Autodesk Softimage 2012, new version of Autodesk's powerful node-based 3D character animation and visual effects software for Windows and Linux, has just been announced. The new release features major upgrades, including new procedural ICE modeling, integrated Syflex cloth simulation, increased stereoscopic capabilities and multiple improvements to the viewport display. Softimage 2012 also offers better interoperability with other Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite Premium 2012 products (more on new features). Softimage 2012 will be available in English and Japanese in April 2011 for an MSRP of $2,995 US. The price to upgrade from Softimage 2011 to Softimage 2012 will be $1,495 MSRP, while Autodesk Subscription with Gold Support is $795 US MSRP per year. [source]

PmG Worldwide, makers of professional 3D animation and rendering solutions, announced a new viral marketing campaign where your success in sharing this offer will allow you and others to get pmG's animation and rendering software messiahStudio5 for the unheard of price of just $10 US (regularly $499 US) or $40 US (regularly $1195 US) in case of the Pro version. When this experiment ends, the prices will return to normal. For more details and rules of this offer, visit this page. [source]

E-on software, makers of Vue, announced the immediate availability of version 5 of Ozone, its atmospheric plug-in for 3ds Max (mental ray and V-Ray), Maya (incl. mental ray, Maya Software renderer and V-Ray ), Softimage (mental ray), CINEMA 4D, and LightWave (see this article for more information on features). Ozone 5 is available in English for Windows XP / Vista / 7, and on Mac OS X 10.5+ (Intel only) for both 32 and 64-bit versions. A single license of Ozone 5 will work with all compatible applications and renderers installed on the end user's system, and retails at $295 US, with upgrades from Ozone 4.0 available for $95 US. RenderNode network rendering licenses are available at $95 US per node. [source]

Professional render farm manager RenderPal V2 (compatible with Maya, 3ds Max, CINEMA 4D, Nuke, After Effects, Softimage and many more), has been updated to version 2.5.0. This version offers a new license management system, several improvements for net jobs, monitoring of CPU usage of rendering clients, and more. [source]

The visual effects and post-production teams behind top-rated television programs such as Glee, NCIS, Bones, Fringe, The Good Wife, No Ordinary Family and Dexter and new mid-season additions The Cape, Chicago Code and Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior regularly turn to our Digital Entertainment Creation software, announced Autodesk.

Eden FX, which provides visual effects for the new series The Cape, as well as Fringe, Undercovers, Community, Teen Wolf and NCIS, has tightly integrated Autodesk Maya, Autodesk Softimage, Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Mudbox 3D animation software tools into its workflow.
Los Angeles-based LOOK FX is working on the sixth season of Bones and also contributes visual effects to Harry's Law and No Ordinary Family using a range of tools that includes Maya, Mudbox, Autodesk Flame and Autodesk Flare. LOOK 3D Supervisor Michael Capton explained, "With the short turnaround for TV production, the flexibility of Maya gives us the ability to work quickly and make changes on the fly, enabling us to handle almost any effect thrown at us."

FuseFX creates visual effects for several new and popular shows, including Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior, Chicago Code, Glee, No Ordinary Family, Lie to Me, Criminal Minds, and others. "We use it in combination with V-Ray to create a multitude of CG elements, digital environments, fire, smoke, airplanes, helicopters, digital doubles and more," said David Altenau, FuseFX Founder and Visual Effects Supervisor.

In a standout promo for Season 5 of Dexter, the show's hero stands still in a living room as the world around him turns upside down. For this promo, SWAY Studio used 3ds Max and Flame to build CG elements and complete heavy compositing work in each of the spot's 30 shots. "This project was challenging because it was a mix of many complex elements integrated seamlessly into an entirely CG environment. [...] I love the internal paint system in Flame - it allows us to have better control over the CG performance of elements," said Aaron Powell, SWAY Studio VFX supervisor. [source]

The Ozone 5 plug-ins designed to create and render hyper-realistic atmospheres in 3ds Max, Maya, Softimage, LightWave and CINEMA 4D, is scheduled for release by the end of January 2011, announced e-on software. Ozone 5 will be compatible with the latest versions of its host, including CINEMA 4D R12, LightWave 10 and the next versions of 3ds Max, Maya and Softimage. Ozone 5 implements the cutting-edge technologies developed for the simulation and rendering of atmospheric effects, including Spectral 3, the 3rd generation of Spectral Atmospheres - a physically-based, hyper-realistic model that accurately simulates the behavior of real-world atmosphere and lighting according to weather conditions. The Spectral Atmosphere engine is capable of rendering highly realistic volumetric clouds with accurate lighting and volumetric shadows. [source]

Qube! - the leading render farm management software for digital media creation - has been updated to version 6.1. The update enables users to monitor their renders graphically with image output thumbnails in the GUI; presents them with the ability to modify any and all menus in the Qube! GUI or submit plug-ins dynamically; helps to easily monitor and manage complex work lists or sets of inter-dependent jobs graphically; and brings easier Houdini job submissions (more)... Customers currently on support can download version 6.1 immediately from the PipelineFX ftp site. Qube! works out of the box with all leading content creation applications including Autodesk 3ds Max, Maya, Softimage, The Foundry NUKE, Shake, Adobe After Effects, Pixar's RenderMan, DNA Research's 3Delight, eyeon Fusion and many more. Qube! also runs on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X operating systems. Demo version can be requested here. [source]

Next Limit announced the release of Maxwell Render version 2.5, new version of the acclaimed unbiased renderer for 3ds Max, Maya, CINEMA 4D, LightWave 3D, Photoshop, After Effects and other 3D animation and copmpositing packages. This free update for Maxwell Render 2.x clients includes many improvements and new features, including: the new Maxwell Fire interactive rendering technology (available inside plug-ins - currently supporting Maya, 3ds Max, Rhino and SolidWorks - and Maxwell Studio); Sub-Surface Scattering improvements in both quality and performance; numerous workflow improvements including new scripting functions, new command line options and parameters, and networking improvements especially for running animations; and more. [source]

RealFlow RenderKit, Next Limit's set of tools that has been designed to facilitate the complex task of rendering RealFlow fluids, reached v2.1. The RFRK consists of several procedural geometry shaders and a volumetric shader to simplify and accelerate rendering RealFlow scenes in various renderers (mental ray, RenderMan, Maxwell Render) and 3D animation packages (Autodesk Maya, 3ds Max, Softimage). Among the key new features in version 2.1 is a Mac OS X compatibility (in addition to Linux and Windows versions), support for Houdini and its Mantra renderer, RenderMan Studio 3 support as well as Autodesk Maya 2011, and Softimage 2011 - 2011.5 support. For pricing information, visit this page; demos can be requested here. [source]

E-on software announced the immediate availability of its Vue 9 line of products for CG professionals (more on new features). In order to assure a smooth transition, and to avoid order processing congestion, e-on software also announced that it will release the rest of the Vue 9 product line - Pioneer & Theme-packs, Frontier, Esprit, Studio and Complete - mid November 2010. Both products are compatible with 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows (XP - 7) as well as Mac OS X systems (10.5+), Vue 9 xStream is also compatible with 3ds Max 7 - 2011 (incl. mental ray and V-Ray renderers), Maya 6 - 2011 (mental ray, V-Ray, Maya Software renderers), Softimage 5.1 - 2011 (mental ray renderer), CINEMA 4D R9.6 - R12, and LightWave 3D 9.3 - 10, including native renderers. Vue 9 xStream retails for $1,790 US (with one year maintenance), and upgrades from Vue 8 xStream are starting at $395 US. Vue 9 Infinite sells for $1,190 US (one year maintenance included), with upgrades from Vue 8 Infinite starting at $295 US (see Pricelist). E-on software will be releasing a Personal Learning Edition of Vue 9 Infinite and xStream later this year. [source]