Ephere releases Ornatrix V5 for 3ds Max
Ephere has released Ornatrix V5 for 3ds Max, the latest update to its popular plugin for generating hair, fur and feathers, making it possible to generate hair from particles and overhauling grooming and LOD workflow.
Generate hair from any native 3ds Max particle system
The most eye-catching new feature in version 5 is the option to create hair from particles, with Ornatrix tracing the trajectories of any native 3ds Max particle system to create the strands.
The feature adds an entirely new method for users to create hair – or more abstract hair-like objects – on top of the existing methods of positioning guide curves or converting mesh strips to hair.
The update also introduces the option to bake out or import animations as Alembic caches, including the option to layer baked animations.
New guide workflow makes it easier to edit hair systems or generate LODs
Other changes include a new modifier for generating guide curve data procedurally: one of a set of changes designed to make it easier to create Level of Detail (LOD) assets.
There is also a new Guides from Hair modifier, enabling hair systems – including hair originally generated via another method, such as mesh strips – to be converted back to guide curves for editing.
It is also now possible to import multiple splines to use as guides.
Improved grooming workflow, including symmetrical grooming
Changes to hair grooming workflow include a new Push Away From Surface modifier, designed to fix intersections between a hair system and the underlying geometry surface.
Detaching a groom from underlying geometry is also now a one-button operation.
Brushes now have a mirroring option, enabling artists to groom hair symmetrically, as does the Surface Comb modifier, along with “control over shape and rotations to make styling fur faster”.
Interface and workflow changes
User interface changes include new curve ramp editors with presets (you can see them in action at 00:25 in the video above), to make it quicker and easier to control hair parameters.
There are also new single-button controls for creating vertex colour or guide chanels, making “connecting hair attributes to your object data a snap”.
You can find a complete list of new features and bugfixes via the link at the foot of this story
Pricing and availability
Ornatrix V5 is available now. At time of posting, we can’t find the system requirements on Ephere’s website, but V4 was compatible with 3ds Max 2009 and above. A new licence costs $499.
Read a full list of new features in Ornatrix V5 for 3ds Max in Ephere’s change log
Homepage image: Trizz