Houdini 12.5 with volume sculpting tools
[permalink] 18.03.2013

Side Effects Software released Houdini 12.5 which offers a wealth of new and enhanced features including Cloud FX, Ocean FX, OpenVDB volume sculpting tools and an optimized lighting and rendering pipeline with built-in support for delayed-load Alembic primitives. The new Cloud FX tools offer an artist-friendly way of building, sculpting and rendering cloud formations. This workflow utilizes sparse volume sculpting tools created as part of the OpenVDB Open Source initiative. The integration of these tools is the result of a direct collaboration between DreamWorks Animation and Side Effects Software. The Ocean FX Wave tool deforms geometry into animated oceanscapes using volumes. Users can visualize the results in the viewport and either render the geometry as is or export an animated texture to use as a displacement map. The lighting and rendering pipeline in Houdini 12.5 has been significantly enhanced with relighting options and optimizations in IPR. Primitive support for file types such as Alembic resulting in much lighter data passing to either the viewport or the Mantra renderer. These enhancements make Houdini much more robust when working with huge data sets... Version 12.5 includes many additional features including Volume lights, new Bullet RBD constraints, a new PolySoup primitive type for optimizing large models, point primitives, a powerful Surface remesher and more. [source]

www.sidefx.com

Thinkbox Software releases Krakatoa SR, a stand-alone version of Krakatoa
[permalink] 14.03.2013

Thinkbox Software announced the release of Krakatoa SR, a stand-alone version of Thinkbox Software's high-volume particle renderer for Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems that can be integrated with any 3D content creation application. Previously available for Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Maya 3D software, Krakatoa is CPU-based, highly optimized, heavily multi-threaded, and can be used successfully on most hardware, including laptops and render nodes, without dedicated high-end graphics accelerators. Krakatoa SR exposes both a Python-based interface and a C++ API to connect to various professional 3D applications such as The Foundry's Nuke or Side Effects Software's Houdini. For information on pricing or to request a 15-day evaluation license, visit thinkboxsoftware.com. [source]

www.thinkboxsoftware.com

HDR Light Studio 4
[permalink] 26.09.2012

Lightmap launches HDR Light Studio 4 for Windows with Mac OS X and Linux releases available for the first time bringing the creation and control of image-based lighting within the reach of all 3D artists. LightPaint, LightCam, FilmBack and SunShade technologies combined with Python scripting to enable 'Live' plug-in integration with leading 3D software, with Autodesk Maya and Side Effects Houdini plug-ins being the first to be take advantage of this. "HDR Light Studio 4 offers a unique lighting approach that benefits all 3D and visualization artists" explains Mark Segasby, CEO of Lightmap "This major new release brings this technology to all 3D professionals and students with competitive new pricing and licensing options. Our single edition contains all the features and connectivity, including Live plug-ins, to make HDR Light Studio 4 part of your 3D workflow today on any platform." Single Edition includes plug-ins for KeyShot, Maxwell Studio, VRED, Patchwork 3D, SAP Visual Enterprise Author, Maya and Houdini; Direct Export enables to export scenes from Modo, CINEMA 4D, 3ds Max and Maya directly into LiveLight. Lightmap HDR Light Studio 4 is available immediately for $499 US / 399 EUR, or as as a free update for Pro version 3 customers. Full-featured demo version is available on-line. [source]

www.hdrlightstudio.com

PipelineFX releases Qube! 6.4
[permalink] 13.09.2012

PipelineFX announced the release of Qube! 6.4, new version of its render farm management software for digital media creation. Along with new tools for smart farming, system supervisors can now access Qube! via their smartphones (MobileView), set priority limits for non-privileged users, and control how much of their workstation will be available to the render farm. All with what often amounts to a single click of their mouse. Customers currently on subscription can download version 6.4 immediately from the PipelineFX ftp site. [source]

www.pipelinefx.com

MARI 1.4v3 with customisable navigation
[permalink] 15.03.2012

The Foundry's 3D digital paint software MARI has been updated to version 1.4v3. The update boasts a host of upgrades requested by users, including the ability to remap your MARI experience to meet your needs and choose from styles which match NUKE, Autodesk Maya, Side Effects Houdini and many more; new Tint and Stencil mode to easily lay down decals and more, using the MARI Paint Through tool; the ability to cancel long running operations at the touch of a button; and more. [source]

www.thefoundry.co.uk

Houdini 12: Speed improvements and OpenGL 3 support
[permalink] 02.03.2012

Side Effects Software released Houdini 12, the company's premier 3D modeling, animation, and rendering toolset for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X systems. Built on a powerful new geometry engine, Houdini 12 includes targeted optimizations to dynamics and rendering and a reworked OpenGL 3 viewport. Houdini 12 also includes Bullet solver integration, Pyro FX 2, faster, more accurate FLIP fluids, production-ready cloth, an Alembic exporter and much more. Houdini's Mantra renderer, recently recognized with a Scientific and Technical Achievement award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, now brings physically-based rendering to volumes such as smoke and fire. Mantra also includes a 300 times speed improvement when instancing to points (more on new features). Houdini 12 can be downloaded from sidefx.com immediately with Houdini Escape available for as low as $1,995 US and Houdini Master available for $6,695 US. The free Apprentice Edition can also be downloaded today and Houdini Apprentice HD is available for an annual fee of $99 US. [source]

www.sidefx.com

Massive Importer 1.5 beta for 3ds Max
[permalink] 17.01.2012
Massive Importer for 3ds Max, a tool designed to import MASSIVE crowd simulations into Max, has been released in v1.5 beta. The beta is limited by 100 agents and automatically imports skeleton, geometry, skin weighting data as well as textures. Among the new features are: Clone Geometry Node, the ability to import textures, Instance/Copy Material functionality and more. Full commercial version will add Geometry Cache support and unlimited number of agents... Maya and Houdini versions are in the works. More here. [source]
visual3dtools.blogspot.com

Side Effects Software offered a sneak peek of Houdini 12
[permalink] 10.08.2011

At the Houdini User Group Meeting at SIGGRAPH 2011, Side Effects Software offered audiences a sneak peek of the next major version of the company's high-end 3D modeling, animation and rendering solution - Houdini 12. Version 12 should go into beta in October and will feature many new features and improvements, including a completely new geometry engine which will make Houdini faster and more memory efficient; built-in versioning in Operators and Digital Assets; Pyro FX 2.0 with significant speed improvements and auto-resizing fluid containers; tightly integrated Bullet solver; greatly improved Cloth solver; and more. [source]

www.sidefx.com

RealFlow 2012 now available!
[permalink] 28.07.2011

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]

www.realflow.com

PipelineFX Qube! 6.2 with improved GUI performance
[permalink] 25.05.2011

PipelineFX announced the release of Qube! 6.2, new version of the company's render farm management software for digital media creation. Some of the highlights of the release include improved GUI performance, host-based licensing (maximizes investment in Nuke, V-Ray, mental ray and RenderMan licenses), large farm performance optimization, dynamic allocation for Nuke, Houdini distributed simulations support, and enhanced Shotgun integration. Customers currently on subscription can download version 6.2 immediately from the PipelineFX ftp site. Qube! supports all leading content creation applications including 3ds Max, Maya, NUKE, Softimage, Shake, After Effects, RenderMan, 3Delight, and Fusion; running on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X systems. [source]

www.pipelinefx.com