Modo News

3D Scan Store has released 3 free HDRIs with 10,000x5,000 pixels and 7 exposure stops. More on 3DScanStore.com.

Solid Angle has a revamped website that includes a 15 day trial of Arnold Renderer, making it accessible to the public for the first time. The trial is currently available for Maya and Softimage, though 3rd party developers are currently working on unofficial exporters for Lightwave and 3DS Max. Pricing details have also been made available, individual licenses are priced at $1,300 currently with a minimum purchase of 5 licenses. Find out more on Solid Angle's website.

Adobe have released an update to Photoshop CC that enables users to print 3D models from directly within Photoshop. The new tool acts as a bridge between 3D modelling and 3D printing by preparing and refining models, automatically repairing any problems, creating support structures and creating previews of the final print. Initially, support is provided for a number of desktop printers but it also features the ability to send jobs directly to popular online printing services from within the tool. This update also features a new 3D perspective warp tool that allows you to create multi point perspective grids to help correct the viewing angle of 2d images, and linked smart objects that enables you to dynamically update files embedded within Photoshop projects. Read the full PR on adobe.com.

Alexander Lombardi has released his latest reel showcasing some of the work he has done using 3DS Max for various feature films including Man Of Steel, Ghost Rider 2, and Die Hard 5. You can watch the full video in HD on Alex's Vimeo Channel.

(Updated) According to James Vecore the tool is not available for purchase or download at this time, but if there is enough demand he might be able to find a way to make it available.
CG/VFX software engineer James Vecore has written a great render pass manager using .NET C#/WPF that offers various useful features. Watch a demo video on Vimeo.

Dublin-based Screen Scene VFX created all the visual effects for BBC's Ripper Street TV series (season 2) as well as for Sky1's Moonfleet. Watch the VFX breakdowns and read some comments on Wayne Robson's blog.

Chaotica is a fractal art creation tool developed by Glare Technologies, the company behind the Indigo Renderer. It features a spline-based color palette editor with HDR capabilities and alpha channel export for use with external compositing applications. The upcoming 1.5 version will bring animation features. Chaotica is free to use for up to 1.23 megapixel images (e.g. 1280x960 resolution), and requires a low cost license to generate bigger images. More on Chaotica's website.

Germany-based Laubwerk announced the release of their third collection of realistic 3D trees. The new package contains 10 tropical tree species. Each tree model comes in 3 shapes, with 3 ages and 4 seasons per shape. The accompanying 3DS Max plugin offers fine grained level of detail control. Also of note, Laubwerk are offering a 20% discount on all Laubwerk Plants until January 31st. More on Laubwerk.