Update to 3ds Max plug-in has been released, expanding on realtime tools, OpenGL performance and support for Max 2010

PRESS RELEASE

NEW ORLEANS, May 18, 2009, Cubicspace Studios Ltd and TurboSquid, Inc. are pleased to announce the immediate availability of rtre v2.1 as the latest update to the popular Autodesk Certified Animation Plug-in product. With this release, users can expect rendering speeds within the Realtime view to exceed 100+ million polygons per second, providing instant visual feedback on scene design in ways not previously possible through the normal 3ds Max viewports.

Beyond just performance improvements and fixes, rtre v2.1 also offers several powerful new capabilities that help artists create immersive, interactive presentations with greater ease, including new texture and published scene compression, a single-click feature to make the entire interactive world solid and ready for collisions, and new infinite ground plane controls.

‘The Cubicspace team has stayed focused on their goal of continued innovation, and I’m excited by the new rtre v2.1 update and how it will impact users’ workflow on their design-related tasks. Having the ability to build sophisticated and interactive scene files that users can hand off to their clients is still unique within the 3ds Max architecture and is becoming more important in these days of shortened project timelines and tightening budgets. rtre v2.1 provides a significant ROI when used in this way.’

Beau Perschall, TurboSquid Vice President of Business Development.

‘We remain committed to supporting the Autodesk 3ds Max artist. Our latest rtre is an almost complete rewrite, and users can look forward to even more amazing advances in performance and realism, produced using the bleeding edge of GPU technology.’

Steven Markham, Cubicspace Co-Founder, President and CEO.

‘What used to take hours to import now takes seconds. And if you are sceptical like I was, then you should try it out because you are in for a big but pleasant surprise. Well done Cubicspace!’

Joseph Pace, Managing Director, Virtual Reality Studios

‘rtre has enabled us to create faster, more accurate real time scenes straight from 3ds Max and has saved us a large amount of time and money.’

Paul Wheeler, Utah Department of Transportation

‘The first time I saw rtre I could not believe the potential opportunities. It has really paid off. I love this stuff!’

Stephen Grisez, SGMAX Consultants, Owner

Key Highlights of rtre v2.1 include:

Navigation

· A custom tailored environment provides users with complete freedom within the Realtime view to walk, fly or orbit anywhere within their scenes. This includes variable gravity (to keep you firmly planted on the ground if you so desire) and adjustable movement speed to refine your audience’s experience.

· Users can now select any object to be a start point within the Realtime view and can choose to start their realtime scenes in any navigation mode (walk, fly or orbit).

Rendering

· Automatic irradiance lighting of all selected objects added to the embedded Realtime view inside of 3ds Max allows for quick setup and preview of scene with materials.

· Dynamic Realtime view offers customizable field-of-view, near and far clip planes and depth colored fog for advanced composition and layout to further augment your ideas and vision.

Interactivity & Publishing

· Customize the dimensions, title bar and sizing options of published executable files from rtre v2.1 to deliver a complete experience for your clients that doesn’t feel generic or forced.

· Setup and testing of custom skin interfaces directly within the 3ds Max Realtime viewport greatly reduces the time needed to publish out an .EXE file ready for consumption by your clients.

· Intuitive helper objects allow users to build robust Realtime interactivity without needing to know anything about programming. Being able to have animation triggered by clicking on an object or colliding with it in the Realtime view lets users provide a much richer and complete experience for their intended audience.

Miscellaneous Coolness

· Enhanced support for native 3ds Max materials and map types (including advanced Normal Mapping) gives users a full palette of material creation tools to make the textures applied to their objects robust and convincing.

· Full XRef scene and object support within the Realtime view

· Heads-up-Display in Realtime view lets you quickly monitor your hardware and scene performance

Pricing and Availability

rtre v2.1 is available at an Amazing Recession-Busting Introductory Suggested Retail Price of $995, through TurboSquid or its worldwide reseller channel and works with 3ds Max 9, 2008, 2009 (32-bit only including Max Design) and 2010 (32-bit (64-bit coming soon) including Max Design). For existing v2.0 users, the new version is a free update, while v1.1 users can upgrade for $495. For a Reseller near you, contact sales@turbosquid.com.

Following the open beta in March, e-on Software has released a full version of its suite of atmospheric plug-ins

PRESS RELEASE

May 20, 2009. Beaverton, Oregon: e-on software, makers of Vue, the leading solutions for natural 3D environments, and creators of breakthrough spectral atmospheric rendering technologies today announced the immediate availability of Ozone 4.0, its suite of atmospheric plug-ins for 3ds Max, Cinema4D, LightWave, Maya and Softimage|XSI.

E-on software also announced that it plans to release the Ozone 4.0 Personal Learning Edition (a fully functional version of Ozone 4.0 that anyone can use at no charge) in the coming days.

Ozone 4.0 - Atmospheres that Come Alive

Ozone 4.0 implements the Spectral 2 cutting-edge technologies developed by e-on software for the simulation and rendering of atmospheric effects. Ozone 4.0 atmospheres provide an accurately simulated environment that affects all elements of the scenes, and behaves according to nature’s rules.

Some of the new features of Ozone 4.0 include:

• Fully integrated suite of plug-ins:

Ozone 4.0 operates as a fully integrated plug-in for 3ds Max, Maya, LightWave, Cinema4D and XSI. It adds all the tools required for the creation of hyper-realistic atmospheres directly in the host application‘s interface. On top of this, one single license of Ozone 4.0 will work with all compatible applications and renderers (see further down for details).

• Breakthrough Spectral 2 and Volumetric atmosphere models:

Based entirely on real-world atmospheric behavior, the new Spectral 2™ engine produces ultra-realistic environments with volumetric clouds, accurate light dispersion and natural phenomena such as Godrays. These new technologies realistically model the behavior of our planet‘s atmosphere to produce all kinds of atmospheric effects.

• Real 3D Clouds:

Highly optimized volumetric cloud layers that you can fly through or use to simulate realistic low-lying fog. Ozone 4.0 Atmospheres are seamlessly integrated in the scene and will directly interact with native elements (for instance: Ozone 4.0 clouds will automatically cast shadows onto native objects).

• Super-fast rendering technology:

Despite the staggering complexity of the atmospheric model it features, Ozone 4.0 renders its atmospheric effects at blazing speed, thanks to e-on software’s highly optimized technology.

• Animated clouds and sunsets in a breeze:

Users can realistically animate the atmosphere, the clouds and the sun, making their skies spring to life, all in a wink! Simply set the direction and speed of the wind, the rate of change, and render on!

• Extensive library of over 150 predefined atmospheres:

Ozone 4.0 includes presets for all kinds of atmospheric conditions: bright daytime, bad weather, sunrise, sunset, night time, etc. Customize the atmosphere using dedicated tools and the library of over 140 preset cloud shapes.

A complete and detailed list of features is available at: www.e-onsoftware.com/ozone

Pricing and Availability

Ozone 4.0 is available in English for Windows XP and Vista (32 and 64 bits) and Mac OS X 10.4 (Universal Binary).

A single license of Ozone 4.0 will work with all compatible applications and renderers installed on the end user’s system, without requiring the purchase of any Extra Renderer licenses.

• Ozone 4.0 for Maya works with both MentalRay and Maya software renderers.
• Ozone 4.0 for Max and XSI works with MentalRay.
• Ozone 4.0 for LightWave and Cinema4D works with the native renderer.

Ozone 4.0 retails at US$295, with upgrades from Ozone 3.0 available for $95 and RenderNode network rendering licenses at $95 per node.