Marmoset ships Toolbag 4.06
Originally posted on 9 May 2023 for the open beta, and updated for the final release.
Marmoset has released Toolbag 4.06, the new version of its real-time rendering and look dev tool. The update extends OpenUSD support within Toolbag, and adds the option to render EXR image sequences.
The bundled asset library gets a new Objects asset type for mesh and lighting presets.
A real-time look development and rendering toolkit, particularly for games assets and portfolio work
A lightweight system for look dev, compositing and final rendering, Toolbag is widely used by games artists, but is also increasingly being used in other sectors of the industry.
It enables users to visualise imported models quickly, setting up PBR materials and lighting, with 2021’s Toolbag 4.0 update adding a new 3D texture painting system.
Users can then either bake texture maps for export to other DCC software or game engines – Toolbag exports directly to Unity, though not Unreal Engine – or render stills or animation directly.
Toolbag 4.06: expanding support for USD workflows
The main focus of the Toolbag 4.06 update is to extend support for the Universal Scene Description (OpenUSD) format, following the introduction of USD import and export in Toolbag 4.05.
Changes include the option to export a selected mesh in OpenUSD format, rather than the entire scene.
Users can also export a wider range of proprietary Toolbag object types in OpenUSD format, including cameras, turntable objects, shadow catcher objects, fog and backdrop objects.
In addition, a wider range of material properties can now be exported in OpenUSD format, including emissive, displacement and clearcoat material values.
That should mean that PBR materials display more consistently between Toolbag and other DCC applications and game engines, as illustrated in the image above.
Updates to file import and export, and support for rendering EXRs
Other changes include the option to export meshes with quads and n-gons in file types that support them, and a new Weld Vertices option to fix topological issues in meshes.
Toolbag also now supports meshes or sub-meshes with multiple material assignments.
Users can also now render videos in EXR format, making it possible to generate HDR image sequences.
There are a lot of smaller changes to the texturing, baking, rendering and file export toolsets, including some signfificant bugfixes. You can find a full list via the link at the foot of this story.
New Objects asset type for mesh and lighting presets
Outside the core software, Toolbag’s bundled asset library gets a new Objects preset type.
It enables users to create and reuse mesh and lighting presets – for example, three-point lighting set-ups – rather than always having to populate scenes from scratch.
Pricing and availability
Toolbag 4.06 is available for Windows 10 and macOS 10.15+. It is compatible with any Direct3D 12-capable GPU on Windows, and macOS GPU family 2.
New licences now cost cost $319 for individual artists, and $879 for studios. Subscriptions cost $15.99/month for individuals and $43.99/month for studios.
Read an overview of the new features in Toolbag 4.06 one Marmoset’s blog
Read a full list of new features in Toolbag 4.06 in the release notes