LONDON — Foundry (foundry.com) has released Katana 3.2, an updated version of its look development and lighting tool. The new Katana release has an artist-focused, material node graph user interface for faster workflows. 3Delight NSI now allows artists to render from multiple cameras at the same time and has increased speed and reduced memory needs. Katana has been upgraded to USD 19.05, introducing the ability to use the Hydra render delegate system.
A new UI now sits on top of Katana’s shading architecture. Nodes now show all the viable connections when required, enabling a fully exposed, left-to-right workflow. The new shading group node allows for the clean organization of a complex network, effectively becoming self-contained widgets.
3Delight NSI 1.5 series updates now allow artists to render from multiple cameras at the same time, making it easier to judge the best choices for the look of an environment. SSS has been improved to use the popular Random Walk method. The 3Delight rendering plug-in is now multithreaded by default, with scene export times improved between 30 and 400 percent. Instance and VDB Volume rendering memory footprints have been improved by as much as 8x.
“Katana has been used on the world's most challenging CG productions for the last seven years,” says Jordan Thistlewood, group product manager at Foundry. “Katana 3.2 represents our belief that being the best requires constant innovation. The new material creation UX builds on top of what was already the industry's best architecture for the creation and management of materials during look development and shot production. We enriched the artist experience with the new UI and workflows, and with the UI engine we will be innovating the Katana look development experience for years to come.”