Sitni Sati releases FumeFX 7.5 for 3ds Max
Sitni Sati has released FumeFX 7.5 for 3ds Max, the latest version of the effects plugin.
The update introduces a new CUDA-based GPU solver for gaseous fluid simulation, speeding up smoke and fire simulations by 2-5x for users with suitable NVIDIA graphics cards.
A staple of 3ds Max-based visual effects pipelines for over a decade
First released in 2007, FumeFX quickly became a go-to tool for 3ds Max artists looking to create gaseous fluid effects like smoke, fire and clouds.
The software has been used by studios like Blizzard Entertainment, Blur Studio and Luma Pictures on a range of movies and game cinematics, including 2022 Indian blockbuster RRR.
Later updates added broader physics simulation capabilities, including particles, rigid bodies, soft bodies and cloth, and – most recently – small-scale liquid simulation.
FumeFX is also now available for Maya and Cinema 4D, but the 3ds Max edition remains the one to which new features are added first.
New CUDA-based GPU solver for smoke and fire simulation
Although FumeFX already has GPU-accelerated toolsets for liquid simulation and ocean simulation, until now, the core smoke and fire simulations were CPU-only.
FumeFX 7.5 changes that, adding a new GPU solver for gaseous fluid simulation.
According to Sitni Sati, it is 2-5x faster than the CPU solver on a system with a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 GPU and an AMD Ryzen 9 7900X CPU, depending on simulation size and complexity.
The GPU solver doesn’t produce identical output to the CPU solver, but “follows the same underlying … principles”, resulting in comparable “physical accuracy and overall realism”.
Simulations that exceed GPU memory automatically fall back to the CPU, so you will need a pretty beefy graphics card: Sitni Sati recommends at least a 24GB GPU.
The GPU solver is CUDA-based, so you will also need a NVIDIA GPU.
Better coupling of fluid and rigid-body simulations
Other changes in FumeFX 7.5 for 3ds Max include support for two-way interaction between FumeFX fluids and particle shapes authored using the new-ish NodeWorks node editor.
NodeWorks particle shapes can act as PhysX rigid bodies, making it possible for solid objects to influence fluid flow, then for the fluid to apply forces back onto the objects.
In addition, calculation of collision with static objects has been improved, and now processes “over 15x faster” on “complex geometry with millions of faces”.
The GPU viewport has also been updated, improving performance and making it possible to display multiple FumeFX simulation grids in full.
Price and system requirements
FumeFX 7.5 for 3ds Max is compatible with 3ds Max 2020+ running on Windows 10+. Sitni Sati recommends at least a NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 GPU for GPU simulation.
The 3ds Max edition of the software is subscription-only. Workstation licences cost $365/year; additional simulation licences cost $95/year.
At the time of writing, neither the Maya or Cinema 4D edition has been updated past FumeFX 6.
Read a full list of new features in FumeFX 7.5 for 3ds Max in the online documentation
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