Unreal Development Kit June Release
The June build of the Unreal Development Kit Beta has been released!
With this release comes a new foliage editor, complete with altitude-based painting, map templates, which provide default lighting setups for afternoon, midday, and morning light (or create your own), a single editor for both mobile and PC platforms, improved mobile lighting, Symplygon, a mesh optimizer built into UDK, decal support for terrain, various debugging and performance profiling tools, and major performance and memory optimizations!
3ds max 2012 Service Pack 1 is Live
The 3ds Max 2012 Service Pack 1 is now live. Go install it, all ye 3ds Max users:
- Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Service Pack 1 for 32-bit and 64-bit
- Autodesk 3ds Max Design 2012 Service Pack 1 for 32-bit and 64-bit
Service Pack 1 includes numerous performance and stability fixes. The readme (the PDF listed in the pages above) lists a tremendous number of fixes for 2012. Most of the fixes focus on CAT and the Nitrous Viewport, but the Unwrap UVW modifier also got a few boosts. According to the readme file, the Unwrap UVW modifier received a few optimizations that "greatly increased performance" - and I'll agree, it's noticeable. The window no longer scootches along with a trail of ghosts behind it.
Careful when upgrading because there are some issues with 3ds Max 2012 Service Pack 1. If you're in the middle of a project, you may want to finish it before upgrading. For example, our CAT rig for the raptor now behaves differently and some animation layers have been affected negatively. The toes in our animation layers moved below the foot and scaling the chest bone now scales all children bones.
That said, this 3ds Max 2012 service pack comes a mere 2 months after release. Must have been some long hours for the devs... For the full list of changes, check out the readme in the links above, or see the table below.
Update in the works
On June 20th, Ken Pimentel announced another set of Hot Fixes in the works that will address more issues related to CAT as well as Service Pack 2. No release date on either of these upcoming fixes has been scheduled, but know that work continues. If you've found a bug in 3ds Max or any of its components, you can manually report the bug here: 3ds Max Defect Submission Form. The easier it is for the QA department to reproduce the bug, the more likely it'll be addressed, so be as specific as you can.
ZBrush Insufficient Memory Error
The dreaded ZBrush memory error reared its ugly head as I was trying to create a 4096x4096 adaptive displacement and adaptive normal map for the velociraptor model.
ZBrush Memory Error dialogues crashing the scene.
At the highest subdivision, the raptor model reached 13.4 million points. While taxing to the system, ZBrush handled sculpting at the highest subdivision with ease. Our system is pretty beastly and has more RAM than the current 32-bit version of ZBrush can use, so I was a bit confused to see the MEMORY ERROR dialogue appear. Instead of abandoning my work and reducing the model complexity, I decided to consult The Internet.
As it turns out, insufficient memory errors can be caused by numerous issues which all have their own fixes. For reference, our machine was running Windows 7 64-bit SP1 and had plenty of RAM.
Retopology Tools
With 3ds Max 2012, users can retopologize a mesh with no additional plugins or scripts. In this article, I'll highlight the best retopology tools in 3ds Max and their uses. The workflow isn't the greatest and, as far as I know, the tools can't be assigned to hotkeys, but they can be used to retopologize a mesh with 3ds Max out of the box. In order to use the retopology tools in 3ds max 2012, you'll need to use the graphite modeling tools in the ribbon. If the ribbon does not appear, you can reveal the ribbon using Customize Menu > Show UI > Show Ribbon.
Velociraptor, Part 1
We started working on a "velociraptor" model the other day. I put quotes around the name because it's the Jurassic Park version of a velociraptor - large and featherless. Normal velociraptors, on the other hand, are turkey sized and are believed to have had feathers.
I decided to start the model in ZBrush, using ZSpheres to rough out the bone structure and ZSketch to give the model volume and muscle mass before the initial sculpting.
 ZSphere Pose |
 ZSpheres to define volume |
 First sculpting pass |