01-04-2005! 3D Software News update

Maxon releases CINEMA 4D Release 9.1 update

Maxon's team has been working tirelessly on new features! update to CINEMA 4D R9.1, with new features and completely free! Data exchange, the user interface, modeling and materials all receive a boost.
In particular:

Data Exchange
CINEMA 4D's unique support for compositing programs has gone one better: besides After Effects, Combustion and Final Cut Pro, CINEMA 4D now supports the brand new Apple Motion. A multi-pass sequence can now be exported directly as a ".motn" file and taken into Motion for further compositing or post processing - ideal for finishing touches!

Allplan users can now take full advantage of CINEMA 4D's modeling tools to create exciting organic or freeform shapes such as tent roofs and sail shapes. The mesh can be sent back to Allplan via XML export, true to scale and in exactly the right position.

Other import and export formats have been tweaked. The connections for FBX, VRML and Wavefront now support n-gons, as does the filter for LightWave, which converts LightWave's "hole bridges" to regular n-gon holes.

Modeling
As of now all tools and functions fully support n-gons. The HyperNURBS object has been re-engineered to offer a new mode optimized for n-gons. With generator objects such as Extrude NURBS and Loft NURBS you can now choose whether the caps are made up of triangles, quadrangles or n-gons. The same goes for other functions such as Optimize and Untriangulate. Time and again, your objects can now have a completely clean mesh that's a joy to work with.

The Knife tool has also been optimized and you can now make additional cuts without complications. For example, you can cut to create holes and then make further cuts to cut through the holes.

Interface
A focal point for Release 9.1 has been to speed up the workflow yet again. Greater efficiency through fewer mouse clicks is the magic formula that has seen CINEMA 4D win so many awards and group tests.

The time-saving Tweak mode is now supported by further tools (Close Polygon Hole, Create Polygon, Add Point, Slide, and Iron). The Stitch And Sew, Close Polygon Hole and Bridge tools can now be used directly in Isoline Editing mode, as can the selection tools Loop, Ring, Outline and Fill. Again, this makes for better results in less time. Further optimizations have been made to the Stitch And Sew, Weld, Magnet and Brush tools.

Access to the snap settings is now lightning fast - simply press "p" and there they are right next to the mouse pointer in a popup menu.

There's also good news with regards to camera navigation. Besides the existing behaviour, where the camera tumbles around the active object, there are three new modes on offer: the camera rotates around its own origin, around the world origin, or around a fixed, definable point in the viewport. This especially improves your workflow when creating camera animation.

The much applauded HeadUpDisplay feature has been improved for Release 9.1. Additional configuration possibilities now allow the visibility of all objects to be controlled directly in the HUD (always visible, active object visible, active hierarchy visible). Now you also have control over which elements are visible in the HUD and which HUD elements should appear in the rendering.

Materials
The material system gets a boost too. The noise shader has three new algorithms for noise generation: Fire, Electric and Gaseous. Selecting a type of noise in R9.1 is easier also thanks to a popup menu of noise previews.

SubPolygonDisplacement, a much requested feature new in Release 9, has been improved further. You now have the option for the geometry to be deformed before the other shaders and textures are projected. This avoids unwanted texture

CINEMA 4D R9.1 features:

- Updated plugin for After Effects 6.5
- FBX import / export supports N-gons
- VRML import / export supports N-gons
- Wavefront import / export supports N-gons
- 3DS export can now handle discontinous points to generate UVs
- Allplan 2005 XML Export
- Apple Motion Export
- Lightwave Importer now fully supports N-gons (additionally it replaces the LW hole bridges by real holes (LW does not support holes in N-gons)
- Spacemouse plugin improvement
- 3 new camera rotation modes (via preset or modifier keys)
- new HUD active options "always", "object", "parent", "child", "chain"
- HUD cache (faster N-gon and Edge information)
- Date / Time display in HUD (read only)
- Latitude / Longitude display in HUD (read only)
- Soft Selection preview and "restrict" option, Soft Selection also available in "move", "scale" and "rotate" modes
- extended colordefinitions in preferences (N-Gon lines, front/back facing tinting, soft preview, HyperNURBS weights)
- command "select visible only" can have a shortcut assigned (in the Command manager)
- rotation circle can be scaled in viewport settings
- Windows only: better Unicode support for all text display
- Snaptool popup (Key: "p")
- object axis always shown when in "axis" mode
- Nulls have additional display type "sphere"
- Noise selection popup
- enhanced syntax coloring for C.O.F.F.E.E.
- "connect" supports Normals-Tag
- the following tools scale with the object size: "Bevel", "Extrude", "Matrix Extrude", "Smooth Shift", "Normal Move"
- new HyperNURBS algorithm: Catmull-Clark (N-gons)
- merged all 3 different HyperNURBS types in one object
- "remove/retriangulate N-gons" now supports polygon selections
- N-gon option in "Untriangulate"
- N-gon support for "Optimize"
- "Delete at Quads" option in Prefs dialog for pre-R9 behaviour when deleting polygons
- N-gon option in "Close Polygon hole"
- N-gon option in "Add Point"
- N-gon option in cap generation of "ExtrudeNURBS", "SweepNURBS", "LatheNURBS"
- Knife tool: improved hole management after a cut
- Knife tool: support for cutting through / into holes
- Tweak mode now also available in the following tools: "Add Point", "Close Polygon Hole", "Create Polygon", "Iron", "Slide"
- Isoline Editing now also supported in the following tools: "Close Polygon Hole", "Stitch and Sew", "Bridge", "Loop Selection", "Ring Selection", "Fill Selection", "Outline Selection"
- New "visible / invisible" options for "Weld", "Stitch and Sew"
- "Weld" includes Point collapses with Shift- and Control-Modifier
- improved handling when welding points within the same N-gon
- option to toggle preview in "Magnet" and "Brush" modes
- "Multi-Draw Spline" option in Preferences / Document to draw multiple freehand splines without re-selecting the tool
- "Instance Object" is now created in the same position as the original
- "Insert/Paste-Options" in Preferences/Document to define to insert-/paste-position in the hierarchy
- 3 new noises: "Fire", "Electric", "Gasous"
- GI tree balancing - faster rendering for complex GI scenes
- new SubPolyDisplacement option "map resulting geometry" for clean projection of Displaced Surfaces
- new C.O.F.F.E.E. routines "GetSnapTool", "SpecialEventAdd", "AllocTag", "AllocVariableTag", "AllocMaterial", "AllocShader", "AllocObject", "GetActiveBaseDraw", "GetRenderBaseDraw", "GetBaseDraw", "CallCommand", "GetCommandName", "IsCommandEnabled", "GetActiveObject", "GetActiveMaterial", "EventAdd", "GetActive"
- Enhanced Syntax coloring (functions, classes, members, contants)
- Enhanced C.O.F.F.E.E. syntax with '#' - operator
- COFFEE Command Line Tool
- Drag & Drop of Atribute Manager values in the Command Line
- COFFEE now uses exactly the same integer constants like the C++ SDK
- "Copy", "Paste", "Select All" in all C.O.F.F.E.E. editfields
- string.xgr updated
- Strongly enhanced SDK in various areas

Alias releases Maya 6.5

Maya 6.5 is a performance-driven release packed with new features and feature enhancements motivated by next generation production requirements for massive dataset handling.

Maya 6.5 will enable you to:

- Produce unsurpassed character animation
- Create spectacular particle and dynamic effects
- Manage complex scenes and massive data sets more efficiently
- Leverage high performance CAD data import
- Model breathtaking environments
- Build and organize sophisticated shader networks - fast
- Apply the power of mental ray 3.4 in more ways than ever
- Add clothing, fur or long hair to your characters
- Create and view interactive web pages for tutorials; scene and asset management
- Move quickly between Maya and Adobe Photoshop software

High performance CAD data import through the new STEP translator gives artists the ability to quickly import large data sets from most major CAD packages for the creation of high quality images and animations directly from CAD data.

Maya Complete 6.5 Features:

- User Interface Ease-of-use tools including marking menus and 3D manipulators speed up workflow.
- Modeling A full suite of advanced Polygon, NURBS and Subdivision Surface modeling tools.
- Animation A comprehensive range of keyframe, non-linear and advanced character animation editing tools for creating, animating, adapting and repurposing animation data and editing realistic digital characters.
- Visual Effects High-speed, dynamic interaction of hard and organic objects determined by physical rules. Industry leading particle tools acknowledged as the standard in visual effects.
- Brush-Based Technologies Maya Artisan, Maya Paint Effects and 3D Paint offer a unique, award-winning suite of integrated pressure-sensitive brush tools for modeling, creating 2D and 3D effects, and painting on geometry and textures.
- Rendering A unified rendering UI and workflow provide easy and consistent access to Maya software, hardware and vector renderers, and mental ray for Maya.
- Maya API/SDK and MEL Development resources that let you customize and extend the capabilities of Maya via the renowned Maya embedded scripting language and a full Application Programmers' Interface.
- Tutorials and User Documentation Award-winning documentation and tutorials help hone your Maya skills so you can take full advantage of the software's capabilities.

Maya Unlimited 6.5 Features:
(includes everything in Maya Complete, Plus:)

- Maya Fluid Effects The simulation and rendering of a huge variety of atmospheric, pyrotechnic, viscous liquid, and open ocean effects overcomes one of the greatest barriers in computer animation.
- Maya Cloth The world's most accurate software solution for simulating a wide variety of digital clothing and other fabric objects.
- Maya Fur Incredibly realistic styling and rendering of short hair and fur, with the Maya Artisan brush interface for painting fur attributes.
- Maya Live Matching of original live-action footage with 3D elements rendered in Maya.
- Maya Hair Tools for the creation, styling and rendering of fully dynamic long hair on NURBS or polygon objects. Includes the ability to make any NURBS curve dynamic -- for advanced character rigging and effects.

Maya 6.5 System Requirements:

- Windows XP Professional or Windows 2000 Professional (service pack 2 or higher)
- Red Hat Linux 9.0 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3.0 WS
- SUSE Linux 9.1
- IRIX 6.5.15 (ATTENTION Users of the IRIX Operating System)
- Apple Mac OS X 10. 3 or higher
- Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher
- Netscape 6 or higher
- Safari
- Windows: Intel Pentium III or higher, AMD Athlon processor
- Macintosh: Power Mac G4 and G5
- 512 MB RAM
- CD-ROM Drive
- Hardware-Accelerated OpenGL graphics card
- 3-button mouse with mouse driver software
- 450 MB of hard disk space

Amabilis Canvas 6.5.1.0

The freeware version of 3D Canvas now includes import support for:

- Biovision
- MD2
- Neutral Object Format
- Raw Triangles
- Wavefront
- WorldToolKit
- Imagine (iob) Import/Export (3D Canvas Pro only)
- XGL (xgl) Import/Export (3D Canvas Pro only)
- ZGL (zgl) Import/Export (3D Canvas Pro only)
- Lightwave (lwo) Import Improved (3D Canvas Pro only)

For more information about Canvas read the review or visit Amabilis