Discreet Prepares a New 3D Studio Max.(Product Announcement)

Discreet's 3D Studio Max occupies a special niche in modeling and animation in that while it is used by professional modelers and animators, it is also the high-end package of choice among hobbyists. This popular program is now ready to enter its fourth generation, with Discreet having announced 3D Studio Max 4.0.

One of the most important new 3D Studio Max 4 features is an inverse kinematics system based on an extensible architecture that allows animators to choose between solvers such as History Dependent, History Independent, Limb Solver, and third-party solvers. Also new is a bones system that allows bones to act as parametric objects that can be shaded and previewed. Bones can also be modified with standard mesh tools, allowing animators to sculpt skeletal structures that represent a character's shape and even skin. An advanced skinning system called Angle Deformers allows animators to set up deformations at specific joint angles. For example, an animator can specify that an arm muscle will bulge at a specific angle of a character's pose. New camera effects allow for motion blur and depth of field. And last, artists now have a wider range of polygonal ...