E-on software announced the immediate availability of the tenth generation of its Vue line of products designed to generate virtual natural environments. E-on released the professional programs (Infinite & xStream) first, and will release the rest of the Vue 10 product line - Pioneer & Theme-packs, Frontier, Esprit, Studio and Complete - mid November 2011. For more information on functionality, read the previous news release. Vue 10 xStream (the integrated solution for Autodesk 3ds Max, Maya, and Softimage, Maxon CINEMA 4D or Newtek LightWave), and Vue 10 Infinite (the stand-alone version) are available now, for an MSRP of $1,790 US, and $1,190 US, respectively. Upgrades from Vue 9 xStream are starting at $395 US, upgrades from Vue 9 Infinite are $295 US. Upgrades from Vue 8 Infinite and Vue 8 xStream are also available. [source]

Next Limit S.L. updated their state-of-the-art 3D renderer Maxwell Render for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X systems. Version 2.6 adds a new procedural primitive for rendering hair compatible with the most popular hair systems (Shave & Haircut, Maya Hair, Max Hair, Ornatrix, Cinema Hair), new procedural primitive for particles compatible with RealFlow, Maya particles and 3ds Max, support for Vector displacement, faster faster motion blur, referenced MXS files and materials, and more. Maxwell Render Suite 2.6 is available now for an MSRP of $995 US / 895 EUR, including five free render nodes. Freshly released were also ArchicAD 15 plug-in and Maxwell for Google SketchUp. For demo versions, visit this page. [source]

Autodesk released Softimage 2012 Subscription Advantage Pack, aka Softimage 2012.5. The new SAP comes with new and enhanced modeling tools, including new options for thickness, hole capping, edge cutting, and extrusion, together with a new Add Smooth Edge Loop tool; enhanced selection tools; AMD Bullet Physics engine; as well as animation and scene management tools and ICE enhancements. If you are a Subscription customer, get the SAP here. [source]

The Autodesk Subscription Advantage Pack for the popular 3D painting and sculpting software Mudbox 2012 delivers new tools and technologies, such as Gigatexel Engine for the creation of highly detailed assets, edge hardness, creasing and smoothing support in models created in 3ds Max, Maya or Softimage, the ability to combine Bump and Normal maps, and more. For more information on features, watch the following video on YouTube. Download the new SAP here. [source]

Autodesk has announced Subscription Advantage Packs for its Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites 2012, as well as most of its portfolio of Digital Entertainment Creation toolsets. Subscription Advantage Packs provide current Autodesk Subscription customers with early access to new features. The Subscription Advantage Pack (SAP) for Maya 2012 software provides support for the Alembic point cache format, the Open Source AMD Bullet Physics engine, and a new Node Editor. The SAP for 3ds Max 2012 delivers a completely new render pass system, ActiveShade rendering for the iray renderer, new and enhanced interoperability with After Effects and Photoshop and new .NET exposure of the 3ds Max SDK. The SAP for Softimage 2012 delivers new modeling and selection tools, new options for ICE rigid body dynamics that enhance the simulation toolset, and an extended SDK access. Mudbox 2012 will be enhanced with a new Gigatexel engine to enable artists to create substantial amounts of detail, and an extended creative painting and sculpting toolset. The Creative Finishing extension releases for Flame Premium 2012, Flare 2012 and the Subscription Advantage Pack for Smoke 2012 for Mac OS X software deliver new stereoscopic 3D viewing modes as well as enhanced creative tools providing stylized graphic effects. Expanded format support for Flame Premium now includes HDRx support, MXF export, and AVCHD codec import. For Smoke for Mac, format support now includes Apple ProRes QuickTime, IMX and MXF OP-1a export, RED Epic HDRx support, AVCHD codec import, and Avid DNxHD export in a QuickTime wrapper. The Subscription Advantage Packs and Creative Finishing extension releases are expected to be available to current Autodesk Subscription customers in late-September 2011. [source]

Spanish developer Next Limit released a new version of its fluid and body dynamics simulator RealFlow for Windows, Mac OS and Linux systems. RealFlow 2012 presents improvements to Hybrido workflow and performance (dripping water, automatic foam generation, faster simulations, lower memory use, and more); a built-in, easy-to-use tool to create fractured objects; new Retimer Tool for bullet time effects, reversed simulations or slow motion effects; Servos engines; and GUI enhancements, including new Layers panel. Prices for one Standard license are $3995 US / 2995 EUR, upgrades are free for customers on maintenance ($1000 US / 750 EUR per year) or $2500 US / 2000 EUR per license. The public demo version of RealFlow 2012 will be available soon, while the non-commercial Learning Edition ($245 US / 195 EUR) is available now. [source]

Autodesk released an update package for its organic modeling application Mudbox 2012. The Service Pack 3 addresses quality issues when re-importing PSD files into Mudbox (more) and is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux versions of the software. Download it here. [source]

Autodesk's digital sculpting and painting software Mudbox 2012 has been updated with Service Pack 2, that addresses stability issues including an issue with the settings that caused Mudbox to quit during startup, and issues with Ptex implementation. For more information and a list of what's fixed refer to the Release Notes. Downloads for 32- and 64-bit Windows or Mac OS X versions are available at this location. [source]

Ken Pimentel's blog Maxed Out presented new videos showing the current capabilities of Project Geppetto, Autodesk's 3D crowd simulator (previous news release). According to the post, the Project should go live on Autodesk Labs sometime in August. [source]

Glare Technologies announced the release of Indigo Renderer version 3.0 and Indigo RT, new versions of the company's physically-based and photorealistic 3D renderers. Indigo Renderer is compatible with Google SketchUp, Autodesk 3ds Max, Maya, Softimage and Revit, CINEMA 4D or Blender applications on Windows, Mac OS and Linux systems, and its version 3.0 brings many usability refinements and improvements to the rendering engine, including real-time scene editing, GPU acceleration as well as render queue support. Indigo 3.0 Licence comes at a price of 399 EUR (145 for Node Licence), while Indigo RT 3.0 Licence costs 99 EUR. For information about the difference between Indigo RT and Indigo Renderer 3.0, visit this page. Trial versions are available here. [source]