Autodesk has a big announcement today, the new Entertainment Creation Suite Premium 2012, including new versions of 3dsMax, Maya, Mudbox, and more! The new version a new multi-threaded graphics core, part of the “Project Excalibur” initiative . This gives you not only better performance, but better visuals during interactivity making the whole suite easier to use and faster to get to your desired objective.
“The first time I loaded a scene in 3ds Max 2012 I could see the soft lighting and shadows right in the viewport. This had the biggest impact on me. I suddenly felt more productive; like the barriers to my creativity were falling away,” said Stephen Lebed, 3ds Max beta tester and visual effects supervisor at MECHnology.
3dsMax will be available in April, with 3dsMax Design later this month. Get the full press releases for these products after the break.
3dsMax:
Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Software Delivers Stunning Graphics and Performance
Tighter Interoperability with Other Autodesk Tools Helps Increase ProductivitySAN RAFAEL, Calif., March 1, 2011 — Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ: ADSK) announced the release of Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 software, the latest version of the company’s 3D modeling, animation, rendering and compositing application. Mapping to the Excalibur (XBR) initiative — a phased plan for the restructuring of 3ds Max — the new version provides fundamental improvements in workflow, user interface and performance that will give artists enhanced creative capabilities and help them to be more productive.
Achieving a key goal of the XBR initiative, 3ds Max 2012 introduces a rewritten, multi-threaded graphics core that provides significant improvements to viewport performance and quality. In addition, new creative toolsets and enhanced iterative workflows help increase overall productivity. The 2012 version also features single-step interoperability with products contained in Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite Premium 2012, offering artists easier access to specialized tools for the task at hand.
“Artists are facing shorter deadlines coupled with increasing expectations for quality,” said Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment. “3ds Max 2012 delivers powerful tools that take advantage of recent hardware advances, along with better interoperability with the other products included in our Entertainment Creation Suites. Together these enhancements help artists to make creative decisions early, validate them and deliver better results faster.”
“The first time I loaded a scene in 3ds Max 2012 I could see the soft lighting and shadows right in the viewport. This had the biggest impact on me. I suddenly felt more productive; like the barriers to my creativity were falling away,” said Stephen Lebed, 3ds Max beta tester and visual effects supervisor at MECHnology.
Key New Features in Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Software
• Nitrous Accelerated Graphics Core — Accelerated by modern GPUs and multicore workstations, Nitrous enables artists to iterate faster and handle larger data sets with limited impact on interactivity. Advanced scene management techniques, along with multithreaded viewport scene traversal and material evaluation, result in a smoother, more responsive workflow.
• Substance Smart Textures — Artists can achieve a vast range of look variations with a new library of 80 Substance smart textures and filters — tiny, multi-output, customizable and resolution-independent textures
• mRigids Rigid-Body Dynamics — mRigids is the first module released in the new MassFX unified system of simulation solvers. Artists can use the multithreaded NVIDIA PhysX engine to create more compelling, dynamic rigid-body simulations directly in the 3ds Max viewport.
• iray Renderer — Using the newly integrated, NVIDIA GPU accelerated, iray rendering technology from mental images, artists can set up their scene, press “render” and get more predictable, photoreal results without worrying about rendering settings — similar to a “point-and-shoot“ camera.
• Enhanced UVW Unwrapping — Artists can create better UVW maps in less time, with a new Least Squares Conformal Mapping (LSCM) method, enhancements to existing tools, and more streamlined workflows
• Sculpting and Painting Enhancements — Artists can enjoy greater control over brushstrokes and their effects on geometry, thanks to new sculpting and painting workflowsMore information and new feature videos are available at www.autodesk.com/3dsmax. Also visit Autodesk’s 3ds Max blogs on AREA by Ken Pimentel, Shane Griffith and Louis Marcoux.
Pricing and Availability
Autodesk anticipates that 3ds Max 2012 will be available in English in April 2011. Autodesk expects to announce Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2012 software in late-March 2011. The Autodesk suggested retail price (MSRP) for an Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 stand-alone license is US$3,495.* The MSRP to upgrade from 3ds Max 2011 to 3ds Max 2012 is $1,745.* Autodesk Subscription is available for purchase simultaneously with the product or upgrade purchase for $495* MSRP per year.Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 is also expected to be available as part of the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite Premium 2012. The Suite offers 3ds Max together with Autodesk Softimage 2012, Autodesk Mudbox 2012 and Autodesk MotionBuilder 2012 software for $6,495* MSRP, representing a 42 percent* cost savings compared to purchasing the software separately.
Maya:
Autodesk Maya 2012 Software: New Ways to Explore, Refine and Present Creative Concepts
Academy Award–Winning Technology Extends Its Toolset for Previsualization, Games Prototyping and Simulation“Maya continues to drive creative innovation across the film, games and television industries — from ‘Black Swan’ to ‘EA SPORTS MMA’ and ‘NCIS,’ new creative standards are being set in productions of all kinds,” said Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment. “With Maya 2012, we have continued our long-term focus on improving production efficiency as well as real-time creative iteration with enhancements to the Maya viewport, addressing new trends in previsualization, virtual moviemaking and games prototyping.”
“The high-fidelity viewport, enhancements to Nucleus and the overall performance improvements, have made Maya 2012 more flexible, powerful and modern,” said Peter Shipkov, technical director, Digital Domain.
Key New Features in Autodesk Maya 2012 Software
• Viewport 2.0 Enhancements — Now offers full-screen effects: motion blur, depth-of-field and ambient occlusion, component and manipulator displays, batch rendering capabilities and a high-performance API (application programming interface).
• Node-Based Render Passes — Ability to create and edit node-based representations of render passes and render the composited output directly using the mental ray renderer.
• Editable Motion Trails — Edit animation directly in the viewport, without the need to switch context to the graph editor.
• Sequencer Enhancements — A Sequencer Playlist with a configurable spreadsheet view to reorder clips, edit In and Out points and change camera assignments; as well as support for multi-track audio and the ability to output multiple shots as a single sequence for easier game cinematic rendering or export to a games engine.
• Substance Smart Textures — A library of 80 dynamic, animatable and editable resolution-independent Substance smart textures and filters with a tiny disk space footprint. Textures can also be converted to bitmaps for rendering or baking purposes.
• Craft Animation Tools — Four new camera rigs from the Craft Director Studio animation tool to create believable, complex camera movements that mimic real-world setups and four pre-rigged models (two cars and two airplanes) to more easily simulate vehicle motion, terrain recognition, previsualization and in-game cinematics.
• New Simulation Options — Incorporates the multithreaded NVIDIA PhysX engine* for static, dynamic and kinematic rigid-body simulations directly in the Maya viewport and the Digital Molecular Matter plug-in for shattering simulations from Pixelux Entertainment.For more information, including new feature videos, visit the Maya website (www.autodesk.com/maya) and read the Maya AREA blogs: Cory Mogk’s Mayalicious, Duncan’s Corner and Steven Roselle’s My Oh Maya!
Pricing and Availability
Autodesk anticipates that Maya 2012 will be available in English in April 2011. The Autodesk suggested retail price (MSRP) for an Autodesk Maya 2012 stand-alone license is US$3,495**. The price to upgrade from Maya 2011 to Maya 2012 is US$1,745** MSRP. Autodesk Subscription with Gold Support is available for purchase simultaneously with the product or upgrade purchase for US$895** MSRP per year.Autodesk Maya 2012 is also expected to be available as part of the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite Premium 2012, which offers Maya together with Softimage, Mudbox and MotionBuilder software for $6,495** MSRP, representing a 42 percent** cost savings compared to purchasing the software separately.
*Available with Autodesk Maya 2012 Windows platform only.
SoftImage:
Autodesk Softimage 2012: Interactive Creative Environment (ICE) Gets Even Better
Integrated Lagoa Multiphysics, Syflex Cloth and Single-Step Interoperability with Autodesk Maya and Autodesk 3ds Max, Improved Procedural Modeling and New Stereoscopic Toolset
“The loyal and growing Softimage user base will be thrilled with Softimage 2012. In addition to established recent favorite features such as Face Robot and Lagoa Multiphysics, the new version reflects the continued expansion of ICE, as well as the next-generation GigaCore 3D engine. This release will definitely be cause for some major excitement,” said Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment.
“Softimage ICE gave us the bandwidth to include a lot of effects and magic, allowing us to deliver a level of quality that exceeded initial expectations. After building our ICE trees and toolsets we were able to easily customize and add effects to shots in an extremely labor-efficient ways,” said Scott Stewart, executive director of SpeakeasyFX 3D animation studio.
Key New Features in Autodesk Softimage 2012 Software
• ICE Modeling — Nondestructive geometry creation, based on rules, conditions and parameters that facilitate topology operation creation, particle meshing, custom primitives and geometry fracturing while preserving UV attributes.
• Improved User Experience — Wide range of small-scale enhancements to day-to-day workflows: Explorer, Schematic View, Scene Layer Manager, Render Tree, Bone Primitive, Reference Models and the Weight Editor.
• Syflex on ICE — More flexible node-based workflow of ICE enables artists to use Syflex cloth to create and edit highly realistic cloth effects.
• Lagoa Multiphysics — This simulation framework helps artists create realistic simulations of the dynamic behavior of liquids, cloth, foam, plastic and soft body collisions, as well as incompressible fluids, inelastic, elastic and plastic deformations.
• Enhanced Interoperability — Single-step interoperability with the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite Premium 2012 products (Autodesk Maya, Autodesk 3ds Max and Autodesk Mudbox), an extended software development kit (SDK), added support for Maya nCache format and Autodesk FBX asset exchange format.
• ICE FX Builder — New module menu toolbar automatically connects compounds and nodes, enabling simple modification and extension of effects using the standard editing workflow.For more information, including new feature videos, visit www.autodesk.com/softimage and read Mark Schoennagel’s Planet Softimage AREA blog.
Pricing and Availability
Autodesk anticipates that Softimage 2012 will be available in English and Japanese in April 2011. The Autodesk suggested retail price (MSRP) for an Autodesk Softimage 2012 stand-alone license is US$2,995*. The price to upgrade from Softimage 2011 to Softimage 2012 will be $1,495* MSRP. Autodesk Subscription with Gold Support will be available for purchase simultaneously with the product or upgrade purchase for $795* MSRP per year.Autodesk Softimage 2012 is also anticipated to be available as part of the Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite Premium 2012 which will offer Softimage together with either Maya or 3ds Max and Mudbox and Autodesk Maya 2012 software for $6,495* MSRP, representing a 42 percent* cost savings compared to purchasing the software separately.
* International pricing and savings may vary.
DEC:
Autodesk Launches 2012 Digital Entertainment Creation Products
Pipeline Efficiency, Creative Innovation and Interoperability Core to All ReleasesSAN RAFAEL, Calif., March 1, 2011 — Autodesk, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADSK) announced new releases of the company’s digital entertainment creation software and middleware. The 2012 versions enable iterative workflows, help users manage complexity and provide new creative tools. Autodesk products have been used to create popular movies like “Black Swan,” chart-topping video games such as “Medal of Honor,” primetime television commercials like the “Bridgestone ‘Carma’” Super Bowl ad and hit television shows such as “Glee.”
“Movie, video game and television audiences are demanding more sophisticated content, which is causing production complexity to outpace budgets,” said Marc Petit, Autodesk senior vice president, Media & Entertainment. “To remain competitive, studios must improve production efficiency and maximize their creative capabilities.”
“Our 2012 product releases harness the latest hardware technology to increase performance and deliver stunning graphics in the viewport,” Petit continued. “We have also enhanced interoperability and simplified pipeline integration, making it easier for our customers to take advantage of specialized toolsets; and provided new creative tools for modern production trends like virtual moviemaking and stereoscopic 3D production.”
Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites for Enhanced Creative Capabilities and Efficiency
The 2012 Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites give artists and production facilities access to a powerful range of creative toolsets at exceptional cost savings*. Artists can extend their familiar Autodesk 3ds Max or Autodesk Maya software workflow with intuitive tools for sculpting and texture painting, real-time character animation, and effects. Single-step interoperability and more consistent user interfaces in the 2012 software suites help artists to realize their creative potential and optimize productivity by facilitating the use of multiple products and making specialized toolsets more accessible.All products in the latest Entertainment Creation Suites offer notable new features and enhancements:
• Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 software delivers a new accelerated graphics core, mRigids for dynamic rigid-body simulations in the viewport and new sculpting and painting enhancements like the Clone brush
• Autodesk Maya 2012 software provides significant enhancements to the viewport offering full-screen effects, editable motion trails for animation editing in the viewport, as well as new simulation options
• Autodesk Softimage 2012 software provides new procedural ICE modeling, integrated Syflex cloth simulation, stereoscopic capabilities and multiple core software development kit (SDK) additions
• Autodesk Mudbox 2012 software delivers enhancements to the painting toolset, innovative new UV and topology-independent workflows, practical posing tools and improved large dataset handling
• Autodesk MotionBuilder 2012 software provides new in-viewport stereoscopic display and camera rig, a unified interface and solver for Autodesk HumanIK 4.5 or 2012 middleware, as well as new tools for virtual moviemakingCreative Finishing Software for Film, Television and Commercial Post Production
Autodesk Flame Premium software combines high-end visual effects and finishing tools with real-time color grading in a single solution. The 2012 release features:
• Groundbreaking new tools that help artists integrate ultrarealistic 3D lighting effects into composites
• A comprehensive set of effects tools for finishing stereoscopic 3D projects, enhanced finishing workflows with CG pipelines
• A range of new tools designed to make 3D compositing as fast and interactive as traditional 2D compositingAutodesk Smoke 2012 software offers a timeline-based, all-in-one creative solution for professional finishing on the Mac. The Smoke toolset spans color correction, compositing, 3D visual effects and stereoscopic 3D and features an efficient complementary workflow with Apple Final Cut Pro. The 2012 release contains:
• A redesigned 3D lighting system
• Flame FX, a comprehensive new set of creative and technical tools for common finishing tasks, featuring Damage, Deform, Edge Detect and Pixel SpreadAutodesk Games Middleware for Common Runtime Challenges
Autodesk’s game middleware technology helps solve known runtime challenges, enabling programmers to focus on high-impact areas of development. The new middleware releases offer the following enhancements:
• An enhanced API (application programming interface) in Autodesk Beast 2012 global illumination middleware enables developers to integrate the eRnsT interactive lighting preview tool into custom game level editors
• Autodesk HumanIK 2012 character animation middleware now supports the next generation portable entertainment system (codename: NGP) from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., as well as the Apple iOS mobile platform, enabling more realistic character animation on the latest mobile gaming devices
• Autodesk Kynapse 2012 artificial intelligence middleware focuses on improving runtime performance and making advanced features easier to useFor more information about Autodesk’s latest product releases for digital entertainment creation, visit www.autodesk.com/me and Autodesk blogs on the AREA digital entertainment and visualization community. For real-time updates on Autodesk’s software for digital entertainment creation follow the company on Twitter at www.twitter.com/autodesk_me and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/autodeskME.
