* * * Happy Holidays to all our readers from the team at Max Underground! * * *

3idee from the Netherlands has released a new MaxScript called Camera Animator.   [ more... ]

El Portal del 3D y la Animación interviews Jeb Milne on his work for the musical video clip "Accidentally in Love". (English|Spanish)

On December 25th the staff of Inside Computer Graphics will randomly select the winners. Enter today for a chance to win some great prizes, including Turbo Squid Turbo Tool Kit 2, REALVIZ ImageModeler 4.0, Next Limit Real Flow 3, Maxon BodyPaint 3D, Craft Animations CCTs for 3ds max, Right Hemisphere Deep Paint 3D, Corel Painter IX, etc., etc.

Borislav Petrov is working on a feature guide to the similarities and differences between MEL (Maya Embedded Language) and MAXScript.

George Maestri reviews Max 7 for Computer Graphics World: "... incredibly stable and fast."

CGUnderground has posted an article that briefly explores the creative process.

Digital Element has released the pro version of their Export 184 plugin. The plugin converts 3DS models with animations to a format compatible with JSR 184, an interactive 3D graphics API for mobile devices.

3D Artists gallery updated. Check it out!

Discreet has announced two 3ds max 7 bundle offers at a SRP of $3,995. The first bundle includes Max 7 and Brazil (a $700 savings) and the second bundle includes Max 7, Deep Exploration, Deep Paint 3D, and Deep UV (a $295 savings). The offer ends January 31, 2005 and is only available to North American residents through Discreet Resellers. Also of note, Splutterfish has announced a 50% off special offer of the Brazil R/S Renderfarm Bundle (four non-GUI Rendernode licenses). This offer is available through SplutterFish Authorized Resellers (it's not limited to North America), and expires on January 31, 2005.

Digit Online reviews 3ds max 7, giving it 4 of 5 stars.

Evasion|3D have released a compatibility patch to make X-Dof v2.0 work with Max 7.

The International Game Developers Association (IGDA) is working on an initiative to publicize those companies that "put as much effort on keeping their employees happy and healthy as on their bottom line". A letter published recently at IGDA's website already puts a few in the spotlight for providing a healthy working environment, including BioWare, Firaxis, Team17, Blue Fang, Cyberlore and Ensemble.

Los Angeles ACM SIGGRAPH will be presenting Wednesday, December 15, the making of The Polar Express. Sony Pictures Imageworks will show their work for the movie followed by a special screening of the film. Visit la.siggraph.org for more.

CG Academy announced the release of MAXScript Fundamentals 1. This DVD provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts of MAXScript and has been designed to lead total novices into the powerful world of scripting and also to aid those that have dabbled with MAXScript and now wish to push their skills further.

The Dutch company Microcan has just announced their development of a new 3ds Max plug-in to speed up building of architectural elements: 3D Quickbuilding.   [ more... ]

Chaos Group have released an updated beta version of their upcoming fluid dynamics engine chaosAURA. This version fixes several bugs and adds a few new functions. The plugin is in public beta testing at the moment, and this version is time-limited.

New features in Twixtor 4 include the ability to remove motion blur when slowing footage, support for marking material so that Twixtor does not motion-interpolate inappropriately across a cut or other transition and better integration by using host application's settings for rendering fields. Visit REVisionfx.com for more.

Blur Studio's website has been updated with lots of new content including a couple of teasers for their upcoming short films. Check it out!

Peter Watje has released 3 new freeware plugins for 3ds max 6 and 7:
- Blob Mesh adds 2 new options to the shipping version
- Conform Modifier is the same as the shipping compound object, but implemented as a modifier
- Selection Cache Modifier is like the Point Cache modifier but also records vertex selection data

Sachform Technology now offers users the possibility of buying single high resolution HDR images from their site (no need to buy a complete collection for those interested in just one image). Visit Sachform.de for more.

(Updated December 2, 2004) More information on the upcoming high quality cloth simulation extension posted at Discreet.com, along with a couple of great video tutorials.
Enhanced cloth simulation capabilities based on Size8 Software’s ClothFX plugin (formerly known as Stitch) will be integrated into Max. The new feature will be available first to Max users on subscription in January 2005.