

New updates in Arnold Render V5.0 included:
• Sampling performance
- Dithered sampling
- Better light sampling
• New Standard surface shader
• New standard hair shader
• New standard volume shader
• Light path expressions
• Per light group AOV's
• OSL Support

>> See Also: Solid Angle has released Arnold 5

Availibility

Download Arnold FREE Trial HERE

  More Arnold Plugin [post_ad]

[ #Arnold #SolidAngle ] Building on Arnold’s leadership in production ray-tracing, Arnold 5 represents an evolution in rendering for artists everywhere. Not just a feature release, Arnold 5 also represents a significant transition to a new architecture, paving the way for major developments to come. With a significant update to the Arnold core, faster rendering, new feature additions, enhancements to existing workflows and exciting new capabilities, Arnold 5 will help artists create more stunning imagery than ever.

New updates in Arnold Render V5.0 included:
• Sampling performance
- Dithered sampling
- Better light sampling
• New Standard surface shader
• New standard hair shader
• New standard volume shader
• Light path expressions
• Per light group AOV's
• OSL Support

>> See Also: Solid Angle has released Arnold 5

Availibility

Download Arnold FREE Trial HERE

  More Arnold Plugin [post_ad]

Read more »

Free Trial Ziva VFX for Maya 2014-2017

Artikel Character, Artikel Download, Artikel Maya, Artikel Simulation, Artikel VFX,

[ #Maya #VFX #character ] Ziva Dynamics has released a free trial version of Ziva VFX, a Maya plug-in with an offline Finite Element Method "anatomy aware" simulator that lets you create life-like characters at scale. Before Ziva VFX comes out with free trial version, it has been used in production by some of the world's leading VFX Studio with a closed release last year, which were Enchantress from Suicide Squad, Graphorn from Fantastic Beasts, Slimer in Ghostbusters.

USE CASES:
• Anatomically realistic character animation, including:
– Anatomically accurate bending of the skin at the joints
– Correct hand pronation-supination
– Correct neck shape with precise neck muscle movement
– Correct upper-body rigidity under twisting
– Correct thigh skin shape due to quadriceps muscle excitation
– High-quality belly fat secondary motion (inertia and gravity)
– Correct elbow self-collisions
• Cartoon/feature character animation with simple, single-simulation-mesh anatomy or complex, hyper-realistic anatomy.
• Enrich existing baked animations with controllable and tuneable secondary physically based motion.
• Modelling tool for reducing stretch and volume-change in sculpts.
• Make and simulate arbitrary elastic objects undergoing collisions and self-collisions, from gel to plants to steel-beam bridges.

>> See Also: Unwrella 3.10 Update for Max and Maya

ZIVA VFX FEATURES:
• Take large timesteps with stable and invertible FEM
• Use multiple material types, producing robust motion even under large deformations: StVK, NeoHookean, co-rotational, anisotropic
• Collide objects using automatic collision detection and response
• Add physical attachments between objects and paint where they are attached
• Embed arbitrary triangle meshes into your simulated solids
• Simulate thin shells (for skin)
• Paint muscle fiber directions, then excite/contract a muscle using scripted muscle activation forces
• Goal elastic solids to externally animated triangle meshes, for automatic addition of secondary motion
• Paint nearly everything: attachment areas, muscle fibers, muscle strength, tet-mesh resolution, material properties
• Use multiple types of physical damping
• Cache simulations to RAM or disk for fast playback and/or restarting
• Exactly preserve volume, even under large deformations
• Script and pipeline your rig using Maya MEL, or using our open-source Python tools

Availibility

Download Ziva VFX on zivadynamics's website
Ziva VFX is available on Maya 2014-2017, windows 7 (or higher) or Linux.

  More Maya Plugin [post_ad]

[ #Maya #VFX #character ] Ziva Dynamics has released a free trial version of Ziva VFX, a Maya plug-in with an offline Finite Element Method "anatomy aware" simulator that lets you create life-like characters at scale. Before Ziva VFX comes out with free trial version, it has been used in production by some of the world's leading VFX Studio with a closed release last year, which were Enchantress from Suicide Squad, Graphorn from Fantastic Beasts, Slimer in Ghostbusters.

USE CASES:
• Anatomically realistic character animation, including:
– Anatomically accurate bending of the skin at the joints
– Correct hand pronation-supination
– Correct neck shape with precise neck muscle movement
– Correct upper-body rigidity under twisting
– Correct thigh skin shape due to quadriceps muscle excitation
– High-quality belly fat secondary motion (inertia and gravity)
– Correct elbow self-collisions
• Cartoon/feature character animation with simple, single-simulation-mesh anatomy or complex, hyper-realistic anatomy.
• Enrich existing baked animations with controllable and tuneable secondary physically based motion.
• Modelling tool for reducing stretch and volume-change in sculpts.
• Make and simulate arbitrary elastic objects undergoing collisions and self-collisions, from gel to plants to steel-beam bridges.

>> See Also: Unwrella 3.10 Update for Max and Maya

ZIVA VFX FEATURES:
• Take large timesteps with stable and invertible FEM
• Use multiple material types, producing robust motion even under large deformations: StVK, NeoHookean, co-rotational, anisotropic
• Collide objects using automatic collision detection and response
• Add physical attachments between objects and paint where they are attached
• Embed arbitrary triangle meshes into your simulated solids
• Simulate thin shells (for skin)
• Paint muscle fiber directions, then excite/contract a muscle using scripted muscle activation forces
• Goal elastic solids to externally animated triangle meshes, for automatic addition of secondary motion
• Paint nearly everything: attachment areas, muscle fibers, muscle strength, tet-mesh resolution, material properties
• Use multiple types of physical damping
• Cache simulations to RAM or disk for fast playback and/or restarting
• Exactly preserve volume, even under large deformations
• Script and pipeline your rig using Maya MEL, or using our open-source Python tools

Availibility

Download Ziva VFX on zivadynamics's website
Ziva VFX is available on Maya 2014-2017, windows 7 (or higher) or Linux.

  More Maya Plugin [post_ad]

Read more »

Redshift V2.5.04 is now Available

Artikel 3ds Max, Artikel Houdini, Artikel Maya, Artikel Redshift, Artikel Rendering, Artikel Softimage,

[ #Redshift #Maya #3dsMax #Houdini ] Redshift v2.5.04 is released with some new features and fixes, this build includes plugins for Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini and Softimage.

Release Notes:
Maya
• Fixed rules for resolving tags to match convention starting in Maya 2017 update 2 that strips the “rs_” prefix added by the new Render Setup system
• Fixed a number of problems related to selecting non-default UV sets on several shading nodes
• Added a ‘Hidden in Viewport’ display mode for proxies
• Added data type selection to AOVs (allows, for example, saving as RGB instead of RGBA)
• Fixed bug that caused path separators in cache files to be replaced with underscores

XSI
• Fixed bug in the Integer Attribute shader that prevented it from working properly

Houdini
• Support of packed fragments.
• Fixed several issues related to the ROP node objects/lights bundle lists while updating the scene.
• Refactoring of the log system. New option in the plugin options panel to enable the log to console, disabled by default.
• New option in the ROP node, IPR tab, to disable the log files in the IPR sessions.
• Removed the COP textures resolution limitation in the Houdini Indie version.
• Fixed a bug in the shaders extraction code related to networks with shared shader nodes.
• Fixed an IPR crash while working at SOP level after a change in the available materials.
• Fixed an IPR crash adding material nodes in scenes without lights.
• Fixed an IPR crash removing some kind of complex OBJ nodes without other objects in the scene.

All
• Fixed recently introduced point cloud proxy crash bug after exporting with versions 2.5.01 and newer
• Fixed bug that could knock out dome light backplate when using ICP GI in conjunction with matte surfaces
• Fixed bug when applying matte object alpha overrides to transparent materials, wihch previously disregarded the material alpha
• Fixed bug that would make the shadow material believe it was opaque when using a shader switch node as a head node
• Potential fix for rare random corruption when texturing multiple-scattering inputs
• Proxies can now be exported as compressed files
• Added an ‘automatic memory management’ option in Redshift’s ‘Memory’ tab
• Fixed potential memory leak when scene contains dome lights
• Fixed assert when connecting incompatible shader nodes to displacement blender inputs
• Reduced license checkout/checkin traffic

>> See Also: DGDM releases VPR for Redshift 2.10

  More Redshift Plugin [post_ad]

[ #Redshift #Maya #3dsMax #Houdini ] Redshift v2.5.04 is released with some new features and fixes, this build includes plugins for Maya, 3ds Max, Houdini and Softimage.

Release Notes:
Maya
• Fixed rules for resolving tags to match convention starting in Maya 2017 update 2 that strips the “rs_” prefix added by the new Render Setup system
• Fixed a number of problems related to selecting non-default UV sets on several shading nodes
• Added a ‘Hidden in Viewport’ display mode for proxies
• Added data type selection to AOVs (allows, for example, saving as RGB instead of RGBA)
• Fixed bug that caused path separators in cache files to be replaced with underscores

XSI
• Fixed bug in the Integer Attribute shader that prevented it from working properly

Houdini
• Support of packed fragments.
• Fixed several issues related to the ROP node objects/lights bundle lists while updating the scene.
• Refactoring of the log system. New option in the plugin options panel to enable the log to console, disabled by default.
• New option in the ROP node, IPR tab, to disable the log files in the IPR sessions.
• Removed the COP textures resolution limitation in the Houdini Indie version.
• Fixed a bug in the shaders extraction code related to networks with shared shader nodes.
• Fixed an IPR crash while working at SOP level after a change in the available materials.
• Fixed an IPR crash adding material nodes in scenes without lights.
• Fixed an IPR crash removing some kind of complex OBJ nodes without other objects in the scene.

All
• Fixed recently introduced point cloud proxy crash bug after exporting with versions 2.5.01 and newer
• Fixed bug that could knock out dome light backplate when using ICP GI in conjunction with matte surfaces
• Fixed bug when applying matte object alpha overrides to transparent materials, wihch previously disregarded the material alpha
• Fixed bug that would make the shadow material believe it was opaque when using a shader switch node as a head node
• Potential fix for rare random corruption when texturing multiple-scattering inputs
• Proxies can now be exported as compressed files
• Added an ‘automatic memory management’ option in Redshift’s ‘Memory’ tab
• Fixed potential memory leak when scene contains dome lights
• Fixed assert when connecting incompatible shader nodes to displacement blender inputs
• Reduced license checkout/checkin traffic

>> See Also: DGDM releases VPR for Redshift 2.10

  More Redshift Plugin [post_ad]

Read more »

Unwrella 3.10 Update for Max and Maya

Artikel 3d-io, Artikel 3ds Max, Artikel Maya, Artikel Texturing, Artikel Unwrella, Artikel UV unwrap,

[ #3dsMax #Maya #3d-io #texturing ] 3d-io has just released the latest version of the unwrapping plugin - Unwrella version 3.10 for Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Maya. This version represents the next step in refining one of the best automatic unwrapping tools with speed, stability and performance boosts.

Unwrella 3 offers 3D artists instant unwrapping and optimal UV packing in self-customizable UV tile sets. Artists now can easily control the number of UV tiles, automatically generate material IDs for each UV tile or unwrap the UV tiles according to material ID settings.

Maya update change log:
• Fixed a problem that made it impossible to unwrap an object with one or more very large UV charts when using tile distribution mode.
• Fixed an issue where unwrapping in tile distribution mode sometimes didn’t work with certain mesh topologies.

3ds Max update change log:
• Fixed a problem that made it impossible to unwrap an object with one or more very large UV charts when using tile distribution mode.
• Fixed an issue where unwrapping in tile distribution mode sometimes didn’t work with certain mesh topologies.
• Performance increases: Faster UV data initialization, improved performance for tile mode distribution, prevented slowdowns when objects share a plug-in instance.

Visit http://www.unwrella.com for more information.

>> See Also: How to Use Substance Materials with 3ds Max and V-Ray

Added flatten unwrap mode

New UV tile creation process

Take a look at Unwrella's channel for more tutorials.

Availibility

Unwrella 3.10 for Autodesk 3ds Max and Maya (2010 – 2017) is available for sale and as a freely downloadable trial version on its homepage: http://www.unwrella.com
  More Plugin [post_ad]

[ #3dsMax #Maya #3d-io #texturing ] 3d-io has just released the latest version of the unwrapping plugin - Unwrella version 3.10 for Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Maya. This version represents the next step in refining one of the best automatic unwrapping tools with speed, stability and performance boosts.

Unwrella 3 offers 3D artists instant unwrapping and optimal UV packing in self-customizable UV tile sets. Artists now can easily control the number of UV tiles, automatically generate material IDs for each UV tile or unwrap the UV tiles according to material ID settings.

Maya update change log:
• Fixed a problem that made it impossible to unwrap an object with one or more very large UV charts when using tile distribution mode.
• Fixed an issue where unwrapping in tile distribution mode sometimes didn’t work with certain mesh topologies.

3ds Max update change log:
• Fixed a problem that made it impossible to unwrap an object with one or more very large UV charts when using tile distribution mode.
• Fixed an issue where unwrapping in tile distribution mode sometimes didn’t work with certain mesh topologies.
• Performance increases: Faster UV data initialization, improved performance for tile mode distribution, prevented slowdowns when objects share a plug-in instance.

Visit http://www.unwrella.com for more information.

>> See Also: How to Use Substance Materials with 3ds Max and V-Ray

Added flatten unwrap mode

New UV tile creation process

Take a look at Unwrella's channel for more tutorials.

Availibility

Unwrella 3.10 for Autodesk 3ds Max and Maya (2010 – 2017) is available for sale and as a freely downloadable trial version on its homepage: http://www.unwrella.com
  More Plugin [post_ad]

Read more »

Super Bricks Tool V1.0 for Maya 2015 -2017

Artikel Maya, Artikel Modeling, Artikel Super Bricks Tool,

[ #adskMaya ]With Super Bricks Tool - Artists can procedurally create Complex & Organic looking Brick-walls within a matter Seconds & Minutes. Define your Custom Base wall shapes using Nurbs mesh.. Lots of parameters to give you variations & precise control over the look & design of you wall.

>> See Also: Making of Portrait of Graham and Amanda by Ian Spriggs

This tool will keep growing, so more useful features will be added on a timely basis.

Available

Super Bricks Tool V1.0 for Maya 2015 -2017 is avaialble here with the price is $19+
  More Plugin [post_ad]

[ #adskMaya ]With Super Bricks Tool - Artists can procedurally create Complex & Organic looking Brick-walls within a matter Seconds & Minutes. Define your Custom Base wall shapes using Nurbs mesh.. Lots of parameters to give you variations & precise control over the look & design of you wall.

>> See Also: Making of Portrait of Graham and Amanda by Ian Spriggs

This tool will keep growing, so more useful features will be added on a timely basis.

Available

Super Bricks Tool V1.0 for Maya 2015 -2017 is avaialble here with the price is $19+
  More Plugin [post_ad]

Read more »

Voronoi Mesh Generator Tool v2.0 for Autodesk Maya

Artikel Maya, Artikel Modeling, Artikel Voronoi Mesh Generator, [ #adskMaya ]Developed by Abhishek Karmakar, Voronoi Mesh Generator is a simple tool for Autodesk Maya, which allows artists to create 2d Voronoi meshes based on any arbitrary mesh shape as input.. New Version(V2.0) now supports Topology based Voronoi mesh generation.

>> See Also: Maya tutorial

Voronoi Mesh Generator Tool v2.0 New Features are:

- Input Topology based Voronoi Mesh Generation.
- Cells position Jitter/Randomization & Smoothing controls.
- One click Hollow Sculpture Mesh generation.
- One click Solid Stone Mesh generation.

Availability

Voronoi Mesh Generator V2.0 costs $12+ and it's available here

  More Maya Plugin [post_ad]

[ #adskMaya ]Developed by Abhishek Karmakar, Voronoi Mesh Generator is a simple tool for Autodesk Maya, which allows artists to create 2d Voronoi meshes based on any arbitrary mesh shape as input.. New Version(V2.0) now supports Topology based Voronoi mesh generation.

>> See Also: Maya tutorial

Voronoi Mesh Generator Tool v2.0 New Features are:

- Input Topology based Voronoi Mesh Generation.
- Cells position Jitter/Randomization & Smoothing controls.
- One click Hollow Sculpture Mesh generation.
- One click Solid Stone Mesh generation.

Availability

Voronoi Mesh Generator V2.0 costs $12+ and it's available here

  More Maya Plugin [post_ad]

Read more »

Chaos Group Releases Phoenix FD 3 for Autodesk Maya

Artikel Chaos Group, Artikel Maya, Artikel Phoenix FD, Artikel Phoenix FD for Maya, Artikel VFX,

[ #ChaosGroup #PhoenixFD #Maya ] Chaos Group releases Phoenix FD 3 for Maya, a major update to its all-in-one fluid dynamics plugin for Autodesk Maya. Phoenix FD supports a wide range of fluid simulations including smoke, fire, water and oceans, making it a popular choice for fast-paced television productions such as Arrow, Once Upon a Time, and The Man in the High Castle. With a new FLIP liquid solver, plus a new fire and smoke solver, Phoenix FD 3 for Maya delivers realistic visual effects in shorter time frames.

Phoenix FD 3 for Maya’s quick presets and intuitive controls now make it faster and easier for artists to create any type of fluid simulation. Phoenix FD works seamlessly in Maya and renders with V-Ray, Chaos Group’s Academy Award-winning rendering solution.

“Phoenix FD lets us simulate fire and smoke effects quickly for projects with short deadlines,” said Saker Klippsten, CTO at Zoic Studios. “Artists save valuable time by iterating looks without leaving Maya.”

Highlights of Phoenix FD 3 for Maya include:

• FLIP solver – Fast, realistic liquid solver.
• New fire & smoke solver – Create realistic smoke and fire with super-fine details.
• Quick presets – New toolbar with presets for fire, smoke and liquid simulations.
• Ocean simulations – Create ocean surfaces that never repeat using procedural ocean displacement. Preview and render the ocean surface without simulating cache files.
• Wave force – Transition from a procedural ocean surface to detailed wave simulations.
• Force controls – Art direct and control simulations with forces like wind, mesh attraction and more.
• Path follow – Create simulations that follow a path along a spline.
• Interactive simulations – Fine-tune simulations interactively in the viewport with Phoenix FD’s GPU-accelerated preview.
• Refine simulations – Increase simulation resolution and add detail without changing overall shape or behavior.
• Simulation retiming – Speed up or slow down simulation playback. Perfect for slow motion effects.
• Cascade simulations – Create a series of simulations that trigger and interact with each other.
• Emission sources – Use a wide range of customizable emission sources, including animated meshes, texture maps and particles, to drive complex simulations.
• Fast volume rendering – Optimized volume rendering with accurate lighting and global illumination.
• Compatibility – Supports industry-standard tools and formats like Alembic and OpenVDB.
• Simulation licenses – Use Phoenix FD simulation licenses to submit jobs over the network to Deadline and Backburner.

For more information, visit: https://www.chaosgroup.com/phoenix-fd/maya.

>> See Also: Pure Ocean mode with Phoenix FD 3.02

Arrow | Zoic Studios © Warner Bros. & DC Entertainment

Blindspot | Zoic Studios © NBC Universal

Availibility

Pricing & Availability Phoenix FD 3 is available now for Autodesk Maya and is a free upgrade for all Phoenix FD 2.x for Maya customers. A Phoenix FD 3 for Maya Workstation license is $830 and includes one floating user license and one floating simulation license. Additional simulation licenses are available for $210. Contact sales@chaosgroup.com for volume discounts.

  More Phoenix FD Plugin [post_ad]

[ #ChaosGroup #PhoenixFD #Maya ] Chaos Group releases Phoenix FD 3 for Maya, a major update to its all-in-one fluid dynamics plugin for Autodesk Maya. Phoenix FD supports a wide range of fluid simulations including smoke, fire, water and oceans, making it a popular choice for fast-paced television productions such as Arrow, Once Upon a Time, and The Man in the High Castle. With a new FLIP liquid solver, plus a new fire and smoke solver, Phoenix FD 3 for Maya delivers realistic visual effects in shorter time frames.

Phoenix FD 3 for Maya’s quick presets and intuitive controls now make it faster and easier for artists to create any type of fluid simulation. Phoenix FD works seamlessly in Maya and renders with V-Ray, Chaos Group’s Academy Award-winning rendering solution.

“Phoenix FD lets us simulate fire and smoke effects quickly for projects with short deadlines,” said Saker Klippsten, CTO at Zoic Studios. “Artists save valuable time by iterating looks without leaving Maya.”

Highlights of Phoenix FD 3 for Maya include:

• FLIP solver – Fast, realistic liquid solver.
• New fire & smoke solver – Create realistic smoke and fire with super-fine details.
• Quick presets – New toolbar with presets for fire, smoke and liquid simulations.
• Ocean simulations – Create ocean surfaces that never repeat using procedural ocean displacement. Preview and render the ocean surface without simulating cache files.
• Wave force – Transition from a procedural ocean surface to detailed wave simulations.
• Force controls – Art direct and control simulations with forces like wind, mesh attraction and more.
• Path follow – Create simulations that follow a path along a spline.
• Interactive simulations – Fine-tune simulations interactively in the viewport with Phoenix FD’s GPU-accelerated preview.
• Refine simulations – Increase simulation resolution and add detail without changing overall shape or behavior.
• Simulation retiming – Speed up or slow down simulation playback. Perfect for slow motion effects.
• Cascade simulations – Create a series of simulations that trigger and interact with each other.
• Emission sources – Use a wide range of customizable emission sources, including animated meshes, texture maps and particles, to drive complex simulations.
• Fast volume rendering – Optimized volume rendering with accurate lighting and global illumination.
• Compatibility – Supports industry-standard tools and formats like Alembic and OpenVDB.
• Simulation licenses – Use Phoenix FD simulation licenses to submit jobs over the network to Deadline and Backburner.

For more information, visit: https://www.chaosgroup.com/phoenix-fd/maya.

>> See Also: Pure Ocean mode with Phoenix FD 3.02

Arrow | Zoic Studios © Warner Bros. & DC Entertainment

Blindspot | Zoic Studios © NBC Universal

Availibility

Pricing & Availability Phoenix FD 3 is available now for Autodesk Maya and is a free upgrade for all Phoenix FD 2.x for Maya customers. A Phoenix FD 3 for Maya Workstation license is $830 and includes one floating user license and one floating simulation license. Additional simulation licenses are available for $210. Contact sales@chaosgroup.com for volume discounts.

  More Phoenix FD Plugin [post_ad]

Read more »