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Softimage Explosia FX released!

Posted: 02 Sep 2015, 19:30
by Mr.Core
Hi all,

I am glad to present a new Softimage plugin for simulating fluid dynamics - Softimage ExplosiaFX.
Check it out here: http://www.blackcore.technology/softimage_efx



Image


You can grab a free trial or buy a commercial key. The network floating licensing mode is also possible.
Considering the Softimage EOL i should clarify that license for this release will be usable (as free upgrade) with the second wave which i believe will be in Fabric Engine (i am currently investigating a few options and FE looks like a perfect environment for further work).

The current build is for Windows only, but i am working on port to Centos linux and any compliant to it.
The package includes Arnold shaders as well as Mentalray fallback and these shaders are provided as free (unlimited seats).

For more details please visit the product page.

best regards,
Oleg

Re: Softimage Explosia FX released

Posted: 02 Sep 2015, 19:51
by Hirazi Blue
Great news :-bd
I've closed the other "premature" thread to focus all attention on this one...

Re: Softimage Explosia FX released!

Posted: 03 Sep 2015, 05:57
by MauricioPC
This plugin looks amazing. Wish you all the best! Great work man!

Re: Softimage Explosia FX released!

Posted: 03 Sep 2015, 17:08
by Tekano
congratulations on the official release.

already tried the demos, super fast sim & render times, real pleasure to use inside of ICE instead of trying to navigate a new unfamiliar app etc. Next job that requires fire or gaseous fluids you have a customer.

Re: Softimage Explosia FX released!

Posted: 03 Sep 2015, 21:38
by julius
Congratulations !

Re: Softimage Explosia FX released!

Posted: 04 Sep 2015, 02:14
by Bullit
Very nice.

Re: Softimage Explosia FX released!

Posted: 04 Sep 2015, 09:08
by Hirazi Blue
While many on the mailing list requested interoperability with Redshift,
I personally would like to see some love for 3delight/renderman compliant renderers as well...
;;)

Re: Softimage Explosia FX released!

Posted: 04 Sep 2015, 11:08
by Mathaeus
Hirazi Blue wrote:While many on the mailing list requested interoperability with Redshift,
I personally would like to see some love for 3delight/renderman compliant renderers as well...
;;)
Well last time I've tried, before year or so, still it was a practically impossible to match Mental Ray, using 3delight's volumes. Wasn't even close, when it comes to speed, quality, memory consumption... Don't believe anything changed to this day. Rendering of millions of points instead of voxels, that might work, but that's probably sufficient for light smokes, nothing else.
As an rule of thumb, Renderman + easy an fast volume rendering = kind of oxymoron. Or, looking from flip side - volumes are only aspect of MR, which, very personally, I'm still keeping in good memory.

Re: Softimage Explosia FX released!

Posted: 04 Sep 2015, 11:12
by Hirazi Blue
Good to know, thanks for the info.
I (apparently wrongly) assumed the general speed of 3delight
might help render these volumes even faster...
;)

Re: Softimage Explosia FX released!

Posted: 04 Sep 2015, 23:08
by ActionArt
This looks so fantastic and so long overdue for Softimage. Great work!!!

Sadly I'm still on Win. Vista. I tried to install the non-avx version but nothing happens at all.

I guess I'm out of luck. Is there any chance there would be a way way around this?

Edit: just a silly mistake on my part. Now I get the menu but an error regarding a packed volume shader.

Re: Softimage Explosia FX released!

Posted: 05 Sep 2015, 02:05
by ActionArt
Nevermind, just couldn't find the cache files but now it's working :)

Re: Softimage Explosia FX released!

Posted: 06 Sep 2015, 04:41
by FXDude
Cool, and feel free to show us any test material!

I wonder if Animating the speed & rate and such going up and down in an instant using the "from particles" could make convincing explosions.. humm...

Re: Softimage Explosia FX released!

Posted: 06 Sep 2015, 05:52
by FXDude
Mathaeus wrote:
Hirazi Blue wrote:While many on the mailing list requested interoperability with Redshift,
I personally would like to see some love for 3delight/renderman compliant renderers as well...
;;)
Well last time I've tried, before year or so, still it was a practically impossible to match Mental Ray, using 3delight's volumes. Wasn't even close, when it comes to speed, quality, memory consumption... Don't believe anything changed to this day. Rendering of millions of points instead of voxels, that might work, but that's probably sufficient for light smokes, nothing else.
As an rule of thumb, Renderman + easy an fast volume rendering = kind of oxymoron. Or, looking from flip side - volumes are only aspect of MR, which, very personally, I'm still keeping in good memory.
Not sure about that... don't know how VDB's produced by ExplosiaFX are universal, or how faithfully 3Delight interprets VDB's
but this seems encouraging in at least one aspect..

(VDB's produced in Houdini rendered in 3Delight for 3dsMax)


Perhaps would be worth giving it a go and see.

Re: Softimage Explosia FX released!

Posted: 06 Sep 2015, 14:17
by Mathaeus
FXDude wrote:don't know how VDB's produced by ExplosiaFX are universal, or how faithfully 3Delight interprets VDB's
but this seems encouraging in at least one aspect..

(VDB's produced in Houdini rendered in 3Delight for 3dsMax)
Yeah now someone have to use Houdini, Max and 3delight for Max.

Very personally, I'd be looking for one, or both, of two:
1: Obvious advantage of specific technology, or specific design decision.
2: Refinement, coming with something widely, long time used, or with built in renderers.

For 1, I'll be interested what RedShift or Octane have to say. Sow some very impressive Octane volume renders. Together with 3d motion blur, full GI, what else not. When it comes to complete Renderman story, my mind stays around REYES, which was great for primary rays over diced geometry, and that's it. Volume render simply doesn't fit nicely, there. Their new ray tracing solutions are new for them, but not new for rest of world.
For 2, never sow such level of refinement, like work of mr.Schönberger, or some plugins for Max - despite the all 'love' to bad old MR, or, antique Max's defaut scanline renderer. When it comes to Renderman compliant, there's little problem, once they were jumped into ray tracing field, complete book of rules and habits had to be written again - but it wasn't, imho.

Back to topic, I think it's better for plugin, to do a proper job with smaller number of renderers, instead of wasting a time to support everything around.

Re: Softimage Explosia FX released!

Posted: 06 Sep 2015, 22:09
by FXDude
Perhaps indeed,
Yet I know that Since pathtracing was introduced 2013(?), did it quickly become the default method.

But BTW, would you know it there are trade-offs with path tracing for some of it's traditional benefits?

And perhaps as you say did volumes improve in the same go?

Cheers,

Re: Softimage Explosia FX released!

Posted: 07 Sep 2015, 08:49
by CYTE
Hi Oleg,
thank you so much for this wonderful plugin!
it seems to be very powerful!
xsi will never die :D