February 02

LockStep Plug-in for 3D Studio Max v2.0 BETA1

This plug-in is designed so that animators using 3D Studio MAX, 3D Studio MAX V2 and the Perception Video Recorder will never have to leave the MAX program window and to simplify using video clips for backgrounds and compositing. New features allow you to output MAX's viewport previews to the PVR, delete PVR files, easily set PVR image output size and names, use the PVR like a frame buffer, make native PVR files that include linked audio, and playback Perception .PVD files directly from MAX. Super black can be set from the Rendering Parameters menu
in MAX, allowing images to be output without setup (video pedestal level).
Download it here lstp20.zip (1017k)


New Tutorial!
Nurbs Tutorial by Travis Stringer



Raygun 2.0 Beta
Read more about it at theyre Info Page


Download Raygun 2.0 beta
(rg2bdemo.zip 789k approx)
This beta will only work under 3D Studio MAX 2.
Video Post support is not fully functional yet.
Maximum image size is limited to 512 by 384.

Download Raygun 1.21 demo for MAX 1.2
(raygundm.zip 973k approx)





Commercial Renderman exporter plugin for Max
Source: Pedja Ljubomirovic

There's a renderman exporter  coming out for 3D Studio MAX which far
exceeds any of the current RIB exporters for 3D Studio. Renderman is one of
the most (if not the most) popular renderer used in feature films. This exporter
exports not only objects, but also materials to renderman shader files. For
more information, visit www.art.co.uk.

Mkey - Anibyte - Download here
This plugin is a utility plugin, which opens up a floater where you can create keys for move, rotate and scale. You can also now copy keys between objects.'



Particle Paint 1.0 for Max 2.0 is a blend material based on a particle system. Basically it allows you to use a particle
system as a spray paint can. Download it here


Particle Displace 1.1 for Max 2.0 which is a dispacement modifier controlled by a particle system.  Download it here


Lag 1.1 for Max 2.0 bugfix get it here


Tetsuya Takee
made a new pic with CS and max look at it here



PEN PAL 0.42 Beta Encrypted Demo                                                                 more info here
(1/31/1998)
NOTE! PenPal 0.40 had a severe bug that prevented it from writing standard pen trails (without fade out). This has been fixed in 0.41 and ahigher.
DOWNLOAD PENPAL BETA

Beta 0.42 Encrypted
 

February 04

Two new downloads from Kinetix

RadioRay 1.01
You should download this update if you have previously
purchased and installed RadioRay for use with 3D Studio MAX
1.2, and wish to run RadioRay with your 3D Studio MAX R2
upgrade.

This update will not operate unless you already have RadioRay
installed and authorized for use with 3D Studio MAX 1.2.
Get it here


RadioRay 1.0a
Plug-in update for customers using RadioRay 1.0 with 3D Studio
VIZ 1.0 or 3D Studio MAX 1.2.
get it here



Crosshatch script
From: John Burnett (jburnett@calarts.edu)
Date: Monday, February 02, 1998 09:58 PM


Here's a dinky little script I wrote that will read in a series of images, "crosshatch"
them, and write out the sequence. Mainly a programming exercise, but could be
useful to some. JB... FA

Download the HATCH.ZIP here
      ``Crosshatch script"
 

February 05

2 New Tutorials

Totally Basic:
TBT: The Soccer Ball

Intermediate:
Advanced Billboard and Look-At Expression

 

RenderMan Interface Bytestream (.RIB)
Get free beta release of
3DStudio MAX 2.0 RIB export plugin! Here!
ok ok i know RAT this was yesterdays news but hey better now than never or ? ;-o)


ShapeScape 0.12 Beta Encrypted Demo (2/3/98)
1998 by Borislav Petrov
Please take a look at a VERY EARLY Beta of a Bitmap Tracing Utility called
ShapeScape. I admit it is very slow and the results are far from being perfect, but
it is just the start....

It works well with straight horizontal and vertical lines though... ;o)

DOWNLOAD ShapeScape
 

February 07

3DXExp v1.2 by: Michael Wimmer

This is the second major public release of the 3DX exporter plugin for 3DS MAX. Please refer to the readme.doc file for a complete description of the plugin, this file will only cover the new changes from the last release (which are not covered in the
readme.doc-file).

MAX 2 compatibility

The plugin now comes in two versions, one for 3DS MAX Release 2 and one for all versions prior to Release 2. They can be found in the directories MAX2 and MAX1, respectively. The functionality of the plugins is exactly the same for both releases.
This change has been made to facilitate porting to MAX2. It is not meant to be an replacement for the ASCII Export feature already built into MAX2, which is much more powerful and complete than this plugin.

I have updated 3DXExp to version 1.2, including support for 3DS MAX R2 and the DirectX .x file-format. Find out what's new here. It's not been widely tested yet, so please alert me of any bugs.
Klick here to download

New volumetrics plugin
Ever wanted to create photorealistic clouds and smoke? Maybe some really
nice looking explosions? Well, soon you can. Lumens has teamed up with
Kresimir Tkalcec who has created a stunning volumetrics plugin for 3D Studio
MAX due in 1-2 months. You may have seen the splash page on lumens.com.
The clouds in this image were created with a very early beta of this plugin,
which is called Afterburn (name may change). The first example shows thick
lava smoke rising up, created with a very early version of this plugin. The
explosion test is using the exact same motion as the smoke, it was merely
just a test to get the right look of the explosion. Keep watching here for
more information on this exciting new plugin.

Example 1 - Thick lava smoke ( 3.2mb )
Example 2 - Explosion test ( 730kb )




Cult3D®
The 3D Studio MAX exporter for 1.2 and 2.0 is here!
Now you can download either the trial version of our exporter
for 3D Studio MAX or order the retail version.

Download
c3dedemo.exe
trial version of the Cult3D® exporter for
3D Studio MAX 1.2 . (Saving disabled.)
                     
c3dmax2expdemo.exe
trial version of the Cult3D® exporter for
3D Studio MAX 2.0 . (Saving disabled.)

February 09

Look at this great pic
This sample shows you Mt. Rainier, USA done in 3DStudio MAX. The mesh data
is taken from an USGS DEM file, imported to MAX using my DEM2MAX Plugin.
klick here to see the picture

(C) 1998 David Stewart, First Glance Imaging


New Plugins from Habware
PANORAMA

PANORAMA is a utility, that allows you to render a panorama image from your
scene, which can be used by Live Picture's RealSpace Viewer.

Download:
Plugin (6K zip)
Help file (34K zip)



RealSpace Viewer
Windows Installation

1.Choose the appropriate file to download:
  RealSpace Viewer Plug-in (full version, 1.5MB)
  Plug-in file plus the RealSpace Screen Saver and the standalone
  viewer
  RealSpace Viewer Plug-in (core only, 300K)
  Plug-in file for Windows allows you to view Panoramas (Fast download
  now, additional 600K is downloaded automatically on first use. Screen
  Saver and standalone viewer are not included in this choice.)
2.Download the appropriate RealSpace Viewer file.
3.Double-click the downloaded file.
4.Follow the onscreen prompts in the installation program to install as a plug-in                   and/or a stand-alone application. Continue following the prompts to complete the
  installation.

Download Sites for the RealSpace Viewer (full version, 1.5MB)

Download Site 1 

Download Site 2 

Download Sites for the RealSpace Viewer (core only, 300K)

Download Site 1

Download Site 2 
Note: The RealSpace Viewer 2.2 version does not work with Internet Explorer 4.0.     A new  version of the viewer, available in Q1 98, will fix this problem.

TOYTRAIN V 2.1

TOYTRAIN is a system plugin, where you can define trailors, following an
engine at a given distance. This version fixes a bug on halting/restarting the train.

Download:
Plugin(12K zip)
Help file (15K zip)



VISTASCR

VISTASCR allows you to create a VistaPro Script from a MAX camera's
animation data. So you need not to render your scene to a VUE file and do the
conversion step using a tool like vue2scr.

Download:
Plugin (8K zip)
Help file (41K zip)

New Script
Set Line Lenght
Version: 0.1 Author : James Coulter

February 11

Free plugin by Cuneyt OZDAS and Sinan VURAL 

Math MAX v2.0 Beta1
Math MAX (New for Max 2.0: Feb 9th 1998)
MathMAX is a customizable object and space warp creation pack. It includes many presets but if you want you can write your own formulas to create complex surfaces or space warps.
Currently there are 4 plug-ins in the pack ExprPlane, ExprSurf:, ExprWarp and new
ExprVolume.

Download MathMax 2.0 Beta1 for MAX 2.0
(Demo: rendering disabled) 

Download MathMax 0.91 Beta for MAX 1.x
(Demo: rendering disabled) 



Digimation offers
Get your MAX 2 hardware lock ID 55K



New Script by Borislav Petrov, Bobo's Rendert**ls.
World Grabber 0.45b (MaxScript Encrypted)
Fixed some bugs.
Started 3rd party VRML scene testing program.
World Grabber is a VRML importer for MAX2.
It lets you read back some data from VRML2 Worlds exported by MAX's own VRML Export filter, and by the RadioRay
Radiosity VRML 1.0 files.
Future releases of World Grabber will allow you to use ANY world file from 3rd party exporters or the Web.


BETA TEST DOWNLOAD

Download UPDATE WorldGrabber Beta 0.45 only (73K)

Download UPDATE WorldGrabber Beta 0.42                                                           - incl. Linked Animation Demo (84K)

Download WorldGrabber Beta 0.40 - incl. Radiosity Demos (505K)

Download WorldGrabber Beta 0.24 - incl. Docs and Demos (334K)




Rhino beta build 9-Feb-98 is available from:

Southern CA, USA: ftp://ftp.antelope.com/pub/rhino/rhino32.exe
Seattle, WA, USA: ftp://ftp.mcneel.com/pub/rhino/rhino32.exe
AztecCAD, UK: ftp://ftp.azteccad.co.uk/software/aztec/rhino32.exe

A few of the major enhancements since November:

NEW STUFF:
- AutoCAD DWG/DXF: Rhino can import and export R12, R13, and
  R14 DWG and DXF files. All objects except ACIS objects are
  supported.
- The command line has a new look and more functionality.
- Templates let you start a new model with viewports, layers,
  and other stuff already set up.
- FilletSrf lets you fillet two surfaces much better than the
  old FltF command. We still have more work to do on filleting
  the edges of solids.
- ChamferSrf command, similar to FilletSrf.
- 3-D digitizing commands have been improved.
- New digitizing documentation in the User's Guide.
- Trim now has options to trim curves to extended lines and
  apparent intersections.
- AutoSave can be turned on in the Settings dialog box.

- Lots of little bug fixes.

- The Rhino I/O Toolkit makes it easy for programmers to add
  support for Rhino 3DM files into their own applications.
- MAX 2.0 plugin lets you read Rhino 3DM files directly
  into MAX 2.0, including untrimmed NURBS surfaces.

For complete details, look here


The Rhino discussion forum is a lively place to get your questions
answered and give us feedback. If you want to stay on top of the
latest Rhino news, join the forum
 

February 12

EFXware updated some plugins
 . Killer.dlm - Particle Killer 2.0

 . Maxdir.dlu - MAX Scene Description Viewer 1.5


New MaxScript
MAXpuzzle 0.2b (MaxScript Source)
A small MAXScript-based game. Use any image to play a puzzle...

DOWNLOAD MAXpuzzle BETA
NOTE: The ZIP file posted on 2/10/98 was corrupted for some (ftp) reason...
The currently downloadable ZIP file should be ok though...
Beta 0.2f Source



Updated MaxScript
World Grabber 0.46b (MaxScript Encrypted)
Fixed some more bugs.
Tested with some VRML1 and VRML2 models from the Web.

Download UPDATE WorldGrabber Beta 0.46 only (75K)



A new great Photoshop tutorial
"Cover Girl"


Edit mesh updated
A bug that would prevent Edit Curve window from opening has been
fixed in Edit Mesh 2. The fixed version is available here

This pack has R2 versions of Push, Solidify, and Collector. Separate
files will be available soon. No new features have been added in this
update.
 

February 14

WorldGrabber 0.47b (MaxScript Encrypted)
added VRML 1.0 Material Support.
Download UPDATE WorldGrabber Beta 0.47 only (85K)


IFL Director 0.9 Beta
by Yasser Hassan.
Download the IFL Director - Create and Edit IFL files


EZlist 0.61 (MaxScript Source)
Fixed a minor initialization bug...
DOWNLOAD EZlist Max Beta 0.61
As promized, this ZIP file contains the source code of EZlist Max. Please copy all files into your scripts directory.




New demos of Max2 plugins
Source: Sigurdur G. Gunnarsson

Biographics  has put up Max2 demo versions of Thor (their lightning plugin) and
Tree Druid (their tree making plugin) on their webpage. Go check them out.

Sisyphus software  is currently developing both Tree Druid and ThØr for
Kinetix's 3D Studio Max R2. Stay tuned for pricing and distribution details.
Interested in ThØr and Tree Druid, but you want to know more before you
buy? Then download our stand-alone demonstration versions. These are
stand-alone applications that do not require RayDream Studio to run. N.B.
The interfaces for the 3DS-Max R2 and LightWave 3D versions differs from
these demos, however, the functionality will be similar, if not greater.

ThØr demo for Windows 95/ NT(Intel) (187K)

Tree Druid demo for Windows 95/ NT(Intel) (262K)



NEW Free Plugin
G-Buffer2RGB - Blur - Download here
' Converts Material ID's or Object ID's to an RGB mask image'

Updated plugin
Starfield Blur beta 4 New Version 2.0
A very fine update to Tom Hudson's Starfield plug-in for Video Post which ships with Max r2. Adds a large realtime preview for any frame setting, multiple star colors, and numerous new blur effects Free, copyrighted. Download from publisher Nik Foscarini.
Download StarBlur.zip (94KB)


BTW:

HAPPY VALENTINE =[:-()