MAX Plugins.de News Archive

Archived Plugin News  –  June 2009
 

Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v2009.06.26 are:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit)


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v2.3.65 are:
- Fixes finding textures and selections of objects with textures
- Object selection has been accelerated
- Adds renaming of files with the F2 key (shortcut only)
- Adds renaming of paths and files with CTRL+F2 key (shortcut and menu)

FilePathFinder is available for Max 9 to 2010 and costs $36. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v2010.0.2 are:
- Fixes a critical issue involving Windows Regional and Language Options


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for Build 06252009 are:
- Changes the shutter range from 1/1000 to 1/32000

Photo Studio Pro is available for Max 2008 to 2010 and costs €50. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for Build 1711 are:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit only)


Plugin Update: Animation

Changes for v3.5.5.0 are:
- Fixes GT mesh generation with image motion blur at start / end of active time segment

This version of Ghost Trails is available for Max 2009 to 2010 and costs $99. A demo version is available here.


Plugin News: Objects

I've updated the links to the plugin, and have changed the download to a Zip file, because it seems a few people didn't know what to do with a 7-Zip file.

I can only recommend 7-Zip to anyone that doesn't know it. It's an open-source zipper, and it can compress most files a lot better than many other zip programs. For example, the file above is a 4.67 MB zip file, and the 7-zip version is only 2.43 MB! That can make a lot of difference to the download traffic on sites like mine.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v8.03 are:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Polygon Cruncher is available for Max 4 to 2010 and costs $129. A demo version is available here.


New Plugin: Objects

This plugin contains a selection of pre-fabricated Lego bricks and plates (24 of each) with an easy-to-use dropdown interface for selecting the different types of brick.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v2.1.0 are:
- Fixes an error when starting in Max 2008
- Adds 'Place to Material Editor' function
- Adds full refresh for external scene files by CTRL+Clicking on the 'Refresh' button

FilePathFinder is available for Max 9 to 2010 and costs $36. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Particles / Animation

Changes for v1.3.28 are:
- Fixes some issues found in previous versions

glu3D is available for Max 7 to 2010 and costs €495. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v1.03 include:
- Pluggable assemblies are now loaded from directories specified in plugins.ini file
- Adds upcasting to a load of different types
- Adds enumerations and flags for numerous functions, replacing int's as parameters
- Miscellaneous fixes


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v2.8.22.0 are:
- SiblingInstances in Max exports now augmented with a SiblingIsReference array
- Adds 2 experimental functions: GrannyPrepReadEntireFileNoAlloc and GrannyReadEntireFileNoAlloc
- Fixes an error in the DXTC code that could cause color channels to overflow
- Adds new track binding interface: GrannySetTrackMatchMapping
- Fixes an edge case where loading an old .gr2 could corrupt memory
- Adds a sizeof(enum) == sizeof(int32) check to granny.h
- Fixes a problem in the 'CleanMaterials' preprocessor command for deep material graphs
- Compatability Note: GrannyFixupFileSectionPhase2 arguments changed
- Compatability Note: GrannyMaximumSectionCount is currently set to 32
- Fixes a rounding problem that could leave the last frame of keyframed curves unavailable
- Fixes a bug that caused S3TC textures to have invalid granny_pixel_layout members on export
- (internal) LoadMarshallingArray and GrannyLoadFixupArray can now be read in externally
- (internal) Adds some missing memory operations

Granny Exporter is available for Max 6 to 2009, and is part of the Granny Toolkit which costs $12500.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v4.208 are:
- Fixes a problem with Vray RT throwing a render element error with RPManager

This version of RPManager is available for Max 9 to 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit) and costs $300. A demo version is available here.


New Plugin: Utilities

This is an unsupported utility plugin which can convert standard materials, Illustrate materials and finalToon materials to Pencil+ 2 Materials.


Plugin Updates: Import / Export

sio29 has kindly made the source code of his Metasequoia import and export plugins available for download, so I've recompiled them for Max 2009 and Max 2010 (32-bit only).

You can download them here:
- Metasequoia Exporter v1.04
- Metasequoia Import v1.12


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v2.6 are:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Pencil+ is available for Max 6 to 2010 and costs ¥45,150. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Updates: finalF/X Bundle available for Max 2010

cebas Computer GmbH have recompiled their finalF/X Bundle 1.5 for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit). The bundle consists of finalDOF, finalFlares and Pyrocluster, all of which can also be purchased separately.

The Max 2010 updates for finalF/X products are a free download and can be acquired by registered users at the cebas Shop.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v1.0.426 include:
- Fix to no longer filter or bilinear sample the z-depth channel
- Fixes mi_lookup_color_texture to handle remapped textures

Rendition is available for Max 9 to 2009 and costs $395. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v3.1.36430 include:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Adds support for Houdini 10
- Deadline now recognizes if tasks become orphaned during network problems and requeues them
- Post Job Scripts now work again
- Chinese character encoded output should now save correctly in the logs and error reports
- Client permissions when running as a normal user on Mac have been fixed
- The Folder browser dialog on Mac now allows you to select paths from the Volumes folder
- Duplicate limit groups specified on submission are now removed before creating the job
- Subfolders in Deadline plugin folders are now copied locally to the Slave
- Remote Desktop settings now allow you to specify a RDC settings folder again
- Adds a Repository Option to allow configuration of the stalled Slave timeout value
- Adds a Repository Option to allow you to disable the automatic deletion of corrupted jobs
- And much much more... The full list can be found here

Deadline is available for Max 7 to 2010 and costs from $110 to $140 per node. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for Build 1706 are:
- Bug-fixes


Plugin Updates: Modelling

Changes for v6.05 are:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Performance improvements in interactive editing operations
- You can now unwrap and edit textures applied directly to Power NURBS / Solids / Translators objects
- Adds support for Max modifiers
- Improved user interface for curve selection
- Improved quality with the special crash protection guard
- Import of SolidWorks 2009 files in Power Translators Pro

Power NURBS / Solids / Translators are available for Max 9 to 2010, Information on pricing can be found at the Turbosquid ACAP site. A demo version is available here.


New Plugin: Utilities

This commercial MAXScript helps you with operations related to external files (eg. textures, .IES files, pointcache files, proxies) in your scene. It allows you to collect, sort and search for missing assets.

FilePathFinder is available for Max 9 to 2010 and costs $36. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Animation

Changes for v0.95 are:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Adds the ability to load and save setup files

Pose-O-Matic is only available to Di-O-Matic VIP members at the moment, and requires a separate Morph-O-Matic licence to work.


Plugin Update: Objects

Changes for v1.10 are:
- Motion blur now works on particles which are changing size
- Adds support for motion blur samples
- Changes the way particle velocity is calculated
- Adds support for textures as density fields


Plugin Update: Modelling / Animation

Changes for v1.7.0.79 are:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Hairtrix is available for Max 9 to 2010 and costs $695.


Plugin Update: Modelling / Animation

Changes for v3.2.4 are:
- Fixes a crash bug in Mental Ray when using Custom Edit and Limit to Visibility
- Optimized rendering time and memory footprint for mrProxy objects
- Adds an option in Creation Tools to follow path

The freeware version, Forest Pack Lite, has also been updated and can be downloaded here.

Forest Pack Pro is available for Max 7 to 2010 and normally costs €250. For a limited time it is on sale for €200. A demo version is available here.


Plugin News: 64-bit FLEXnet Licensing Hotfix...

Autodesk have released a hotfix for Max 2010 and Max 2010 Design that addresses a crash that may occur during the Activation Licensing Service process, when launching an Autodesk 2010 product on Microsoft Windows 64-bit platforms.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v1.3.1 are:
- Fixes the 'Custom Shingles' re-pick bug
- The help file has been revised

Roof Designer is available for Max 9 to 2010 and costs $35. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Objects

Changes for v0.92b are:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Fixes a crash when a leafmesh is created before the ivy which is using it


Plugin Update: Modelling / Animation

Changes for v1.07 are:
- Fixes some surface issues found in previous versions
- Installer now works with Max 2010 Design

PWrapper is available for Max 7 to 2010 and costs $295. A demo version is available here.


Plugin News: Summer Sale at iCube R&D...

iCube R&D are running a summer sale on June 17th, 18th and 19th where you can buy any of their products (including bundles) at a 30% discount (includes VRayScatter for €140 instead of €200, CityTraffic for €250 instead of €360, GradientEdge for €25 instead of €33). For a full list of prices and bundles, look here.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v2.1 are:
- Adds support for Max 2009 and 2010 (32-bit only)
- You can now export a model with edited normals
- Adds support for exporting biped model
- Adds support for ambient light animation
- Fixes a bug in the Material Converter utility


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v1.0.425 are:
- Adds gamma correction support
- Interactive view now handles incremental camera instance changes that change camera definition
- Fix to CPP light list API
- Fix to mi_texture_info to support remapped textures
- Fix to Maya plugin to ensure production shaders are included
- Using updated QT 4.3.2 Core

Rendition is available for Max 9 to 2009 and costs $395. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.9.71 are:
- Improved support for 64-bit Max 2010
- Imporved Morpher support on 64-bit Max 2010
- Adds 'Border' option to the texture address mode list in Texture Unit texmap
- Adds 'Border Color' to Texture Unit texmap
- Fixes shader source filenames not being produced in the shader definition file

oFusion Pro is available for Max 9 to 2010 and costs $599. A demo version is available here.


Misc Update: Updated .BIP samples from Autodesk

Autodesk have released updated versions of the sample .BIP files that ship with Max 2010, due to the fact that some of the shipping ones are corrupted.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v2.8.21.0 are:
- Fixes an out-of-bounds access error in Max
- Fixes an error in the DXTC code that could cause color channels to overflow
- Fixes a problem with command-line or double-click loading of .gr2 files
- Fixes the transform ordering issue in the retargeter
- The viewer object listing panes now tell you the source .gr2 for the model, mesh, etc
- Move tool tangent extraction in Maya to MSpace::kWorld
- You can now position the camera at the location of in-scene cameras in the Granny viewer
- (internal) Matrix mul inline handling fix
- (internal) viewer_model variables supported in Viewer scripting
- Worked around a problem with the cloth modifier in Max
- Adds a new sample for the preprocessor: 'CombineRigidMeshes'
- Adds a Wii accelerated BuildPositionWorldPoseOnly path
- Adds a Wii accelerated deformer for GrannyPWN323VertexType
- Adds a 'Zoom to mesh' context command to the viewer
- Fixes a command-line bug in the viewer that caused '-set/clear' arguments to be overwritten
- Adds a new sample preprocessor command: 'MergeRigidMeshes'
- Preprocessor commands will now try to preserve the platform setting of the input file
- Adds a flag to the Maya exporter script command to suppress the crash dialog
- Fixes an oversight in the 'RemoveNamespace' preprocessor command

Granny Exporter is available for Max 6 to 2009, and is part of the Granny Toolkit which costs $12500.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v1.0.423 are:
- Fix to Maya plugin - ensure production shaders are included
- Now using updated QT 4.5.1 Core
- Fix to mi_trace_shadow_seg for material lookups
- Fixes a multi-threading issue with photon mapping

Rendition is available for Max 9 to 2009 and costs $395. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v9.0 are:
- Adds support for Photoshop CS4 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Adds support for Softimage 7.5 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Adds support for Maya 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Increased security
- Enhanced SCM workflows
- Enhanced server robustness and OS support
- Adds support for Windows Server 2008

Alienbrain is available for Max 9 to 2009 and pricing starts at $12,000. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Materials

Changes for v1.4 are:
- Paint strokes with a 'Painting-Bitmap' are almost 3 x faster than with v1.3
- Textures can now be automatically updated with the 'Undo' and 'Refresh' buttons
- Fixes a bug where the 'Paintbrush-Bitmap' could be replaced by the 'Painting-Bitmap'


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.0.2.10 are:
- Adds support for Max 2009 (32-bit only)
- Adds a Material Library containing 107 unique materials
- New shader added: SubSurfaceScatter w/BlinnSpecular
- Adds support for UNC paths
- Adds support for UNICODE
- Fog is now animatable
- Resource Tracker window displays a tree of all assets for the loaded scene
- Ambient Occlusion (AO) has been enhanced with 'Scene Scale Far'
- Removed 'High' AO sampling rate from Viewport Preferences and AO Sampling menu
- Blinn and Blinn Reflective shaders now have a Specular Power slider
- Blinn, Phong, Phong w/Bump and SubSurfaceScatter shaders have Angle slider
- Car Paint shader now has Opacity Texture file option
- Shaders with reflection maps now have common settings for Fresnel Bias / Power and Reflection Blur
- Reflection category across all relevant shaders is now standardized
- Standardized specular parameter organization across shaders
- Shininess for Phong variants and Simple shader now goes from 15 to 1000
- Renamed 'Specular Map' to 'Specular Color Map'
- Render modes now have default data files
- Render panels highlight focus using yellow text color for camera name
- Render panels no longer clear out to black background
- Counter for renders is now Frame # instead of always starting at zero
- Adds 'Enable Diffuse' and 'Enable Specular' options to the Render Preferences Menu
- Unified the Python Script ToggleLightManip into ToggleManip
- Adds a new Python command 'Toggle Receive Occlusion'
- Auto Key and SHIFT+K settings now saved upon exit
- Max Light Intensity changed to 10 from 500
- Adds a new checkbox to User Preferences to choose between the two keying modes
- Multiple-selected objects can now be keyed
- Footage + Back-ups folders default to user's documents folder
- Handles full-path mapping when importing materials

MachStudio Pro comes with exporters for Max 9 to 2009 (32-bit only). 64-bit versions are coming soon, as well as a version for Max 2010.


Plugin Update: Particles / Animation

Changes for v1.3.27 are:
- Fixes some issues found in previous versions of glu3D
- Improves the surface generator

glu3D is available for Max 7 to 2010 and costs €495. A demo version is available here.


Plugin News: Cebas releases SP3 for finalRender

cebas Computer GmbH have released Service Pack 3 for finalRender Stage-1 R2, finalToon R2, and finalShaders R2. SP3 adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit), and is a free download which can be acquired by registered users at the cebas Shop.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v5.7.3.4977 are:
- Addition of peoeneutral.x3d
- Fixes an issue where Deep Exploration was causing the network license server to lock up
- Improved control over the connection and disconnection of network licenses
- Fixes issue with Max 2009 closing before importing a Max file in Deep Exploration

These changes have only been made to the 64-bit version of Deep Exploration, as they were already added to the 32-bit version with v5.7.3.4950

Deep Exploration CAD Edition is available for Max 4 to 2009 and costs $1995. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v0.7 Beta are:
- Adds right click menu when clicking on empty area of the treeView
- Adds sorting of libraries alphabetically to right click menus
- ALL modifiers can now be saved and retrieved using XML format
- Adds treeView resizing when extending the floater
- Adds 'Isolate Objects' option to Scene Materials right click menu
- Adds modifier options to Options Panel
- Adds material previews display floater
- Double clicking the Material Editor library now opens the Material Editor
- Updated the 'import multiple materials' rollout
- Selecting a material from the MATERIAL EDITOR library now makes the corresponding ME slot active (if open)
- V-Ray log window is now turned off when rendering previews
- Made several small changes to accommodate for new Modifier Saving ability
- Adds better support for Mray, V-Ray and FinalRender when creating previews
- Fixes a bug in Random Materials Tool
- Fixes the 'Unknown struct member' bug
- Fixes a demo-mode bug where MatManager wouldn't load more than 4 materials
- The 'Remove Map' option no longer shows up on first level map nodes
- Fixes a bug when assigning materials

MatManager is available for Max 9 to 2010 and costs €10. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for Build 1705 are:
- Bug-fixes


Plugin News: The June special offer from Craft Animations

Craft Animations are running a new special offer until the end of the month (June 30th), giving a 50% discount on Craft ObserverCam. This brings the price down to $75 or €56. More information here.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v2.1 build 1644 are:
- Re-worked the displacement modifier code
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Adds multi-thread support for kd-tree building
- kDTree accelerator has been improved
- Increases CPU/core limit to 32 (was 8)
- Optimized highlight calculations in chrome and glass materials
- Adds a new Ray Count framebuffer channel
- Reflect/Refract map Ray Depth Overrides can now locally set the color / map for the max ray depth handler
- Utility material GI override shading is optimized now
- VFB render time display now shows in milliseconds for sub 1-second renders
- Adds an 'average rays per pixel' statistic to the render end stats
- The Fresnel texmap now also works in the Scanline renderer
- And much much more... A full list of changes can be found here

Brazil r/s Pro is available for Max 4 to 2010 and costs $995. A demo version is available here.


New Plugin: Particles

The long wait is over, Particle Flow Tools: Box#2 Pro has been released. Taking advantage of the powerful PhysX simulation engine from NVIDIA (included free, no special hardware required), Box#2 provides operators and tests to replicate real-world effects such as natural and man-made forces, binding particles together and then breaking the bonds, collisions between particles and with other objects, and more.

Also included are several new Birth operators that are optimized for physics simulations as well as a preset flow that makes initial setup a snap. To top it all off, Box#2 gives you three new modifiers that allow particles to interact with standard mesh objects in mind-blowing ways.

Particle Flow Tools: Box#2 Pro is available for Max 9 to 2010 and costs $595.


New Plugin: Renderers

V-Ray RT is an ActiveShade renderer in Max, separate from the production V-Ray renderer. It uses existing Max and V-Ray materials, textures, lights, cameras etc.
V-Ray RT consists of two major components:
- V-Ray RT interactive renderer in Max
- One or more V-Ray RT render servers

V-Ray RT performs the actual rendering outside of Max itself, with the help of the V-Ray RT render server(s), which can run either locally on the same machine or on other machine(s) in the local network. The renderer plugin in Max only relays the scene changes to the render servers and displays the final result.

V-Ray RT is available for Max 9 to 2010 and normally costs €499. For a limited time only, during the V-Ray RT promotion stage, you can purchase V-Ray RT for €249. A demo version is available here.


New Plugin: Renderers

Shaderlight is an interactive renderer that enables you to finetune key image attributes at any stage during the rendering process - even on production ready images - without having to completely re-render. The main advantage lies in the ability to make MELT changes. A MELT change is a change to material, environment, light and texture properties, without having to restart the rendering process. Non-MELT changes, such as moving the camera viewpoint, will force Shaderlight to re-render the scene, but it renders progressively, giving you the best possible information on the whole of the image all of the time. During progressive rendering, you can already alter the wide range of key MELT properties.

As far as I can tell, the pre-release versions of ShaderLight will be free, but the final product will be commercial (no info on pricing yet). A version for Max 2010 is in the works, and the plugin is only available as a 64-bit version.


Plugin Update: Global Utilities

Changes for v1.0 are:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit)


Plugin Update: Modelling / Texturing

Changes for v1.60 are:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Adds new GroundWiz Planter Clustering to simulate vegetation grouping effects
- Mental ray shader v2 should be faster and support larger scenes
- Adds support for mental ray assemblies (available in mental ray v3.6 - Max 2008 and higher)
- SpeedTree v4.0 and higher supported via Planter's Instancing shader
- Adds new 'Instancing Object Shader' that improves handling large numbers of objects
- Fixes 'Terrain map' rendering with Brazil r/s v2.0
- Fixes 'Variation map' slowing down rendering

The 'Lite' version (free for non-commercial use) has also been updated.

GroundWiz is available for Max 7 to 2010 and costs $245. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Materials

Changes for v1.2.9 are:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit)


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v1.3 are:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Shingle presets and edge presets let you save and load frequently used settings

Roof Designer is available for Max 9 to 2010 and costs $25. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Animation

Changes for v1.1 are:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Fixes problems with high speed objects passing through static structures
- Fixes a problem with animated objects interacting with fracture bodies
- Collision between fracture bodies now works
- Fixes a problem with Vista updating the viewport while computing
- Adds mass, bounce and friction parameters for fracture bodies
- Fracture core speed up 30% (in addition to multithreading)
- Improved edit and resume mode (Max)
- Velocity field of pdi bodies is now available via MEL (Maya)

Pull Down It Pro is available for Max 9 to 2010. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v2 Pro-Beta are:
- Adds support for Max 2010 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Mesh Displacement work
- Adds the Ray Count framebuffer
- Fixes the Ray Depth auto-cutoff feature in the Ray Server
- Optimized highlight calculations for chrome and glass materials, giving considerable speedups in some cases
- Brazil2 Reflect/Refract map Ray Depth Overrides can now locally set the color / map for the max ray depth handler
- Adds multi-thread support for kd-tree building

Brazil r/s v2 is available for Max 4 to 2010 and costs $995. A demo version is available here.


Site News: Tweet tweet

In case anyone hasn't noticed yet, all of the headlines from here now get fed to Twitter, so if that's your thing head over there and start following.