Two videos that use SnowFlow
We are proud to show you two videos where SnowFlow has been used to add realistic snow to their 3d environments. Thanks to Peter Guthrie (intro for Stöten Ski Resort) and IXOR (Gazprom TV Commercial)!
GrowFX on zwischendrin.com
We are proud to announce a new product on zwischendrin.com: GrowFX.
GrowFX is a plugin for 3D Studio Max that allows you to make very realictic 3D trees.
GrowFX lets you create broadleaf trees, conifers, palm trees, flowers, ivy and many other vegetational compositions. Its unique model building tools will help you create creeping plants, entwining scene objects, and shearing plants of any shape. Plants may bend around different objects.
Go and get it here!
A quick SnowPrint tutorial
This short video tutorial will show you how to use SnowPrint, a special feature of SnowFlow 1.8
quick bugfix for SnowPrint
For all those that have a little problem using SnowPrint the first time:
If you get an error that says that something is wrong with map channel 0, just click the "map channel" spinner once and set it back to 1. There seems to be something wrong with the starting value of that map channel. Sorry for that!
DISCOUNTdown!!
As the year is drawing to an end and suitable for the Christmas season, it is again time for our unique "discountdown"! What does this mean? You get our snow plugin SnowFlow 75% off for the rest of October! You can see the countdown on www.zwischendrin.com so go and get your copy of SnowFlow for only 12 € until 2010-11-01!
We hope to see A LOT of beautiful renderings from our CG community!
Happy rendering,
Fabian
About the ribbon/”error parsing xaml file” bug
I think I should look much more often for updates, hotfixes and service packs of my 3D Studio Max...
Even after following my own suggestions about fighting the ribbon bug (read this post) I got the same error again after a long time of silence...
After applying the fix again ("read only" protection had gone?!?) I searched the autodesk website for an 3D Studio Max update and - lo and behold - there seems to be a service pack for that software!
The readme says: "Ribbon -> Customization of Ribbon features are now working as expected."
My problem should be history, I hope!
You can find the SP1 here: Autodesk 3ds Max Design Services & Support
V-Ray 2.0 release date and pricing
Chaosgroup officially announced the release date and pricing of VRay 2.0
Release date is 07.12.2010, the public beta of VRay 2.0 RT starts now and is available to all owners of VRay RT.
We can also answer the question "How much does an upgrade of VRay 2.0 cost?"
If you bought VRay or VRay RT before August 1 2010 you get the upgrade for 510 $ / 400 €. After this date (between august 1 and november 1 2010) an upgrade to VRay 2.0 costs 190 $ / 150 €.
If you do not own VRay already, you get a preorder discount and you get it for just 1070 $ / 845 €.
Regulary VRay 2.0 will have a full price of 1230 $ / 970 €.
Good news for those who purchased a "three in one bundle" (VRay, VRay RT and PDPlayer): you get your update for free!
Last but not least:
The brand new VRay 2.0 includes V-Ray 2.0 for 3ds Max , V-Ray RT on CPU and V-Ray RT on GPU!!
Bugfixing 3D Studio Max Design 2011
#1
Maybe you also got this error before: when starting 3D Studio Max you get an error warning that says "error parsing xaml file: root element missing" or another error message that says something with the new ribbon user interface is wrong. The solution is relatively simple:
go to [USERNAME]\AppData\Local\Autodesk\3dsMaxDesign\2011 - 64bit\enu\UI
(change the username to you username and remove the brackets, 3dsMaxDesign should be changed to 3dsMax if you have the regular version)
and search for a file called "MaxManaged.xaml.backup". Replace the file "MaxManaged.xaml" (which is zero bytes in size) with this file and 3D Studio Max runs as it should! I got this error several times until I checked "read-only" in its file settings. Those problems are now gone!
#2
My 3dsMax ALWAYS showed me an error when closing it. This was very annoying!
All settings did not save and it was just... unnecessary?
This solution also was very easy! (btw. I never thought of this causing an error like that)
uninstall your graphic card's drivers and install new ones! This fixed it.
Where have all of our HDRIs gone?
Don't panic, the HDRIs themselves are still available on zwischendrin for sale!
It's the same situation as with our snow plugin SnowFlow: We know that our HDR panoramas are bought from and used all over the world, but where are all the renderings illuminated by our HDRIs? Feel free to send us some of your great work and get your space on the front page slideshow at zwischendrin.com!
Calling for SnowFlow renderings
Our snow plugin SnowFlow has been out for quite a while now and is used all over the world. That's really amazing for us! There is just one thing: where are all those beautiful renderings of snow-covered objects and snowy landscapes made with the help of SnowFlow? It would be great to get some feedback in terms of renderings made by SnowFlow users! Feel free to send your renderings to us by email and maybe you are the next freelancer or company that gets its place here on our blog at zwischendrin.com!