IMBRAT’Z MULTIMEDIA

Both applications to be 64-bit capable
By Frank Moldstad
 

Maya 8 box
Now that both 3ds Max and Maya are under one roof, it might appear that Autodesk is coordinating their upgrades – at least that’s what it did this week at SIGGRAPH with the announcements of Maya 8 and 3ds Max 9.

 

But  in reality, Maya 8 is shipping in August, while 3ds Max is due in October. The two professional 3D animation applications are now both 64-bit ready for Windows (and Linux for Maya), with 32-bit compatibility for users not on 64-bit platforms, including OSX for Maya. Both programs have also been optimized for large datasets, one of the most crucial features for high-end film, broadcast and game users. Each program also contains numerous improvements, in areas such as productivity, pipeline efficiency, rendering and file exchange capabilities with other programs.

The latter is one of the advantages of Autodesk owning both programs, plus other assets which came to it in the Alias purchase last year. One of those was the FBX plugin, which has now been upgraded for tighter integration between Maya, 3ds Max and MotionBuilder. The new version features interchangeable geometry between Maya and 3ds Max. In addition, render layers can be exported to Autodesk’s Toxik database.

 

There are number of new high-performance features in both applications. Maya 8, the first upgrade out of the gate, introduces scalable multithreading, to take advantage of all processing power when performing skinning, draw tessellation, and subdivided polygon proxy mesh operations. It also features new API extensions for better data management with multiple 2D and 3D packages in a  pipeline. And, not only is there support for 64-bit computing in Maya 8, there are also a number of 64-bit plugins available from  third-party developers in the Autodesk Developer Network (ADN) Sparks program (see below).

Several welcome additions in the area of rendering debut in Maya 8. First, it now uses the mental ray 3.5 core, which has been optimized for better rendering performance and memory usage — and there’s support for interactive viewing of both native and custom mental ray shaders. There’s also the new option to override the Maya viewports with a proprietary or third-party plug-in renderer, for reviewing scenes as they will appear in the target renderer.

Maya 8 also offers intriguing new modeling and texturing enhancements, such as the Transfer Polygon Attributes feature. This makes it possible to transfer UV, color per vertex (CPV) and vertex position information between surface meshes of differing topologies. If an artist is working with two versions of an object of a character, one hi-res and one lo-res, existing UV sets can be transferred if they’re already laid out on the lo-res model. Among the other new tools are a Polygon bridge, multiple edge loop insertion capabilities, and an enhanced UV layout. New workflows include the ability to interactively create, position, and scale primitives in a single operation.

A new Geometry Caching feature bowing in Maya 8 is for caching deformations on polygon, NURBS and subdivision surface geometry. This speeds up both playback and scene rendering. Users can also blend vertex animations together — creating a new animation — in the Trax Editor.

New caching options in Maya 8 apply to deformations on polygon, NURBS (including curves), and subdivision surface geometry.

Meanwhile, over in the 3ds Max camp, there are new tools for lighting, shading, rig building, and modeling. 3ds Max 9 also features the mental ray 3.5 core, and users with big rendering jobs will appreciate Point cache 2, which speeds up the baking of mesh deformations into a file for faster rendering.

Riggers can take advantage of a new layered blending system for custom rigs and controllers in 3ds Max 9. It’s also now possible to save and load XAF files onto bipeds, which makes it easier to transfer information to and from custom rigs.

Workflow improvements include new viewport functionality, such as faster feedback from the Wireframe and edge display tools. The ability to style hair in the viewport is also new, one of several enhancements to hair and cloth functionality. Version 9 also has improved file referencing and asset tracking.

As with Maya, there are also a number of 64-bit plugins available for 3ds Max from third-party developers in the Autodesk Developer Network (ADN) Sparks program. A partnership with HP and Intel provided 64-bit HP xw4300 workstations to a number of ADN Sparks developers in order to port plug-ins in time for the launches of both 3ds Max 9 and Maya 8.

Following is the most recent list of 64-bit plugins created by the ADN Sparks developers for 3ds Max 9 and Maya 8:

3dAliens (www.3daliens.com): glu3D
Archvision (www.archvision.com): RPC plug-ins and content
Axceleon, Inc (www.axceleon.com/3d): EnFuzion
Bionatics (www.bionatics.com): natFX and EASYnat
Boomer Labs (www.boomerlabs.com): MAX2AE
Boris FX (www.borisfx.com): Final Effects Complete
Cebas (www.cebas.com): finalRender
Chaos (www. chaosgroup.com): V-Ray
Character Animation Technologies (www.catoolkit.com): Character Animation toolkit
Cubicspace (www.cubicspace.com): rtre (real time rendering)
Frantic Films Corporation (www.franticfilms.com): Deadline render farm management system
Itoo (www.itoosoft.com): Forest Pack plug-ins
Joe Alter, Inc (www.joealter.com): Shave and a Haircut
Npower Software(www.npowersoftware.com): Power Booleans, Power Nurbs, Power Solids
Okino Computer Graphics (www.okino.com): Polytrans
Orbaz (www.orbaz.com): Particle Flow Tools
Pipeline FX(www.pipelinefx.com): Qube!
Pixar (www.pixar.com): RenderMan
Rad Game Tools (www.radgametools.com): Granny 3D
Right Hemisphere (www.righthemisphere.com): Deep Paint 3D
Sensable (www.sensable.com): Claytools
Size 8 Software (www.size8software.com): clothFX
Syflex LLC (www.syflex.com): Syflex Cloth
T-Splines LLC (www.tsplines.com): T-Splines Plug-in
The English language version of 3ds Max 9 will be available in October 2006, with other languages to follow. Its suggested list price is $3,495, and the upgrade from 3ds Max 8 to 3ds Max 9 is US $795.

Maya 8 also ships in English first, with availability scheduled for August 2006. It carries a suggested list price of $1,999 US for Maya Complete (standalone) and $6,999 US for Maya Unlimited (standalone). Upgrading from Maya 7 Complete to Maya 8 Complete is US $899, and from Maya 7 Unlimited to Maya 8 Unlimited is US $1,249.

DISCREET JUST SHIPPED a new version of 3ds max–version 7. It offers significant new features and, according to Discreet, is more stable. Good news for 3ds max 6 users is that plug-ins for that version remain compatible with this release.

Speaking of plug-ins, Character Studio 4 is now included with 3ds max at no extra charge. The Mental Ray 3.3 subsurface scattering shader now incorporates photometric lighting and includes specialized versions designed specifically to handle skin.

Among 3ds max 7’s new features, several stand out as significant either in terms of new functionality or in making daily operations easier. The paint deformation tool is sure to be a popular addition. It allows users to deform poly objects using an intuitive brush interface. It handles push, pull, relax, and revert operations with full support for soft selections. Brush controls include extensive falloff control, and pressure sensitivity is supported for brush strength and size for those who have pressure-sensitive tablets such as the Wacom. This tool makes adjustments and refinements of poly objects quick and easy.

Normal mapping tools provide a way for visualization professionals to build detailed high-resolution meshes and then apply normal maps to low-resolution models. These normal maps can be rendered with MentalRay and the native Scanline renderer. This approach provides ultimate detail at render time, but allows the user to work with extremely low resolution in the viewport. The lower geometry count enables users to work more quickly in a scene without losing detail.

The TurboSmooth modifier in this release is a new modifier based on MeshSmooth, but with much of the esoteric functionality removed. TurboSmooth is extremely fast because it focuses on what users generally require from smoothing. MeshSmooth is still available if users need any of its features.

3ds max 7’s Highlight Seams capabilities makes it easy to spot discontinuities in the mapping on a model–sure to be a very useful aid in day-to-day work.

I did some preliminary, not-for-publication tests with 3ds max 7, and it does seem speedy. Especially noticeable was an increase in performance with the DirectX driver, which in our initial tests proved to be markedly faster than the OpenGL implementation. The MaxBench4 benchmark, which Cadalyst Labs uses for testing graphics hardware and workstations, ran without a hitch on this release.

3ds max 7 is available for a suggested retail price of $3,495. Upgrades from previous versions are $795 from 3ds max 6, $1,295 from 3ds max 5, and $1,495 from 3ds max 4. As with previous releases, a subscription service is available for $440 per year. In the past, the subscription has provided significant additional functionality for the base product.

There’s obviously a lot more to 3ds max 7 than I can possibly cover in a brief review such as this. Take a closer look at 3ds max on Discreet’s Web site (www.discreet.com).–R.L.