MAX Plugins.de News Archive

Archived Plugin News  –  November 2015
 

Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v10.80 are:
- New Polygon Cruncher Command Line for calling Polygon Cruncher from the shell
- The C4D version is now using the C4D R16 library
- Removes calls to showEditorExact when running Maya in Batch mode
- Fixes Max/Lightwave problems related to format export options in the batch module
- Fixes batch processing always using update mode when saving the files
- Fixes the FBX export process sometimes freezing the application
- Fixes STL not exporting vertex colors

Polygon Cruncher is available for Max 9 to 2016 and costs $129. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Particles / Animation

Changes for v2.4.3.59382 are:
- Adds support for the new version of FumeFX
- Adds orthographic point drawing code for DX 11 to fix particles appearing with incorrect sizes
- Fixes bugs in the PRT saving/partitioning UI

Krakatoa MX is available for Max 2010 to 2016 and pricing starts at $1000. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v2.24.2-2.12 are:
- The Octane viewport alpha channel now respects the 'Keep environment' setting
- Implements animated backgrounds for Octane viewport
- Updates the Octane API to improve the material DB dialog user experience
- Adds 'Perspective correction' to the camera settings
- Fixes the motion-blur refresh behaviour in Octane viewport
- 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: Modelling

Changes for v4.73 are:
- Updates the L-System controller to match the conventional definition of L-systems
- The hexagonal planar mesh has been improved
- Fixes a bug when combining texts using the Mix-Controller
- Fixes a bug with the link controller while using sub-controllers

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


Plugin News: Even more Black Friday offers...

And now here are even more companies running Black Friday discounts on plugins for Max this year:

Render Legion s.r.o. are giving a 27% discount on the FairSaaS yearly license of Corona Renderer, just use the code BLACKFRIDAY in the 'Update Coupon' field when placing your order.

aXYZ-design.com are offering a 25% discount on everything in their online store, so if you need some new rigged characters or a copy of Anima v1.8.0, take a look.

HDRI Hub are giving a 40% discount on all HDRI skies, textures and stock movies, just use the code 'BLACK' during checkout.

iCube R&D Group are offering a 30% discount on MultiScatter, MadCar, SplineLand and all of their other products including bundles. Just use the coupon code 'BlackFriday2015' in your shopping cart when purchasing.

Next Limit are giving a 35% discount on their Maxwell Render Suite. More information can be found here.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v1.4 are:
- Adds five new functions for aligning normals based on elements
- Adds a new button to select all normals in same elements as currently selected normals
- Adds three new Macroscripts for selecting normals from elements and borders
- Changes the Normal Tools floater to require the new Macroscripts to be installed

Normal Tools is available for Max 9 to 2016 and costs $7.95.


New Plugin: MCG

This MCG object is the result of a great MCG tutorial from the Autodesk team. It can be used for creating horns, snail shells and other twisted forms.


Plugin News: More Black Friday offers...

Here are a few more companies running Black Friday discounts on plugins for Max this year:

ExLevel will be giving a discount on their GrowFX plugin, but I don't know what the discount will be yet.

Thomas Suurland's CG-Source.com and HDRI-Locations.com are offering a 40% discount on everything.

e-on software, inc. are offering a 50% discount on Vue, Plant Factory, Ozone and Carbon Scatter. More information can be found here.

Lightmap Ltd. are offering a 25% discount on a HDR Light Studio licenses, more information is available here.


Plugin Update: Connections

Changes for Build 007542 are:
- Fixes potential distortion of smoothed meshes when rendering
- Fixes a sudden changes in the scale of 2D cloud layers when rendering
- Fixes the frame number appearing twice in multipass output in multi-file mode
- Fixes a possible crash when resuming an animation saved in AVI/MPEG format
- Fixes EcoSystem instances sometimes not being rendered in the scene preview
- Fixes a potential crash with EcoSystem Phasing when rendering a scene a second time
- Fixes PlantFactory plant's growth along a mesh
- Fixes the mouse wheel being too sensitive in VUE, which induced an extreme zoom in Windows 10
- Frames folded by the user now stay folded when closing/reopening the same dialog
- Fixes potential crashes after undoing editor operations
- Fixes a potential crash when switching a scene containing procedural terrains to spherical mode
- Fixes a potential crash when leaving the Wind Editor
- Fixes the position of some message windows in Mac OS, and of the color selection dialog
- Fixes invisible options in Mac OS native file browsers
- Adds an import option to manually set a rescale factor to the imported object(s)
- You can now edit import options when importing an entire scene
- Fixes the Export to LumenRT menu on Mac OS
- Fixes potential Mac OS crashes when launching external applications from VUE
- Fixes potential C4D display issues in the Terrain Editor
- Fixes a potential C4D dead-lock when using command line render with -nogui option

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


Plugin Update: Modelling / Animation

Changes for v4.1.3.5801 are:
- Adds a new 'Push away from mesh' option to the Edit Guides modifier
- Ox Fast Raytracer no longer ignores the render settings applied to hair
- Applying channel in the Ox Strand Multiplier no longer causes a crash
- Fixes strand gravity collision objects not working
- Fixes a crash when deleting a dependent collision mesh in the Gravity modifier
- Fixes propagation groups not being set to 0 on Guides from Shape
- Fixes a crash when loading a scene with baked guides without root transform info

Ornatrix is available for Max 2009 to 2016 and costs $499. A demo version is available here.


Plugin News: Black Friday offers and more...

A number of companies are running Black Friday discounts this year, so here is a selection of ones that may be interesting for Max users:

VIZPARK are giving a 30% discount on all of their bundles, you can see what's being discounted here.

Studio 75ive are offering their tools Ant Traffic Simulator and Ant Stitcher at a 25% discount.

K-Studio are offering all of their products with a 30% discount, more information can be found here.

Cyber Radiance are offering a $300 discount on a new Hair Farm 2 Professional license with a discount coupon which can be retrieved from their Facebook page.

This next one isn't a Black Friday offer: Art And Animation Studio have permanently lowered the price of their FurryBall renderer by a massive 40%! That takes the price of a full license from €599 down to €359.


New Plugin: Modelling

This MCG allows you to make tileable geometry and works on just about anything that has a Tesselate modifier on it. The 32Bit in the name refers to the 32 triangles you can use to form a pattern, it has nothing to do with the operating system needed. The MCG also comes with a Max template file with ready made patterns.

MCG 32BitPatternMaker is available for Max 2016 and costs $10.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v1.2 are:
- While drawing an arc you can now set the position of the second point
- You can now create perpendicular alignment paths to arbitrary lines/segments

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


Plugin Update: Modelling / Texturing

Changes for v5.0.2 beta are:
- Improves hit-test viewport performance for mesh modes
- Fixes Forest Color and Edge mode with Corona Renderer
- Fixes a Mental Ray error using Animation->Frame from Map
- Fixes an FP5 crash bug on Forest objects that use only billboards
- Fixes the first face on UV surfaces being skipped from scattering in FP5

Forest Pack Pro is available for Max 9 to 2016 and costs €200. A demo version is available here.


Plugin News: RenderPal Black Friday offer

Shoran Software are running a Black Friday offer on their render management software RenderPal. From 8 PM CET on the 26th of November until 8 AM CET on the 28th of November you can buy RenderPal V2 licenses at a 40% discount. This takes the price of a single node from €49 down to €29.40, and a site license from €1,799 down to €1,079.40.

Full details on the offer can be found here.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v2.5.2 beta are:
- Adds support for V-Ray 3.3
- V-Ray 1.5 and 3.0 are no longer supported (only 2.x, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 are supported)
- Improves render performance for V-Ray 3.2 and above
- Adds support for V-Ray velocity channel with animated proxies
- Improves hit-test viewport performance for mesh modes
- Fixes a random crash when rendering animations in V-Ray 3
- Fixes a bug with VRayProxies and Bevels
- Fixes a potential corruption issue when save is not completed correctly
- Fixes spinner dragging in the Style Editor generating multiple undos
- Fixes redo operation in the Style Editor changing the selected node
- Fixes an endless loop when using arrays with paddings greater than spline's length
- Fixes behaviour of the Sequence Operator on Bevels
- Fixes a bug in the Arithmetic operator when input values are not of the same type
- Fixes Bevel not being applied correctly on vertices with a very small change of angle
- Extended/Symmetry Bevels now work if segment is larger than length of initial section path
- Fixes a bug which on rare cases could generate sliced instances when using arrays
- Fixes a bug with the initialization of parameters in Arithmetic expressions

RailClone Pro is available for Max 9 to 2016 and costs €200 A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Animation

Changes for v3.0 are:
- New differential FEM solver for volume preservation, tearing and physically-based destruction
- New GPU granular solver for large scale dirt, sand or snow
- New GPU FLIP fluid solver for large scale fluid effects
- New OpenVDB particle meshing pipeline
- New OpenVDB modifier
- You can now export .VDB files to V-Ray Volume Grids
- Adds a modifier for fast generation of tetrahedral meshes
- Adds support for animated collision hulls
- New FX particle system for rigid body, FLIP fluid and granular effects
- Adds Muscle Geometry for generating muscles with real-world presets and parameters
- New FEM muscle solver
- New Softbody / Inflatable modifier
- Adds support for Spacewarps
- Adds a Granular Body collision shape
- Adds a Vertex Body collision shape
- Adds a PFlow collision shape
- Adds .PRT export
- Adds .bgeo caching
- Adds a simulation monitor

BulletFX is available for Max 2013 to 2016 and costs $260. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.0 beta are:
- VMF Exporter: Adds new setting to Invert Alphas
- VMT Importer: Fixes textures being swapped in blend materials
- VMT Importer: Blend materials now output more maps and settings
- VMT Exporter: $normalmapalphaenvmapmask2 now works when exporting blend materials
- Exporters: Removes the need to create two batch files for exporting several types of object

Wall Worm Pro is available for Max 2012 to 2016 and costs $30.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v2.4.0 are:
- Fixes a bug when using IFL animated textures
- Adds support for the composite texture type in shaders


Plugin Update: Modelling / Animation

Changes for v7.1.4 are:
- Fixes LOD fuzziness not being restored correctly when loading models
- Fixes an LOD curve bug that caused the Modeler to crash

SpeedTree Studio is available for Max 2010 to 2016 and costs $895. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v2.0.13 are:
- Fixes noise with displacement
- Fixes a Hair Farm bug when using a Texmap on the density
- Glossy speculars now have less noise


Plugin Update: Particles / Animation

Changes for v2.1.0.59377 are:
- Adds support for FumeFX 4.0
- Adds Field Loader support for reading OpenVDB (.vdb) version 3 files
- Adds Field Loader support for reading Field3D (.f3d) files with gzip compression
- Adds support for using PhoenixFD as an InputField source in Field Magma
- Fixes several issues related to using PhoenixFD as a Velocity Field Source
- Fixes 'unknown system exception' that occurred when using PhoenixFD as a Distribution Source
- Fixes incorrect particle positions when using FumeFX with a boundless grid
- Fixes Grid Bounds position in the Field Loader when 'Apply Object Transforms' is enabled

Stoke MX is available for Max 2013 to 2016 and costs $595. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v2.8.2 are:
- Adds a 'refraction' parameter to the reflection map
- Fixes display issues in the Hinomaru menu
- Fixes a display issue with character size in the Hinomaru window
- Fixes a bug with UV values changing to 0
- Fixes a problem with object outlines in Maya render layers
- Improves the stability of the termination process in Maya
- Fixes a problem using HinomaruShader.mll in versions prior to Maya 2014

Hinomaru is available for Max 2013 to 2016 and costs ¥55,650.


Plugin Update: Modelling / Animation

Changes for v1.9.9 are:
- Adds full compatibility with Max 2016
- Adds Cache mode to bake a model's growth or wind animation and use the cache in other projects
- Adds a Bake Direction feature to the Object Reaction modifier
- Adds a new Chaos pos %, Angle Bend and Length % parameters for the Path Position Distributor
- Adds the ability to convert the Path Distributor into the Path Position Distributor
- Adds a newx Shift Start Point option for the Noise direction modifier
- Adds a new Scale proportionally option for the Leaves mesh
- Adds a new By Width Graph Points option for the Leaves mesh
- Improves the Stop stitching feature for Meta meshes and adds a Stop stitching for children option
- Fixes many bugs

GrowFX is available for Max 9 to 2016 and costs $325. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Texturing

Changes for v1.0.1 are:
- Fixes a crash loading scenes containing an empty Omnitiles material with no presets
- Fixes displacement mapping combined with gradient maps in channel 95
- Fixes a crash when loading multiple Omnitiles presets in different material slots

OmniTiles is available for Max 2012 to 2016 and costs €99. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Texturing

Changes for v1.2.1 are:
- Fixes a crash with certain modes in map preview mode
- Fixes a crash when trying inverse sorts
- Fixes an occasional crash with licensing

Color Extract is available for Max 2012 to 2016 and costs €29. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Texturing

Changes for v1.4.2 are:
- Fixes the license file not initializing when loading a material containing Crossmap
- Fixes preview rendering when assigning a material via the Material Manager
- The texture list is no longer cut off when loading a scene
- Fixes a texture map problem when loading a material that has Random Flip Y/X selected
- Fixes an occasional crash when using V-Ray instances
- Fixes an occasional crash with the licensing
- Adds license error messages inside the plugin UI in the About rollout

Crossmap is available for Max 2010 to 2016 and costs €49. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modelling / Texturing

Changes for v5.0.1 beta are:
- Fixes a random crash bug

Forest Pack Pro is available for Max 9 to 2016 and costs €200. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for Build 007515 are:
- Fixes node observer display
- Fixes a potential blending issue introduced with the previous update

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


Plugin Update: Modelling / Animation

Changes for v4.1.2.5737 are:
- Adds the ability to pan/zoom in a graph/curve editor
- All graph/curve editors now support undo/redo
- Mesh from strand billboard UVs now respects strand thickness
- Adds rotation attribute data for hair
- Adds a new Grooms feature (XML format for defining hair presets)
- Adds support for NURBS curves to Ox Guides from Shape modifier
- Adds an option to ground strands modifier to control which strand components are affected
- Deforming collision meshes are now supported in PhysX dynamics
- Nearly all maps used in Ornatrix now have an invert option
- Switch to new MSI based installers for easier distribution and deployment of Ornatrix
- Adds SDK and MAXScript access to Ornatrix version information
- Adds multiple hairs per follicle using the new Strand Multiplier modifier
- Hair from Mesh Strips now allows 'fanning' hairs perpendicular to strip surface
- Adds show named selection sets for sub-object in Edit Guides
- The installer now offers options to install for 3dsmax Design
- Adds support for varying hair strip parameters
- All points in curve editors can now be moved and deleted
- Adds the ability to specify install locations for specific components using the new installer
- Adds Z-up, Y-up, or X-up orientation export for Alembic
- Adds an option for the Alembic exporter to export the render version of hairs
- Adds an option to export Alembic objects each to their own file
- You can now specify the maximum number of hairs in viewport preview which face cameras
- Converts all 'Invert' map checkboxes into image buttons
- Improves surface brushing performance and functionality
- GUI improvements with real-time feedback of brush strength and size in modify panel
- Adds a pull brush for straightening out hairs
- You can now lock the surface brush through the modify panel without having to press Ctrl key
- Adds a label in EditGuidesModifier to show the current guide selection
- Improves performance of GroundStrandsModifier grounding
- Adds icons for multiple Ornatrix operators
- Adds support for Max 2016
- The quick hair button now adds a VRayOrnatrixMod if the renderer is V-Ray RT
- Adds the ability for .oxgroom files to store and display a thumbnail
- Fixes flickering in root moving and grooming and bad root interpolation
- Edit Spline now works with Adopt from Stack
- Frizz now works as expected
- Fixes a crash when creating then deleting Edit Guides root data
- Proxy meshes are now deformed correctly
- The frizz modifier amount map now works as expected
- Fixes issues with the gravity modifier losing its curve after saving and loading the scene
- Fixes index out of range after changing root count and using an Edit Guides modifier
- HairFromMeshStripsObject now updates in the scene view with animated parameters
- Fixes a strand propogation modifier freeze
- Fixes a crash with guides on spline
- Fixes a crash with edit guides
- Strip selection in Hair from mesh strips object now updates correctly in Wireframe scene view
- Symmetry modifier plane vector now draws correctly
- The length modifier randomize seed now works
- Fixes failed assertion at Matrix::LookAt
- Fixes an Edit Guides loading error (binary I/O) and crash
- Fixes a customer-reported issue with the new Strand Multiplier modifier
- The hair clustering modifier no longer produces different clusters in viewport on each run
- Fixes a frizz diagram crash
- Removes the 'Hair from mesh strips' and 'strand multiplier' GUI
- Fixes an Edit Guides plant root crash
- Fixes an Ornatrix Script Error on CAT bones
- Fixes a crash rendering Mesh from Strands with V-Ray without UV coordinates
- Fixes the Ornatrix toolbar not getting installed
- Fixes an Alembic export crash when trying to export multiple objects
- Fixes the Ornatrix HairLength map modifier
- Fixes an error in GuideDelta when deleting roots in user-provided scene
- The last point of the hair clustering diagram is now editable
- Fixes issues with Edit Guides corruption on scene save
- Fixes the Hair from Mesh Strips diagram breaking after a recent merge
- The V-Ray distance texture now works with distribution maps
- The detail modifier now smooths interpolated strands
- The dynamics diagram editor now works more reliably
- The toolbar is now installed in non-English versions of Max
- Fixes a crash when changing strand point count before the ground strands modifier
- Fixes a crash when the ground strands distribution object is deleted and the is scene reloaded
- Saving and re-loading Wikihuman 'digital Emily' model now preserves guides shape
- The hair clustering modifier is now applied when rendering
- Fixes an Alembic export crash if the scene has two objects with same name
- Groom templates are now installed into /plugcfg/Ornatrix/Grooms
- Fixes an Ornatrix dynamics exception and inability to simulate
- Fixes a crash with hair from guides modifier using a cached hair from guides modifier as guides
- The Alembic exporter now exports animation for guides with ground strands modifier
- The icons in the create groom dialog are now properly aligned
- The Generate groom dialog GUI has been cleaned up
- The Generate groom dialog now uses Qt
- Implements groom dialog filters
- Fixes a crash when using undo after editing the frizz diagram
- Diagram modification undo now works for the Dynamic modifier
- PropagationModifier diagrams now render correctly
- The curve diagram in hair from strips, strands multiplier now redraws when panned
- The installer no longer throws an exception when trying to execute the AddToolbar action
- Fixes a failed assert/crash probably from the GroundStrandsModifier
- Fixes a failed assert if the GroundStrandsModifier is applied to a mesh with degenerate triangles
- Calling Logger::Instance.Log from different threads no longer causes a deadlock in Ornatrix
- Alembic hair export hair width is now correct when loaded with a V-Ray proxy object
- Groom dialog item names now use a more friendly format
- Toolbar icons are now generated from SVG files
- Guide clustering modifier maps now work
- The ANN library has been replaced with a more modern alternative
- The installer now installs the toolbar for all versions it encounters
- Mesh from strands no longerproduces noisy tips for flat proxy meshes
- Add hair menu option in non-QT Max (2013 and below) now works as expected
- Fixes an installer problem when batch installing on network drives
- Fixes unwanted guides/hairs getting planted when sub-selection option is on
- The comb brush now works correctly in orthographic views
- Fixes a crash when opening the bat sample scene
- Fixes hair always displaying black in Nitrous viewports
- The 'View polygon hair' global setting now survives a Max restart
- The 'Remember' button in the Guides from Mesh Object now works as expected
- The rotate strands modifier now uses map and channel multipliers if orient based on strand is on
- The rotate strands map now produces real-time feedback when using the color picker in medit
- The push away from surface option in edit guides no longer produces incorrect results
- Fixes viewport and render normals facing the wrong way
- Adding surface comb sink to a face and reducing the mesh face count no longer causes a crash
- Fixes a crash when adding a Detail modifier on top of a HairFromMeshStrips object
- Fixes a crash when changing the strand clustering twist value to a small value
- Default feathers groom now works
- The About box now indicates the presence of a demo version

Ornatrix is available for Max 2009 to 2016 and costs $499. A demo version is available here.


New Plugin: MCG

This MCG finds the gap between 2 objects. This is the minimum distance between vertices, not pivot to pivot. Hence, your geometry should have a reasonable amount of vertices for accuracy.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v2.11.0.0 include:
- Adds BitKnit 2 compression
- Removes the old Granny file writing path that used temporary files on disk
- Adds optimizations to Granny file writing and platform conversion
- And much more... a full list of changes can be found here

Granny Exporter is available for Max 2009 to 2016, and is part of the Granny Toolkit which costs $17,500.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.3.4 are:
- Updated to support Keyshot 6


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v4.72 are:
- Enables sub-object control for child arrays
- The curve controller now lets you choose the spline by controller
- Fixes loading the packing controller from a .para file
- Fixes the wrong channel type in the intersection controller
- Fixes getting the first item of a vector list in the list controller
- Fixes a bug in loading the pattern controller
- Fixes a bug in creating a reference array from a parametric shape
- Fixes a bug in setting the end and start offset of the curve controller

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


Plugin Update: Materials

Changes for v1.0.1 are:
- Fixes the ProSimplex bump function
- Fixes the ProSimplex 3D function scale to return values in the range [-1,1]
- Bug-fixes


Plugin Update: Texturing

Changes for v6.1.2 include:
- Improvements to Texture Transformer
- Additional figure support for M4 to Dusk and M4 for Genesis 2 Male conversion

Blacksmith3D is available for Max 9 to 2016 and costs $109.95 (Standard) / $209.95 (Pro). Updates from version 5 normally cost $69.95 (Standard) / $99.95 (Pro) but are currently for sale at $44.96 (Standard) / $74.96 (Pro). A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v2.12.2 are:
- The submitter now takes default values for parameters into account
- RenderPal now warns if you try to submit a job containing local scene files
- The server now logs when a user (un)paused a net job or removed all finished jobs
- When calculating rendering CPU usage, the entire process hierarchy is now taken into account
- All submitter scripts now carry version information
- Fixes issues with Max 2016 output
- Fixes possible mixed slash directions when applying path maps
- The updater will now ignore errors when overwriting certain executables
- Adds support for Vred

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


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v2.3.5 are:
- Fixes a problem with normal map generation in the GLSLES shader


Plugin Update: Materials

Changes for v1.0.1 are:
- Adds installer support for Max 2016


Plugin Update: Texturing

Changes for v1.0.6 are:
- Add installer support for Max 2016

Automap is available for Max 2011 to 2016 and costs €49.


New Plugin: Objects

This is a plugin for geometry caching which uses a MAXScript to cache objects and this cacher object to load a cached file or sequence of files.


Plugin Update: Modelling / Texturing

Changes for v5.0.0 beta are:
- New 'Effects' feature adds endless possibilities for animation, random transform, coloring, etc.
- 'Effects' is based on mathematical expressions which are applied to the Forest items
- 'Effects' can be loaded from a library, imported from files or use your own expressions
- 'Effects' supports exportable parameters and references for creating UI's for end users
- Adds new library presets: Mulch and Rugs
- Library presets can now use nested Forest objects with a few restrictions
- Adds a 'Render quality' option to the library presets
- Areas->Falloff global parameters are now imported from library presets
- Transform->Probability curves are now imported from library presets
- Adds Maxwell materials for Lawns, Leaves, Meadows and Stones presets
- Auto generated materials are now optimized, removing unused and duplicated materials
- Adds support for V-Ray 3.3
- V-Ray 1.5 and 3.0 are no longer supported (only 2.x, 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3 are supported)
- Adds a new procedural texture map 'Forest Edge'
- Adds Areas->Edge mode for Mental Ray and Corona renderer (uses 'Forest Edge' map)
- Adds support for 'Forest Edge' in the Material Optimizer
- Distribution->Diversity Map and Clusters now recognize multiple models with the same color ID
- Adds V-Ray Velocity channel support for animated proxies
- The Distribution->Max.Density range has been raised to 999
- All scattering limits can now be disabled by setting the value to zero
- The default Distribution Map has been changed to 'dense'
- Optimize Materials now automatically replaces 'Normal Bump' maps with VRayNormalMap
- Improves memory usage rendering animations with Mental Ray
- Fixes a random crashing bug rendering with Mental Ray in Max 2016
- Fixes the solid color screen after cancelling a Corona render
- Fixes a crash when navigating in the viewport while Corona is rendering
- Fixes a crash using Corona interactive with Forest Color
- Fixes duplicated IDs in the Geometry list with Copy/Paste operations
- Geometry List->Copy/Paste now copies the color ID correctly
- Fixes a bug with Areas->Object exclude->Top limit

Forest Pack Pro is available for Max 9 to 2016 and costs €200. Registered users of Forest Pack Pro can download the beta version from the Itoo User Panel. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v2.52 are:
- Adds an option to always create a region
- Various minor bug-fixes

ATiles Pro is available for Max 7 to 2016 and costs €25. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: MCG

Changes for v1.01.00 are:
- The number of multiple splines is no longer restricted to 12


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v2.9 are:
- Fixes a bug in Nested Isolation

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


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v2.3.4 are:
- Fixes a UV index bug in shader generation
- Adds GLSLES shader generation


New Plugin: MCG

An MCG modifier that will rescale your existing UV's, which can be useful with engine export workflow.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for Build 007480 are:
- Fixes a potential Maya crash when loading a native object without UV coordinates
- Major improvement in generation time of CSPLT files when using legacy plants

Carbon Scatter is available for Max 2011 to 2016 and costs $195. A demo version is available here.


Plugin News: V-Ray 3.30.01 beta available for testing

Chaos Group have uploaded a preview version of the next service pack, V-Ray 3.30.01, on their website. These aren't the final builds, there is still some work to do on polishing this release, particularly for V-Ray RT GPU.

They are looking for feedback on some new features coming to SP3, namely a new adaptive sampling algorithm, an option to disregard shading subdivs, a dynamic noise threshold for the progressive sampler, updated sun and sky models and a raytraced rounded corners shader.

Full details can be found on the V-Ray forum (registration needed).


New Plugin: MCG

This is an MCG Spacing Tool for splines (you can use it on a mesh as well but it's best for curves). Unlike the default Max tool, this one doesn't intermittently disappear from your viewport, and it gives you rotation controls as well.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v1.0 beta are:
- Fixes a problem in Texture Attributes when exporting Normal maps
- Adds Texture Attribute controls for Resize Filters, MipMap Filters, Normal Map Generation Filters

Wall Worm Pro is available for Max 2012 to 2016 and costs $30.


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v3.8.0-a3 are:
- Start adding support for Skyrim Collision export
- Fixes to texture export settings
- Default to last game on export when auto cannot determine
- Various build and installer fixes


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for Build 1941 are:
- Bug-fixes


Plugin Update: Materials

Changes for v1.0.1 are:
- Fixes some performance issues
- Adds new Levels parameter
- Spread and Stretch parameters can now be mapped
- Removes unnecessary Threshold Low/High mapping
- Fixes Bump Delta scale, parameter value is now between 0 and 1
- Important! This version isn't backward compatible with v1.0.0


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v2.0.0 are:
- Adds support for psk import from Call of Duty: Black Ops III
- Adds support for Max 5 and 6


New Plugin: Objects

This allows you to use the Houdini Engine inside Max, meaning you can load Houdini Digital Assets. Houdini Engine gives you command-line access to Houdini's powerful node-based architecture. You can use the Houdini Engine in batch mode to feed the render farm and process distributed dynamic simulations.


New Plugin: Materials

This texture map applies random scratches to the surface of an object to provide a worn-in, rough look. The plugin applies several long, thin, overlapping cuts in up to 8 different layers. With distortion and mapping of parameters you can get an infinite number of different patterns.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for Build 007486 are:
- Fixes manual subdivision on sphere primitives
- Improves manual subdivision on segment primitives
- Fixes a potential crash when editing the function graph

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


New Plugin: MCG

This MCG modifier stores the topology of your object in the UV channels of a copy of that object, ie. morph targets.


New Plugin: Utilities

DesignToolbox is a collection of tools designed to accelerate and simplify basic modelling tasks of architectural, urban or interior scenes tools: standard transformations by reference, like the ones usually found in more precise work oriented applications; fast measurements, speed up positioning of reference coordinates and workplanes. It also includes some other useful tools for quickly applying and manipulating UVW maps, for paneling simple surfaces; plus some other useful time saving tools.

DesignToolBox comes with Ariel G's previous tool, refGuides, which includes a set of tools intended to improve and facilitate accurate modeling, particularly helpful for modeling architectural scenes. These tools allows you to create construction line guides, for accurately position and model objects. They can also be used as rulers, displaying measurement units in the viewport. Another great added feature is the ability to snap to intersection points.

DesignToolBox is available for Max 2014 to 2016 and costs $22.99.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v1.3 are:
- Adds animation support to Corona Proxy
- Reflection anisotropy is now in object space by default
- UVW-space anisotropy can be optionally enabled
- Adds Corona Layered Material for combining multiple materials
- Render elements can now have anti-aliasing enabled or disabled individually
- Removes the 'Render elements without AA' checkbox as it is no longer needed
- Adds support for vector displacement using the Max vector displacement map
- Adds an advanced 'Render selected' option (include list, object ID, viewport selection)
- The error window has been completely reworked to allow better filtering of issues
- Errors now have a 'Learn more' button that opens our support portal page with more info
- Errors now have a button that selects the problematic object in the scene or corrects the problem
- Many new error types are now reported
- Some error messages are now forwarded from DR slaves to the master PC
- Adds collision detection to Corona Scatter
- Adds a 'spacing' parameter to Corona Scatter to relax the self-intersection constraint
- Interactive rendering now respects the currently selected aspect ratio
- Interactive rendering now supports the region/blowup modes
- Corona Renderer now correctly works with more than 64 threads
- Corona built-in distributed rendering now works when submitted through Backburner
- Removes the visible transitions between displacement tessellation levels
- The rounded edges option has been moved to a separate map
- Only compatible materials/maps now display when picking new materials/maps in the material editor
- Decreases displacement polycounts with no loss in quality due to improved out of frustum culling
- Displacement precomputation can now be cancelled
- Displacement is now properly updated during interactive rendering
- Displacement now reports running out of memory and stops the render instead of crashing
- Removes the 200k UHD cache record limit when precomputing animation in multiple frames
- If UHD cache loading fails, a new cache is computed instead of reverting to path tracing
- Switching from regular to interactive rendering no longer causes the render to be overwritten
- Corona VFB can now be maximized when doing interactive rendering
- Scene parsing is now generally faster
- Fixes light leaks happening when using reflective materials in some specific situations
- Fixes black spots happening on reflective objects at grazing angles
- Adds a new system for handling colored opacity
- Future-proofs the loading of scenes from different versions
- Updates the Corona material converter to v1.20 and proxy exporter script to v0.04
- Improves IES lights sampling, resulting in less noise
- Increases the anti-aliasing quality of the first pass
- Various improvements in licensing server/activation system based on user feedback
- Clearing the VFB is now more consistent and fixes several of the use-cases related to it
- Adds an additional bump map option to CoronaNormalTex
- Submaps of Corona materials/maps are now displayed in track view
- RaySwitch and layered materials are now created with a default CoronaMtl as sub-material
- An IOR value lower than 1 in textures now renders as 1/value
- Improvements to the Corona 'About' dialog
- Improvements to the Activation Dialog
- Adds new Corona VFB icons
- Improves the interactive VFB idle screen when docked
- Adds better icons in the installer
- Texts in licensing/DR servers can now be directly selected and copied
- Render dialog tabs now remember their position when the dialog is closed and re-opened
- The DR tab in the VFB is no longer immediately cleared when rendering stops
- Pressing the start button in Corona VFB now renders only a single frame at the current time
- Right-click pixel probe values in VFB are now more precise (1.0 instead of 0.99994)
- The DR server is now being selected to be installed by default
- When renaming Corona Sun/Light, the target is now renamed too
- Fixes slow rendering when different light types were combined in a single scene
- Fixes a bug causing fireflies when using rectangle/disk lights inside volumes
- Fixes self-intersections with extremely thin triangles
- Fixes excessive noise when using the same map for scene/reflection environment override
- Massively reduces flickering when using textured corona lights in animation
- Fixes a bug causing interactive rendering to start immediately after it's first launch
- CoronaMultiMap in instance mode no longer changes color when editing scene in interactive mode
- Displacement now works if plugged to any slot of CoronaMultiMap
- Fixes Corona MultiMap not respecting input textures alpha
- Fixes incorrect bitmap screen mapping when using crop render mode
- Corona RaySwitch/Layered materials now allow 'show map in viewport' for nested sub-materials
- Fixes hang ups in some specific cases when CoronaAO is used
- Fixes self-illumination sometimes giving incorrect reflected intensity
- Fixes Google Chrome freezing up when Corona is rendering
- Fixes a Particle Flow crash
- Fixes freezing of interactive rendering/Max when editing materials in the Material Editor
- Fixes black pixels caused by faulty texmaps and by displacement used with non-manifold geometry
- Fixes incorrect mapping when using CoronaBitmap as direct visibility override environment map
- Fixes CoronaBitmap UI freezes when changing the bitmap
- Foxes a CoronaBitmpa problem with loading of 32-bit targa files
- Fixes Corona Scatter working incorrectly when offsetting its pivot
- Fixes Corona Light having the wrong intensity in Lights Explorer and State Sets
- The estimated remaining time is now correct when rendering with DR
- Fixes an error causing a DR render slave to randomly behave like the master
- Cancelling batch render no longer saves empty frames of the rest of the sequence
- Pressing Ctrl+Shift+Escape to start Task Manager no longer cancels Corona rendering
- Fixes the color selector in the Mult/Sub material sometimes randomly jumping left and right
- Fixes a bug with interactive rendering re-tessellating objects when changing material parameters
- Fixes the most common source of 'interactive renders image twice after a change' problems

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 v4.71 are:
- You can now load non-animatable properties as well as animatable properties in Parametric Arrays
- Adds an indication to show which properties cannot be animated (italic font)
- You can now load Reference arrays and snapshots from Para flows
- Properties now automatically reload when adding modifiers to the first node of reference arrays
- Fixes a bug with license activation
- The Paint node now works with Para Explode and the Disassemble node
- Reference Array now stays connected to Para Shape after clicking on the reset button
- Fixes a bug when loading Para compound nodes from Paraflow files
- Fixes a bug when generating members from another array
- Fixes an error when making snapshots of spline shape type
- Making snapshots is now faster

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


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v1.1 are:
- You can now choose to continue drawing the current line when you right click in the viewport
- Adds 2 points Extension OSnap where you can create as many reference guides as you want
- Adds error checking for when Polyline Pro is started in a viewport that is not supported
- The Tooltip line now shows which OSnap is active and how to use it
- The Object Snap Menu now shows which OSnap is currently in use

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


New Plugin: MCG

This is a deltamush modifier created in MCG for smoothing out deformation artifacts.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v2.0.1 are:
- Adds support for Max 2015 and 2016

This version of Gear is available for Max 2015 to 2016 and costs $25.


Plugin Update: MCG

Changes for v1.4 are:
- Fixes the error message 'Can't find operator VuTransFormsOnCurve'


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v2.25.20 are:
- Adds the ability to display materials with submaterials and textures
- Fixes a bug with converting big xml files to the database
- Adds the ability to manually convert xml files to the database
- Fixes some minor issues

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


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v1.06.14 are:
- Changes database type from XML to SQL format
- Adds the ability to translate paths in the database from local to network and back
- Adds the ability to export a model to different file formats
- Adds the ability to add custom file formats to the file filter
- Removes the OBJ file format from the list of formats compatible with the Corona Proxy
- Fixes a minor issue when merging the model as a Corona proxy

Models Manager is available for Max 2010 to 2016 and costs $30. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v1.02.05 are:
- Adds the ability to display materials with submaterials and textures
- Changes database type from XML to SQL format
- Adds the ability to translate paths in the database from local to network and back
- Fixes some minor potential issues when renaming Favorites folders

Materials Manager is available for Max 2013 to 2016 and costs $30.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v1.47 are:
- Adds new setting Allow Repeat to control repetition with Random or Probability distribution settings

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


New Plugin: MCG

This MCG turns Visibility On/Off en masse. Please do NOT collapse this modifier with it Off as your geometry will end up as a SINGLE vertex!


Plugin Update: Import / Export

Changes for v0.24 are:
- Fixes an issue with the Max binary exporter
- Fixes an issue with the Max texture exporter
- Improves animation export
- Adds a 'Do not optimize animations' option


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v6.7-2a are:
- Adds additional messages to regex_errors for nuke cmdline and loadOnce jobs
- Regex and wildcards are no longer broken in performance charts job name filter
- Removes the upper limit on processors reservations (was previously set to 48)
- Fixes an error when submitting from inside AfterEffects CC 2015
- Output path regex for Blender jobs is now included so they properly report their output image(s)
- Fixes job->interrupt from interrupting shortest-instance, not shortest-running work
- Fixes a Nuke error with double-quotes to Nuke script paths
- Starting a pythonChildHandler to manage a 'LoadOnce' app no longer implicitly starts the app

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: Particles / Animation

Changes for v2.4.2.59341 are:
- Exposes several LiDAR file formats to the PRT Loader's UI
- Fixes a problem with custom System Units where the unit scale was different than 1.0
- Fixes a bug when pasting paths from the Windows Clipboard into the PRT Loader

Krakatoa MX is available for Max 2010 to 2016 and pricing starts at $1000. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v5.9 are:
- Adds support for Max 2015 and 2016

Illustrate! is available for Max 2 to 2016 and costs $395. A demo version is available here.