GroundWiz v1.2 introduces GroundWiz Planter, a mass placement and instancing tool handling millions of objects. The new version also brings new features to GroundWiz Terrain Map such as Mental Ray support and displacement mapping.

(continued...)

A new version of GroundWiz (version 1.2) has been released. GroundWiz now consists of two main parts: GroundWiz Procedural Terrain Map and GroundWiz Planter.

The new version introduces GroundWiz Planter, a mass placement & instancing tool for 3ds max/VIZ. Handling millions of instances of 3D objects in 3ds max/VIZ at interactive speed, GroundWiz Planter merges vegetation, rocks and other nature elements and quickly creates realistic interactive scenes of nature/landscape.

Key Features of GroundWiz Planter:
- Optimized to handles a huge number of objects at interactive speed.
- When used with Mental Ray, GroundWiz Native Geometry Shader is used that allows hundreds of millions of polygons to be rendered.
- Uses GroundWiz Terrain Map layers for mass placement to easily create forests and plant massive areas based on slope of the terrain, altitude, sun direction, etc.
- Brush mode is available for precise planting that allows painting plants over the terrain.
- LOD (level of detail) option so that far away objects don't waste polygons and rendering time.
- Objects can be drawn as normal 3d models or as billboards to reduce number of polygons required.

Also, the new version of GroundWiz brings new features to GroundWiz Terrain Map:
- Mental Ray support.
- Displacement map support (each layer can have procedurally controlled displacement).
- Layer channel data : except for the standard color and bump information, each layer can carry other channel data (displacement, specular color, glossiness, reflection).

Comments: