Software
Video
PipelineFX Product News
PipelineFX has upgraded its Qube renderfarm management system for film and game production to Version 5.2. The latest edition features a Python-scriptable interface, enhanced right-click menus, and a streamlined, single-window layout. Qube 5.2 also benefits from three new panels: Farm-at-a-Glance provides a worker status summary for the entire farm,
Output displays output images from jobs, and Histogram offers task/frame render times. Version 5.2 offers added support for NewTek’s LightWave 8.5 and 9.0 on Windows, Autodesk’s Maya 8.5 and 3ds Max 9.0, Apple’s Shake 4.1 on OS X, and Eyeon Software’s Fusion 5.1. Version 5.2 includes full 64-bit compatibility across Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, satellite and bucket rendering for Autodesk’s Maya and 3ds Max, and a submission interface generator for creating job types for virtually any CG application. Qube Supervisor (one per company) is priced at $500, and $100 per year for support. Qube Workers, meanwhile, are priced at $250 per host, and $50 per year in support. The Qube Lite Bundle costs $2000 for 20 hosts, including a Supervisor and one year of support.
ANIMATION
Toon Boom Tools
Toon Boom Animation has released Toon Boom Studio Express Version 3.5. The latest version features support for Windows Vista, new special effects, and a user-friendly interface with timeline enhancements, a help wizard, and improvements in color palette management. Version 3.5 also offers the ability to export to Adobe PDF, French and English versions, and a $100 price tag.
The company also unveiled Toon Boom Storyboard Pro digital storyboarding software for films, documentaries, gaming, advertising, and animation projects. The paperless solution is designed to mimic the traditional storyboarding process digitally. Among its features for storyboarding, animatic creation, and preproduction management are a multilayer drawing engine, dynamic camera moves, compatibility with Windows and Mac platforms, and support for AAF, CSV, PSD, and PDF file formats. Toon Boom Storyboard Pro is priced at $900.
Toon Boom Animation; http://toonboom.com/
Free PLE
E-on software is offering free Personal Learning Editions of its Vue 6 Infinite and Vue 6 xStream for creating, animating, and rendering natural 3D environments for film, broadcast, and architecture. The Vue 6 PLE is a fully functional version that ships with all Vue 6 material, atmosphere presets, and PDF reference information. The PLE contains E-on’s EcoSystem 2 for populating environments with millions of trees, a hyper-realistic Spectral atmosphere engine, MetaCloud technology, SolidGrowth 4 3D plant technology, and a radiosity and subsurface scattering renderer.
E-on software; http://www.e-onsoftware.com/