LAS VEGAS — Autodesk (www.autodesk.com) has introduced new releases in the company’s digital entertainment creation software and middleware. The 2012 versions are now shipping and enable iterative workflows, help users manage complexity and provide new creative tools.
The 2012 Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suites give artists and production facilities access to a range of creative toolsets. Artists can extend their 3DS Max or Maya software workflow with tools for sculpting and texture painting, realtime character animation, and effects.
Single-step interoperability and more consistent user interfaces in the 2012 software suites help artists optimize productivity.
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.
Maya 2012 provides significant enhancements to the viewport, offering full-screen effects, editable motion trails for animation editing in the viewport, and new simulation options.
Softimage 2012 provides new procedural ICE modeling, integrated Syflex cloth simulation, stereoscopic capabilities and multiple core software development kit additions.
Mudbox 2012 delivers enhancements to the painting toolset, new UV and topology-independent workflows, practical posing tools and improved large dataset handling.
MotionBuilder 2012 provides a 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 moviemaking.
Autodesk has also made enhancements to its creative finishing tools.
Flame Premium combines high-end visual effects and finishing tools with realtime color grading. The 2012 release features new tools that help artists integrate realistic 3D lighting effects into composites, as well as a set of effects tools for finishing stereoscopic 3D projects.
New tools have also been added for making 3D compositing as fast and interactive as traditional 2D compositing.
Smoke 2012 software offers a timeline-based solution for 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 has a redesigned 3D lighting system.
Flame FX is a new set of creative and technical tools for common finishing tasks. Tools include Damage, Deform, Edge Detect and Pixel Spread.
Autodesk Beast 2012 global illumination middleware features an enhanced application programming interface that enables developers to integrate the eRnsT interactive lighting preview tool into custom game level editors.
The HumanIK 2012 character animation middleware now supports the next generation portable entertainment system (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.