CityEngine 2010 now also for freelancers and students
[permalink] 30.06.2010
Swiss developer Procedural Inc. introduced CityEngine 2010, the latest version of its city creation software based on procedural algorithms. Among the main novelties are interactive editing of dynamic city layouts, node-based rule authoring, and a sketching tool for facades. Furthermore, Procedural Inc. introduces new attractive licensing models for freelancers and students: CityEngine INDIE for $495 US and CityEngine STUDENT for $149 US. A complete list of new features and pricing can be found on procedural.com, along with a 30-day trial version (requires registration).
[source]
www.procedural.com

SIGGRAPH 2010: Computer Animation Festival winners announced
[permalink] 29.06.2010
SIGGRAPH announced the Computer Animation Festival's Best in Show, Jury Award, and Best Student Project recipients for SIGGRAPH 2010 to be held in Los Angeles this July. Nominees were chosen from 750 submissions from around the globe, presented by both professional studios and students alike. In all, approximately 100 films will be shown during the Computer Animation Festival, with entries from 49 different countries and five continents. Fifty-two of the accepted entries are international, and 18 countries are represented in the final selection. Awards: Best in Show Award - Loom, directed by Jan Bitzer, Ilija Brunck, and Csaba Letay; Jury Award - Poppy, directed by James Cunningham; Best Student Project Prize - The Wonder Hospital, directed by Beomsik Shimbe Shim, California Institute of the Arts; Highlights: 2012 - The Last Fluid Simulation, visual effects by Scanline VFX, Los Angeles/Munich; Assassin's Creed 2, cinematic by Digic Pictures for Ubisoft Entertainment; Animated History of Poland, directed by Tomek Baginski, Platige Image; and more. [source]
www.siggraph.org

Autodesk's new Design Suite family unveiled
[permalink] 25.06.2010

Autodesk, a leader in 3D design, engineering and entertainment software, unveiled a family of software suites for visual, factory and plant design. The new suites will offer increased functionality, interoperability and provide users with a superior user experience through a simpler, more cost-effective purchasing and deployment process. Autodesk Design Suite (for architects and designers working with AutoCAD software, includes AutoCAD, 3ds Max Design and Alias Design), Autodesk Factory Design Suite (for machine and equipment builders, system integrators and manufacturers, includes AutoCAD Architecture, Autodesk Inventor, Autodesk Vault and Autodesk Navisworks), and Autodesk Plant Design Suite (for plant designers and engineers who need integrated plant design, includes AutoCAD, AutoCAD P&ID, AutoCAD Plant 3D and Autodesk Navisworks). Each suite will be available in several editions, with each edition offering progressively broader and more sophisticated capabilities. The Autodesk Design Suite and the Autodesk Factory Design Suite are now available in select countries in North America, Asia, Europe and Latin America. The Autodesk Plant Design Suite will be available in July. [source]

www.autodesk.com

Six new hot fixes for 3ds Max and Design 2009 - 2011
[permalink] 24.06.2010

Autodesk released several new hot fixes for its flagship 3d modeling, animation, rendering and design software 3ds Max and 3ds Max Design, specifically for versions 2009, 2010, and 2011. Specific fixed features and installing procedures are discussed here. Downloads: 3ds Max 2009; 3ds Max Design 2009; 3ds Max 2010; 3ds Max Design 2010; 3ds Max 2011; 3ds Max Design 2011. [source]

www.autodesk.com

Flash Player 10.1 for Mobile available
[permalink] 24.06.2010

Adobe announced the release of Adobe Flash Player 10.1 to mobile platform partners, redesigned from the ground up with new performance and mobile specific features. Device and technology partners including ARM, Brightcove, Dell, Google, HTC, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, RIM, Samsung, Texas Instruments and others announced more specifics around their support for Flash Player 10.1 separately. Completely redesigned and optimized for mobile, Flash Player 10.1 delivers new interaction methods with support for mobile-specific input models, incl. support for accelerometer, and Smart Zooming. Performance optimizations work with virtually all major mobile silicon and platform vendors, and make efficient use of CPU and battery performance. For more information on how to optimize Flash content for mobile, visit adobe.com/go/fpmobile. The desktop version of Flash Player 10.1 for Windows, Mac OS and Linux is available here. [source]

www.adobe.com

Shaderlight for 3ds Max reaches v1.3
[permalink] 23.06.2010

Following the launch of Shaderlight for 3ds Max in December 2009, rendering solutions provider ArtVPS are pleased to announce the latest release of their interactive rendering software. Shaderlight is a physically based, progressive ray-tracer that enables interactive changes to be made to an image at any stage within the rendering process. Materials, environments, lighting and textures can all be updated and the results seen in real-time without any compromise on image quality or having to restart the rendering. The improved performance (up to 50%) of this latest release will enable users to render much larger images as well as experience greater interactivity when making MELT changes. To make this release of Shaderlight accessible to even more 3ds Max users, ArtVPS are offering the software at a revised price of just $450 US. Users can also try the software free of charge for 30 days. [source]

www.artvps.com

Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 released
[permalink] 11.06.2010

Adobe has released Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 software for Windows and Macintosh, the essential digital photography solution that allows photographers to quickly organize, enhance and showcase their images from one application. First released as a public beta in October 2009 , the final version of Lightroom 3 introduces a completely redesigned performance architecture that better handles growing image libraries and provides an unrivaled raw processing engine with noise reduction and sharpening tools to achieve the highest image quality. The 64-bit capable Lightroom 3 includes new features that optimize workflows and allow images to be shared in creative ways, including support for DSLR video files and tethered shooting on select cameras. Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 3 is available now at www.adobe.com/store, and will be available soon at retail and on-line outlets for an estimated street price of $299 US or $99 US in case of an upgrade. [source]

www.adobe.com

GPS data panel in Photoshop CS5
[permalink] 10.06.2010

Adobe released a new free add-on for Photoshop that includes a custom File Info panel displaying Exif GPS metadata. The panel data will show up in Adobe Photoshop CS5, Bridge CS5, Fireworks, Flash, Illustrator and InDesign. Download the new panel (in English only) here: for Windows, for Mac OS X. [source]

www.adobe.com

First look at The Foundry's Mari
[permalink] 08.06.2010

The Foundry released a series of video demonstrations explaining the functionality of their upcoming 3D projection painting tool Mari (read the original announcement for more information). The Foundry's YouTube channel hosts a three-part video demo of Mari (Part 1/3, Part 2/3 and Part 3/3) showing the speed of the application handling the T-Rex model from Peter Jackson's King Kong, including (several different versions of) animations, shading, and hundreds of textures. According to the interview, the price will be set around the 500 GBP mark, with public beta version coming out 'soon'. Other new videos demonstrate: 32K texture support in Mari; 2K animated textures; warping tools; and multilayer shaders. [source]

www.thefoundry.co.uk

Sneak peek of Houdini 11
[permalink] 08.06.2010

Side Effects Software announced Houdini 11, the next installment in its line of professional 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. Kim Davidson, president of Side Effects Software, published a new blog entry describing the functionality of Houdini 11, namely new Voronoi-based fracturing tools designed to break up objects either before simulations or automatically during a simulation; FLIP (Fluid Implicit Particle) solver which is up to up to 70 times faster than Houdini 10's SPH solver; user interface improvements to Houdini's shader building environment; enhanced hardware rendering functionality with high quality OpenGL shading of lights and shadows as well as GPU-assisted volumes, unlimited lights and support for diffuse, specular, opacity, environment, bump and normal maps; new light types such as Global Illumination, Portal, Sky, Indirect and Geometry (turns any 3D object into a light emitting surface); performance improvements; and more. In mid-June all of Side Effects Software's customers covered under the Annual Upgrade Plan will be invited to join the beta test and will be issued Houdini 11 licenses in anticipation of the release. In mid-July, Apprentice HD users will be invited to upgrade to the new release with a planned gold release later in July. [source]

www.sidefx.com