Science.D.Visions releases €499 version of 3DEqualizer4
Science.D.Visions has released an update to 3DEqualizer4, its high-end matchmoving software, and made the two previous versions of the package available as lower-cost editions for students, freelancers and small studios.
One of the earliest commercial matchmoving tools, 3DEqualizer received a technical Academy Award in 2002. Science.D.Visions now notes that “the world’s top ten VFX production houses rely on 3DEqualizer4”.
New tools for power users
The latest update, 3DEqualizer4 Release 3, or the ‘Enterprise’ edition, adds a range of features aimed at improving the speed and accuracy of solves, particularly on footage captured on cameras with rolling shutters.
There are also new functions for reconstructing 3D geometry for point clouds; improved support for Python scripting; and export scripts for a wider range of 3D software – including Blender, interestingly.
The full list of new features, taken from the press release, is as follows:
- A new infrastructure for calculating function curves of dynamic parameters such as focal length (zooming), focus distance and stereoscopic interocular distance.
- New distortion models for compensating specific artifacts introduced by anamorphic lenses (lens breathing) as well as artifacts introduced by beam splitters of stereo camera rigs (bending).
- An updated Matrix tool used to acquire the structure of gridshots very fast and nearly fully automatic.
- Functions for generating 3D polygonal models out of previously reconstructed point clouds.
- Projecting undistorted, rolling shutter free footage directly onto 3D models.
- High quality preview rendering functions which include distortion- and rolling shutter removal as well as motion blur effects.
- A separate filter function for identifying bad tracking points.
- An enhanced Python scripting interface with more than 500 specific commands.
- New 3D export filter scripts for supporting third-party tools such as Houdini, LightWave, Cinema 4D and Blender.
The Enterprise edition is available now for 64-bit Windows, Linux and Mac OS X, price €4,999 (around $6,800).
Old versions discounted for students and small studios
But if that’s too much for your wallet, Science-D-Visions has also released two lower-cost editions of the software – by the simple expedient of renaming and repricing its two previous releases.
3DEqualizer4 Release 2, released in 2012, becomes the ‘Advanced’ edition of the software, and is priced at €1,999 ($2,700).
Its predecessor, 3DEqualizer4 Release 1, becomes the ‘Foundation’ edition, and costs just €499 ($680).
For context, that puts it in the same price bracket as SynthEyes – admittedly at the top of the scale, and for a version that is a couple of years old, but still pretty darn good value for students and freelancers.
Read more about the new features in 3DEqualizer 4 Release 3
See a feature comparison table of the three editions of 3DEqualizer4