Powerful ICE enhancements for Softimage 2012

Andy Price | News | Products | 01/03/2011 13:34pm

Autodesk has announced new features for Softimage 2012, adding more power to ICE and the integration of the Lagoa Multiphysics engine

Significant updates to ICE modelling in Softimage 2012 has led to other enhancements such as Syflex cloth simulation

The latest release of Softimage, the powerful node-based 3D character animation and VFX software features one of the widest ranges of new features in the latest round of upgrades for the major Autodesk products.

In the 2012 edition of Softimage, users will be able to take advantage of new procedural ICE modelling and integrated Syflex cloth simulation.

The application also sees increased stereoscopic capabilities, multiple improvements to the viewport display, and the integration of the powerful Lagoa Multiphysics engine into ICE.

Lagoa was originally included as a plug-in in last year’s Softimage 2011.5 release following the appearance online of a video showcasing powerful results.

According to Rob Hoffman, senior product marketing manager at Autodesk who previewed Softimage 2012 to 3D World, Lagoa was intended as a module for ICE: “Autodesk customers saw it and urged an approach and inclusion in ICE.”

Key new features:

ICE modelling — Non-destructive geometry creation, based on rules, conditions and parameters that facilitate topology operation creation, particle meshing, custom primitives and geometry fracturing while preserving UV attributes
Syflex cloth simulation — the enhancements to ICE enables artists to use Syflex cloth
Lagoa Multiphysics — incredibly realistic simulation engine now integrated
Enhanced interoperability — Single-step interoperability other Autodesk 2012 products, 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 for connecting compounds and nodes
Additional enhancements — Range of small-scale improvements: Explorer, Schematic View, Scene Layer Manager, Render Tree, Bone Primitive, Reference Models and Weight Editor

“In addition to established recent favourite 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,” says Marc Petit, senior vice president, Autodesk Media & Entertainment.

Pricing and Availability

Autodesk anticipates that Softimage 2012 will be available in April 2011 priced at $2,995 for a standalone licence. The price to upgrade from Softimage 2011 will be $1,495.

For more information on Softimage visit the product page on the Autodesk website.

Posted on Tuesday, March 1st, 2011 at 1:34 pm under News, Products. You can subscribe to comments. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.