redmotion: March 2011

17 March 2011

Reverb Air previews AR plugin for ShiVa 3d


reverbAR from Reverb'air on Vimeo.

The tool includes the following features:-
- Ability to track multiple markers.
- Analysis of markers with precision, which can not be confused.
- The black outline of the marker may be relatively thin.
- Multi-platform (PC, iPhone, and soon for Mac).

Coming Soon. (Hopefully, the ShiVa plugin store will be open shortly!)

More info, plus a demo can be found here.

08 March 2011

Excortex presents Momentum 2.0


Momentum 2.0 Release Trailer from helge mathee on Vimeo.

Momentum goes commercial with version 2. Find more info about Exocortex and this product here.


Momentum 2.0 Example Scenes Overview from Exocortex on Vimeo.

At first it seems like just another physics plugin for Softimage, until you look at the feature comparison table:-

"Exocortex Momentum 2.0 is the most versatile multi-physics solver available for Softimage as demonstrated by the table below. But we know that this is often not enough, thus we have designed Momentum to integrate well with both Syflex as well as Lagoa."



Physics Solver Feature Comparison Table
 Momentum  PhysX  Lagoa  Syflex 
Rigid Bodies
Soft Bodies
Cloth
Ropes
Soft - Rigid Interaction
RBD Constraints
Softbody Constraints
Plasticity
Deforming RBDs
Build-In plotting
Collision Filtering
RBD Clustering



And all for $149 (individual license). I think that's very good value, especially when you consider that it even supports Softimage 2010 (which is something the original opensource Momentum from studioNest did not). If you're considering upgrading to 2012 mainly for the simulation features you just gained another option!

Well done and thanks to Helge Mathee and Exocortex!

01 March 2011

Softimage 2012

What's New in Softimage 2012

New features in Softimage 2012 include:
  • ICE Modeling: Create procedural geometry in the Interactive Creative Environment (ICE) based on a set of rules, conditions, and parameters. 
  • Enhanced Everyday Workflows: Enjoy greater overall productivity and ease of use, with across-the-board enhancements. The Texture Editor, Explorer, Schematic View, Scene Layer Manager, Render Tree, Bone Primitive, Reference Models, and Weight Editor have all received attention. 
  • Syflex on ICE: Use the power of ICE to achieve greater control and flexibility over Syflex cloth simulations. 
  • UV Unfolding: Save time and effort with new UV relaxing and pinning options. 
  • Lagoa Multiphysics: More easily achieve plastic, liquid, soft-body, cloth, and foam-like effects. 
  • Stereoscopic Support: Take advantage of the trend for 3D films with an in-viewport stereoscopic viewer offering a range of display modes and stereopscopic camera rig. 
  • Single-Step Suites Interoperability: More easily take advantage of the focused toolsets in the Autodesk® Entertainment Creation Suites Premium 2012, with new single-step interoperability between Softimage and Autodesk® Maya®, Autodesk® 3ds Max®, and Autodesk®Mudbox™ software. 
  • ICE FX Builder: Create and modify sophisticated effects more quickly and easily, with the help of the new ICE FX Builder. 
  • ICE Subframe Sampling: Calculate collisions more accurately in ICE simulations, with new support for subframe sampling on a per-object or per-point cloud basis. 
  • Vector Displacement Map Support: You can use mental ray® rendering technology to render complex high-resolution details created in Mudbox 2012 software or certain other applications on low-resolution geometry. 
  • New ICE Compounds, Preset FX, Shaders, and Model Library: More easily create a wide range of effects and rendered looks in ICE with the help of new compounds, shaders, and pre-defined ICE FX that can be used “as-is”, or customized as required. 
  • Maya nCache Support: More easily transport geometry and ICE simulations between Softimage and Maya 2012 software. 
  • Consistent F-Curve Editor: More easily switch between multiple products in the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites Premium thanks to an updated F-Curve Editor that provides a toolset that offers more consistent functionality and terminology for editing animation curves. 
  • Polygonizer: Build liquid and blobby effects with the new Polygonizer toolset. 
  • SDK Enhancements and Events: Facilities can now more easily customize and extend their tools and pipelines, with the exposure of more core Softimage services and events: Undo Bracketing, onCommand Events, and onRenderPass Events. 
  • Softimage Composite: Softimage® Composite toolset offers keying, tracking, color correction, raster and vector paint, rotoscoping, warping, advanced filters, a full 3D compositing environment, and tools that help support stereoscopic productions. 
  • MatchMover Professional Camera Tracking: Extract 3D camera and motion data from video and film sequences in order to insert CG elements into a live-action scene. 
  • FBX 2012: Through support for the Autodesk® FBX® 2012 asset exchange technology, artists can transfer stereo camera rigs, vector displacement maps, multiple UVs, and subframe samples for icecache and PC2 in and out of Softimage, making it easier to safely pass production assets between products. 
A set of new view videos can viewed now over at the Softimage blog.