Autodesk has acquired Illuminate Labs, a privately held maker of lighting technology for game development. Illuminate Labs' Beast middleware solution and Turtle plug-in for Autodesk Maya software enable faster iteration on a game's creative intent, and more realistic in-game lighting. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Autodesk anticipates that Beast middleware will continue to be licensed as a standalone product, Turtle will be incorporated into future offerings, and discontinued as a standalone product... [source]

W-Tools released an open beta of LWCAD 3.6, an upcoming new version of the popular CAD modeling add-on for LightWave 3D. New version brings several new stair tools (Line, Arc, Rec3p, Spiral Stair etc.), Reduce function that reduces planar polygons and points, and more. Users with LWCAD 3.x license can download the latest open beta version on "product activation" page. [source]

cebas VISUAL TECHNOLOGY Inc. announced a major new version of its finalRender SE rendering solutions for 3ds Max, Maya and CINEMA 4D applications. Due to be released in Q1 of 2011, new finalRender will feature fully integrated, hardware accelerated global illumination rendering, incorporating enhanced CUDA GPU acceleration as well as full OpenCL support, without restricting the feature set and functionality of finalRender for 3ds Max. GPU-accelerated version of finalRender R4 SE will support Render Elements and Render Passes; soft shadows; IES lights; displacement; Sub-surface Scattering; all compatible 3ds Max Materials; volume light effects; and more. The prototype will premiere at this years SIGGRAPH 2010 in Los Angeles, CA, July 27th to 29th. [source]

According to the latest announcement from Pixologic, Inc., the long-awaited fourth version of ZBrush will be released on Monday, August 9, 2010. This new version of Pixologic's flagship digital sculpting and painting software will come with updated plug-ins, and GoZBrush support for modo, CINEMA 4D, 3ds Max and Maya for Windows and Mac OS X systems. For more information on features, read our previous announcement. ZBrush 4 will be released as a free upgrade to all current registered ZBrush users, and for those who purchase ZBrush before the release date. [source]

Cebas announced the release of a new fully functional Personal Learning Edition of finalRender R3 SE for 3ds Max and Design. finalRender R3 SE Personal is a full finalRender R3 SE version, the features and functionality of which are identical to the ones listed for finalRender R3 SE, except for a few minor restrictions related to network rendering with a render farm and disabled support for Distributed Network Rendering. There are virtually no restrictions in the use of the Personal version, except using it on any kind of commercial productions etc. This edition is being offered at a low price of 145 EUR. [source]

Montreal-based character animation software specialist Di-O-Matic revealed a new revolutionary solution for realistic facial animations - Maskarad. Maskarad is a markerless facial performance capture solution, which means it analyzes video files of human faces without any special make-up or markers, and automatically tracks both head motion and facial features. Resulted facial performance animation data can be exported to a 3D software solution of choice. No information on platform compatibility, release date or price has been revealed, yet. [source]

Royalty-free stock footage specialist announced the addition of three new footage brands to their library. Expanding the selection of high-quality options to over one hundred different brands allows Artbeats customers access to new footage from Martin Lisius (a notable collection of tornadoes, hurricanes and other extreme weather), Johner Motion (provides thousands of Scandinavian inspired lifestyle and establishment clips) and GlamourKey (green screen footage shot with the RED ONE camera). These brands, and many others, are available for viewing and purchase through the Artbeats FootageHub. Upon registering with Artbeats, you can download a free clip every week. [source]

Filter Forge, Inc. announced the final release of Filter Forge 2.0, a high-end plug-in for Windows and Mac OS X versions of Adobe Photoshop allowing computer artists to build their own filters in a visual editor or download any of over 7000 user-submitted filters from a free on-line library. New features include instant filter search, versatile and fast particle-spraying components, support for unlimited HDR colors, Lua scripting, support for non-seamless textures, new texture lighting options and shadows via ambient occlusion (more). Filter Forge can be used as a stand-alone application or as a plug-in for Adobe Photoshop and compatible hosts, and is offered in three differently priced editions ($149, $249, and $399 US, currently reduced by 40%) targeted at entry-level, mainstream and professional graphic artists. The free fully-functional 30-day trial version is available at the Filter Forge download page. [source]

Raylight's Xrayunwrap, single click UV unwrapping solution for Autodesk 3ds Max, reached v.1.5. The updated version features easier to use interface and workflow, thanks to its direct integration with Max's UVWUnwrap Modifier, faster operation, compatibility with all primitives, the ability to edit seams, sub-object unwrapping, and more. For more information on plug-ins features, watch the Video Tutorials , or download the official Help File. Xrayunwrap 1.5 supports 32- and 64-bit versions of 3ds Max 2008 - 2011, and costs 12.99 EUR. [source]

Autodesk Labs web site presented new technology preview software: Point Cloud Tools for 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design. It enables display and rendering of 3D laser scanning/LiDAR data sets within 3ds Max / Design to quickly import as-built site references to help evaluate and visualize your designs in context of their surrounding elements. Point cloud data sets are often created by 3D scanners and represent a set of measured vertices in a three-dimensional coordinate system. Using an automatic process, these devices measure in a large number of points on the surface of an object and output a point cloud as a data file. See this introduction video for more information. [source]