Golaem releases Golaem Crowd 2.2
Golaem has released Golaem Crowd 2.2, the latest update to its Maya crowd-simulation system.
The software lets animators create crowd shots using familiar tools such as particle systems – as opposed to the AI-based approach of packages like Massive – and is in use at studios including Zoic and Mikros Image.
Arnold support, easier deployment, automatic texture variation
The latest release adds support for SolidAngle’s Arnold renderer: rapidly becoming a staple of medium-to-large animation and VFX studios. Golaem Crowd already supports RenderMan, 3delight, mental ray and V-Ray.
Golaem 2.2 also adds new procedural shaders and support for multitextures, making it possible to automate the process of assigning variant textures to the characters that make up a crowd.
Golaem has also created a new Golaem Crowd Render package, which encapsulates all of a studio’s Golaem Crowd rendering proxies in a single installation package for easier deployment on renderfarms.
Golaem Crowd 2.2 is available now for Maya 2011 and above on Windows and Linux. A permanent licence costs $6,599, including one year’s maintenance and unlimited render nodes.