Three Musketeers: © Summit Entertainment & Constantin Films. Images courtesy of Mr. X.
Introducing MARI 1.4
Scalable and future proof. The ideal paint tool for 3D artists
MARI has been designed from the ground up to meet the needs of the most demanding VFX texture and matte painting artists. It is capable of handling vast numbers of pixels, and out performs all other paint tools in speed, flexibility and processing capabilities.
Short tutorial on using the sunlight system/Vray sun to create architectural sunrise/sunset animations by Motion Media.
This is part of a larger presentation presented by Motion Media Dec 5th, 2011:
Click here to sign up!
Software used: 3ds Max 2012, Vray 2.0
NewTek has announced LightWave™ 11, a powerful new version of its Emmy® Award-winning, professional 3D modeling, animation, and rendering software.
LightWave 11 fits into any studio pipeline seamlessly, offering support for Autodesk Geometry Cache and FBX, including pixel-perfect camera matching with Autodesk Maya cameras. It also supports the Unity game engine and Pixologic GoZ ZBrush workflow, making it ideal for all production environments, including smaller specialized studios and individual artists.
About LightWave 11 Continue reading “NewTek Unveils LightWave™ 11″…
MAXON, the leading developer of professional 3D modeling, painting, animation and rendering solutions, today announced immediate availability of a new plug-in for Adobe® After Effects® CS5 and CS5.5 that allows motion graphics artists to export projects directly into CINEMA 4D R13. This new capability broadens CINEMA 4D’s domination as the industry-leading 3D motion graphics toolkit, known for its seamless connectivity to popular 2D motion graphics and compositing tools. This new plugin is the perfect companion to the CINEMA 4D composition import already widely used by broadcast designers worldwide. With the combination of these two plugins, motion graphics artists working on Windows and Mac OS X will enjoy easy data exchange to and from both applications.
The CINEMA 4D export appears directly in the After Effects export menu and generates a .c4d file containing 3D layers, cameras, lights, solids, nulls and footage. Even nested compositions are supported. All major layer attributes including animations (rotation, position, parameter, anchor points, POI, etc.), expressions, layer parenting, layer locking and layer visibility are retained. Render and document settings in CINEMA 4D are adapted accordingly to the After Effects’ project settings.
“The After Effects-CINEMA 4D workflow is the proven choice for top motion design studios worldwide seeking to easily integrate their 3D and 2D workflows.” commented Harald Schneider, managing partner and CTO at MAXON. “We are pleased to offer our customers this new After Effects export plugin so they can benefit by the increased speed, efficiency and tight integration between these two powerhouse software packages.”
“CINEMA 4D is a 3D package After Effects users have already come to know and love because of its seamless integration into After Effects,” said Steve Forde, product manager for Adobe After Effects. “The ability to bring assets the other direction as well will certainly enhance productivity and further solidify CINEMA 4D as an ideal 3D solution for motion graphics artists.”
The new CINEMA 4D R13 exchange plug-in compatible with Adobe After Effects CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS5.5 is immediately available as a free download.
Today leading visual effects software developer The Foundry(www.thefoundry.co.uk)
announces the release of KATANA 1.0.
In tandem with this release Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), a Lucasfilm Company, has purchased a site
license of KATANA.
KATANA is a look development and lighting tool, replacing the conventional CG pipeline with
a flexible recipe based asset workflow. KATANA is built from the ground up with the needs
of modern productions in mind. Its node based approach allows rapid turn around of high
complexity shots while keeping artists in control and reducing in house development
overheads. Extensive APIs mean it integrates with a variety of renderers and your pre-
existing shader libraries and workflow tools, whilst it’s collaborative nature means it scales
to meet the needs of even the most demanding CG Features and VFX films.
KATANA is backed by The Foundry, highly regarded provider of high end visual effects tools,
and has been production proven on over 20 shows since 2004 at Sony Pictures Imageworks.
KATANA is specifically designed to address the needs of highly scalable asset based
workflow to:
• Allow updating of assets once shots are already in progress.
• Share lighting set-ups, such as edits and overrides, between shots and sequences.
• Allow use of multiple renderers and specifying dependencies between render passes.
• Allow shot specific modification of assets to become part of the lighting ‘recipe’ for
shots to avoid having to deal with large numbers of shot specific asset variants.
KATANA NAB 2011 Presentation by Jeremy Selan
In this demo, Jeremy Selan from Sony Pictures Imageworks gives an overview of KATANA, explaining how the tool has been employed in in-house productions.
Adobe unveils a new potential feature of a future version of Photoshop at their annual MAX event, Image Deblurring. Check out the video from the show.
Get your modems ready for some serious downloading!
Autodesk has released the subscription advantage packs for Maya 2012, 3ds Max 2012, Mudbox 2012, Motionbuilder 2012, Softimage 2012 and Smoke for Mac 2012.
Autodesk® Subscription Advantage Packs help you get ahead by giving you early access to the latest product enhancements. Available for select products, Subscription Advantage Packs vary and can include additional product features, integrated web services, and robust design content. These enhancements expand software capabilities, promote collaboration, support sustainable design, and enrich renderings. Autodesk® Subscription Advantage Packs help you stay on the leading edge of your industry with the most current software features, and can increase your productivity with new functionality that helps you visualize and design faster.
Don’t have Subscription? Get it Here Continue reading “Autodesk Subscription Advantage Packs 2012 Released”…
Autodesk® Subscription now gives you a greater advantage with Autodesk® Cloud capabilities that help you increase mobility, improve collaboration, and optimize your designs—advancing the way you work.
Along with upgrades to the latest software releases, online technical support, and flexible licensing privileges, Autodesk Subscription now provides 3 GB of Autodesk Cloud storage per seat. This enables you to store numerous files in the cloud, extending your workflow beyond the desktop and giving you the freedom and mobility to work wherever you’re most effective. Autodesk Cloud also enables you to share design files with anyone, anytime, anywhere via a web browser or mobile device without the need for desktop software. This promotes collaboration between teams and helps you improve project quality and results.
Autodesk Subscription also provides exclusive access to certain Autodesk Cloud services. Depending on your product or suite, you might have access to the Autodesk Cloud rendering service, Autodesk® Inventor® optimization service, Autodesk® Revit® Conceptual Energy Analysis service, Autodesk® Green Building Studio® service, Autodesk® Buzzsaw® service, and more. These services enable you to perform computer‐intensive functions in the cloud, which means you can explore and visualize more design options, streamline collaboration, and optimize your designs—without investing in expensive hardware.
The enhanced capacity and capabilities of Autodesk Cloud now available through Autodesk Subscription give you a greater advantage—with more power and mobility to help improve project results and accelerate innovation.
Continue reading “Autodesk Cloud now Available for Subscription Customers”…
Chaos Group has announced the Public Beta for V-Ray for Softimage. V-Ray for Softimage is the newest addition to the Chaos Group portfolio of rendering solutions and is planned to be launched the end of this year.
Currently, they are running a Beta Program, aimed at animators, CG design practitioners, game developers and others who will get the chance to be the first to test the software and provide valuable feedback and suggestions for new features to the Chaos Group Development Team.
If you’re interested in signing up, click on the link below and get started.
Pixologic has released Zbrush 4R2!
ZBrush 4R2 is a free upgrade to all registered ZBrush users.
ZBrush 4R2 introduces significant new sculpting features, as well as major enhancements within the Best Preview Render (BPR) system.
DynaMesh, the new base mesh generator, will allow you to realize your concepts via a workflow that ignores the traditional geometry barrier. To gain an unparalleled accuracy with your brush, the new Lazy Curve Mode allows precise strokes to your mesh whether in symmetry mode or not. The capability to apply an environment HDRI (High Dynamic Range Image) to the new LightCap system will give your finished images a remarkable level of believability.
Pixologic will send upgrade emails to the address that is on record from your purchase of or upgrade to ZBrush 4.
Click here to purchase ZBrush 4R2
David Cullipher, founder and creative director, explains how the team at Sabertooth uses Autodesk 3ds Max to create interactive projects including HBO Go’s Game of Thrones interactive viewing experience and a US Army game called ‘At the Ready’.
Not much to say about this except that it is amazing and I can’t imagine how much time it took to prepare, animate and shoot this video. Well done and very unique.
Tutorials, tutorials, tutorials! There are so many tutorials online these days that it’s hard to sift through the bad ones to find anything worth while, so we did that for you! We compiled a list of the 10 Great After Effects tutorials to make things easy on you, cause that’s what we like to do.
V-Ray Now Available with Support for 3ds Max 2013
The latest V-Ray update offers an extensive list of new features and improvements including:
• Support for 3ds Max 2013
• Support for motion blur (transformation and deformation) with V-Ray RT and V-Ray RT GPU
• Optimized interactive rendering using the NVIDIA CUDA™ architecture in addition to OpenCL
• New “Matte for reflection/refraction” option to the VRayWrapperMtl material and the V-Ray object settings
• Support for Ornatrix 2.0
The update is free to registered V-Ray for 3ds Max users and can be downloaded from the Chaos Group website.
RealFlow 2013 is almost here, and you can check out the awesome list of new features coming in 2013 and check out the simulation videos for some really amazing stuff.
Autodesk has announced Maya 2013. Autodesk® Maya® 2013 software delivers practical toolsets to help facilities animation, visual effects, game design pipelines they need to address today’s challenging productions. Powerful new toolsets for dynamic simulation, animation, and rendering enhanced productivity that will help keep them on schedule and within budget. In addition, the Open Data initiative introduced in Maya 2013 helps facili it, content creators can work in parallel to finish faster and more easily handle the massive complexity requirements they face.
Autodesk has announced 3ds Max 2013. Autodesk® 3ds Max® 2013 animation software delivers ActiveShade support in the NVIDIA® iray ® renderer; a new render pass system; and industry-leading interoperability with Adobe® After Effects® and Adobe® Photoshop® softtware. In addition, new motion graphics, 3D animation, and simulation tools empower artists to focus more on creative, rather than technical challenges.
Autodesk has announced Softimage 2013. Autodesk® Softimage® 2013 animation software delivers powerful new creative toolsets and a new high-fidelity interactive environment. From the new CrowdFX simulation feature; to enhanced modeling, 3D animation, physics, and selection tools, Softimage 2013 helps artists create compelling content faster, while extended SDK customizability helps facilitate pipeline integration
Pixologic is pleased to announce the upcoming release of ZBrush 4R3.
This update includes new features and expands the features introduced in previous versions.
Chaos Group announces V-Ray for Softimage, the newest addition to its suite of innovative rendering solutions.
CG Architect is presenting their annual Architectural 3D Awards this year and are looking for entries. The winner gets over $50k in prizes and will accept the award in Spain at the Mundos Digitales Conference 2012 in La Coruna. Good Luck!
Motion Media & renowned NUKE Trainer Steve Wright head to SEATTLE on Feb. 10th, 2012 to bring you this unique Friday class that will explore and demonstrate the key features of Nuke as compared to After Effects, and equip attending artists with a basic understanding of Nuke’s powerful workflow.
Motion Media & renowned NUKE Trainer Steve Wright bring you this unique Friday, Saturday and Sunday class that will explore and demonstrate the key features of Nuke and equip attending artists with a basic understanding of Nuke’s powerful workflow.
Don’t miss this opportunity to see how Autodesk® Smoke® brings editing, color correction and motion graphics together in an all-in-one application. Smoke unifies visual effects and editing on the Mac so you can deliver professional quality results – quickly.
Register today for the CONTENT IN THE CLOUD Conference at CES, taking place on Wednesday January 11th at the Las Vegas Convention Center. You’ll get an insider’s tour of the many ways cloud computing is revolutionizing entertainment delivery, and come away with a deeper understanding of the impact of this technology on content distribution.
V-Ray Now Available with Support for 3ds Max 2013
The latest V-Ray update offers an extensive list of new features and improvements including:
• Support for 3ds Max 2013
• Support for motion blur (transformation and deformation) with V-Ray RT and V-Ray RT GPU
• Optimized interactive rendering using the NVIDIA CUDA™ architecture in addition to OpenCL
• New “Matte for reflection/refraction” option to the VRayWrapperMtl material and the V-Ray object settings
• Support for Ornatrix 2.0
The update is free to registered V-Ray for 3ds Max users and can be downloaded from the Chaos Group website.
MAXON is always working to provide CINEMA 4D and BodyPaint 3D users with the best possible products. The free update of Release 13.058, which is available immediately, is a continuation of these efforts. This update is recommended for all R13 users. A detailed list of updated features can be found here.
Adobe cloud service debuts May 7th. It is important to distinguish between the individual license designed only for an individual customer versus the corporate program called Team Ready designed for corporations purchasing for their staff members. Take a look at the diagram below for a clarifying your options and choice. The individual licenses are not designed for corporate purchasing. They belong solely to the individuals and cannot be transferred or retained by the company should those individuals leave the company.
Adobe is changing a lot about their upgrade policy with the release of Adobe Creative Suite 6 and we’re getting questions about what can be upgraded and how to actually get the free upgrade to CS6. So we thought we’d answer some of those questions for you…
Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 & Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2013 product enhancements, sample files, and extras available on the subscription center!
