The rapid development of visualisation and rendering engines requires new techniqes for the creation of interior and exterior scene solutions. Today 3d-io announces the immediate availability of the most anticipated scene baking plug-in for Autodesk 3ds MAX. With a focus on supporting all major 3ds Max renderers and enhancing the unwrapping and packing of UV maps for 3d scenes in a simple yet powerful way, Flatiron 1.50 brings benefits to all customers working in game development, architecture or CG visualisation.

Highlights of Flatiron 1.50

Single pass rendering

Flatiron now provides the option to bake all objects at once into the texture map. This speeds up the whole baking process significantly because it avoids repeated reinitialization of the renderer and combines all objects on the fly instead of using a separate merge pass afterwards. The speed improvement is especially significant when baking a lot of small objects.

The bake method of previous Flatiron versions is still available as an option.

Multi-map mode

Flatiron now supports unwrapping and baking into multiple texture maps. Instead of using Flatiron individually with different selections the user can now assign selection sets and then let Flatiron handle multiple groups of objects at once.

The multi map mode can also be used in combination with automatic distribution. Instead of manually assigning objects into groups, users can just take all the objects and have them automatically distributed among a selected number of textures.

Changes and new features in Flatiron 1.50

• Single Pass Rendering for multiple objects. Flatiron can now bake a whole set of objects in a single render operation instead of rendering them all separately. This reduces render times significantly and improves compatibility with render output formats. See below for details about supported renderers.
• Surface angle based seam assignments. This improves the unwrap results of hard surface meshes.
• Flatiron can now automatically distribute the objects over multiple texture maps to allow for greater fine tuning of output sizes.
• Support for selection sets added. Group your objects into sets and Flatiron can create separate texture maps for each sets.
• MAXScript support for all the new features
• A few minor user interface improvements
• Various minor fixes

The single pass render mode is fully supported for 3ds Max Scanline Renderer, Mental Ray, finalRender and V-Ray (version 1.50 SP4a and up). Brazil and older versions of V-Ray support a compatibility mode that also allows to bake multiple objects at once but this mode ignores object specific settings (i.e. ‘don’t cast shadows’).

About 3d-io

3d-io games & video production GmbH is specialized company for high-end software development, modeling, animation, rendering, CG effects and 3D industrial design. 3d-io GmbH, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, has an established strong presence in game development, design & video production, digital content creation as well as in graphics and animation. We are dedicated to provide easy-to-use software products accompanied by dedicated support team, experienced programmers and top notch 3D artists.

Contact: http://www.3d-io.com, http://www.3d-plugin.com

3d-io Developers and Designers are proud to announce the resurrection of the popular and reliable organic skinning plug-in for Autodesk 3ds Max. In cooperation with Digimation Inc. 3d-io has rebuild, improved and optimized this unique character skinning tool in order to further enhance artist productivity. The new BonesPro continues the tradition of incomparably fast and easy skinning setup and smooth skin deformations. In the current, extremely high demanding world of CG animation every possible increase of quality and speed is crucial to succeed over the competition. For convincing animations it is mandatory that the mesh deforms and follows the movements of the skeleton accurately. Creating realistic looking movements while the deadlines loom in the near future is a very challenging task. This is where BonesPro steps in. It provides you with the ability to achieve impressive results in record time and master the daily challenges of the animation industry.

Key Features of BonesPro
Speed BonesPro delivers fast results through a quick assignment set-up and convenient adjustment options.

Quality Meshes deform like elastic skin, avoid face clipping and don’t tear vertices too far apart from each other.

Flexibility Hypodermic deformer objects can handle the most problematic areas in an animated mesh with ease.

Teamwork API access allows integration into existing pipelines and Teams can collaborate on scenes without having to supply everyone with licenses.

And Beyond BonesPro can not only be used for traditional character skinning but also for many specialized animation effects. The BonesPro plug-in and associated training materials are now available at http://www.bonespro.com If you are a veteran user of BonesPro you can now take the next step and improve your animation workflow even more. If BonesPro is new to you, check out the tutorials and free trial to see how BonesPro can increase your productivity.

About 3d-io 3d-io games & video production GmbH is specialized company for high-end software development, modeling, animation, rendering, CG effects and 3D industrial design. 3d-io GmbH, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, has an established strong presence in game development, design & video production, digital content creation as well as in graphics and animation. We are dedicated to provide easy-to-use software products accompanied by dedicated support team, experienced programmers and top notch 3D artists. Contact: www.3d-io.com
About Digimation Inc. Digimation specializes in developing and delivering 3D solutions for the training and simulation industry including; Interactive Maintenance Trainers, Small Arms Trainers, Virtual Task Trainers, as well as Virtual Environments used in homeland security applications. The company’s service division produces photorealistic 3D parts used in maintenance trainers, OpenFlight 3D models used in simulations, and full 3D animation. Contact: www.digimation.com

On 30. 09. 2009 you can visit a part of the 3d-io Development Team on Third Dimension 2009, organized by WeltenBauer in 2009 Walhalla Studio Theater, Wiesbaden – from 9.00 AM. Please sign up for free and visit us on that day – we are presenting for the first time our very new and unseen 3d-plugin! Visit Third Dimension Homepage and sign up for free: Visit 3d-plugin Homepage

Unwrella 2 for Autodesk 3ds Max has just been released in version 2.02. This is a maintenance release containing corrections to enhance installation handling, compatibility and plugin performance.

Changes for version 2.02:
Installer has been modified to improve handling of 3ds Max Design 2010, especially when 3ds Max 2010 and 3ds Max 2010 are both installed on the same system.
Installation support for Japanese and Chinese versions of 3ds Max has been improved to avoid compatibility problems.
Occasionally occuring compatibility problems with other plugins corrected.
Unwrapping in polygon mode for complex polygons has been improved. It is no longer necessary to switch to triangle mode when unwrapping meshes with polygons that have multiple unconnected vertex groups.
Caching of UV map data has been enhanced significantly, resulting in improved performance when working with Unwrella.
A few minor user interface fixes.

Unwrella 1 has also been updated to version 1.10 to include the installer and compatibility improvements.

Flatiron

Flatiron for Autodesk 3ds Max has just been released in version 1.11. This is a maintenance release containing corrections to enhance installation handling, compatibility, plugin performance and MAXScript access.

Changes for version 1.11:
Installer has been modified to improve handling of 3ds Max Design 2010, especially when 3ds Max 2010 and 3ds Max 2010 are both installed on the same system.
Installation support for Japanese and Chinese versions of 3ds Max has been improved to avoid compatibility problems.
Occasionally occuring compatibility problems with other plugins corrected.
Unwrapping in polygon mode for complex polygons has been improved. It is no longer necessary to switch to triangle mode when unwrapping meshes with polygons that have multiple unconnected vertex groups.
Improved speed and accuracy for material slot detection for the corresponding user interface component.
Handling of error messages has been enhanced for automation via MAXScript.

Packer
UV-Packer for Autodesk 3ds Max has just been released in version 1.02. This is a maintenance release containing corrections to enhance installation handling and compatibility.

Changes for version 1.02:
Installer has been modified to improve handling of 3ds Max Design 2010, especially when 3ds Max 2010 and 3ds Max 2010 are both installed on the same system.
Installation support for Japanese and Chinese versions of 3ds Max has been improved to avoid compatibility problems.
Occasionally occuring compatibility problems with other plugins corrected.
A few minor user interface fixes.

Unwrella Maya Highlights:

• The popular Unwrella plug-in for Autodesk 3ds Max is now also available for Autodesk Maya
• Automatically unwraps and packs UV maps for meshes
• Optimal quality UV layout that avoids texture deformations
• No visible texture seams due to uniform pixel distribution over the mesh surface
• Resulting UV maps have optimal quality for texture baking
• Supports both user placed texture borders and procedurally generated borders

The Unwrella unwrapping plug-in for Autodesk™ Maya™ 8.5, 2008, 2009 (each 32bit and 64bit) is now available for sale and as a freely downloadable trial version on its homepage: http://www.unwrella.com

Unwrella was developed for the high demands of graphics designers in real world production environments and provides a fast, simple and reliable unwrapping solution. It is the first tool of this kind on the market, allowing the unwrapping of 3d models to be done with a single mouse click while simultaneously providing optimal results that combine the minimized texture stretching of automated unwrapping techniques with the efficient space utilization and chunk distribution of UV space that is achieved with manual pelt wrapping methods. This allows users to quickly solve complex tasks like the creation of seamless 3d models, more accurate lightmaps and productive subsequent processing of the UV maps in other 3d applications like ZBrush™ or Mudbox™.

About 3d-io
3d-io games & video production GmbH is specialised company for high-end software development, modeling, animation, rendering, CG effects and 3D industrial design. 3d-io GmbH, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, has an established strong presence in game development, design & video production, digital content creation as well as in graphics and animation. We are dedicated to provide easy-to-use software products accompanied by dedicated support team, experienced programmers and top notch 3D artists. Our latest product on the gaming market was nominated for the German Game Developers Award 2008 in best graphics category, and CG products are used by many famous Game and Design Studios worldwide.

Contact:
www.3d-plugin.com / info@3d-plugin.com

Key features of this new version:

- Unwrella 2.0 now offers full support for manually placed seams and can maintain the manually chosen chart distribution during the unwrap process.

- Enhanced usability due to seam visualization in the Viewports and user selecable colorization of manual and automatically placed seams.

- Unwrapping of meshes with arbitrary polygon shapes (not just quads) has been improved.

Version 2.0 of the Unwrella unwrapping plug-in for Autodesk™ 3ds Max™ 9, 2008, 2009 (each 32bit and 64bit) is now available for sale and as a freely downloadable trial version on its homepage: http://www.unwrella.com

Unwrella was developed for the high demands of graphics designers in real world production environments and provides a fast, simple and reliable unwrapping solution. It is the first tool of this kind on the market, allowing the unwrapping of 3d models to be done with a single mouse click while simultaneously providing optimal results that combine the minimized texture stretching of automated unwrapping techniques with the efficient space utilization and chunk distribution of UV space that is achieved with manual pelt wrapping methods. This allows users to quickly solve complex tasks like the creation of seamless 3d models, more accurate lightmaps and productive subsequent processing of the UV maps in other 3d applications like ZBrush™ or Mudbox™.

Availability

The Unwrella unwrapping plug-in for Autodesk™ 3ds Max™ 9, 2008, 2009 (each 32bit and 64bit) is available in a freely downloadable Demo and commercial release on its homepage:

http://www.unwrella.com

About 3d-io
3d-io games & video production GmbH is specialised company for high-end software development, modeling, animation, rendering, CG effects and 3D industrial design. 3d-io GmbH, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, has an established strong presence in game development, design & video production, digital content creation as well as in graphics and animation. We are dedicated to provide easy-to-use software products accompanied by dedicated support team, experienced programmers and top notch 3D artists. Our latest product on the gaming market was nominated for the German Game Developers Award 2008 in best graphics category, and CG products are used by many famous Game and Design Studios worldwide.

The 3d Plugin Toolkit products are:

Unwrella: An unwrapping plug-in that automatically unfolds your 3D models with exact pixel to model surface aspect ratio, speeding up UV map production for texture baking significantly.

Flatiron:  a new, robust and simple whole-scene unwrapping and baking solution, based on Unwrella’s unique unwrapping technology.

UV_Packer:  a fast and exact UV layout utility for every CG artist’s 3D-Toolbox!

Click please on the name links to visit the plugin in pages.

Availability

The Unwrella unwrapping plug-in for Autodesk™ 3ds Max™ 9, 2008, 2009 (each 32bit and 64bit) is available in a freely downloadable Demo and commercial release on its homepage:

http://www.unwrella.com

It was developed for the high demands of graphics designers in real world production environments and provides a fast, simple and optimal full-scene unwrapping and baking solution.

Flatiron allows to bake textures for multiple objects into a single map in a few simple steps. Baking lightmaps or any other type of render element into large and complex scenes can be done with a few mouse clicks. Flatiron automatically takes care of the unwrapping and packing process and creates UV maps with an optimal distribution. This process minimizes the visibility of texture seams and image corruption that is caused by pixel stretching. The UV area of all objects is kept proportional to their mesh surface area.

Significantly improves quality of baked textures: Seams and pixel stretching are minimized
The unwrapping algorithm is based on 3d-io’s Unwrella plug-in technology, offering noticeably better results than the MAX built-in “Flatten” modifier when final rendered images are compared side-by-side. The unwrapping process is done fully automatic, and creates optimized  results with a minimal number of charts, seams and texture stretch.

Top-of-the-line packing algorithm: Optimal UV space usage
Packing large numbers of chunks for hundreds of unwrapped objects is done with 3d-io’s Unwrella plug-in based UV packing technology. Charts are packed quickly and optimaly, yielding high texture space usage while at the same time respecting user selectable gutter padding and texture sizes.

Versatility
Flatiron consistently delivers quality results with all kinds of 3d models from 3d game objects to industrial designs to complex, irregular organic shapes.

Availability
The Flatiron whole scene unwrapping and baking solution plug-in for Autodesk™ 3ds Max™ is now available in a free and fully functional “Open Beta” release on its homepage:
Flatiron Webpage
flatiron (coming soon)
Developers Webpage
http://www.3d-io.com

is a fast and exact UV Utility for every CG artist’s 3D-Toolbox! Based on Unwrella’s superb unwrapping technology, UV-Packer takes all your UV Parts, calculates their sizes and proportions and distributes them in the most optimal way on the UV panel. You no longer need to spend hours moving, rotating and scaling your maps in order to utilize the whole mapping area – UV-Packer does it for you in a second.

UV-Packer not only moves and rotates your UV parts, it also takes the mesh surface area into account and scales the parts independently to provide a uniform pixel distribution. Your models will never again have different texture sizes and therefore varying amounts of texture quality on legs, arms and body textures, since UV-Packer keeps them all even.

UV-Packer Webpage