DNA Research cuts price of 3Delight for Maya
Image Engine used an earlier version of 3Delight for Maya on District 9. The price of the RenderMan-compliant renderer has now been released to as little as $400 to appeal to small and medium-sized studios.
DNA Research has released a new version of its RenderMan-compliant rendering plug-in, 3Delight for Maya.
Version 6.0 of the software features a number of UI and performance improvements, particularly a new global illumination UI designed to reduce the need for shader authoring.
The price of 3Delight for Maya has also been cut from $1,000 to $900 for a multi-core licence, or just $400 for a quad-core licence – a move that should appeal to the smaller studios that make up the software’s core users.
By contrast, the current version of RenderMan for Maya costs $995.
PRESS RELEASE (Excerpts)
DNA Research announces 3Delight for Maya 6.0, the latest major evolution of our fully integrated rendering plug-in for Autodesk Maya.
Starting immediately, 3Delight for Maya will be available as a package with a new entry-level pricing. This package is aimed at artists as well as small to medium sized studio who wish to work with a fast, robust, production-strength renderer that is totally integrated into Maya.
This new release improves usability and user-friendliness through improving UI improved user experience in our Maya plug-in and includes many performance and quality improvements in the core renderer.
Highlights of version 6.0
- A new “Global Illumination” UI
This tab allows for an easy control of global illumination settings, for both ray-traced and point-based algorithms and no further shader programming is necessary. Multi-bounce global illumination effects are easily computed using photon mapping. - Rendering Optimizations
Ray-tracing and global illumination are faster for reflections, refractions, occlusion and shadows. Users can expect accelertion up to 50% in shading intensive renders. - Minimal Passes and Passes Templates
This feature presents the user with a simple, uncluttered, render pass interface. Users can add features as needed for maximum usability. Such passes can then be organized in templates for rapid access. - More efficient Relationship Editor
Large scenes are no longer a problem for the relation-ship editor. Scenes with thousands of nodes and assignments handle seamlessly. - Faster scene parsing
A “scene caching” feature through RIB fragments further improves rendering performance, especially the loading time. - UI Improvements
Many all-around improvements to the user interface increase productivity. - Latest Maya support
Autodesk Maya 2012 is supported.
Pricing and Availability
3Delight for Maya 6.0 is priced at USD $900 and offers unlimited multi-core capabilities. It is also available at the more affordable price of USD $400 for users with quad-core computers. A single license, limited to dual-core rendering, is also offered for free. 3Delight for Maya 6.0 is available now for download as a public beta.
Download the public beta of 3Delight for Maya 6.0