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Renderers

V-Ray Next Beta 2 available with GPU improvements, NVIDIA AI Denoising and more

Chaos Group has announced the latest beta of V-Ray Next. Beta 2 adds several significant features including the integration of the NVIDIA AI denoiser as an alternative Chaos' own denoising algorithm, the ability to transfer auto exposure and white balance to scene cameras, support for the adaptive dome light and volumetric rendering in V-Ray GPU plus a reorganised and simplified UI, plus much more. You can see the full list of new features, modifications and bug fixes on the V-Ray Documentation site.

In other V-Ray related news, Christopher Nichols recently published a post explaining how V-Ray Next's new hair shader works. You can read it on Chaos Group Labs.

Comments (9) | Posted Thu Feb 22, 2018

Renderers

Softimage To Arnold plugin now open source

Autodesk has made the Softimage to Arnold plugin's source code available under an Apache 2.0 license on GitHub. The plugin was originally maintained by Solid Angle, recently acquired by Autodesk, who continued development for several years after Softimage's EOL announcement in April 2014. Find out more on GitHub.

Comments (4) | Posted Thu Feb 22, 2018

Videos

Simulating plant life in Houdini

Illusionhills has posted a couple of great-looking tests of foliage simulations created in Houdini. The first shows a wind animation on a single palm frond and the second show the full tree with shaders.

Comments (22) | Posted Wed Feb 21, 2018

Tutorials - General

Ten Principles for good level design

Recorded at GDC nearly 5 years ago but only released now, this talk by (at the time) Square Enix Montreal's Dan Taylor is still worth a watch. It aims to "distil the art and science of level design down to a concentrated set of fundamental principles for innovation, engagement, and immersion". Watch it on YouTube.

Add Comment | Posted Tue Feb 20, 2018

Making Of

NKI Studios making of The Postman

Paris-based NKI Studios has released a well put together making-of video about their animated commercial for Renault called The Postman, created with 3DS Max. Watch it on Vimeo.

| Posted Tue Feb 20, 2018

Game Trailers

Capsule Studio’s Farming Simulator 19 trailer

Paris-based Capsule Studio has released a trailer for Farming Simulator 19, created using 3Ds Max and rendered with V-Ray. Watch it on YouTube.

Comments (1) | Posted Tue Feb 20, 2018 | source: Pierre Tournebize

Behind The Scenes

The Mill’s Opportunity Roars

The Mill has released a behind the scenes look at its spot for Monster.com titled Opportunity Roars. In addition to the main character, the advert uses several fully CG environments integrated with live action plates of Toronto standing in for New York. Watch it on Vimeo.

| Posted Tue Feb 20, 2018

Breakdowns

Coco animation breakdown

Pixar's Frank Abney has shared a short breakdown of some of his work on Coco, demonstrating how a scene between Miguel and his Grandmother was created from layout to thumbnails, blocking, and final animation. Watch it on Vimeo.

| Posted Mon Feb 19, 2018