Thinkinetic ships Pulldownit 4.8 for 3ds Max
Originally posted on 12 April 2019. Scroll down for news of the 4.8 update.
Thinkinetic has released Pulldownit 4.5 for 3ds Max, the latest version of its shattering and dynamics plugin.
The update adds a new Alembic exporter for exporting geometry caches to other software, and improves performance when working with high-poly animated meshes.
New Alembic exporter makes it possible to export geometry caches
As with Pulldownit 4.5 for Maya, which was released last year, a key focus of the update is to improve workflow when adding dust or fine debris to a fracture simulation.
In the 3ds Max edition, it’s geared towards adding the dust in an external application, with a new Alembic exporter for exporting geometry caches.
According to Thinkinetic, benefits over 3ds Max’s native Alembic exporter include the option to combine all of the objects into a single cached Alembic mesh for faster viewport playback.
It is also possible to exclude non-animated objects or those with jaggy faces.
Performance and workflow improvements
Performance has also been improved when working with high-poly deforming meshes, like a character’s skin: in the 3ds Max edition, Thinkinetic says that simulations update up to 2x faster.
Other changes include an Only Breaks option, which causes geometry to fracture without collapsing entirely. It is also now possible to set fractures to propagate through geometry only at a given frame of an animation.
Workflow improvements include a new Increase Selection for incrementally increasing the size of the set of fragments selected; and the option to select or toggle the visibility of all the disabled rigid bodies in a scene.
Updated 15 May 2020: Thinkinetic has released Pulldownit 4.8 for 3ds Max. Despite the change in version number, it’s the next public release after 4.5: there were no 4.6 or 4.7 updates.
The release adds features introduced in the Maya edition of the plugin, including the option to re-shatter individual fragments after the initial shatter has been baked. New fragments inherit the motion of the original.
According to Thinkinetic, the Shatter It tool is now “up to 8x” faster, with the biggest speed boosts on combined meshes, and the shatter preview is “up to 3x” faster for high-poly meshes.
New dynamics features include the generation of secondary cracks on a per-fragment basis; and a revamped transition method for fracture bodies, intended to create smoother motion when an object starts to shatter.
Pricing and availability
Pulldownit 4.8 for 3ds Max is available for 64-bit Maya 2017+, running on 64-bit Windows. New node-locked licenses now cost €240 ($465 via US resellers); new floating licences cost €280 ($575 via US resellers).
Read a full list of new features in Pulldownit for 3ds Max in the online changelog