daVinci3D is a plug-in for MAXR2 slated for release in Q1 '98.
http://www.davinci3d.com/

We are currently seeking beta testers interested in advanced surface
modeling technologies.  If you are interested in being a beta tester,
please respond directly to me at rosser@newtechnologies.com  You will
be given a password and access to our FTP site, where you can download
the daVinci3D beta plug-in.
What is daVinci3D?
daVinci3D provides MAX users access to a new surfacing technology developed
in the labs at M.I.T.  This new technology, called TEMS (triangular elastic
membrane surfaces) is unlike any other modeling paradigm available in the
market today.  Users of daVinci3D are able to create highly organic, free-form
3D models in an interactive, intuitive, easy-to-animate fashion.  Unlike either polygonal

mesh or NURBS models, daVinci3D's TEMS models allow for arbitrarily fine levels of detailed

modeling, and enable the user to animate the resultant models with minimum distortion of

texture maps.Technical Summary: TEMSNTI has developed a radically new mathematical surface

representation that affords the daVinci3D plug-in application substantial performance and

ease-of-use advantages over existing systems based on NURBS or polygonal meshes.
We have given these surfaces the name TEMS: Triangular Elastic Membrane Surfaces.
In daVinci3D, a TEM surface is a network of curved triangular surface elements defined over

a single parametric (u-v) domain.  This has substantial benefits to the user, in particular:

* it enables surfaces with irregular, i.e. non-rectangular, boundaries to be created
without trim curves or fillets.

* it enables textures to be easily mapped onto a TEM surface and animated with minimal

distortion.
Furthermore, the exact shape of the TEM surface is created by solving a partial differential

equation of an energy-minimizing membrane stretched across a set of constraints (e.g.

points, curves).  The resultant surface is "naturally" smooth and transitions from one set

of constraints to the next without the user creating a fillet or trim curve. 
These "organic" surfaces also respond to deformation in a manner that is similar to that of

a rubber sheet.  The surface can be pulled and stretched in any direction or fashion... just

like real materials. 

Check it out!!

Company Background:  NTI New Technologies, Inc. was founded in 1994 in order to

commercialize certain technical discoveries in the area of advanced surface modeling

developed in the M.I.T. CADLAB.