MAX Plugins.de News Archive

Archived Plugin News  –  October 2008
 

Plugin Update: Utilities

The main changes for v4.171 are:
- Adds Deadline3 support through the external submission system
- Adds Save/Load defaults for the basic preview override settings
- Preview defaults are used for new scenes
- There are also a load of tweaks and fixes

This version of RPManager is available for Max 9 to 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit) and costs $300. A demo version is available here.


Shader Updates: mental ray Shaders

Changes for v3.2 are:
- Removes the p_saturation, p fg_light and p_fg_no_light shaders
- Switches to new frame buffer API with named buffers
- In the p_MegaTK_pass shader, 'OpenEXR' has been renamed to 'OpenEXR (mi)'
- Adds a 'Contrast All Buffers' option for p_MegaTK_pass shader
- Adds support for instance light lists (Mode 4) in the p_MegaTK shader
- Adds the new p_HairTK shader (for testing only)
- Removes code from p_LightTK and p_MegaTK that sometimes caused a crash
- p_CSG shader now works correctly as a shadow shader
- Adds a 'Swap AB' parameter to the p_CSG shader
- Adds the p_HairTK_shadow shader
- Switches to OpenEXR 1.6.1 library, adding 'B44' and 'B44A' compression
- Adds 'Visible in Reflect' / 'Visible in Refract' occlusion options in p_MegaTK shader
- Adds 'Russian Roulette Level' option to the p_MegaTK shader
- Adds 'Ignore Normals' option for Reflect/Refract in the p_MegaTK shader
- Adds the p_physical_lens_dof shader
- Adds 11 presets for p_MegaTK shader (Maya only)
- Fixes a possible memory leak in p_MegaTK_exit function
- Adds the p_hair_mapping texture shader
- Adds 'Diffuse Roughness' parameter to the p_MegaTK shader
- Improved shader GUIs in Max for some shaders


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v5.6.0.3417 are:
- Too many to list here, you should take a look at the changelog

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


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v3.0.10 are:
- New versioning scheme - jump straight to 3.0
- Alters usage of WildMagic for easier development and deployment
- Updated version of niflib for better NIF support
- Several gmax stability improvements
- Several Max 2009 stability improvements
- Improves support for importing newer NIFs from Florensia
- New import settings for Pro Cycling Manager 2008
- Improved support for Biped animation export
- Adds Havok support for exporting center of mass and inertia tensor calculations
- Adds support for exporting IKChains for bone animation
- Adds support for exporting multiple UV maps on geometry morphs
- gmax collision and animation export now works
- Removed nifgmax.exe in favor of a DLL approach to starting gmax.exe
- Updates mopp generation code to use materials
- Fixes tangent and binormal export calculation
- Adds support for exporting spring position animations


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v1.1 are:
- Adds undo/redo for nodes/edges
- You can now insert nodes into existing connections
- You can now detach nodes from existing connections
- Adds a MultiSub material count option in the NodeJoe options dialog
- Adds drag and drop for image files from the Windows Explorer
- You can now link from an Insocket to the NodeHeader
- 'Zoom Extents selected' can now zoom to the extents of the entire nodeview
- The DirectXShader rollout is now displayed within the parameters editor
- NodeJoe no longer prints to the MAXScript Listener when saving
- A left mouse drag on a nodeview tab changes the order of the views
- The 'Select By Material' option is now available through the nodes context menu
- Preview rendering handling was improved
- You can now define an application to edit bitmaps linked to a bitmap node
- Miscellaneous bug fixes and enhancements

NodeJoe is available for Max 6 to 2009 and costs €289. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Materials

Changes for v2.60 RC4 are:
- I've got no idea, but if I find out I'll post it here...

SimbiontMAX is available for Max 9 to 2009, and is free to licensed users of DarkTree, which costs $419. This is a limited version of the plugin available to registered users of DarkTree, but it still allows you to use these great procedural shaders.


Plugin Update: Particles / Animation

Changes for v1.41.03 are:
- Adds support for Groups
- Dynamic simulation and fragmentation now have separate 'Update Viewport' toggles

RayFire Tool is available for Max 9 to 2009 and costs $285. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Particles / Animation

Changes for v1.41.02 are:
- Adds Collision Damping for use with PhysX dynamic simulation
- A few bug-fixes

RayFire Tool is available for Max 9 to 2009 and costs $285. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v2009.3 are:
- Adds support for Revit 2009 to Max 2009 workflows
- Revised documentation
- Revised UI
- Legacy defect fixes
- Bake animation in Max exporter
- Memory footprint enhancements
- IPV6 support
- Hardware Shader support
- User Defined Properties support
- Enhanced Custom Attributes support


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v3.2 are:
- Adds support for Max 2009 (32-bit only)
- Adds the Custom Attributes setting procedure
- Fixes the UV map problem
- Fixes the bone animation problem
- Adds a feature for saving the export data log
- Fixes a bug when saving the export dialog setting


Tool Update: Miscellaneous

Changes for v1.14 are:
- Adds support for 'Browse for Folder' style dialogs
- FolderGit now works in the Treeview of an Explorer dialog in Vista

FolderGit is available for all Max versions and costs $25 (single user) for commercial use. It is free for registered users of RPManager and non-commercial use.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v1.0.390 include:
- Optimises BSP node handling
- Optimises priority queue handling
- Optimises BSP event handling

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


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.0 Build 1684 are:
- Bug-fixes


Plugin Update: Materials

Changes for v1.05 are:
- Minor bug-fixes


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.2 are:
- Adds support for 64-bit Max 2009


Plugin News: Vertice announces Nova 2009

Vertice have announced the release of Nova 2009, and are offering a 20% discount on purchases made before the end of November. They have also released the Personal Learning Edition (PLE) of Nova 2009.

Nova is available for Max 7 to 2009 and costs €7000. A demo version is available here.


New Tool: Miscellaneous

FolderGit is a very useful navigation shortcut tool for XP and Vista, both 32 and 64 bit. I've been using it the past few days, and now I don't know how I managed without it!

It is comprised of Windows Explorer context menu items, a systray icon and a UI for editing the path sets. It works within Windows Explorer and also within your applications via the open/save dialogs, adding items to the Right Click Context menu: these items are a list of directories, and selecting one of them takes your current explorer/dialog to the location picked.

It is a huge time saver if you have multiple projects in multiple places, or a single project with many sub-elements, where you may find yourself navigating from one place to another repeatedly. It also has special support for non-standard Windows dialogs - namely Fusion, Nuke, Boujou, Total Commander, Visual Studio, and Softimage XSI.

For personal or non-commercial use there are no requirements to register FolderGit and you are free to use it for your personal/non-commercial work, but if you find it useful you might consider making a donation. RPManager licensees get a free site license of FolderGit. If you don't fit into any of these categories - ie commercial usage, don't have an RPManager license - and find foldergit useful then you should consider purchasing a license, which is $25 for a single machine, or $100 for an unlimited site license (single location). Evaluate for 30 days, see if it would save you time.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.6.23 are:
- Fixes incorrect handling of commas in custom user data text fields
- Fixes the shadow far distance not scaling according to the selected scene units
- Fixes a bug in the export of mesh externals
- Fixes exported node animation names always including the scenes node name prefix
- Modified the exported 'modelName' attribute to be 'modelFile'
- Modified the export of the light quadric attenuation


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.0 Build 1682 are:
- Bugfixes


New Plugin: Materials

Random Color varies a given colour depending on supplied HSV values. It works on objects, faces and object IDs. This makes applying a single material to a huge amount of objects that all render slightly differently very easy.


Plugin Update: Modelling / Animation

Changes for v1.07 are:
- Adds support for Max 7, Max 8 and Max 2008 (32-bit and 64-bit)

PWrapper is available for Max 7 to 2009 and costs $295. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v3.04 beta are:
- Adds 'Irradiance Color' setting to the mental ray shader
- Fixes a bug with the 'Four Planes' geometry template

Forest Pack Pro is available for Max 7 to 2009 and costs €250. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v1.03 are:
- Adds support for $Element tag in the filepath
- LPM_RenderSwitcher material now works across the network without being installed
- Adds a new dialog in Tools -> Quick Scripts
- Adds quick script: Object Id Manager
- Adds quick script: AO Render Element for mental ray

LPM Pro is available for Max 9 to 2009 and costs $75. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v1.0.388 include:
- Fixes mi_reflection_dir_glossy_x to provide better distribution range
- Fixes state cache handling
- Fixes NURBs tessellation to support regular parametric approximations
- Fixes tracing properties of visible lights
- Adds support for CPP interface
- Adds support for mi_query mode miQ_STAGE
- Adds support for mi_phen_call

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


Plugin Update: Modelling / Animation

Changes for v3.0.19 are:
- Adds Catmull-Clark surfaces (default)
- Adds surface snap on mirror

LipService with LBrush is available for Max 8 to 2009 and costs $99. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.0 Build 1680 are:
- Bugfixes


New Plugin: Animation

CityTraffic is an AI-based animation system for quickly creating traffic movement. A special road editor and automatic car setup substantially accelerate preparation of scenes for simulation. It offers a variety of options for every car, from suspension adjustment to driving style, giving you the ability to create more realistic movement. It includes dynamics calculation for motion on uneven surfaces, and the artificial intelligence helps cars to think and operate independently.

CityTraffic is available for Max 9 to 2009 and costs $740. A demo version is available here.


New Plugin: Utilities

This commercial MAXScript helps to create objects on different areas, such as spreading trees on a landscape. A variety of parameters are adjustable, such as number / type / weight of source objects, boundary spline, distance between clones, random transformations / materials. This commercial version allows you to distribute objects using a black / white texture. You can also save and load script presets.

SuperPainter Fill Map is available for Max 8 to 2009 and costs $40. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v1.2.1 are:
- Fixes the 'Init to stack' crash

Roof Designer is available for Max 9 to 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit) and costs $75 for a limited time (normally $100). A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Render Effects

Changes for v1.07 are:
- Adds support for Max 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit)


Plugin Update: Materials

Changes for v0.05 are:
- Adds support for Max 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit)


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.0 Build 1678 are:
- Bugfixes


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v2.8.4.0 are:
- There are too many to list here, take a look at the changelog

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


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.2 are:
- Minor bug-fixes


New Plugin: Modelling / Texturing

VRayScatter allows V-Ray to generate huge amounts of objects, making it possible to create scenes with millions objects (huge forests or whole cities in two clicks). Quick rendertime generation of objects with optimized RAM management makes the scene creation process as easy as ABC.

The integrated procedural map VRayScatterTexture allows you to define a random color for every object in the array, and can also be used for other objects in the scene.

VRayScatter is available for Max 9 to 2009 and costs $160 for a workstation license and $33 for render nodes. A demo version is available here.


Plugin News: Nova 2008 Personal Learning Edition

I've only just noticed that Vertice have released a Personal Learning Edition (PLE) of their realtime 3D engine Nova. The PLE version is exactly the same as the commercial version except for a permanent watermark in the Nova Explorer and in the .exe files generated.


Plugin News: X-Dof sale offer

Evasion Ltd. are running a sale on all of their products in October, giving a 30% discount. This means that X-Dof for Max and mental ray currently costs $139 instead of $199.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v3.0 Beta are:
- Adds animation key optimization
- Adds support for non-human characters
- Adds bounding meshes for defining alignment and collision detection
- Adds a sky object
- Adds support for custom head morphs

This version of the iClone Exporter is available for Max 8 to 2008 as part of the iClone package which costs $79.95. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v3.0 are:
- Adds support for Max 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Adds the ability to have mesh-only export
- Adds the ability to skip GL commands
- You can now use all Max-supported image file formats for texturing
- The 'help' button now launches the webpage
- Load Palette now uses the Photoshop-compatible ACT format
- Adds texture oversampling

QTiP Pro is available for Max 9 to 2009 and costs $25. Updates from v2.1 cost $6. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v3.1 include:
- Adds the XSI 7.0 FaceRobot import and deformation operator based on ICE technology
- Adds new export data filtering
- Various COLLADA fixes including improved SketchUp compatibility
- Exporting EditableMesh with User Normals from Max no longer crashes XSI


Plugin Update: Atmospherics

Changes for v3.10 Build 292700 are:
- Adds support for Max 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit)
- Fixes many Mac-specific instabilities
- Fixes several errors in the mel script file
- Fixes multithread render with MayaSoftware
- Fixes a bug with the xStream plugins temp folder
- Fixes MayaSoftware artefacts during rendering
- Fixes atmosphere opacity computation
- mental ray xStream shader no longer affects light rays AND shadow rays
- Fixes a freeze in C4D whith volumetric cloud layers on a 32-bit OS
- Other minor interface fixes and improvements

Ozone is available for Max 7 to 2009 (32-bit and 64-bit) and costs $199.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v1.0.385 include:
- Adds support for misss_call_shader and misss_physical
- Adds support for oversampling_lens and path_material shaders
- Optimisations to on-demand KDTree creation
- Fixes computation of triangle accelerations for visible light instances

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