Autodesk announced the release of their latest compilation of award-winning 3D animation, visual effects and creative tools, which are offering a completely new workflow enhancements to help artists collaborate, manage complexity and move data through their pipeline more efficiently, Autodesk Entertainment Creation Suite 2014. All tools included in the Creation Suite including Autodesk Maya 2014, Autodesk 3ds Max 2014, Autodesk MotionBuilder 2014, Autodesk Mudbox 2014, Autodesk Softimage 2014 and Autodesk Sketchbook Designer 2014 have been updated to their 2014 versions brining new features and enhancements. The Entertainment Creation Suite is divided into three categories to meet the demands of any sized team, budget or project.  The Standard edition includes industry-recognized 3D software and offers a choice of either Autodesk Maya 2014 or Autodesk 3ds Max 2014 with Autodesk MotionBuilder 2014, Autodesk Mudbox 2014 and Autodesk Sketchbook Designer 2014.

LumenRT Studio is the most comprehensive system for transforming 3D models, ideas and designs into a nature-filled videos, images and real-time immersive media. Developed by E-on Software, the leading developer of solutions intended for the creation of natural 3D environments “Vue, Ozone and Carbon Scatter”, as well as real-time immersive visualization tools for Architecture and GeoDesign “LumenRT” . Features such as wind-animated plants and trees, characters and animals, water, cloud-filled skies, day/night lighting, and high-quality and realism are making from LumenRT unique software on the market. Moreover, LumenRT’s output is fully interactive and compatible with any computer without any special viewing software making it easy to share designs and collaborate with anyone. The new release of LumenRT 4 Studio adds new capabilities and enhancements including; Bentley MicroStation Integration, Moving Vehicles and more.

Side Effects Software has announced the immediate release of Houdini 12.5 which offers a wealth of new and enhanced features including Cloud FX , Ocean FX, OpenVDB volume sculpting tools and an optimized lighting and rendering pipeline with built-in support for delayed-load Alembic primitives.

The new Cloud FX tools offer an artist-friendly way of building, sculpting and rendering cloud formations. This workflow utilizes sparse volume sculpting tools created as part of the OpenVDB [Openvdb.org] open source initiative. The integration of these tools is the result of a direct collaboration between DreamWorks Animation and Side Effects Software.

Luxology and The Foundry have announced MODO 701, a brand new major release that promises to significantly enhance the modelling, sculpting, animation, effects and rendering workflows of the software.

The improvements made are a direct response to customer feedback, each significantly enhancing MODO’s core functionality.

Between highlights of new version belong procedural particle engine with an easy to use pre-set workflow, Audio playback and a sound channel modifier, bringing animations to life or Schematic improvements, reducing scene graph complexity. There are also major performance enhancements (large scene performance improvements by as much as 175x) and unlimited network rendering.