Pablo has brought it to my attention that one year ago today the first news item was posted on MaxUnderground.  Please read on...   [ more... ]

Visual Magic Magazine reviews Discreet Combustion.

Automatic Duck announced the release of OMF Composition Import, a plug-in for Adobe After Effects 5.0. OMF Composition Import streamlines importing projects into Adobe After Effects from Avid nonlinear editing systems. In one simple step, OMF Composition Import transfers an entire Avid system timeline into Adobe After Effects 5.0 and imports all the media necessary to perfectly recreate a project. MSRP $495.

The film, created entirely with 3ds max is about to be shown for the first time in Madrid, Spain around March 1, 2001. It will afterwards be featured on Spanish TV and short film festivals all around the world. There will also be a web version downloadable from Flymultimedia's website.

Uzife selection tool by Yaei Itoh updated. Download R3 and R4 versions.

3ds max 4 - CGI Magazine.
3ds max 4 - Computer Creative.
Surf-iT spline modeling plugin - CGI Magazine.
Electric Image's Amorphium Pro - Digit Magazine Online.

A vote is taking place at Highend3D.com to see if there's enough interest in implementing a Max forum at that site. Please help by casting your vote (no need to register).

Jacopo Pantaleoni, the programmer behind the Lightflow renderer has been developing a Maya to Lightflow interface. The first images (complete with render times) have been posted at Lightflow's website. A Max to Lightflow interface is already in the works.

Making believable wood
Making believable water
Creating clouds
Char. Studio unicycle animation
Modeling a violin

Ghost 3D's Surf-iT spline based modeling plugin has been updated to version 1.24. This version is primarily a compatibility upgrade. However, some additional features and enhancements have been added and have also been implemented in the 3ds max R3 version of Surf-iT 1.24.   [ more... ]

Itoo Software has updated all their plugins for Max 4 (Forest Pack, Clone, Glue and OptMat). Also, a new version of Forest Pack (1.4) has been released. All plugins are available for download from Itoo Software's website.

If you downloaded BSPack_006 this morning, please go get pack7, pack6 has a rather nasty bug in LightUtilities that is now fixed.

Max SDK programmer wanted for batch like render interface - (editorial. I'm assuming this is a contract job)   [ more... ]

Autodesk (parent company of Discreet) recovered $5.6 Million in North American software piracy settlements for fiscal year 2001 which ended January 31, 2001.  This brings ADSK's Piracy Prevention Department's total take to over $45 Million since it's inception in 1989.  The press release names Florida, California, Missouri, Arizona, and Texas as the states doling out the biggest antipiracy awards.  The statement also fingers five of the companies successfully sued for the largest settlements during fiscal 2001.

Sony announced a prototype active-matrix display technology which allows for thin, bright monitors that respond well to fast-moving images, such as those found in video. Sony expects it will eventually replace cathode ray tubes currently used in televisions and traditional computer monitors. The new display technology, called "organic electroluminescence" (OEL) is viewed as the successor to LCDs (liquid crystal displays). OEL displays use an organic polymer material with self-luminous properties that eliminate the need for a backlight, which is used to improve the brightness of LCDs. Sony's prototype is a 13-inch display with a resolution of 800 by 600.

Bobo's added some new scripts to his site, including several new poly modeling tools.
Michael Comet's placed a bunch of new scripts on his site, including: Keymanager, Camera Manager, Attribute Keyer, Scatter To Verts, Blow Grass, Showmap, etc.

Grab the latest BSPack, added a bunch of new scripts including: FindByMaterial, IsolateByMaterial, GetMat, SelectBipedRoot, ReloadAllBitmaps, LightControl, BSRun. Also fixed several bugs in LightUtilities.

Adobe is in the final stages of beta testing and optimizing After Effects 5 and is expected to ship it in mid April. New features in version 5 include:
- Composite layers in 2D or 3D space with fine control over multiple cameras and lights.
- Animate layers hierarchically by defining a parent-child relationship between any two layers.
- Use nondestructive vector paint tools to reveal an image over time, draw animated cartoons (with onion skin functions), etc. Strokes can be recorded to the current frame, to sequential frames in real time or continuously.
- Use expressions (written in Javascript) to define relationships between parameters so that you can create procedural-type animations without using keyframes.
- 16-bit per channel color support (Production Bundle only).
More information available at Digitalproducer.com. A PDF describing new features highlights can be downloaded from Adobe's website.

TDP has put up a new site (still under construction) that lists new and available MaxScripts.

Besides R4 compatibility, Illustrate! 5.1 offers enhanced Flash rendering and output:
- 40% faster than the previous rendering engine.
- Resulting animations can be easily imported into Macromedia Flash without further tweaking.
- Shading is now supported. All light types and colors are supported.
- Complex self-intersecting objects are supported.
- Automatically handles separate objects that intersect. No longer need to set the Display Z Order.
More information and a 30 day trial version are available at davidgould.com.

Virtualight is a new rendering engine that allows previewing and photorealistic rendering of 3D scenes. Features offered by this new renderer include: distributed ray-tracing, global illumination, volumetric rendering, etc. Virtualight will be distributed with several utilities that allow data conversion from other 3D geometry file formats to the Virtualight Interface Bytestream. Approximate first release date: March/April 2001.
More information available at Virtualight's home page.

Onyx Tree Professional 5 reviewed at Computer Arts.

Juan Antonio Amblés has released a Max 4 version of his useful Lightmesh plugin.

Havok has released Havok Hardcore, a new "rigid body physics technology" game SDK that leaves out certain features (such as soft bodies and cloth) but costs almost half the price of the full SDK. The Irish gaming software company is also raising funds which would be used to expand the potential of its physics-based software and develop a number of new company divisions.

MeshDetails by Borislav Petrov is a Mesh Info script for 3ds max 4. It will let you display Vertex Index, Face Index and MatIds in the viewport, show MatIDs per Face or in Chunks and choose to display the data for the current selection only.

"3D Lighting: History, Concepts and Techniques" by Arnold Gallardo reviewed at Visual Magic Magazine.

3ds max 4 in Depth - Coriolis Group
3ds max 4 Magic by Sean Bonney, Laurent Abecassis, Marcus Richards
3ds max 4: Tutorials from the Masters by Michele Bousquet, Jason Busby
3ds max 4 Fundamentals by Ted Boardman
3ds max 4 for Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide by Michele Matossian
Create 3d Game Characters With 3d Studio Max by Paul Steed (Quake, id Software)
3ds max 4 Ground Rules by Todd Peterson

Shag:Hair patch for R4 available at maxusers.com. New features include Digimation's new R4 protection, which among other things now enables users to transfer licenses from machine to machine as needed.

Animal Logic has updated MaxMan, its Max to Renderman plugin to version 1.5. Features include:
- MaxMan can now create tiled RIBs for rendering sections of one image. This is particularly useful for BMRT users with multiple CPUs.
- Added support for meta-reyes primitives and basic support for Blur's 'dirt' map.
- Subdiv models with multiple materials are now handled properly.
- Documentation overhaul, including the addition of a sorely-missed MaxMan FAQ page.

Grant Adam has posted a tutorial on how to use his translucency script.

Scheduled to start Thu, Feb 22, 2001, 5:00 pm Eastern.  Tune in here:  Autodesk Earnings Conference Call (Q4 2001)

Realviz Matchmover 2 camera tracking software reviewed at Digit Magazine Online.

On 6 March 2001 Kelseus will release Version 1 of CLOTH, a new plug-in for 3ds max. CLOTH produces highly realistic animation of clothes on animated figures and objects. Features include:
* Collisions take into account all of the cloth geometry that collides with another object - not just the vertices.
* Fully integrated with Max Dynamic Effects such as the Wind and Gravity Space Warps.
* Handles stretch resistant cloth for realistic behaviour, collisions with solid objects, with other cloth, air resistance and realistic physical properties including friction, damping and forces of stretch and bending.
* Fast, reliable computation of animations.
* Simple and easy to use interface.
A demo version will be available shortly.   [ more... ]

Electric Rain announced that it's working on a 3ds max plugin version of Swift 3D, its 3D to Flash vector format translator.

A useful script by Borislav Petrov to aid with symmetrical modeling. Symmetry will let you "select vertices, edges or faces on one side of a model and manually or automatically select the symmetrical elements on the other side".

"Roadkill" animations by SubRes studio (be patient, server is busy).
Bear-Tennis animation (not really new, but definitely worth it), by Jesper Colding-Jorgensen (go to Visual->Animation).

Christopher Subagio has updated his great HDRdomeLight script with more control over shadows and some optimizations.

There's an interesting article on 3Dgate.com that helps sort out the advantages/disadvantages of the web's different 3D technologies.

New picture rendered with Ghost by Willi Hammes (see "3D Stills" section).

Darkling Simulations  has updated its SimbiontMAX procedural texture plugin for Max R4. Demo version also available.

System Administrator, 3DS Max Character Animator and Modeler, Compositor.   [ more... ]

Anibyte has posted a couple of new animations up in their gallery2:  Two bits with a teddy bear - arm and eye. Copyright GT Eurocom

Sitni Sati News Page:  "New updates are released including AfterBurn 2.5c, Enlight 1.1b and ScatterVL Pro 1.2a. Updates include MAX4 specific fixes."

(Yes, this is the free R3 version)  DirtyReyes is now a utility plugin , not a modifier.  The update is available at http://www.reyes-infografica.com/ and should soon be available at  the mirrors.  BTW - reyes-infografica's servers are saturated and they are looking for volunteers to help mirror these plugins - if you can afford the bandwidth, contact them.

Go visit the BlurScripts page, and download BSPack_004, which includes a possible fix for the crash problems that some of you have experienced with previous BSPacks. The bug is in the way maxscript deals with global functions when a macroscript is run through a button in a toolbar (which is why I never found it before, I run all my scripts through the QuadMenu). continued...   [ more... ]

Plugin patches available at Digimation's Maxusers.com. Patches will ONLY work if you have a valid copy of the plug-in already installed.
Anyone interested in downloading the beta version of Illustrate! 5.1 for R4 should visit David Gould's website.

The Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) has added 3DS Max R3 to it's list of benchmarks.  SPECapc's  (SPEC application performance characterization) details of the test can be found on their max page along with the results thus far.  SPECapc's press release.

Yaei Ito's UZIFE freehand selection plugin updated by Adam Pletcher at Volition, inc. The new version (R4) fixes a bug that caused Max to crash when closing down.

A couple of great new animations posted at Anibyte's website.

Discreet's recent release of 3ds max 4 lets Xbox developers integrate state-of-the-art vertex and pixel shaders directly into the 3ds max viewport. Such integrated shaders provide WYSIWYG functionality and could represent time savings of up to 40%, depending on the application. With redundant steps eliminated from a game's construction, the 3ds max 4 viewport lets developers see hardware-rendered, textured models animating in real time, as they would appear in a finished Xbox game.
Read the complete article.

A new interface and the end of the DOS legacy.
With Windows XP, for "experience", Microsoft is *finally* retiring DOS and unifying its operating systems under the NT. Until now consumer and business Windows versions had been based on different programming technologies, with Windows 95, 98 and Me running on the older DOS code base and Windows NT/2000 runnning on NT.
Windows XP features a "dramatically different new look and aims to extend the personal computing experience by uniting PCs, devices and services". XP is scheduled to be generally available in the second half of 2001.

Sony says it will introduce networkable video decks at this year's NAB convention. The company says it will also show off IP-based applications and systems, including servers, data systems, cameras, switchers, monitors, newsroom systems and asset management systems.

Max 4 reviewed at Computer Creative. Warning: this review is not in-depth and centers mostly on the use of Max for web modeling (?!). "These tools... should be more than sufficient for low-poly Web work."

All Mankua free plugins (TLUnwrap, Stress and ModSpace) are now available for MAX 4! They can be found under Clay Tools
in Mankua's website.

Also, there is a new member in the Mankua family of free tools: Mapale..! a Transform (PRS) morpher that might become a
powerful non-linear animation system... Feel free to give it a try!

Press Release here.  A list of Nominees is here.  VFX Nominees;  Gladiator, Hollow Man, and The Perfect Storm.  Gladiator leads the count with 12 nominations.  Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon has 10 nominations and has recently become the highest grossing foreign-language film in American history.

This plugin adds new selection methods: draw freehand selections, or use your mouse like a marker pen to highlight your selection. Works on all objects/sub-objects.
Download UZIFE.

Plugin patches available at Digimation's Maxusers.com.Patches will ONLY work if you have a valid copy of the plug-in already installed (R1, R2, or R3).

Check out the new Max3D.3dluvr.com.  In addition to an extensive facelift, the site now has an artist gallery and will eventually have a job listings page.

Discreet announced it has entered  into a strategic development relationship with Microsoft to provide animation tools for the Xbox video game console. Discreet will provide architectural and feature changes to its award-winning 3D modeling, rendering and animation package, 3ds max, for Xbox game developers.
NVIDIA (who will provide the graphics processing unit for Xbox) is also working closely with Discreet to ensure that artists using 3ds max 4 to create game titles will have a working environment that mirrors the final version of Xbox.
Read the whole PR.   [ more... ]

Ivan Kolev has released a new version of his EdgeSmooth plugin. This new version has fixed a bug, and has serious performance improvements. Once again, this is a time-limited version, expiring March 31st 2001. Max R3, and R4 versions available.

Updated Lightscape Translator plugins available at Discreet's site.

- Preview of short anim rendered in Arnold by Ruairi Robinson (DIVX codec required).
- The Show is Going On, an amusing short trailer featuring a 3D Freddy Mercury look-a-like created by a team of nine spanish animators at Kotoc3D (Barcelona, Spain).
- A late Happy Christmas message by Antonio Casado (DIVX codec required).

Spontaneous Combustion recently helped to mix a CG goldfish into live-action footage for Young & Rubicam's new Pepperidge Farms Goldfish campaign. Spontaneous utilized 3D Studio MAX, After Effects, PhotoShop and inferno*.
Read whole article.

Christopher Subagio has written an impressive dome light script that allows for the inclusion of multiple exposure images and reconstructs a greater dynamic range from them. A short tutorial with some illustrative images is also available.

While too early to pronounce this as definite good news, Discreet Senior Management have responsed to the "Compromise proposal" reported 2 days ago. Their reponse looks hopeful for all affected Character Studio customers, especially those overseas. Discreet should make some official announcement / press release shortly.   [ more... ]

MAX 4 upgrade version of Digimation's QuickDirt v1.5.1 is now available. Current QuickDirt owners can download this "free" patch from Maxusers.com. A previous version of QuickDirt must already be installed in the machine where the patch will be applied.

Raphael Benedet's 3D Artists gallery is back online!

Blur Studio releases 65 MAXScripts at the official BlurScripts page. Please visit the page for full descriptions of all the scripts.

According to news posted by Steve Blackmon at Blurbeta's Ghost pages, the Ghost renderer will be a commercial product although there are no plans for pricing or licensing at this point. This is an independent project, and a company to support it will likely be formed separate from Blur and its ownership. The focus during this time will be to have a stable, competitive product that is integrated into 3D Studio Max, in a production ready, and nearly marketable state.   [ more... ]

New versions of the Reyes set of plugins for 3ds max 4 are currently under development and expected to be released within the next few months.

There's been quite a uproar on the Discreet webboard (http://support.discreet.com/) about Discreet management's decision not to recompile Character Studio 2.2 for max4 despite widespread customer demand. Character Studio 3 has only been out 3 months and many affected users are not ready, willing, or able to upgrade. This puts into question their ability to use either Character Studio 2.2 or "3ds max4" in production, depending on which gets priority. Affected users are asking for my time to consider their options. Also, there's been an even bigger uproar over Discreet's policy for overseas hardware lock policy where users have to surrender their hardware locks before registering max4.   [ more... ]

Digital Film Tools released Composite Suite 1.5, a set of plug-ins for Avid editing systems and Adobe After Effects.
Composite Suite is a collection of tools designed to combine multiple images. Some of the plugins included are: color-correction, blur, grain, matte manipulation, edge blending and special tools for combining imagery like fire, smoke and explosions.

well finally, we have all heard about that, here is a link, they are all there for free, be patient their FTP is limited to 24 users at the same time
enjoy at ftp://ftp.reyes-infografica.com/pub/freeplug/
It's funny that they finally update those for Max3, once Max4 is released

Digimation offers some handy tips on how to prepare your system before switching over to 3ds max 4.

TrueSpace5 new features include:
- Full complement of NURBS-based modeling tools (support for IGES, SAT and STL formats)
- NURBS Geometry Paint which provides users with a paint brush to modify NURBS surface geometry in real time
- Physically realistic, faster rendering (radiosity)
- Real-time subdivision surfaces

Pandemic Studios has released a free plugin to export Max files to Softimage XSI format.

RealFlow & RealWave plugins for 3ds max 4 available for download.

Turbo Squid announced an agreement with Pepper's Ghost Productions to offer the Muybridge Variations Motion Capture Library to Turbo Squid's digital artist community (price is $35 per motion file).

Digimation has launched maxusers.com, a new site with information on plugins and 3ds max. Patches (or information) for R4 versions of plugins distributed by Digimation can also be found at this site.

IRIDAS released version 1.8 of its FrameCycler free edition application. FrameCycler is a tool to play back animations rendered out to frames without previous conversion to a digitial movie format. Also a studio edition was announced that will play back up to film resolution frames in real time.   [ more... ]

Neil Hazzard from Discreet UK, have made a new Point helper for Max4, SuperPoint, this new Point helper add cool features like a display name in the viewport, which is very handy to know exactly which point is doing what, and also it let you change the color of the point.
Please note that this is unsupported by Discreet.

There is a new plugin in beta at Digimation, nammed Morph-O-Matic, apparently developped by the same people than Cluster-O-Matic. It looks like Morph-O-Matic will become the best morphing package available, its feature list include : Progressive Morphing, Spline Interpolation, True Morph Material, unlimited numbers of channels, ...
No word yet on a price, nor a release date, the first animation has been posted today on the public page, Hands animated by morph.

The updated MaxScripts include Tangent Util (modify multiple key tangents), LockSkinWeights,  SkinToolsEnv (edit multiple skin envelopes at once), HandleTools (works with bezier-key handles), etc.

frost 2.5 Brings Automation, Speed and Immediacy to On Air Broadcast
Press Release on Yahoo

VFXPro reviews "Special Effects: the History and Technique", a book by Richard Rickitt.

EffectWare recompiled its freeware plugins for 3ds max 4.

- VFX houses online directory
- 3D Software Directory

Take your pick: "The Web Studio Set is a collection of our web 3D partners' software that supports 3ds max 4 with a compatible exporter."

Brendan Duncan's Luminaire radiosity plugin has found a new home: MAXShade.com. A Renderman shading language interpreter for Max is also being developed at MAXShade.

Max 4 compatible versions of AfterBurn, Enlight and ScatterVL Pro are available for download at Sitni Sati's site (registered users only).

A recompile of Solidify for 3ds max 4 is available from Terralux SDG.

Added two new tutorials to my site, you can find them here.

Tutorial 16 (01/29/01) Faking Bokeh Part II
Tutorial 17 (02/04/01) Metals and Reflections

Call For Entries: 3D Studio MAX 3.0 Workshop Images

All artists that have read "3D Studio MAX Workshop" by Duane Loose (pub. by Hayden Books, May 2000) are invited to submit a still image they've created using the techniques and principles in the book. Copies of Duane's new book: 3ds max 4 Workshop will be given to the artists submitting the best images.   [ more... ]

A new Bones Pro 3 animation is available at Digimation's Beta site.

There's a rumor of a Discreet-Havok deal in order to offer more of Havok's dynamics bundled with 3ds max 4. High quality fluids, soft bodies and rigid objects interaction in the base Max package? Could this be true?