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3ds Max 2022.2 has received a number of improvements to the UVY workflow, including the integration of the Unfold3D algorithm into the Unwrap UVW modifier for peeling, packing and relaxing UV areas. Unfold3D algorithms have been used in Maya, a sister application to 3ds Max, since 2014, but the standalone tool on which it is based has not been updated for several years. [gif-player id="2801"] The

Blender Baker Bystedt is a free add-on for Bender to simplify the process of baking PBR texture maps and lighting within Blender. The add-in introduces workflow features not available in Blender itself, allowing faster baking of data from high-resolution source models for use in low-resolution versions in games and real-time workflows. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kos3AWkR5ZU&feature=emb_logo   Among the unusual features is Channel Transfer, which allows combining individual RGB colour

With the introduction of Silhouette 2021.5, layout options have been enhanced, introducing a new four-way colour correction interface with controls for shadows, midtones, highlights and the entire image. Users also get 89 colour correction presets "from Oscar-nominated films". In addition, the Math Composite node in Silhouette now supports 22 overlay modes. The list should be familiar to users of other image editing and compositing applications and

Amazing Hollywood VFX. So well done in fact that most of the time we don’t actually see it, at all! But pretty much everything we see in the movies has a whole ton of CGI behind it, enhancing it into the polished scenes we’ve grown to love. For the Desolation of Smaug, Benedict Cumberbatch not only recorded the voice of Smaug, but also had a camera

V-Ray for Unreal is Chaos' answer to Unreal Engine's own Datasmith toolkit, which allows you to export scenes created in other versions of V-Ray in .vrscene Chaos format and import them into Unreall Engine. This process automatically converts V-Ray light sources and materials into their real-time equivalents. The user can either generate a real-time rendering using the game engine, or make changes to the scene within

The free RenderMan plug-in for Substance Painter can now export Substance materials for use in other DCC applications in a format compatible with RenderMan's Lama layering system. Update 24.1 itself does not add any important features. Most of the changes are workflow and performance improvements, particularly improvements to the NPR Stylized Looks shading system and the RenderMan XPU heterogeneous rendering engine. The update moves XPU, which

  Many of the new features included in Maya 2022.1 aim to reduce the learning curve for new users. Changes include two new tutorials for beginners: "Interactive Basics" and "Overview", as well as a new "Home App" home screen that provides access to additional tutorials and information about new features. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uhae8Zn5YE&feature=emb_imp_woyt The character kit for Mayabot, a virtual tutorial host for the basics of interactivity, comes

Modo 15.1 includes Omni Haul, an interesting system for custom gesture-based controls, for editing tool attributes, a new logical curve value system, and an automated Static Analysis scene test system. OmniHaul extends the approach used in the existing Channel Haul tool to the entire Modo tool set, allowing you to assign your own combinations of attributes to the left, right and middle mouse buttons.   [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbQN4sf_hh0&feature=emb_imp_woyt[/embed]

Corona Renderer 7 has received CoronaPhysicalMTL, a new "PBR-based material" designed to increase compatibility with other visualisation tools such as Substance 3D Collection and Quixel Mixer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyVGb5PnCb4 It includes clear coat parameters to recreate car paint and gloss parameters to recreate the surface properties of a tarnish, and comes with 35 new presets for common real-world materials. Inherited physical material is still available for backwards compatibility