#3DS MAX
>>MAX sounds incredible! I want to know more! Anyone got anymore info on
it? LIke will it Raytrace, have skeletal deformations(bones), or have
something similiar to vapor/flame? I can't wait until it comes out! 3DS is
now a true workstation class product. Kudos to Yost Group and AutoDesk!<<
Jason,
MAX is intense!
We are all getting our own WORKSTATIONS!!!! Everyone at SIGGRAPH has been
totally amazed. . . especially all the Alias/Wavefront people we saw lurking
around the MAX demos! What fun! The ADesk booth had to have been one of the
TOP FIVE most mobbed booths. 3D Studio MAX will definitely make news, folks!
This is truly an amazing product and will be worth every penny, and every penny
you decide to put into a hyped-up system. Lightwave, Softimage, Alias (almost),
Strata, etc. can kiss our collective butts!
As to your questions, Raytracing is not directly supported, but since the
renderer's architecture has been opened up for seemless plug-in integration by
outside developers, look for a really kick-butt raytracer to be plugged in
sometime soon.
MAX is able to generate bone objects directly in the program now, no need to go
outside. . . . and all you have to do is select your bone objects and click
one button and they are dynamically linked! You can also build a bone frame on
the fly. Gary Yost created a linked spiral object consisting of 8 bones in
about 10 seconds! MAX creates long pyramidal bone forms connected with cube
joints. You can also use any spline path as a bone joint (so an object can
slide/rotate along a curved path now, instead of only using a ball joint).
It looks like (at this very pre-beta time) that particle systems will remain
the domain of the IPAS developers. But who knows?
The new Biped IPAS is a very wild thing (please read the files that have been
uploaded about it for technical details)! The motion it was generating
(dancing, jumping, walking, gymnastics) looked JUST LIKE motion capture! That's
because this IPAS routine has put the laws of physics to work on a walking
figure, and not just lifeless objects. You have the ability to assign the
center of gravity, the length of the gait, any banking paramaters, etc. to your
character and have it obey. Pretty d*mn cool!
I have now reached the point where I'm just gushing and am serving no practical
purpose, so I will go to bed. But bewarned! You are in for quite a TRIP!
Sean