Dear Arion users,

Along with Af3 v2.7.0 we have released a trial version with the following limitations:

– Render resolution limited to 800×600.
– Watermarked render.

The trial version is freely available by logging in to our website, just like the Arion stand-alone and Arion for Rhinoceros DEMOs.

Thanks for watching!

Dear Arion customers, we have just released Arion for 3ds Max v2.7.0.

This release brings the following improvements over the latest Beta:

– Compact RCM root UI.
– Fixed shaderball gamma correction.
– Fixed toolbar icons in old versions of 3ds Max.
– Slidding target distance in Arion Camera.
– Fix run-time notifications of Arion Sky in ActiveShade.
– Fixed spherical/orthogonal Arion Cameras.
– Fixed camera motion blur when only the target is animated.
– Special selection if the camera-to-target line is clicked.
– Fixed material converter (displacement).
– Display of the per-device memory counters in production mode.
– Display of the relevant scene counters in production mode.
– Tighter memory usage during warm-up.
– Faster warm-up of motion blur.
– Faster displacement mapping.
– Fixed displacement mapping cracks and smoothing.

We will deliver a mailing with a formal detailed announcement during the day.

All Af3 owners (including EDU users) can find the new v2.7.0 build (and the corresponding license) in the Customer Area since yesterday at midnight.

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(You can read the forum announcement here.)

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We are already working on the next versions of Arion stand-alone and Arion for Rhinoceros, so they catch up with Af3 and RCSDK v2.7.0.

Thank you very much!

Dear users,

We have improved extensively Arion’s displacement mapping by making it render faster and with better smoothing. Robustness has also been reviewed, fixing situations where you might come across cracks in the past.

The new displacement code handles numerical resolution better than before, as well. This allows for proper rendering of really tiny micro-triangles.

The speed gain is particularly noticeable when using ‘detail’ displacement maps, such as those that you obtain when you do 3D sculpting.

Thank you for reading!

Dear users,

The ArionFX panel introduced in previous Beta builds of Arion for 3ds Max v2.7.0 is now available in ActiveShade, and not just in Production mode. Besides providing quicker access to the tonemapping controls, it also displays the scene statistics and the memory counters of all the devices involved in the render in a clean fashion.

The model in the screenshot above was kindly provided by John Strieder.

Thank you for reading!

Dear users,

We have extended the functionality of the ArionFX panel in Arion for 3ds Max with two new tabs to display the (per-device) memory usage and some scene statistics:

These readouts are equivalent to the infotag in the Arion stand-alone.

Thank you for reading!

Dear users,

The next build of Arion for 3ds Max will feature a new utility: The Arion Light Lister.

This tool allows the user to list, select and edit all the light sources from a single unified window. The light lister enumerates all the Arion IBL, Arion Sky, or Arion Emitter (material layers) present in the scene.

The Arion Light Lister can be found in the Arion toolbar.

Thank you for reading!

Dear Arion users,

The next build of Arion for 3ds Max will feature a re-designed UI for the RCM root node. The new UI will allow you to access the root and also the material layers from the same UI panel, without having to traverse through multiple nodes. This feature will increase comfort when editing materials, specially for those of you who prefer the Compact Material Editor (over the Slate Material Editor) in 3ds Max.

Among other advantages, this new UI allows the user to edit the layers without losing access to some of the features that belong to the root (specially the material preview).

The new UI does not break back-compatibility with existing materials/scenes. As a matter of fact, using BSDF/Emitter nodes like before is still possible as an option.

The following images depict the same RCM material, as viewed from the MtlEd (new UI), and its nodal structure in the Slate Editor:

Thank you for reading!

Dear Arion users,

Arion for 3ds Max v2.7.0.Beta7 has just been released. You can download the new setup/license from your Customer Area.

Some of the improvements featured in this new build are:

– Uber-faster motion blur (motion and/or deformation).
– Uber-faster displacement mapping (specially for fine details).
– Faster warm-up for very heavy scenes.
– Built-in material converter MAXScript.
– Fixed a bug with ‘Pwr_Boolean’ in PowerNURBS.
– Progressbar when exporting to .rcs.
– Arion Sky light aligned with the horizon in the viewport.
– Auto-update option for the material shaderballs.
– Proper shaderball resolution.
– Per-material preview passes control.
– Some statistics added to the ArionFX panel.
– Support for 3ds Max 2015.
– Clamp U/V in the FileTex node.
– Control-based enable/disable in the UI.
– New Arion Toolbar.
– New Arion Camera.

Thanks for watching!

Dear users,

Arion for 3ds Max v2.7.0.Beta7 introduces a brand new camera type dedicated especially for Arion.

Our new camera object features all the Arion-specific camera attributes in a 3ds Max camera object. This fixes some old User Interface problems with the old Arion roll-up that used to be injected in native 3ds Max cameras. This also allows for the creation of orthogonal or panoramic Arion cameras from within the plug-in.

Here is a snapshot of the new camera object as it shows in the viewport:

And here is a snapshot of the Arion Camera attributes:

Thank you for reading!

Dear users,

The upcoming build of Arion for 3dsMax v2.7.0.Beta7 features a new toolbar that provides instant access to the most important plug-in features.

Below is a snapshot of the new toolbar in Arion for 3ds Max v2.7.0:

The toolbar can be docked in the UI, or hidden/restored from [ Menu > Customize User Interface > Toolbars ].

Thank you for reading!