Maxon Announces New Feature Updates

Maxon has announced a set of significant updates to several products included in the company's Maxon One subscription offerings.

Here’s what’s new:

Redshift 3.5.17 allows for easier randomization of materials, with a first step towards non-photoreal materials and improves performance when using Redshift CPU mode and continues to extend DCC support.

• The new Jitter Node lets users automatically apply color variation across many objects with the same material applied. Great for creating foliage, rocks, a mason jar full of gumballs, or a crate of delicious avocados of varying degrees of ripeness. It is currently available for most DCCs (Cinema 4D, ZBrush, 3ds Max, Maya, Houdini, Katana).
• The new MatCap Shader Node allows quick creation of simple stylized materials by mapping an image onto a mesh relative to the render camera, laying the foundation for non-photo-real materials in Redshift.
• Redshift is now available for the latest version of Maya on macOS systems.
• Redshift CPU rendering performance scales better with additional CPU cores or even multiple CPUs in one system, resulting in faster render times for users of Redshift CPU.
• Texture Memory Optimizations provide overall performance improvements when handling textures in Redshift.

Trapcode 2023.4 aims to ease workflows while providing new possibilities to achieve creative destinations faster.

• The built-in Bounce Ground Plane is an additional bounce surface with its own height and rotation controls. It allows VFX and motion graphics artists to easily set up an infinite bounce plane and has several pre-designed setups. Users can create and save their own Bounce presets.
• Child systems can now inherit the Particle Type, Size, and Opacity values from their parent system at the time of their birth, expanding the creative possibilities of parent-child setups and allowing the creation of stunning effects with each child particle matching the attributes of their parent particle.
• Trapcode now features three new gradient interpolation models in addition to the existing RGB model allowing for a wider array of creative choices and possibilities for crafting transitions.
• With the new Curve Mirror Mode, users can create perfectly symmetrical curves. Click “Mirror” in the menu for mirrored curves along the horizontal axis.
• To offer a consistent user experience across systems and software packages, Particular Designer now calls the After Effects color picker instead of the operating system’s default color picker.
• 3D Stroke and Sound Keys now benefit from the same color and curve UI updates previously implemented in Particular.

Forger’s latest updates include a new rounded set of tools, including:

• Easily create shapes with the stroke of an Apple pencil using the new Sketch Sculpt brush.
• Put your Forger creations in the best light to accurately model details or share your works with the new Lighting toolset that now includes Area and IES lights.
• New Sweep and Lathe tools add new modeling capabilities to Forger: Use the Sweep tool to create pipes or horns or turn a complex profile using the Lathe tool.
• Set Flow is the ideal tool for rounding out harsh bevels by adjusting the curvature on a selection of edges based on surrounding geometry.
• The Fit Circle tool allows users to easily model round details - select a group of polygons and use interactive handles to adjust the size of the circle. The flatten option allows the surface to be averaged at the same time.
• Forger now offers complete hierarchical support, making it easy to organize your creations, group elements, and manipulate groups together.

Capsules test additions include a collection of Redshift materials created by visualization experts Fuchs & Vogel and a new set of Laubwerk plants:

• 26 new Redshift glass materials perfect for architectural visualization, product shots, and motion graphics. Materials include a collection of condensation materials to add rain on windows or water droplets on ice-cold beverages. In addition to basic “perfect” glass, a collection of smoked, distorted, dirty, and smudged variations for visualizing downtown lofts or creating VFX shots are included. Half of these materials are available to customers with active Cinema 4D subscriptions, while the other half is an exclusive benefit for Maxon One subscribers.
• In addition, Maxon unveiled the second pack of Laubwerk plants, featuring 51 high-quality plant models perfect for architectural visualization, visual effects shots, and illustration. Bring a natural touch to any scene by scattering lifelike Rosemary plants, Pine, Birch, and Willow trees, each offering a variety of ages, seasons, and shape variants to make them unique in your render. All plant assets are available to subscribers with a Cinema 4D or Maxon One subscription.

Users are encouraged to update immediately through the Maxon App.

Source: Maxon

Debbie Diamond Sarto is news editor at Animation World Network.