NewTek Turns On LightWave 2018
NewTek has released LightWave 2018, a new iteration of its 3D animation system for Windows and Mac operating systems. The version introduces new features that are well suited for physically-based and VR rendering, as well as extends the functionality of popular features such as the buffer system, FiberFX, cel shading, object deformations, and others.
LightWave 2018 offers completely rewritten rendering, shading, and lighting architecture for greater realism, accuracy, and ease of use. There is now an expanded workflow for render and light buffers that simplifies compositing and offers more flexibility, including real-time preview of new buffers in any viewport using VPR, as well as custom buffers using the node editor.
Using the new volumetric render primitives, artists can specify physically-based properties, scattering, absorption, and emission parameters, along with node networks. The new lighting architecture brings physical lights that can be optionally visible to the camera, and improved loading of IES Web files to better match the intensity of real manufactured lights. The Surface Editor has been overhauled for the new shading system with node-based materials that are presented with a familiar interface. And a virtual-reality camera includes both cylindrical and spherical modes for creating stereo 360-degree renders and animations for VR applications.
LightWave 2018 is priced at $995.
Nvidia Offers Titan V GPU
Users can now get untold GPU power for the PC with Nvidia’s Titan V, driven by the company’s Volta advanced GPU architecture. Titan V excels at computational processing for scientific simulation. Its 21.1 billion transistors deliver 110 tflops of raw horsepower, 9x that of its predecessor.
Titan V’s Volta architecture features a major redesign of the streaming multiprocessor that is at the center of the GPU. It doubles the energy efficiency of the previous-generation Pascal design, enabling dramatic boosts in performance in the same power envelope. Titan V also incorporates Volta’s highly tuned 12gb HBM2 memory subsystem for advanced memory bandwidth utilization.
Titan V costs $2,999.
Jaunt Rolls Out XR Platform
Jaunt has announced the Jaunt XR Platform, a highly scalable solution for the distribution of all immersive content, including VR video, interactive VR, branched storytelling narratives, AR, and MR. The XR Platform allows customers to seamlessly and simultaneously publish immersive content across all 360-degree social platforms, including Facebook 360, YouTube 360, and Twitter, native iOS and Android mobile apps, and all VR platforms and headsets. The new Jaunt XR Platform also includes an end-to-end Media Manager purpose build for immersive content. The XR Platform sits on a scalable cloud-based infrastructure and provides globally localized solutions in a modular way.
Foundry Intros Mari
Foundry has launched Mari 4.0, the latest version of its digital 3D painting and texturing tool. Mari 4.0 comes equipped with more flexible and configurable exporting, simpler navigation, and a raft of improved workflows.
Among the key benefits of Mari 4.0 includes: quicker start-up and export through automated steps (shaders are automatically built with channels connected to them via presets in the startup dialog), better navigation, improved UI including a scalable Colors Palette, and workflow improvements such as a drag-and-drop fill mechanism to fill paint
