E frontier on Monday announced the release of Shade 8.5, the first version of its 3D modeling and rendering software for Mac OS X and Windows that supports Intel Macs. A free update for Shade 8 users, the full version costs $199.99 for its standard edition and $899.99 for its professional version.
Features in Shade include Bezier-based modeling tools, rendering engines that include raytracing, HDRI and global illumination support, network grid-based rendering, keyframe-based animation tools and the ability to work with 3D models in Poser, e frontier’s 3D character design and animation software.
New to this release is Universal Binary support so the software runs natively on Intel-based Macs. E frontier notes a 20 percent performance improvement on Intel-based iMacs.
Other new features include import and export support for 3D sound; QuickTime VR export; a new Path Constraints plug-in and FogPlus plug-in and a 690-piece Shade Content Collection #3 called “Cars & Transport.”
Other improvements to Shade 8.5 include bounding box display support for PoserFusion, support of background and sound catalog in ShadeExplorer and an improved user interface.
System requirements call for Mac OS X v10.3.9 or later, G3 or faster CPU, 256MB RAM, 250MB hard disk space, 800 x 600 resolution and CD-ROM drive.