MAX Plugins.de News Archive

Archived Plugin News  –  August 2020
 

Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v3.0.27 are:
- Fixes a Max issue that results in a system exception when baking with the RsBeautyBake element
- Fixes a RenderView issue where Bokeh was not updating correctly
- Fixes an edge-case bug that could sometimes cause metal materials to have really wrong colors
- Fixes a MaxonNoise shader precision issue where the Cell and Mod noises looked really 'dirty'
- Fixes a Max Composite shader node bug that caused incorrect results when used for bump-mapping
- Fixes an RS Material shader typo where the wrong fresnel option was used for the 'coating' layer
- Fixes an incorrect (but benign) warning on 8-GPU systems
- Brings back MatteShadowCatcher features: AO, reflection fog and alpha
- Fixes some issues with the MatteShadowCatcher shader and material blending
- Fixes MatteShadowCatcher shader and matte object properties giving different results in IPR mode
- Fixes a bug that caused SSS AOVs with secondary ray visibility to appear corrupt or missing
- Fixes a bug that caused certain nodes in the shader graph to be dropped when using a switch node
- Fixes a crash when connecting a scalar texture node to a material blender color input
- Fixes a bug that would show global volume scattering over mattes that should be blocking

Redshift is available for Max 2013 to 2021 and costs $500. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v1.12 are:
- Fixes an error when saving multimaterials on proxy objects

Q-Proxies is available for Max 2015 to 2021 and costs $45. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Modifiers

Features of v3.0 are:
- UV-Packer is now free!
- Rapid packing procedure
- Minimal UV area waste and off-cuts
- No overlapping, exact padding
- Fast and precise packing of massive polygon assets and UV-clusters
- Optimized for contemporary 3D design
- Multi-object packing
- Resolution independent
- Multithreading
- UV tiles support
- Sleek and customizable UI & UX
- MAXScript, docs, statistics & more
- Support and maintenance
- SDK library for developers


Plugin Update: Texturing

Changes for v2.4.5 are:
- Fixes a bug where normalizing a selection of UV Shells could clear the Undo stack
- Fixes a divide by zero error
- Fixes the Texture Advisor progress bar not updating correctly

Advanced UV Normalizer is available for Max 2010 to 2021 and costs $35.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v1.18b are:
- Adds Russian language to the output web
- Fixes a crash with some hardware configurations when exporting images using multithread
- Fixes web UI issues
- Fix a navigation slowdown in iOS systems

MOTIVA Layama is available for Max 2014 to 2021 and costs €180.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v3.0.26 are:
- Improves the C4D RenderView toolbar behavior when the window is smaller than the required space
- Fixes a C4D issue where a curve with invalid data could lead to a fatal assertion
- Fixes a Houdini crash in the vopSwitch node if connected to the surface input
- Adds Hydra support for the noise randomize pattern feature
- Fixes a potential crash bug when shutting down the DCC
- Fixes a bug that could break shader switch node connections
- Fixes a bug that could cause a crash when using shader switch nodes and nodes like tri-planar
- Fixes a bug that caused the alpha value to be incorrect on Matte-Shadow-Catcher materials
- Fixes a possible crash or corruption when rendering materials with shader switch nodes
- Fixes bump-mapping looking too soft when driving certain properties with a noise shader
- Fixes a bug that could cause a random assert crash when computing point-based SSS

Redshift is available for Max 2013 to 2021 and costs $500. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Atmospherics

Changes for v5.0.7 are:
- Adds support for 3rd party .vdb files for Initial State simulation
- Fixes Particle Source that didn't work with the color channel controller
- Fixes particle system picking from crashing Particle Source with tyFlow float as vector controller
- Fixes FumeFX-TP birth operators that caused a crash with TP 6.7+ and Max 2019
- Adds FumeFX Tex3D color extraction without shading applied
- Adds support for Arnold Render 6.0.4.0
- Fixes the FumeFX-Redshift shader and cache sharpening
- Fixes .vdb crashes if velocities were present in input caches
- Fixes an issue where 3rd party .vdb cache velocities were not properly loaded
- Fixes Initial State not working if Color was present inside the .fdc cache
- Fixes an error where using .fxd as Initial State could throw the file version mismatch message
- Adds the Initial State filename display in the FumeFX menu
- Fixes the Max 2021 installer that didn't properly install the FumeFX Arnold shader

FumeFX is available for Max 2014 to 2021 and costs $695. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v0.594 alpha are:
- Fixes animated focus distance from Physical camera in final frame rendering
- Fixes crashes in scenes containing TyFlow


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v2.0 are:
- Adds detailed building generation with editable lights
- Materials now use the 'Physical material' for maximum compatibility
- Supports all working unit types: meters, cm, feet, inches etc.

Building Mass Creator is available for Max 2018 to 2021 and costs $40 AUD.


New Plugin: Utilities

renderStacks is a render pass/generic task manager for Max. It is similar to RPManager, LPass Manager, Prism, StateSet, Scene States, etc. but it aims to be a lot smarter, faster and more stable. In a nutshell, renderStacks allow you to define a sequence of tasks to be executed per pass, and you can have unlimited passes per scene. It will eliminate many common scene management duties: just configure passes once and concentrate on making art! How much render node time has been wasted because of a simple mistake? renderStacks will help to prevent many of the potential human errors, and even better, you can do all of this with an artist friendly UI without writing a single line of script.

renderStacks is available for Max 2015 to 2021 and costs $59.99 per year. A demo version is available here.


New Plugin: Modelling

PolyCloth is a multi-threaded C++, physics-based cloth brush plugin for Max that allows you to quickly add cloth details to a mesh in a few seconds.
Features include:
- Add wrinkles and folds to your meshes with a powerful brush
- Move your mesh like a cloth and simulate cloth behaviour
- Use the shrink brush to pinch the surface of the cloth
- Use the expand brush to increase the surface area of the cloth and add wrinkles
- Use the smooth brush to smooth out wrinkles on the cloth
- And much more depending on your creativity...

PolyCloth is available for Max 2016 to 2021 and costs $59.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v3.0.25 are:
- Fixes a Max issue that can result in Deadline writing black images when using Redshift EXR output
- Fixes a Max crash when using material names containing non-English characters
- Fixes a Max issue where Material Override Color doesn't update the IPR when changed (Clay Mode)
- Fixes the Material Override Color swatch in Max' Render Setup dialog from always being enabled
- Fixes a Maya bug that prevented UV's from working on the MaxonNoise shader
- Adds a new command to the C4D ShaderGraph editor to reorganize/layout the nodes in the graph
- Adds a new command to the C4D Redshift/Tools menu to delete all baked textures from the cache
- Fixes a C4D bug where grayscale channels from substances would be baked in a lower bit-depth
- Fixes a C4D bug in S22 where ShaderGraph materials could appear black in the viewport
- Fixes a C4D bug in the caching of textures for the UI in the ShaderGraph
- Fixes a C4D bug where material tags on Feather objects were not effective
- Fixes a C4D bug where Direct AOV files had no frame suffix when rendering in Current Frame mode
- Fixes a C4D bug where parenting certain objects under an instance object could make them hidden
- Fixes a C4D bug where RSVolume objects no longer displayed their channel information
- Adds support for Houdini H18.0.532 and drops support for H18.0.416
- Adds a network picker element to the proxy override material selection parameters in Houdini
- Fixes a Houdini problem with the proxy materials list override from names including spaces
- Fixes a Houdini limitation in velocity based motion blur in instancers/particles
- Fixes a Houdini problem in the IPR to live update the scene using the arrow keys
- Fixes a Houdini bug when rendering multi-step motion blur in objects with changing vertex topology
- Adds a new Houdini option to disable all AOV suffixes added by the plugin to the filenames
- Fixes a Houdini bug in the multi-thread scene extraction code related to the OBJ nodes tracesets
- Fixes a Houdini GUI freeze on Linux while opening the RS RenderView on complex scenes
- Fixes a Katana problem in the color correction feature with the default camera settings
- Addresses the curves width in Katana to match the Hydra viewer and other renderers
- Point cloud visibility/matte/traceset options in Katana now respect RedshiftObjectSettings nodes
- Addresses a Katana limitation in the instance arrays source locations without group nodes
- Fixes a Katana problem with the tangents attributes
- Adds Katana support for the tangents attributes computation in mesh objects without normals
- Adds Hydra support for H18.0.532 and drops support for H18.0.416
- Adds Hydra support for RS proxy material override in Material Library LOP materials
- Adds Hydra support for the RS proxy user data override from primvars
- Adds Hydra support for exporting RS proxy objects from the Render Settings LOP
- Adds full Hydra support for the RS material nodes without using the USD material output node
- Adds Hydra support for the instantaneous shutter render setting
- Addresses a problem with several parameter values related to their defaults in Hydra
- Fixes a problem with the <UDIM> texture tags in Hydra
- Fixes a problem with the spherical projection camera in Hydra
- Fixes a RenderView issue where gamma corrections were being applied to utility AOVs
- Fixes a RenderView issue where the status bar log button would not open the feedback display
- Fixes a bug that would cause opacity cut-out colors to appear in the refraction AOV
- Fixes a bug that could cause garbage results for puzzle-mattes with refraction enabled
- Fixes a bug that disabled absorption on refractive multi-scattering materials
- Fixes a crash bug in scenes with more than 8 puzzle-mattes and materials have matte enabled
- Fixes a bug where ray traced SSS could produce 'geometry holes' and / or artifacts
- Improves memory usage for the material system so it is only allocated when needed
- Fixes a bug that caused a crash when AOVs of the same type are duplicated
- Fixes an issue where global scattering looked too bright through totally transparent objects
- Fixes a bug that caused some light group 'remaining' AOVs to contain all lighting
- The RSNoise shader animation now works with displacement
- Fixes a bug when using brute-force GI in scenes with refraction/transparency and render cleaner
- Fixes a bug that caused random crashes when rendering shader-balls and materials have user-data
- Adds a fix for stuck noise that occurs in rough materials that are both reflective and refractive
- Adds new shader technology to support closures and dynamic shader linking for future OSL support
- Upgrades to the new CUDA 11 SDK for better performance and support for up-coming 'Ampere' GPUs

Redshift is available for Max 2013 to 2021 and costs $500. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Texturing

Changes for v1.32 are:
- Adds support for Max 2021
- Adds support for V-Ray 5
- You can now save and load presets
- Adds an option to invert texture output (except for Arnold)
- Adds optional ColorCorrection map for each channel

Material Texture Loader is available for Max 2016 to 2021 and costs $20.


New Plugin: Utilities

Prune Scene is a commercial MAXScript with which you can clear your Max scene from scripted viruses and accumulated garbage. In some cases this allows you to greatly reduce the file size and accelerate saving of scenes.

Features include:
- Clear Track Notes
- Clear Retimers
- Clear Mixers
- Clear Garbage Collection
- Clear Memory
- Clear Reactor Collision
- Clear Animated Layers
- Clear Missing Bitmaps
- Clear Corona Renderer Missing Assets (HDCache.hdc, LUT (*.cube))
- Remove Empty Layers
- Remove All Animated Keys
- Remove Missing Objects(LinkComposite, etc.)
- Remove Invalid Objects(ParticleView, etc.)
- Remove Viruses(ALC, CRP, ADSL, DesireFX, etc.)
- Fast Selective Scan Viruses
- Instant updates

Prune Scene is available for Max 2012 to 2021 and costs $7. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Texturing

Changes for v3.1.9 are:
- Dialogs opened by Right Click can now be closed by a second Right Click
- The main UI toolbar button now has a checked state, uncheck it to close the UI
- Improves the speed of Transfer Edges UV > Poly
- Fixes a Morpher Cut error
- Fixes an Align U/V selection bug
- Other functions now work during Align

UV Tools is available for Max 2013 to 2021 and costs $20.


Plugin Update: Texturing

Changes for v2.3.3 are:
- Adds a Normalize Islands parameter
- Further improvements to invalid topology reporting

UVPackmaster 2 is available for Max 2017 to 2021 and costs $49. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Utilities

Changes for v3.11.45 are:
- Adds the ability to convert and resize images
- Adds support for V-Ray 5
- Adds support for the TX image format
- Adds support for the AO map used in V-Ray and Corona when creating PBR materials
- Speed-up opening the 'Favorites' folder
- Speeds up opening the 'Favorites' dialog
- Speeds up adding files to Favorites using the 'Favorites' dialog
- Various memory and speed optimizations
- Fixes a minor issue with creating PBR materials from multiple textures
- Fixes an issue with saving selected models as separate files with the 'Save Assets' option off
- Fixes an issue with saving scene materials to a material library with 'SaveCopy with Bitmaps' off
- Fixes a bug with opening the Mass Rename Tool in versions 3.10.27 - 3.10.33.
- Fixes an issue with searching by materials

Project Manager is available for Max 2014 to 2021 and costs $60. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Renderers

Changes for v5.00.05 are:
- Adds MAXScript VFB access for OCIO settings with vfbcontrol
- The V-Ray scene converter now converts CoronaBumpConverter to VRayColor2Bump
- Fixes an error when rendering with disabled memory frame buffer option in the new VFB
- Auto white balance no longer renders differently when transferred to camera
- Fixes a missing plugin error when loading a scene saved with hotfix 1
- Fixes more noise occurring with Blue noise sampling enabled for grid volumes
- Fixes a crash with a specific scene upon opening in Max 2021, 2020 and 2019
- Matte objects' primary Visibility now works correctly in V-Ray GPU
- The VRayEnvironmentFog parameters are no longer applied to all fogs in V-Ray GPU
- Fixes V-Ray Dirt ambient + inner occlusion mode results being darker than they should be
- Fixes an IPR restart in the new VFB on zoom, resize and side panels collapse
- Fixes a crash when opening an old scene with empty new VFB OCIO settings
- The new VFB window position can now be saved on a non-primary monitor
- The new VFB window position is no longer offset on rendering after every scene reset

V-Ray is available for Max 2016 to 2021 and costs €1060. A demo version is available here.


Plugin Update: Animation

Changes for v1.2 are:
- Adds an option to Bake Animation of all rigs in the scene
- Adds a Bake Animation grouping option
- Fixes the Scripted Plugin error bug
- Fixes a bug that caused an Automatic Setup right click error
- Fixes a problem when doing a 'Bake Animation' of all vehicle parts

DriverMaster is available for Max 2012 to 2021 and costs $50.


Plugin Update: Modelling

Changes for v1.1 are:
- Fixes Undo, so you can now Undo/Redo after a 'remesh it'
- The TargetQuadCount maximum value has been raised to 4M (was 600K)
- Fixes the viewport camera changing after remeshing

Quad Remesher is available for Max 2016 to 2021 and costs $109.90. A demo version is available here.