HappyPolygon

I used to copy them directly from the Unicode manual...

https://www.unicode.org/Public/16.0.0/charts/CodeCharts.pdf

 

I found it very interesting as I was in to linguistics stuff and the information it provided were brief yet enough to search further on the internet.

9 hours ago, Freemorpheme said:

Can you manage the same trick with a cylinder? I can only get it to flatten in the middle.

 

It never works well with extreme Tension values.

 

 

It will Always look a bit squished because it doesn't work similar to a Sweep.

 

One way to do it the right way would be to use a Matrix, a Tracer and a Sweep but it will take time as you'll need to adjust many things to match the topology of the rest of the model.

 

Start with the Matrix and create one on a Polygon Selection with the Distribution set to Polygon Center. 

Then Connect the two matrices with a Traced. Set Spline Type to Bezier.

Make the tracer Editable and Put it under a Sweep with the appropriate spline for thickness.

Adjust the tangents of the two ends of the rail spline to match the cups of the original model.

Lastly adjust the Rotation of the Sweep from the Details moving all points the same height. This step has to be done last as any change to the Tangent orientation will mess everything up.

 

Then you have to make the Sweep editable, connect it to the rest of the model and ... you guessed it, bridge the ends... or Weld with the Connect object if points are close enough to the patch.

 

There is no one-click solution. 

This isn't recommended for many objects or procedural bridging. This should have been modeled as a spline from the beginning. 

You can have Hair on Hair !

Dynamics are enabled only for the main strands.

Main strands don't have a hair material.

Secondary hair material has a high value of Kink(>200)

It's very efficient and fast.

4 hours ago, Cerbera said:

and if we change the mode to Surface

 

For me Surface mode bulges the connection... Normal Average worked for me for a smooth connection.

 

Continuum 2025.5

 

Boris FX began to add AI features to Continuum in its 2024 releases, beginning with machine learning-based filters for denoising, upresing and retiming video.

In Continuum 2025.0, they were joined by machine-learning-based filters for generating motion blur, and obscuring car license plates in footage.

 

To that, Continuum 2025.5 adds the new AI-based object masking and tracking toolset from Mocha, Boris FX’s planar tracking software, the core tech from which is integrated into Sapphire.

The Object Brush ML feature makes it possible to isolate objects in a single frame of footage simply by clicking inside them, with Continuum automatically generating a corresponding mask.

The selection can be refined by selecting extra parts of the image to include or exclude, or by painting areas in or out manually.

The Matte Assist ML feature automatically propagates a mask throughout a shot, tracking the object selected and generating animated mattes matching its changing outline.

 

The release also adds three other new AI tools: BCC+ Depth Map ML, BCC+ ST Map, and BCC+ Frame Fixer ML.

BCC+ Depth Map ML automatically generates depth maps from video footage, based on objects’ distance from the camera, making it easier to add fog and haze, or fake rack focus.

Users have a choice of two ML models, one tuned for performance, and one for detail.

BCC+ ST Map generates ST Maps, often used to encode lens distortion data, making it easier to distort or undistort video footage, or to convert it from rectilinear to 360° formats.

BCC+ Frame Fixer ML automatically fixes ‘bad’ frames in footage: for example, those with scratches or tape degradation, or with flash photography changing the lighting of the subject.

You have to identify the bad frames manually, but processing is automatic.

According to Boris FX, the filter can also be used to fix dropped frames, and even to hide jump cuts.

 

Updates to existing AI tools include a Smoothing Level control for the BCC+ Witness Protection ML filter, used to obscure people’s faces automatically in source footage.

BCC+ Retimer ML now supports retiming footage with variable frame rates, although only in Adobe host apps.

The AI models used by the tools also now load faster on first use in a work session.

 

Of the non-AI features, the FX Editor, for editing effects and presets, gets performance and workflow improvements, with “2x speed improvements” when playing back 4K footage.

Particle generator Particle Illusion gets workflow improvements including the option to save camera animation presets, and an updated emitter library.

The 8,000 x 8,000px limit in 3D titling plugin Title Studio has been removed, making it possible to work up to the maximum resolution supported by the host application.

There are also over 100 new presets for filters, and support for a “full set” of blend modes in BCC+ Vignette.

 

Continuum 2025.5 is compatible with a range of compositing and editing software, including After Effects, DaVinci Resolve and Nuke, on Windows 10+ or macOS 10.15+.

It is priced according to host application, with new perpetual licences costing from $365 to $2,195. Subscriptions cost from $215/year to $765/year.

 

https://borisfx.com/release-notes/continuum-2025-5-0-for-adobe-ae-premiere-release-note

 

 

 

 

LuxCoreRender / BlendLuxCore 2.10
 

Formerly known as LuxRender, and rebooted in 2018, LuxCoreRender is an alternative to Blender’s native Cycles renderer, particularly for product and architectural visualization.

It’s a physically based render engine with a range of production features and, as of LuxCoreRender 2.0, supports hybrid rendering on CPUs and GPUs.

 

LuxCoreRender 2.10 is the first stable version of the software in over three years: while there have been some experimental updates, the last stable release was LuxCoreRender 2.6.

Development then stalled after several of the original key developers left the project.

According to the release announcement, the 2.10 release is mainly intended to put development “back on track”.

While it doesn’t introduce major new features, it makes the software compatible with the current Blender 4.x releases, and makes it “ready for new development work”.

LuxCore Python bindings are now available as wheels on PyPi, making it easier for third-party developers to integrate the renderer into their software.

The update also makes LuxCoreRender available for a greater range of platforms: as well as Windows, Linux and Intel Macs, it now runs current Macs with Apple Silicon processors.

For GPU acceleration, the software still uses CUDA on NVIDIA hardware, and OpenCL elsewhere: it doesn’t currently use Apple’s Metal API when running on macOS.

 

LuxCoreRender 2.10 is available under an Apache 2.0 licence for Windows, Linux and macOS.

BlendLuxCore 2.10 is compatible with Blender 4.2 and 4.3.

The experimental 3ds Max integration plugin, MaxToLux, has not been updated, and is no longer available on the downloads page of the LuxCoreRender website.

 

https://forums.luxcorerender.org/viewtopic.php?t=6678

 

 

Xsens Animate 2025

 

Xsens Animate processes and exports raw motion-capture data generated by Movella’s inertial capture hardware: the Xsens Awinda and Xsens Awinda Starter systems, where the sensors are attached to an actor’s body with straps, and its Xsens Link mocap suit.

The software is aimed at entertainment work – game development, animation and visual effects – and comes in four editions: Animate Export, Animate Live, Animate Pro and Animate Record.

Animate Export is intended for offline recording, processing the motion of a single actor and exporting it in FBX or BVH format to DCC applications and game engines.

Animate Live streams the motion of up to two actors to compatible applications, which include Blender, Maya, MotionBuilder, Unity and Unreal Engine, in real time.

Animate Pro combines the feature sets of both Export and Live, plus further advanced features, and supports recording of up to four actors simultaneously.

Animate Record is a free tool for recording and previewing data.

The software used to be known as MVN Animate, but was rebranded last year, Xsens being the name of its original developer, acquired by Movella, then known as mCube, in 2017.

 

Xsens Animate 2025 reworks the software’s motion engine, supplementing the legacy unisex profile with new male and female profiles.

The latter use body proportions more typical for male and female subjects – primarily hip and shoulder widths, and placement of the center of mass.

In addition, the curvature of the spine is now tracked more accurately.

Both changes are intended to recreate the motion of an actor or stunt performer more accurately, reducing the time needed to clean up the raw data.

The software’s user interface has also been reworked, simplifying navigation, making it possible to access key tools more quickly, and introducing a new dark UI mode.

Users of Awinda systems get an experimental Auto Sensor Mapping feature which detects the sensors and attributes them to the correct parts of the body automatically.

 

Xsens Animate is compatible with Windows 11 only. The software is rental-only, and priced on enquiry on Movella’s website.

Movella told CG Channel that Animate Pro subscriptions cost $9,590/year, down $1,400/year since we last wrote about the products in late 2023.

Animate Live subscriptions cost $3,990/year, while Animate Export subscriptions, which are not available in the US, cost €6,490/year. Animate Record is free.

Movella also offers three- and six-month subscriptions.

 

https://3446270.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/3446270/Xsens 2025.0 Release Notes.pdf

 

 

Cavalry 2.4

 

Originally released in 2020, Cavalry is a procedural animation app “combining the power and flexibility of 3D with the ease of use of 2D”.

Although currently a pure 2D animation tool, it supports workflows that will be familiar to 3D animators, including keyframing, curve editing, deformation, rigging, scattering and instancing.

Scene Group’s background is also in 3D motion graphics: the firm is a spin-off from Mainframe North, which developed MASH, Maya’s motion graphics toolset.

Once created, images may be exported in a range of file formats, including as JPEG, PNG or SVG sequences, as animated PNGs, as WEBM or QuickTime movies, or in Lottie format.

 

It’s a sizeable update, adding the option to write custom image-manipulation filters in SkSL, and save them as third-party plugins.

SkSL, the shading language used by open-source 2D graphics library Skia, is a variant of GLSL, so code from sites like Shadertoy should work with “minor modifications”.

The update also adds a new SLA shader for creating a range of animatable noise types.

 

Other changes include new styling options in the Text Shape, making it possible to apply apply effects like underline, strikethrough and superscript to text.

It is also now possible to import Excel .xslx files.

 

Users of the paid Pro edition also get the option to create 2D meshes to deform images or shaders by placing control vertices.

When creating 2.5D animation, it is now possible to use a Camera Guide – a representation of the region of the scene visible to the camera – to drive its animation.

For managing complex projects, a new Dependency Graph window provides an editable schematic view of a composition, replacing the old Flow Graph.

 

Cavalry 2.4 is available for Windows 10+ and macOS 12.0+. The full software is available rental-only, with Pro subscriptions costing £192/year (around $255/year).

The free edition caps renders at full HD resolution, and lacks the advanced features in this table

 

https://docs.cavalry.scenegroup.co/tech-info/release-notes/2-2-0-release-notes/

 

 

 

Feather 1.2

 

The update restores the augmented reality workflow available in the original free version, with the new AR Viewer making it possible to view 3D sketches in real space.

 

Feather 1.2 is compatible with iPadOS 16.0+. A perpetual license costs $14.99.

 

https://support.feather.art/docs/releasenotes/officialservice

 

 

3ds Max 2026.1

 

The new feature in 3ds Max 2026.1 is the Attribute Transfer modifier, shown in the video above.

It transfers attributes – vertex positions, normals and colors, plus up to two sets of UVs – from one model to another.

According to Autodesk, it provides a “new, non-destructive modifier workflow” for tasks that were typically done through scripting.

 

There are also updates to a couple of the existing modifiers, including the Push modifier, used to inflate or deflate 3D meshes.

It gets a number of new options, including the option to use other objects in a scene to limit the result of the push operation.

When the result collides with a control object, it stops moving in that direction in real time.

A new Relax Iterations setting smooths the mesh in a similar way to the Relax modifier, helping to prevent issues with self-intersection.

It is also now possible to limit push operations to specific axes.

 

The XForm modifier, used to apply transformations non-destructively to objects, gets a choice of four transformation modes.

As well as the previous default behavior, users can now transform objects in local space, world space, or relative to another object in the scene.

There is also a self-explanatory new Preserve Normals checkbox.

 

3ds Max’s Universal Scene Description plugin has been updated, with USD for 3ds Max 0.11 adding a new Promote to 3ds Max Object option.

It promotes USD geometry to a 3ds Max object, making it possible to work on it using native 3ds Max tools.

In addition, the USD Exporter now supports the OpenPBR material, which has been 3ds Max’s default material since 3ds Max 2026.

There are also a number of workflow improvements, and new Python functions for manipulating USD layers.

 

3ds Max’s integration plugin for Autodesk’s Arnold renderer has also been updated, with MAXtoA 5.8.2 supporting the changes in Arnold 7.4.2.

They’re primarily performance improvements, especially to scene initialization times when rendering on machines with high numbers of CPU cores.

 

3ds Max 2026.1 is compatible with Windows 10+. It is rental-only. Subscriptions cost $255/month, up a further $10/month since 3ds Max 2026, or $2,010/year, up $65/year.

In many countries, artists earning under $100,000/year and working on projects valued at under $100,000/year qualify for Indie subscriptions, which now cost $330/year.

 

https://help.autodesk.com/view/3DSMAX/2026/ENU/?guid=GUID-584026C2-5EAA-4F03-B676-0A4D0C2372AA

 

MotionMaker

 

Autodesk has released Maya 2026.1, the latest version of its 3D modeling and animation software for visual effects, games and motion graphics work.

The release adds MotionMaker, a new AI-based system for generating movement animations for biped and quadruped characters, especially for previs and layout work.

Other changes include a new modular character rigging framework inside Bifrost for Maya, plus updates to liquid simulation, OpenPBR support and USD workflows.

Autodesk has also released Maya Creative 2026.1, the corresponding update to the cut-down edition of Maya for smaller studios.

 

The headline feature in Maya 2026.1 is MotionMaker: a new generative animation system.

It lets users “create natural character movements in minutes instead of hours”, using a workflow more “like giving stage directions to a digital actor” than traditional animation.

Users set keys for a character’s start and end positions, or create a guide path in the viewport, and MotionMaker automatically generates the motion in between.

At the minute, that mainly means locomotion cycles, for both bipeds and quadrupeds, plus a few other movements, like jumping or sitting.

Although MotionMaker is designed for “anyone in the animation pipeline”, the main initial use cases seem to be layout and previs rather than hero animation.

Its output is also intended to be refined manually – Autodesk’s promotional material describes it as getting users “80% of the way there” for “certain types of shots”.

Accordingly, MotionMaker comes with its own Editor window, which provides access to standard Maya animation editing tools.

Users can layer in animation from other sources, including motion capture or keyframe animation retargeted from other characters: to add upper body movements, for example.

There are a few more MotionMaker-specific controls: the video above shows speed ramping, to control the time it takes the character to travel between two points.

There is also a Character Scale setting, which determines how a character’s size and weight is expressed through the animation generated.

You can read more about the design and aims of MotionMaker in a Q&A with Autodesk Senior Principal Research Scientist Evan Atherton on Autodesk’s blog.

According to Atherton, the AI models were trained using motion capture data “specifically collected for this tool”.

That includes source data from male and female human performers, plus wolf-style dogs, although the system is “designed to support additional [motion] styles” in future.

 

 

RealityScan 2.0

 

RealityCapture 2.0 – or rather, RealityScan 2.0 – is a change of branding, with the desktop application taking its new name and logo from Epic Games’ existing mobile scanning app.

First released in 2022, RealityScan was originally pitched as a way to make RealityCapture’s functionality accessible to hobbyists as well as pros.

It’s a pure photogrammetry tool, turning photos captured on a mobile phone or tablet into textured 3D models for use in AR, game development or general 3D work.

 

New features in RealityCapture 2.0 will include AI-powered masking, with the software automatically identifying and masking out the background of the source images.

The change should remove the need to generate masks manually, either in RealityCapture itself or an external DCC app.

In addition, the default settings have been updated to improve alignment of source images, particularly when scanning objects with smooth surfaces and few surface features.

To help troubleshoot scans, a new Quality Analysis Tool displays heatmaps showing parts of the scan where more images may be needed to reconstruct the source object accurately.

The update will also introduce support for aerial Lidar data, which may be used alongside aerial photography and terrestrial data to reconstruct environments more accurately.

 

It isn’t clear which of those new features will be included in the mobile app, although it will presumably also be updated to version 2.0 at the same time, since Epic Games’ blog post announcing the changes describes its aim as to “unify the desktop and mobile versions”.

 

RealityScan 2.0 is due in the “coming weeks”. Epic Games hasn’t announced an exact release date, or any changes to price or system requirements.

The current version of the desktop software, RealityCapture 1.5, is available for Windows 7+ and Windows Server 2008+. It’s CUDA-based, so you need a CUDA 3.0-capable NVIDIA GPU.

The desktop software is free to artists and studios with revenue under $1 million/year. For larger studios, subscriptions cost $1,250/seat/year.

The current version of the mobile app, RealityScan 1.6, is compatible with Android 7.0+, iOS 16.0+ and iPadOS 16.0+. It’s free, including for commercial use.

By default, its EULA gives Epic Games the right to use your scan data to train products and services, but you can opt out in the in-app settings.

 

https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/news/all-the-big-news-and-announcements-from-the-state-of-unreal-2025

 

 

Unreal Engine 5.6

 

Character artists get the “biggest update yet” to the in-editor animation tools, with major revamps of Motion Trails, the Tween Tools, and the Curve Editor, plus the option to sculpt morph targets in-editor, and built-in physics in the Control Rig.

Lumen gets performance updates to Hardware Ray Tracing (HWRT) mode, intended to help games using the real-time global illumination system run more consistently at 60fps.

 

There are also several completely new toolsets, including the Mocap Manager, a new “end-to-end solution” for recording and managing mocap data inside the Unreal Editor.

In addition, MetaHuman Creator is now integrated directly inside Unreal Engine: part of a wide-ranging set of changes to the character-creation framework.

 

The Unreal Engine 5.6 Editor is compatible with Windows 10+, macOS 14.0+ and RHEL/Rocky Linux 8+.

For non-interactive content, the software is free to users with revenue under $1 million/year. For larger studios, subscriptions cost $1,850/seat/year, including Twinmotion and RealityCapture.

For games developed with the engine, Epic takes 5% of the gross royalties after the first $1 million generated.

 

https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/en-us/unreal-engine/unreal-engine-5-6-release-notes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On 6/5/2025 at 6:23 PM, Cerbera said:

There we are actually crossing polys half way down it,

 

It bridged fine when I enabled the Reverse option and set Spin Steps to -1.

So Autograph is an AE competitor.
Maxon collaborates with Adobe through Cinewere for AE and a bit with Vector Import from PS/IL. (Not mentioning Red Giant, Universe and how often VFX&Chill uses AE in their live shows)
Maxon aquires the competotor of Adobe.

How will that be seen from Adobe ?

 

Now that I think of it... it doesn't mean much... Red Giant and Universe are plugins, it's not a colaboration. But the Cinewere thing I don't know...
I really wasn't expecting an aquisition of that kind. Wasn't Magic Bullet Looks supposed to fill the missing compositing component ? I think they will try to use Autograph's code to enhance Magic Bullet Looks...

Better move this to Technical -> Nodes Topic.

Looks nice but is there any technical information reguarding the type of features supported ?

I see grass but is it polygonal or hair ?

I saw smoke but I thing it's post.

I saw subsurface scattering but it could be just a luminance texture.

What types of GPUs are supported or what types of GPUs support which features.

In your original file you try to attach the rope at the center of the hing knot. How does that make the rope not interfere with intersecting geometry when rope dynamics are involved ?
When trying the Matrix and Tracer suggestion, where did you attach the end of the rope ?
It should be attached to the end of the hinge.

 

3 hours ago, smoore said:

Mmm the problem with the with Matrix object + tracer is that when I put rope dynamics on the tracer, it just glitches out and breaks.

 

I tried attaching the clip with the cloner again, but the problem there is that the rope belt won't connect to the clip it generates. I tried putting the cloner into a Connect object, but the rope belt still won't recognise the geometry.

 

I'll give it a try later today ...

I don't think this is a priority issue, I would check the Scene Simulation Properties upping Substeps and/or Iterations but I run out of memory and crash C4D ...

The Expresso setup is a smart way to attach things but we encounter very frequently this type of missbehavior. 

Try using Cloners with Polygon Selections on Object Mode to stitch objects in place...
There was a way to connect any two points to create a spline in Xpresso but I can't remember how it's done... You could do it easier with two matricres from the Matrix object and connect them with the Tracer. Then use the Tracer as your rope. No need to pin the rope.
 

50 minutes ago, DPH said:

Thanks! I am more or less OK with V-ray, even though sometimes I do feel like I am torturing myslef and should switch to 3ds max and corona for archviz.

 

I'm strongly recommending taking a look at Vue now that it's free. Sunning vegetation and gorgeous skies. It has it's own render engine (you can still switch to Standard/Physical but have to tweak some ISO/Gamma settings I think) and since you're specialized in Archviz it might suit you for outdoor renders. The downside is that you have to use C4D 2024 or older. I've asked Maxon to consider collaborating for a supported bridge for the newest versions.

• Anyone who doesn't know how to use Redshift. (like me)
• Anyone who doesn't want (have money) to use an other renderer.
• It's easier (and technically better) to learn about renderer capabilities and how they work starting from Standard and then Physical Renderer. The documentation has some very interesting information.
• Compatibility
• Many plugins were offering shaders for those systems still useful.
• Redshift doesn't provide the full extend of features the Sketch & Toon does.
• You can render volumes with RS but what if you need a sky full of clouds ? Physical Sky is faster and more suitable for exterior renders.
• There's a chance Pyroclusters might be faster than Pyro in some cases.
• For some users it might be easier to corelate color and other particle properties easier with Pyroclusters rather particle modifiers.
• There are many nuances with RedShift nodal workflow as it might require a certain level of knowledge to achieve some effects with nodes that might be just a click with Physical. Watch this channel for examples.
• Physical has many post effects not available in Redshift (although not of high quality).
• RedShift doesn't seem to support Stereoscopic renders (Red-Blue/Red Green)

3 hours ago, bez said:

Been playing around with it a bit

 

To tighten it you need to put more thickness to the sweep. Ideally if the Sweep and the thickness of the rope have exactly the same value there shouldn't be any gaps between the knots. And the Field Force would also tighten the shape. 

You can easily create what you need but it won't be procedural and definitely not animatable.
But since you need a static one this might work for you. So far I've been trying to do this procedurally that's why I've been failing.

1. Just create a Mesh Particle Emitter, set it to a mesh volume and assign your object.
2. Set the speed to 0. Make it create a single shot of particles.
3. Put the Particle Group in a Tracer. Connect all Elements. Set it to Bezier with Uniform distribution.
4. Make a Matrix Object. Use it to create enough Matrices on the Traced Spline.

So far the set up isn't that far from what you've already seen with previous projects.

This is where everything will be non-procedural.

• Create an editable version of the Tracer (Set Current State to Object).

You can either

• Create a Push Apart Effector and Put it on the Matrix Object and use it to loosen the spline using matrices as control points (the more the better as it makes sure the spline doesn't intersect with it self).

or

• Create a Rope, in Dynamics set Mix Animation to With Force. This will untangle the spline.
• Create a Field Force and put the desired shape in to it, set to Absolut Velocity and adjust the strength to something desirable. This will conform the spline to your shape.

In both ways don't forget to set Radius of Rope an Effector to match the radius of the circle you set in the Sweep to give it thickness.

 

I think the Rope option is better.

 

 

Someone, once upon a time left this here Growth Diffusion.c4d and I kept it. I think it will help you. It has a different workaround and works in 2025.... but not as it should be . It works fine in 2023.
2025 has some serious allergy to cyclic references...

 

 

1 hour ago, bez said:

I found this:

 

I'm trying to create something using particles but my computer freezes...
Also that "fix" blocks my attempts to intervene during animation playback... 

6 hours ago, bez said:

Anyone have any solution/fix for using this in 2025?

 

Seems like there's a change in C4D 2025 concerning updates during animation which prevent this effect from happening. There was another incident like this which I addressed to a beta tester. I don't know if this "fix" was intentional or not.
I'm working on a solution for this...
Do you need it for the Reaction Diffusion effect or for the static entangled mess ?

Is there some specific reason this needs to be done in code or nodes ? For example "I want to hide the mechanics because I want to make a plugin" or "I like coding".
Would you be interested in a scaleable, procedural solution that is not Python nor Node-oriented ?

I think you should also post the Attributes of your IK tag.

If the script needs to replicate your hand-made scene then it needs to do it in every detail.

If someone is to read this code and find an omittion he also needs to know the exact parameters the IK tag is given.

I have an other question.

Why isn't MAXON ever mention this forum ?

Twice a month there's an "Ask the Trainer" live.

Every week there's "Rocket Lasso" live.

Every week there's a "VFX and Chill" live. 

Why isn't anyone ever even make a tiny reference ? People ask a ton of things that the presenters for various reasons dodge. Those could be redirected here. Not all questions worth a screen time.

Should I herald the site in the comment section of YT chat ? I don't mind. But I don't want to anger the presenters or the Maxon supervisors of the shows.

The question is: Why is that supposed to be an architectural tool ? Why should only arch-viz artists be interested in it ?

Is it because the renderer will work only from inside Vectorworks or because it won't support many C4D features like Pyro and Particles ?