Pixels Inc. has announced the availability of PiXELS 3D version 4.0, a new version of the 3D animation software. The application is available now from Pixels Inc. and it’s designed for use on Mac OS X.
The new incarnation has also been redesigned from the ground up to provide “the maximum flexibility to designers and animators, while improving the interface to make the product easier to use for less technical users, according to Andrew Bryant, president of Pixels. And it’s 100 percent customizable, he added.
The user interface can now be tweaked to fit each user’s workflow. Every UI element is completely scriptable and customizable. Designed around Pixel’s Open3D architecture, the new plug-in application programming interface (API) has been expanded to provide developers with direct access to every core function, Bryant said. Plug-ins for version 4 can now be interactive and dynamic, providing real-time feedback and custom UI widgets with direct manipulation capabilities.
PiXELS 3D also incorporates Tempest, Pixels’ rendering engine. This renderer is based on the REYES Image Rendering Architecture, which was developed by the Computer Graphics Research Group at Lucasfilm.
Tempest also provides support for procedural models, curves (hair) and partical systems as well as programmable shaders. A full beta version is currently available for purchase (for US$299) and download through the Pixels web store. The final version is scheduled be released this month.