RayFire Studios releases RayFire 1.83 for 3ds Max
RayFire Studios – aka developer Mir Vadim – has released RayFire 1.83 for 3ds Max, the latest version of the destruction plugin, introducing a new interactive demolition workflow.
A popular geometry-shattering system for destruction simulations
A key component of many 3ds Max visual effects artists’ workflows – users include Blur Studio and Pixomondo – RayFire is a geometry-shattering system for rigid body dynamics simulations.
It supports both Bullet and PhysX physics, and can be used to generate a range of fragmentation patterns, including Voronoi, tetrahedral and radial shattering, and patterns resembling wood splinters or bricks.
New interactive workflow shows the result of changes to shattering settings on the fly
On top of that, RayFire 1.83 introduces a significant change: rather than users having to pre-fragment meshes before running a simulation, demolition can now be done interactively.
The video above shows the workflow in action, with RayFire computing the effects of changes to shattering parameters on the fly and displaying the results in the 3ds Max viewport.
It isn’t quite real-time playback, particularly when secondary fragmentation is enabled, but it looks fast enough for users to be able to refine simulations more intuitively.
New options to extend or partially recalculate existing simulations
Other new features include the option to pick up a simulation that has already been calculated from the point at which it left off, or to recalculate it from a given frame.
Users can also choose to ‘relax’ a scene, by pre-simulating any dynamic objects it contains before the start of the simulation proper.
Pricing and system requirements
RayFire 1.83 for 3ds Max is available for 3ds Max 2015 and above. A new licence costs $385, including one year of support and maintenance updates.
Read more about RayFire 1.83 for 3ds Max on the product website