MAX Plugins.de News Archive

Archived Plugin News  –  November 2012
 

Plugin Update: Materials

Changes for v2.0 are:
- Shader has been now completely re-written from scratch
- Adds Maya support (with some limitations due to the compiler profile)
- Adds fresnel warp
- The green channel is now inverted for normals
- Adds specular exponent and scale
- Adds rim light scale
- Adds ambient light with ambient IBL cubemap support


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.3 are:
- The shell material now uses the 2nd material if it exists, otherwise the first is used
- The Max texture channel numbers are now used
- Fixes a crash with empty texture names
- Meshes with no vertices in the dot scene file are ignored
- Objects in hidden layers are now ignored


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for Build 1796 are:
- Bug-fixes


Plugin Update: Renderers

Octane Render is a fully physically based, unbiased render engine which simulates light not as RGB colors but as an electromagnetic wave. Since it is based on the physics of light, it captures all light interactions in the scene just as in reality. It also offers an extremely fast Direct Lighting / Ambient Occlusion mode which produces traditional ray traced renders in seconds.

Octane Render is a true GPU-based engine, not a hybrid CPU/GPU or a CPU based engine that was modified with GPU acceleration. With current GPU technology, Octane Render can produce final images 10 to 50 times faster than CPU unbiased render engines, or even faster with multiple GPUs (depending on the GPUs used).

This version of the renderer is built directly into Max, and offers all of the functionality of the standalone version. To run OctaneRender for 3ds Max, you need to have an activated OctaneRender Standalone copy on the machine you wish to install the plugin onto. A standalone license is included in OctaneRender for 3ds Max.

OctaneRender is available for Max 2010 to 2013 and costs €349. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v5.0.14 are:
- Adds support for Max 2013 (32-bit and 64-bit)

natFX is available for Max 9 to 2013 and costs $990 (including 10 seeds). A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Particles / Animation

Changes for v1.60 are:
- Adds the RayFire Trace object which can trace images to fragments
- RayFire Bomb is now SDK implemented, and the range is always visible
- Enhanced UI: adds new images for buttons and checkboxes
- 'Dead Objects' and 'Home Grid as Ground' moved to the Simulation properties rollout
- 'Simulate from Timeslider' now simulates until the end frame, not the whole time range
- Adds a Trace Maps link in About which opens a page with some Trace maps to start
- 'Fragmentation by Shapes' no longer caches images to shapes
- Fixes the 'Bake Group' function
- Small fixes and improvements

RayFire Tool is available for Max 2009 to 2013 and costs $325. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modelling / Animation

Changes for v1.9.0 are:
- New 'After Mesh Modifiers' feature can apply direction modifiers after mesh calculation
- You can now copy components as instances
- Adds a new 'Seed Offset' parameter for all direction modifications
- Adds a new option to disable all MetaMeshes in the Preference parameters
- Adds a new 'Stop stitching by Radius' feature for MetaMeshes
- Adds a new 'Angle Axis' parameter for the Leaves mesh
- You can now change the order of color components in the Vertex Color
- Adds the ability to apply one of several presets for any curve controls
- The HardBend modifier algorithm has been improved
- The pathname of the *.gfx file is now displayed in the UI
- Fixes some minor bugs

GrowFX is available for Max 9 to 2013 and costs $325. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v2.5.1 are:
- Adds support for Max 2013 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Adds the VisuMotion 3D Movie Creator

3D Stereo Camera is available for Max 2008 to 2013 and costs €269. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modelling / Animation

Changes for v2.0.8 are:
- Bug-fixes

PWrapper GPU is available for Max 9 to 2013 and costs €295. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Animation / Particles

Changes for v1.0.79 are:
- Bug-fixes

glu3D GPU Edition is available for Max 9 to 2013 and costs €595. A demo version is available here.


Plugin News: Matt Chandler's Cloud Creation Kit

Matt Chandler from Analog has posted an interesting video showing his 'Cloud Creation Kit' which he will be releasing early next year, probably as a freebie. It's basically a script/scene-kit that controls pre-made cloud objects, using FumeFX to emit volumes quickly and easily. More information is available at the Vimeo link above.


Plugin News: Craft Animations Thanksgiving deal

Craft Animations are running a 'Black Friday Deal' whereby you can get any of their products (new license or upgrade) in any quantity at a 50% discount. The offer runs from today until midnight Sunday the 25th of November.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v0.1.2.63 are:
- Fixes a bug related to missing UV data


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v1.1.10 are:
- Adds support for beta versions of V-Ray
- The manuals have been updated

MultiScatter is available for Max 2008 to 2013 and costs €200.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v2.5.13 beta include:
- Adds support for instanced geometry
- Adds support for any kind of texture formats supported by Max
- Improved support for Max Standard Material channels
- Adds 'Flare3D CubeMap' for use in texture map channels
- Adds support for 'Map Channel', 'UV Offset' and 'Tiling' properties in all texture maps
- Adds support for 4 UV map channels
- Adds support for 3 vertex color channels
- Adds support for 'F3D User Data', 'F3D Animation Labels' and 'F3D Render' modifiers
- General improvements and fixes in camera projection

Flare3D is available for Max 2009 to 2013 and costs $496. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for Build 1795 are:
- Bug-fixes


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.2 are:
- Bug-fixes


Plugin Update: Materials

Changes for v2.0 are:
- Adds support for Max 2013 (32-bit and 64-bit)


Plugin Updates: More Peter Watje recompiles

I've finished recompiling Max 2013 versions of the rest of the Peter Watje plugins, the only ones missing now are the Conform modifier, Mask modifier and 3D Painter.

- Blob Mod v1.2
- Hair v0.93
- Particle Blend Material v1.1
- Particle Material v1.2
- Particle+ v2.02
- Particle Control v1.03
- Particle Displace v1.2
- Particle Gravity v1.0
- Particle Paint v1.2
- Particle Spline Object v1.02b
- Radial Object Select v1.0
- Scatter v1.63
- UVW Unwrap+ v1.2
- Zoom Camera v1.0 alpha


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.0 are:
- Adds support for Max 2012 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Adds support for Max 2013 (64-bit only)

These have been out for a while now, but I seem to have missed the update.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for Build 20121027 are:
- Adds support for Max 2013 (32-bit and 64-bit)


Plugin Update: MAXScript Extensions

Changes for v0.8.0.12484 are:
- Updated QT to 4.8.3
- Minor updates to tools and tool data


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v2.0.3 are:
- Adds an option to select object's layer in NLM UI after selecting object in scene
- Holding shift whilst expanding/collapsing a node now expands/collapses all children respectively
- Clicking on an empty area now deselects the NLM selection
- The UI is now correctly sized when Max is reopened after closing with NLM minimised
- Setting object colour when auto select is turned on in settings no longer crashes
- Changing layer properties in the NLM UI no longer deselects the currently selected objects
- Using the right click 'Duplicate layer' button twice no longer gives an error
- Fixes the layer renaming bug
- Right-clicking an empty column area with auto resize off now brings up the proper right-click menu
- NLM data version check has been added to startup

Nested Layer Manager is available for Max 2009 to 2013 and costs €12. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v4.3 are:
- Adds importance weighting using vertex colours
- Adds bone visualization in the GUI
- Improved symmetry reduction

Simplygon is available for Max 2009 to 2013, and I don't have any information on pricing. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v1.02 are:
- Fixes a bug that stopped modifiers like Bend or Twist from working with TurboSmooth Pro

TurboSmooth Pro is available for Max 9 to 2013 and costs €40.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v0.3.52 beta are:
- Adds displacement


Plugin Update: Modifiers

Changes for v1.6 are:
- Vertices can now be 'fitted' to another object
- Pick and grab vertex now have larger amounts
- Paint modes now display their result on brush strokes instantly
- Slice plane and create face mode now display in Max 2013
- Face selection now displays when 'Lock stack' is used in Max 2013


Plugin Update: Modelling / Animation

Changes for v1.0 are:
- A whole new rendering engine allowing better integration with 3rd-party renderers
- Adds support for V-Ray hair primitives
- Adds GI integration with finalRender
- Adds support for Maxwell Render
- The Hair Farm Renderer now has an Include/Exclude rollout
- The Hair Display WSM now shows if the object is included in the Hair Farm Renderer
- Adds a Hair Ambient Occlusion option in the Hair Farm Renderer
- Adds new Hair Ambient Occlusion map
- Hair Farm Renderer can now handle Sky Light shadows
- Hair Farm Renderer can now handle skewed cameras
- Ray tracing for hair has been made more efficient
- Adds a noise parameter to Hair materials that can provide additional realism
- Hair material realistic now has glint and eccentricity controls
- Adds Multi/Sub-Object material support for hair
- The Hair Generate modifier now has different hair generation modes
- Adds new HairStyle Uncomb modifier for adding randomness to the hair style
- HairStyle modifiers can now limit the effect to selected faces only
- HairMesh Edit now has a new 'Extrude along neighbors' function
- Adds a new Flatten brush option in HairMesh Brush
- Adds new HairToPolyStrips modifier that converts hair strands to flat polygon strips
- HairToInstances can now use instance objects with hair
- HairToInstances now has a 'Follow Hair' parameter
- Faster and better collision computation for collision objects
- HairStyle Wisps has a new 'UVW Span' parameter to control UVW value differences
- Adds additional parameters to HairToInstances to control major axis and root placement
- HairToInstances can now convert cluster IDs to sub-obj materials IDs
- HairToPoly can now convert cluster IDs to sub-obj material IDs
- HairMesh Brush can now adapt to topology changes using the 'Update Mesh Topology' button
- Adds a Collapse Selected Meshes menu item to the utility sub-menu
- The default bucket size is now 4096
- The default curves for Hair Generate and HairStyle Frizz have changed
- Map buttons now show the map name and type as a tool tip
- HairToPoly 'Discard Root Object' parameter replaced by 'Keep Root Object'
- Adds a new 'HairFarm' MAXScript interface

Hair Farm is available for Max 9 to 2013 and costs $699.95. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for Build 1794 are:
- Bug-fixes


Plugin Update: Global Utilities

Changes for v0.5 are:
- Improved functionality for creating new flow maps
- Improved functionality for loading in previously created flow maps
- Adds automatic searching for flow maps in a given directory


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v0.5.9 are:
- Adds support for Oak3D 0.5.9
- Adds support for Max 2013 (32-bit and 64-bit)


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v0.5.9 are:
- Adds support for Oak3D 0.5.9
- Adds support for Max 2013 (32-bit and 64-bit)


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v7.0.5 are:
- Fixes a crash issue when switching the Console in host view mode
- Fixes an issue with mangled time stamps in the Dispatcher
- Fixes an issue when sorting fields into the chunk view
- Changed the elapsed field of the chunk view to a more readable form
- Templates for Arnold rendering have been included

Muster is available for Max 8 to 2012 and costs $80 for a single node. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v1.9 are:
- Scale Tool has been updated to v1.2
- Hidden Polys Manager has been updated to v1.1

miauu's Script Pack is available for Max 9 to 2013 and costs €12.


Plugin Update: Connection

Changes for v11 are:
- Adds EcoParticles for the creation of rain, snow, waterfalls, explosions, fire, etc.
- Adds EcoParticles as EcoSystems
- Adds EcoParticles effectors for influencing EcoParticles
- Adds automatic weather effects: rain and snow
- EcoPainter improvements
- Adds customizable EcoPainter brushes
- Adds EcoSystem fast population
- Adds EcoSystem 360° population
- Significant internal optimizations to the rendering engine
- Adds illumination caching
- Adds shared material layers
- Adds support for the Nitrous accelerated graphics core in Max

Vue xStream is available for Max 2008 to 2013 and costs $1495. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Atmospherics

Changes for v3.5.1 are:
- Fixes the Effector name pruning issue in Max 2013

FumeFX is available for Max 2009 to 2013 and costs $845.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v2.7.20 are:
- Performance of motion vectors has been improved
- You can now display the value of the hovered pixel in different color modes and depths
- You can now specify a new sampling level and time when resuming an MXI
- Fixes some bugs in scenes with references to instances in Fire
- Override material now affects referenced MXMs if the path is missing
- Fixes an error reading some parameters of sky files

Maxwell Render is available for Max 8 to 2013 and costs €895. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Materials

Changes for v1.1.8 are:
- Adds support for V-Ray instance primitives
- Adds support for V-Ray Multiscatter
- Fixes a bug when activating with a serial containing a space at the end


New Plugin: Modifiers

The VRayHairFarmMod modifier allows the rendering of HairFarm 2.0 with native V-Ray primitives.

The plugin is for V-Ray 2.3 (64-bit only), it will be included in the V-Ray 2.4 service pack.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v4.0 are:
- Adds the ability to have mesh-only export
- Easier frame list import
- The 'help' button now launches the webpage tutorial and has links for bug-reports
- Compatible with both regular and design versions of Max

This version of QTiP Pro is available for Max 2013 and costs $25. The previous version supports Max 9 to 2012. A demo version is available here.


New Plugin: Utilities

This plugin eases the users ability to control and manipulate animation inside of Max.

Features include:
- Lists any type of animated object/controller
- Sort by 'Track Name' or 'Object Name'
- Selection filter of 'Timeline' or 'Animation Range'
- Delete option for quickly removing keys
- Update toggle for user update control
- Search filter for quickly finding specific track (2013 only)

Universal Track Selector is available for Max 2012 to 2013 and costs $5.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v10.1 are:
- Improved thumbnail support
- List view enhancements
- Administration client enhancements
- Adds support for Alias 2013 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Adds support for Maya 2013 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Adds support for Softimage 2013 (32-bit and 64-bit)

Alienbrain is available for Max 2008 to 2012 and pricing starts at $12,000. Max 2013 support will follow shortly and will be available for download separately. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Animation

Changes for v5.8 include:
- Adds support for more characters
- Adds auto-population of characters
- Improved vehicle and pedestrian navigation in tile-based environments
- Adds advanced turning abilities
- Improved remote debugging (brain suck)
- Adds support for Maya 2012 and Max 2012 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- A number of bug fixes

I think this has been out a while now, but I only just found out about it.

AI.implant is available for Max 9 to 2012 and costs $4995.


Plugin Update: Animation

Changes for v1.4 are:
- Adds new dynamics solver presets
- Attractor: select strength / time and move the Attractor object so frags will follow it
- Default ground is no longer visible by default
- Less particles are now used for activators
- You can now use the activators mesh
- Some internal changes to debris creation

Demolition Master is available for Max 2010 to 2013 and costs $25. A demo version is available here.