The rapid development of visualisation and rendering engines requires new techniqes for the creation of interior and exterior scene solutions. Today 3d-io announces the immediate availability of the most anticipated scene baking plug-in for Autodesk 3ds MAX. With a focus on supporting all major 3ds Max renderers and enhancing the unwrapping and packing of UV maps for 3d scenes in a simple yet powerful way, Flatiron 1.50 brings benefits to all customers working in game development, architecture or CG visualisation.

Highlights of Flatiron 1.50

Single pass rendering

Flatiron now provides the option to bake all objects at once into the texture map. This speeds up the whole baking process significantly because it avoids repeated reinitialization of the renderer and combines all objects on the fly instead of using a separate merge pass afterwards. The speed improvement is especially significant when baking a lot of small objects.

The bake method of previous Flatiron versions is still available as an option.

Multi-map mode

Flatiron now supports unwrapping and baking into multiple texture maps. Instead of using Flatiron individually with different selections the user can now assign selection sets and then let Flatiron handle multiple groups of objects at once.

The multi map mode can also be used in combination with automatic distribution. Instead of manually assigning objects into groups, users can just take all the objects and have them automatically distributed among a selected number of textures.

Changes and new features in Flatiron 1.50

• Single Pass Rendering for multiple objects. Flatiron can now bake a whole set of objects in a single render operation instead of rendering them all separately. This reduces render times significantly and improves compatibility with render output formats. See below for details about supported renderers.
• Surface angle based seam assignments. This improves the unwrap results of hard surface meshes.
• Flatiron can now automatically distribute the objects over multiple texture maps to allow for greater fine tuning of output sizes.
• Support for selection sets added. Group your objects into sets and Flatiron can create separate texture maps for each sets.
• MAXScript support for all the new features
• A few minor user interface improvements
• Various minor fixes

The single pass render mode is fully supported for 3ds Max Scanline Renderer, Mental Ray, finalRender and V-Ray (version 1.50 SP4a and up). Brazil and older versions of V-Ray support a compatibility mode that also allows to bake multiple objects at once but this mode ignores object specific settings (i.e. ‘don’t cast shadows’).

About 3d-io

3d-io games & video production GmbH is specialized company for high-end software development, modeling, animation, rendering, CG effects and 3D industrial design. 3d-io GmbH, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, has an established strong presence in game development, design & video production, digital content creation as well as in graphics and animation. We are dedicated to provide easy-to-use software products accompanied by dedicated support team, experienced programmers and top notch 3D artists.

Contact: http://www.3d-io.com, http://www.3d-plugin.com

Changes for version 1.12:

• padding fix Padding between UV charts has been adjusted. Charts now also keep correct distance to the edges of the UV map.
• fixed incorrect memory allocation when baking a lot of objects into a map. Under certain circumstances the plug-in reserved a very high amount of unnecessary memory, causing Max to shut down.
• Fixed: Flatiron modifier map channel info sometimes displayed the wrong mat channel.

The update is now available for download at http://flatiron.3d-plugin.com/download/

Blake Robinson, the leader of the Paradum Games team and Igor Posavec, creative head behind Flatiron, meet to discuss some of the main aspects of independent game development, game design and the optimization of graphics assets.

Click here to read the full 4 page interview and learn more about how upcoming new development teams get ready to compete soon ready to compete on platforms like Microsoft Community Games, Iphone, Android and Wii Ware.

Also take a look at a perfect case of Flatiron usage for the creation of game level graphics, light- and GI-maps: this is a real example of how to squeeze the last pixel out of the map in order to get perfect light and global illumination!

Changes for version 1.11:

• Installer has been modified to improve handling of 3ds Max Design 2010, especially when 3ds Max 2010 and 3ds Max Design 2010 are both installed on the same system.
• Installation support for Japanese and Chinese versions of 3ds Max has been improved to avoid compatibility problems.
• Occasionally occuring compatibility problems with other plugins corrected.
• Unwrapping in polygon mode for complex polygons has been improved. It is no longer necessary to switch to triangle mode when unwrapping meshes with polygons that have multiple unconnected vertex groups.
• Improved speed and accuracy for material slot detection for the corresponding user interface component.
• Handling of error messages has been enhanced for automation via MAXScript.
  

The update is now available for download at http://flatiron.3d-plugin.com/download/

This free upgrade to Flatiron supports 3ds Max 2010 and includes significant improvements and new features.

Following the needs of Flatiron users, we have focused on adding the most requested features, such as user defined seam preservation and support for polygonal unwrapping mode. At the same time we have polished the MAXScript interface, improving Flatiron’s integration into custom production pipelines.

Changes in Flatiron 1.10:

• Added support for 3ds Max 2010
• Added a polygon based seam creation mode that does not split polygons (i.e. quads) with seams
• Already existing seams on meshes can now optionally be kept as they are. This allows users to guide chart creation where required by specific circumstances
• Added the new features (unwrapping mode and keep seams) to MAXScript interface (see documentation for details)
• Resolved ‘out-of-memory’ issues for certain file types
• Fixed ‘Target map slot’ no longer resets on every selection change
• Fixed occasionally broken unique parameter handling; Unique parameters are now interpreted and sent to the renderer correctly
• Fixed unique parameter automatic reset to default values after pressing Bake button. Set values now remain intact
• Fixed problems with Vray that were caused by Vray doesn’t tolerating zero-faced objects
• Improved MAXScript interface; assigning non existing bake element via MAXScript will not cause problems, verbose mode is turned on, printing out the list of supported parameters. Respectively for ‘target map slot’ assignment
• Fixed occasional merge error in network render mode
• Fixed occasional ‘invalid network path’ error in network render mode
• Fixed slow downs when selecting larger group of objects which don’t have any material
• Fixed rare crash when baking an object with shell material where the first submaterial is NONE

The update is now available for download at http://flatiron.3d-plugin.com/download/

Network rendering
Flatiron can now use network rendering through backburner to bake the texture maps. Please refer to the Flatiron manual for special considerations involving the network rendering feature.

MAXScript
Flatiron can now be used through MAXScript to simplify integration into production pipelines and to enable batch processing of multiple consecutive unwrapping and baking operations. A documentation of Flatiron’s MAXScript API can be found in the user manual.

Changes since Flatiron 1.01:
+ Added netrender support for texture baking.
+ Flatiron can now be controlled through MAXScript.
+ The licensing system has been updated to version 2.0.1.1, offering enhancements in stability and reliability.
+ Miscellaneous fixes and improvements.

You can get the newest version from: http://flatiron.3d-plugin.com/download/

Flatiron (http://flatiron.3d-plugin.com/) is the new whole scene unwrapping and baking plug-in for Autodesk™ 3D Studio Max™.

It was developed for the high demands of graphics designers in real world production environments and provides a fast, simple and optimal full-scene unwrapping and baking solution.

Flatiron allows baking textures for multiple objects into a single map in a few simple steps. Baking lightmaps or any other type of render elements into large and complex scenes can be done with a few mouse clicks. Flatiron automatically takes care of the unwrapping and packing process and creates UV maps with optimized distribution, yielding much better quality lightmaps. This process minimizes texture seams and image corruption due to stretched pixels, and at the same time keeps the UV area ratio of all objects uniform, boosting the average image quality.

A tutorial video illustrating the workflow and capabilities of Flatiron can be viewed at:

http://flatiron.3d-plugin.com/2009/01/video-tutorial-create-your-own-lightmaps-level/

Key features

Simplifies workflow, advanced options available

At minimum, 4 simple operations are necessary for the full unwrapping and baking process from start to finish. Users requiring additional options and fine-tuning of rendering parameters have all the usual render-to-texture parameters from the standard Max built-in “render-to-texture” dialog available.

Advanced stretch-free automatic unwrapping

Unwrapping algorithm is based on 3d-io’s Unwrella plug-in technology, offering noticeably better results than MAX built-in “Flatten”, when final rendered images are compared side-by-side. The unwrapping process is fully automatic, and at the same time minimizes number of charts, seams and texture stretch.

High quality packing algorithm

Packing large numbers of chunks for hundreds of unwrapped objects is done with 3d-io’s Unwrella plug-in based UV packing technology. Charts are packed quickly and optimally, yielding high texture space usage, and at the same time respecting user selectable gutter padding and final texture sizes.

Versatility

Flatiron consistently delivers quality results with all kinds of 3d models from 3d game objects to industrial designs to complex, irregular organic shapes.
As such, it is an optimal tool for everyday work in game development, architecture and other 3D design studios.

Availability

The Flatiron, complete scene unwrapping and baking solution plug-in for Autodesk™ 3ds Max™ is now available in both trial mode and fully functional commercial license on its homepage:

Flatiron homepage ( http://flatiron.3d-plugin.com )

3d-plugin homepage ( http://www.3d-plugin.com )

3d-io ( http://www.3d-io.com )

Tutorials

For more information about the benefits, feature description and detailed usage in the production, please visit the illustrated tutorial and video web-page:
http://flatiron.3d-plugin.com/howto/

About 3d-io
3d-io games & video production GmbH is specialised company for high-end software development, modeling, animation, rendering, CG effects and 3D industrial design. 3d-io GmbH, headquartered in Wiesbaden, Germany, has an established strong presence in game development, design & video production, digital content creation as well as in graphics and animation. We are dedicated to provide easy-to-use software products accompanied by dedicated support team, experienced programmers and top notch 3D artists. Our latest product on the gaming market was nominated for the German Game Developers Award 2008 in best graphics category, and CG products are used by many famous Game and Design Studios worldwide.

Flatiron is a four steps Render To Texture plug-in which is capable of baking full scenes or selections of objects into a single UV Map. Advanced automatic unwrapping, which is built into the plug-in, is based on our Unwrella high quality automated unwrapping technology. It is a fast, simple and yet completely configurable automatic unwrapping and baking solution which totally automates and hence greatly speeds up the process of baking complex scenes.

DOWNLOAD the complete 3D Studio MAX example scene and try yourself to create your own lightmaps!

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Changes in this version:
+ Fixed normal bump texture map not being applied correctly when corresponding option is selected from the bake element settings rollout.
+ Corrected problems with image file formats that don’t support alpha channels (especially *.jpg)
+ Added the option to add the map with a composite texture map into the selected map slot to utilize the powerful features of the new composite map in 3ds max 2009.

+ License Server handling of multi-client / multi-plugin setups improved
+ fixed uninstallation of license client dlls
+ added interoperability enhancements for future releases

We urge all users to upgrade to 1.01 because version 1.0 will cause conflicts with our upcoming products such as UV-Packer and Unwrella v2.

In addition to the update we have also released a new tutorial video that highlights the scene baking workflow with flatiron. The sample scene used in the tutorial is available for download so that interested users can easily experiment with flatiron.

The updated plugin, the tutorial video and the 3ds max scene are available for download at http://flatiron.3d-plugin.com

The beta phase has ended and Flatiron 1.0 is now available for Autodesk 3ds Max 9, 2008 and 2009 (each 32 and 64 bit).
Download of a free trial version and ordering can be found on the flatiron homepage:

http://flatiron.3d-plugin.com/

Until 31.01.2009 the plugin is available for an introductory price of 199€ + VAT, from February on the price will be 249€ + VAT.
The trial version can be used for 30 starts of 3ds Max, the total amount of faces for a map is limited to 20000 and texture sizes can not be customized.

Changes since the last public beta:

+ Support for all max image formats, including color depths of more than 16 bits per pixel
+ Problems when unwrapping groups that are contained in other groups resolved. Manual ungrouping should not be necessary any more.
+ Improved handling of certain modifier combinations
+ optional unwrap preview shows a template of the generated UV map
+ render window stays open after baking process has finished
+ prevented crashes caused by insufficient memory when baking large texture maps
+ a single license manager can be used for Flatiron and UV-Packer. Unwrella will follow shortly. Installer updated accordingly.
+ miscellaneous minor fixes Please uninstall your previous version of Flatiron before installing this release.

Flatiron is the newest full scene unwrapping and baking plug-in for Autodesk™ 3D Studio Max™.
It was developed to satisfy high demands of graphics designers in real world production environments and provides a fast, automated, simple to use and optimal full scene unwrapping and baking solution.

Flatiron lets you bake textures for multiple objects into a single map in just a few simple steps. Flatiron automatically takes care of the unwrapping and packing processes and creates the UV map with optimized distribution. This process minimizes texture seams and image corruption due to stretched pixels, and at the same time keeps the UV area ratio of all objects uniform.

Key features

Simple workflow, with advanced options available
At minimum, 4 simple steps are necessary for the full unwrapping and baking process. Users requiring additional options and in the need of fine-tuning of rendering parameters have all the usual render-to-texture parameters from the standard Max built-in “render-to-texture” dialog available.
 

The unwrapping and packing of large numbers of chunks for hundreds of objects is based on 3d-io’s Unwrella plug-in. Charts are packed quickly and optimally, yielding optimal texture space usage, and at the same time respecting user selectable gutter padding and final texture size. This automatic process offers noticeably better results then MAX built-in “Flatten”, when the resulting rendered images are compared side-by-side.

Versatility

Flatiron consistently delivers quality results with all kinds of 3d models ranging from realtime 3d game objects,industrial and architectural designs to complex, irregular organic shapes.

Availability

The Flatiron, full scene unwrapping and baking solution plug-in, for Autodesk™ 3ds Max™ is now available in a free and fully functional “Open Beta” release on the product’s homepage:

flatiron homepage
3d-plugin homepage
3d-io

About 3d-io
3d-io games & video production GmbH is a Germany based software company founded in 1996. It is dedicated to provide digital content, high-quality 3D and 2D design and affordable and easy-to-use software products like Games and Infotainment. 3d-io has an established presence in design production, digital content creation and graphics animation. Major German and international game and infotainment companies including Braingame, CDV, Related-Designs, 3DO, Koch-Media, Data Becker, and Hannah-Barbera, as well as industrial and telecommunication key players such as Thyssen, Mercedes, Deutsche Bank, Sony, Wunderman, Bayer, M.I.T. GmbH, Hoechst, Krupp and Ferrero have utilized 3d-io’s unique graphic style and technology. During the exploration of the workflows and production pipelines in game development and 3d design 3d-io has encountered the demand for fast, reliable and optimized unwrapping methods. Unsatisfied with the suboptimal performance of available tools for this task, the company set out to create its own solution to meet the high quality requirements of productions under tight schedules.