MAX Plugins.de News Archive

Archived Plugin News  –  October 2015
 

New Plugin: Materials

This 3D noise map includes an implementation of well-known noise patterns such as Perlin, Simplex and Worley (Voronoi). The plugin contains two texture maps: ProSimplex and ProVoronoi. Both support a large number of fractal options such as fBm, Turbulence, Ridged Multifractal, etc. With distortion and mapping of all parameters from Size to Fractal Octaves you can get an infinite number of different patterns.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v3.02 are:
- Fixes a bug in the selection buttons which made them display visibility instead of the object name

Render Passes and State Sets Tool is available for Max 2014 to 2016 and costs $9.99.


New Plugin: MCG

This MCG will morph your geometry to UV's, much like in ZBrush. Please note this is a morpher not an unwrapper. It also has a Low Rez Pre Cut option if you need a low-res version for skinwrapping.


New Plugin: MCG

The MCG Push modifier gives you axis controls so you can restrict which axis to push rather than a uniform push. For ultimate control, it also has the ability to push AND pull at the same time with different axes. You can also vary different amount of influence for each axis.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v1.0.18 are:
- Adds full Japanese language support
- Adds support for Iray mdl materials
- You can now set names of texture maps by texture names
- Fixes a bug with V-Ray materials differing in brightness in high-quality mode
- Fixes a Max 2016 bug to prevent crashes when using Forest Pack
- Fixes a bug for model files which now get exported when saving as archive
- Fixes a bug with manual setting of asset paths
- Fixes a Cinema 4D R17 problem with Help which now opens correctly

Laubwerk Plants Kit 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are available for Max 2010 to 2016 and cost €149 each. A demo version is available here.


New Plugin: Texturing

OmniTiles offers unlimited flexibility to create any material patterns directly within Max. As a V-Ray, standard or Corona compatible map, OmniTiles can be integrated into the normal shading workflow. You can create patterns with the included Pattern Editor, choose from the 80 included pattern presets or use the online User Library with more free presets.

Features include:
- Design free patterns
- Integrated graphical pattern editor
- Draw any shape
- Use different maps for each shape
- Use Crossmap to randomize bitmaps
- Use procedural maps for any shape
- 80 different pattern presets for floors, walls and more
- UV randomization of position, size and rotation
- Special connection with Gradient Ramp map for edge mapping
- Very memory efficient
- No more tiling and repetition
- Multitexture library included
- Material Manager Lite Edition
- Ready-to-use materials for V-Ray

OmniTiles is available for Max 2012 to 2016 and normally costs €99. For a limited time you can get a license at an introductory price of €79. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v1.0 beta are:
- Fixes WW Pro sometimes not exporting VTF with non-bitmap nodes

Wall Worm Pro is available for Max 2012 to 2015 and costs $30.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v2.8 are:
- Fixes a bug in the Scale Tool
- Adds icons for the scripts

miauu's Script Pack Volume 1 is available for Max 9 to 2016 and costs €12.


Plugin Update: Particles / Animation

Changes for v4.0 are:
- Adds a new, faster solver
- Adds a new vorticity type
- Adds sharpening of various channels during the simulation
- Adds a new burning model with oxygen
- Wavelet or Post simulation can now wait for caches (DC-deferred caches option)
- Adds infinite nesting of N-Sim grids
- Adds email notifications
- Adds new Spline Follow force
- Faster application of objects and sources
- Defector objects voxelization resolution and minimal voxelization
- Adds support for OpenVDB
- Effector now has an option to use a 3D Texmap for input
- The Field3D and OpenVDB importer now allows for channels assignment
- PRT|PDC particle system
- Adds direct picking of ParticleFlow events
- Adds ParticleFlow float and vector channel access
- Adds support for motion blur rendering
- Adds a black-body shader
- Adds support for V-Ray's deep data
- Adds sharpening of fire and smoke at render time
- Adds a recently used caches list
- Adds drag and drop support for caches
- Quick path/filename versioning
- Cache files delete
- FumeFX.ini location can now be defined with an environment variable
- Adds read-only mode so you can't overwrite caches by accident
- The CPU Preview Window can now have shadows as well
- Shadows are now visible in the Max viewport
- Preview Window exact window size
- MXS: CancelSimulation(), StopSimulation(), DeleteCaches(), ResizePreview (width, height)
- Only 64-bit Windows is now supported

FumeFX is available for Max 2012 to 2016 and costs $845.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v1.46 are:
- Adds a new AutoUpdate setting
- Adds several new utility functions to the PropLine Manager Floater
- Fixes a bug with some combinations of Distribution type and non-Editable Spline shape objects

PropLine is available for Max 2008 to 2016 and costs $10.


Plugin News: Corona Render 1.3 RC 1 beta-test offer

Render Legion s.r.o. have just released the first release candidate (RC) build of Corona 1.3. It's a daily build that they intend to publish as version 1.3, unless some previously unknown bugs are discovered. They need your help with searching for any hidden problems to make sure the 1.3 version is as stable as possible.

To reward their beta testers, they have decided to do a little giveaway - they will reward the best five bug reports with free 1 year Corona FairSaaS license (1WS + 3 NODES). All other meaningful bug reports will be rewarded with 50% discount for a 1 year FairSaaS license.

You can find all of the details on the Corona Blog.

Corona Renderer is available for Max 2011 to 2016 and costs €24.99 per month. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for Build 007466 are:
- Improves normals on blades
- Improves blending parameters
- Fixes a potential crash when loading scenes
- Fixes a potential crash when painting with components
- Fixes a potential crash when using the 'show more/show less' option
- Fixes potential crashes when editing the function graph

Plant Factory Studio is available for Max 2010 to 2016 and costs $995. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Animation

Changes for v15.1.7 are:
- Adds support for Max 2016 and Maya 2016

Craft Director Studio is available for Max 2014 to 2016 and costs $1243 for an annual license. The add-on tools from the package are also available as single purchases. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v2.24.14 are:
- Changes the database type from XML to SQL format
- Adds the ability to translate paths in the database from local to network and back
- Fixes a bug with Max crashing on invalid IES files when rendering a diagram
- Fixes some minor potential issues with renaming a Favorites folders

Project Manager is available for Max 2010 to 2016 and costs $75. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v2.12.1 are:
- The status bar now shows the pending and total number of net jobs
- Fixes only a single job being set to paused when submitting multiple jobs
- The layer and camera names are no longer added twice to the net job name
- Fixes some repainting bugs when submitting
- Adds support for Octane Standalone
- Fixes Skip rendered frames parameter in Redshift for Maya
- Changes the SketchUp company name

RenderPal is available for Max 9 to 2016 and costs €49 per node. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v1.79 are:
- Adds a new function to the CorVex Utility Floater to break selected vertices in a spline and close it

CorVex is available for Max 2010 to 2016 and costs $10.


New Plugin: Modelling

Polyline Pro is an easy to use yet powerful and intuitive tool which provides a clear and efficient UI to create splines precisely with measurements and angles in a manner similar to AutoCAD.

With Polyline Pro you can:
- Draw splines in Orthographic, Polar, Arc and Freehand mode
- Create points using Absolute or Relative coordinates
- Use direct distance entry to point and type the length/angle to create a segment
- Use guides and tooltips
- Use short commands for quick access to almost all of the features
- Use Object Snaps to mark points/lines and continue to draw in their projection or intersection

Polyline Pro is available for Max 2010 to 2011 and Max 2013 to 2016 and costs €20.


New Plugin: Animation

Air Master is a tool for Thinking Particles 6.2+ to create realistic air behaviour in Max. Air Master can use an SPH, Smoke or hybrid system to create realistic air motion. You can create a volume of air that your object will affect with his motion or create different wind objects (like fans) to move air. Objects will acquire this motion depending on their mass (heavy objects will be affected less than lighter objects). They also use bullet physics to collide with other objects.

Air Master is available for Max 2013 to 2016 and costs $12. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Texturing

Changes for v2.0 are:
- Enriched and redefined user interface
- New selection tools (vertex, edge, polygon, element, UV shell)
- Enhanced seams tools
- Adds shell re-symmetry
- Adds four different types of checkers to verify the unwrapping
- Tiling option and checkers maps self-illumination management
- Adds align/sorting shells: sort/align top/down/left/right the selected UV shells
- Shells Overlapping: overlaps same shapes in the same position of the map islands
- Multi-tile UV offset allows you to manage UVW coordinates for the current selection

XRayUnwrap is available for Max 2009 to 2016 and costs €39.99.


New Plugin: Materials

This V-Ray plugin gives you the ability to do blended box mapping. For a full description of what blended box mapping is good for, take a look at this blog post from Neil Blevins.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v2.2.0.0 are:
- Greatly simplifies the license activation process

This version of OBJ Exporter is available for Max 2015 to 2016 and costs $149. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.3.0.0 are:
- The license activation process has been greatly simplified

This version of 3D PDF Exporter is available for Max 2014 and costs $99. A demo version is available here.


Plugin News: 20% discount on GrowFX

Exlevel are currently running a 20% on their GrowFX plugin. The offer is valid until the end of October 2015, and takes the price of a license from $325 down to $260. More information can be found here.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v3.8.0-a2 are:
- Switched to Visual Studio 2015 VC++ Compiler
- Adds support for Max 2015 and 2016
- Fixes BSDismemberSkin Modifier on 64-bit versions
- Moves Environment map to Reflection from Specular on standard shaders
- Moves Dispacement to Displacement Channel from Reflection on standard shaders
- Includes the changes from blabba and Ehamloptiran
- Adds importer support for nameless bones
- Adds initial import support for CompressedMeshShapeData
- Adds Particle import from Ehamloptiran
- Fixes import of Embedded Animation for skyrim
- Fixes errors on environment map export
- Changes export defaults to reduce number of changes required in nifskope
- Changes Texture Clamp mode export defaults
- Binds SLSF flags to settings in dialog


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v2.0 are:
- Fixes incorrect FBX import from Max (while bones hierarchy is changed)
- The engine itself has a load of changes which can be found here

Unigine is compatible with Max 2008 to 2016 and costs $9,995 (Starter Edition). A demo version is available here.


Site News: Lack of updates this coming week

I'm going to be out of the office next week, so there won't be any updates until October 19th. Keep on sending me any plugin news you night have, I'll catch up on everything when I get back

Dave


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v3.7.2 are:
- Adds support for Max 2013 and 2014
- Changes bone import to default to BoneGeometry objects instead of dummy helpers
- Activates the 'Use as Bone' flag by default on import
- Changes the default .ini setting to have bones imported as lines by default
- Fixes the NifTools shader with regards to texture linking
- Fixes memory errors when importing .nif's with multiple nitrishapedata
- Adds a hacky fix for texture importing
- Adds a new ini setting 'AltPaths' to set alternative search paths for external files
- Adds BodyTri import
- Fixes misc issues like normals not showing on import until you select the object
- Fixes Niftool Shader import
- Fixes BSLightingShaderProperties not being correctly parented to geometry
- Fixes the Open with Nifskope Dialog Prompt on export
- Updates to the latest dev branch of Niflibs and Nifxml


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v3.8.0-a1 are:
- Adds support for Max 2013 to 2016
- Fixes BSDismemberSkin crashing in 64-bit builds
- Fixes some other bugs
- Changes some defaults


Plugin Updates: Plugin updates from ProtoTech Solutions

ProtoTech Solutions and Services Pvt. Ltd have updated a number of their export plugins to greatly simplify the license activation process. The updated plugins are:
- OBJ Exporter for Max 2014 v1.5.0.0
- WebGL Exporter for Max 2014 v1.5.0.0
- WebGL Exporter for Max 2015 / 2016 v2.3.0.0
- 3D PDF Exporter for Max 2015 / 2016 v2.1.0.0


Plugin Update: Particles

Changes for SP1 are:
- Adds new softbody texture map based tearing feature
- CollisionMap speed has been greatly enhanced
- It is now very easy to create wet-maps with the CollisionMap
- Fixes an issue with playback and caching when using negative pre-roll time
- Fixes wrong positioning of new born particles created with Position Born
- Fixes Bullet Physics sometimes not creating the physics interactions
- Fixes a lag with Max modeling operations performed outside of thinkingParticles
- Fixes Layer to Particle sometimes behaving in unexpected ways when using rigid body dynamics
- PositionBorn operator now respects the Max Unit setup settings

ThinkingParticles is available for Max 2013 to 2016 and costs €540 per year. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v4.7 are:
- The windows browser now shows previews of .Para files (thumbnails)
- You can now load Paraflows which include Parametric Meshes and Parametric Shapes
- Fixes various bugs in the Mesh controller
- Reloading modifiers no longer affects sub-object controller functionality
- Fixes a problem with dependency loops in Paraflows
- Auto-zoom functionality has been improved
- Fixes an error with the navigation button
- Surface controllers now accept surfaces from other controllers
- You can now use the Explode node to explode polygon meshes to surfaces
- You can now use Parametric Mesh to create flat triangulated or fat hexagonal meshes

Parametric Array is available for Max 2011 to 2016 and costs $150. A demo version is available here.


Plugin News: Plugin updates from Vladislav Gavrilov

Vladislav Gavrilov has updated all of his plugins, both commercial and freeware. All of them now support Max 2013 to 2016, he has removed the need to install qt*.dll plugins, and has introduced a new licensing scheme which adds the possibility to buy a monthly license in addition to buying a permanent license.


New Plugin: Modelling

This modifier allows you to perform boolean operations on spline / shape objects.

Boolean Spline is available for Max 2013 to 2016 and costs $43 for a perpetual license. Monthly licenses are also available. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for Build 007441 are:
- Fixes rendering of animated populations in dynamic EcoSystems
- Fixes instances jumping when network rendering animated scenes containing dynamic EcoSystems
- Fixes population of spline effects with the option 'align instances along spline'
- Fixes empty multi-layered EXR output when rendering with VUE RenderNode
- Fixes a potential crash when changing the internal units
- Fixes a potential crash with interface tooltips
- Fixes a potential crash in the Function Editor

Vue xStream is available for Max 2010 to 2016 and costs $1695. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modifiers

Changes for v3.3.3 are:
- Adds support for APEX 1.3.3 and PhysX 3.3.3
- Adds support for painting latch-to-nearest on custom physical mesh
- Rig improvements
- Destruction now exports vertex color
- Fixes a problem with getting material preset names
- Fixes the HairWorks menu removing the PhysX Menu if it is an older release
- Fixes the Max Advanced Options for Export dialog
- The 'Do you want to delete some old constraints' dialog is no longer too big
- Rigs now refresh their Shape list when changing bone selection using the up/down arrow
- Adds some scripts to copy collisions between Rig and HairWorks
- Fixes wrong Connected Sphere simulation position
- Adds Script APIs for copying/pasting the Connected Spheres of a Rig
- Use ModifierRB's API to add Clothing connection insteading of changing it directly
- Fixes a crash on Max 2010 and 2009 from using the wrong node Mtl pointer
- Improves normal handling in Destruction
- Rig 2.0 can now copy collisions between Rig and HairWorks
- Rig 2.0 now supports multiple connections on one Clothing type of Rigid body shape
- Adds a 'Shape Set Up' rollout to Rig 2.0 and fixes some bugs in ModifierRB
- Rig 2.0 now hides Constraints when it is a kinematic Rig
- Rig 2.0 now defaults shape rendering to see through - smooth shaded
- Kinematic is now the default Rig type in Rig 2.0
- Fixes the plugin to avoid regenerate constraints when pressing Add button of Rig
- You can now pick the root bone of the clothing modifier
- Adds a warning when not creating actors at export for visible-only option
- Fixes a crash after clicking 'Mirror' button with one special sample
- Fixes a small bug with Destruction Vert Color
- Improves clothing collisions with Sphere and Box type
- Fixes a bug with the mirroring function of Rig
- Fixes a few bugs in the script APIs for ModRB
- Adds support for Leaf Mode display in the DestructionHelper


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v2.24.2-2.10 are:
- Implements multi-material support for Forest Pack geometry objects
- Adds the new 2.24.2 engine
- Fixes a crash in some cases when using 'pick' in Octane viewport
- Fixes camera 'target focusing' mode
- Fixes 'Lock camera' behavior in the case currently locked view was maximized
- Fixes an issue when rendering Forest Pack objects
- Octane viewport now refreshes automatically if motion blur parameters change
- Implements a hack to clean up the GPU memory after every render
- Minor fixes and improvements...

OctaneRender for 3ds Max is available for Max 2012 to 2016 and costs €459. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v6.7-2 are:
- Changes worker behavior when auto-mount drives are unmountable due to duplicate drives
- More useful info is printed to the workerlog when a job is rejected due to duplicate drive mounting
- Fixes secondary jobs being dispatched even when supervisor_smart_share_mode is set to NONE
- Fixes an issue where modifying job's 'env' caused 'cwd', 'umask' and 'drivemap' to be wiped
- Upgrades supervisor's embedded Python to version 2.7.2 on Windows
- Worker_boot_delay now defaults to 10 seconds on workers running in service mode on all platforms
- Adds an agenda item status to print properly to the job's history log when it's recalled
- Fixes an issue where subst mounted local drives disappeared from Explorer after a job finished
- Fixes a bug where already-mounted network/subst drives weren't being detected properly
- Fixes an issue where cmd* jobs fail when QB_CONVERT_PATH() paths include parentheses
- Custom algorithms can now decide how to preempt SmartShare secondary instances
- Performance tweak reduces the number of times backends and scripts fetch the supervisor config
- Agenda-based job instances can now be immediately interrupted if not processing an agenda item
- Adds a number of environment definitions that are called before a frame is rendered
- Adds an appropriate invocation of approvemodify for Custom Policy
- Fixes an issue in checkUserPermission with undefined errors and error reporting
- The queuing policy (Internal or custom/Perl) message is now printed to supelog
- Fixes a couple of problems with regex error reporting
- Adds a script and modules to sync 3rd-party license server counts with Qube's global resources
- The first external license server modules are for FLEXlm and sesinetd servers

Qube! is available for Max 7 to 2016 and costs $3,500 for one supervisor, five workers, MySQL and subscription for one year. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v3.2.0 include:
- Adds a nested priority method for interacting dielectrics
- Adds two new lens types, Stereo Fish Lens and Lat/Long, suitable for VR systems such as Oculus
- New Extensions API allows 3rd parties to develop procedural geometry, modifiers, textures, etc.
- Maxwell can now save the render in PSD format in 8, 16 and 32 bits
- Procedural Emitter materials can be applied to non-triangle mesh entities (hair, particles, etc)
- The Reflection and Refraction channels have been separated
- New 'Reflectance' channel shows plain colors without the influence of global illumination
- New 'Asset Reference' extension references a variety of file formats without pre-converting to MXS
- Significant speed improvements have been made to Subsurface Scattering
- Adds a 'remove overlapped' option to Maxwell Scatter
- Adds a 'uniform scaling' option to Maxwell Scatter
- Multilight editor can now select and edit multiple emitters at the same time
- Adds new 'Sort by name/type/intensity' functions to the Multilight editor
- And much more... a full changelog can be found here

Maxwell Render is available for Max 2011 to 2016 and costs €595. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v1.027b are:
- Adds support for Max 6


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v1.78 are:
- Fixes a rare bug where some kinds of splines could cause Corvex to generate an error

CorVex is available for Max 2010 to 2016 and costs $10.


New Plugin: Modelling / Animation

Griffin is an animation-ready cartoon character creation tool for Max. It offers you dozens of parameters to create your own unique characters fast and easily. You can also buy extra clothes and items from the Griffin Shop and use them on your character. So even if you know nothing about modelling and rigging, you can create a rigged character with industry standard tools in a few minutes.

Griffin Character Generator is available for Max 2013 to 2016 and costs $50.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v8.5.8 are:
- Fixes an issue detecting logged users on the Linux platforms
- Fixes an issue during instances disconnections that may lock the Dispatcher
- You can now override folders status (paused) during Mrtool submission
- Filtering completed jobs now hides completed folders
- The Delete All button on the logs view now works as intended
- The web server no longer redirects to a non-existant page if connecting from a mobile device

Muster is available for Max 6 to 2016 and costs $85 per node. A demo version is available here.


New Plugin: Global Utilities

When moving OBJ files from Max to ZBrush and back to Max, you can end up with incorrect UV's. This small utility tries to fix that issue by rotating the UV indices on the quads/polygons of a poly object.


Plugin Update: Objects

Changes for v0.3 alpha are:
- Adds support for Max materials (must be attached to the Golaem node)
- Adds a binary for Max 2016


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v0.20 are:
- Fixes target type selection
- Handle boolean values when editing actions


New Plugin: MCG

This is a collection of MCGs for creating railings (eg. towel rails) and knobs (eg. drawer knobs, shower knobs etc.).


Plugin News: XRayUnwrap v2.0 is now shipping

Raylight S.r.l. have announced that the crowd-funded version 2.0 of their XRayUnwrap plugin for Max 2016 is now shipping to the artists that contributed to their Indiegogo campaign. They will be making the plugin available for general purchase in the next few weeks.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v7.2.0.18 include:
- Adds new 'Quick Draft' options to most of the job submitters
- Adds support for the pipeline management tool NIM
- GPU affinity can now be set for Slaves in the same way that CPU affinity can be set
- Adds smarter Task Error handling
- Adds support for AE CC 2015, Cinema 4D 17, DJV 1.1, Guerilla Render and Realflow 2015
- Adds support for Houdini 15, Houdini's HServer, modo 901, TVPaint and V-Ray for Sketchup
- Draft has been upgraded to version 1.4
- And much more... a full changelog can be found here

Deadline is available for Max 2010 to 2016 and costs $185 per node. A demo version is available here.


Plugin News: Max 2016 State Sets AE installers

Autodesk have posted an installer for the Max 2016 State Sets After Effects link. I assume that it's an update to the shipping version, but there is no information at all other than: 'This installer provides the proper After Effects plugins for 3ds Max 2016 for working with State Sets.'


Plugin News: Corona bonuses and discounts

Render Legion s.r.o., the company behind Corona Renderer, have published a list of partners and developers who are offering bonuses and/or discounts when you purchase a Corona FairSaaS or Box with Subscription license. Head over here to find out what extras you can get.


Plugin Update: Texturing

Changes for v1.1.2 are:
- A few bug-fixes to the User Library Manager
- Adds CoronaBitmap support for 'Replace external paths'

Corona Material Presets Pro is available for Max 2013 to 2016 and costs €125.