Nvidia fully open-sources MDL
Open-source version of Material Definition Language to include the MDL Distiller and GLSL backend for real-time and viewport rendering.
Friday, August 12th, 2022
mental ray
Get finalRender for free
New free edition of the 3ds Max production renderer lacks hybrid CPU/GPU and network rendering, but can be used commercially.
Wednesday, March 25th, 2020
iCube R&D Group ships MultiScatter 1.5 for 3ds Max
Scattering plugin gets improved object painting and distribution, plus option to scatter V-Ray Lights.
Thursday, February 27th, 2020
StemCell converts 3ds Max, Maya files to UE4 and Unity
Updated: TurboSquid tech converts files in the native format of one 3D app to that of another. Now also exports USDZ files.
Thursday, December 5th, 2019
Autodesk to stop issuing activation codes for older apps
Activation to cease for the 2010 editions this year; then for most Autodesk software more than three versions old in 2021.
Thursday, June 27th, 2019
Nvidia open-sources MDL
SDK of the Material Definition Language supported in V-Ray, Substance Designer and Adobe tools now available as source code.
Friday, August 17th, 2018
Chaos Group on V-Ray Next and the future of rendering
V-Ray Next is a landmark update. Chaos Group reveals the thinking behind it, and the forces shaping rendering tools.
Thursday, May 31st, 2018
Epic Games launches Unreal Studio in free open beta
New real-time visualisation product gets 3ds Max scenes or CAD data into Unreal Engine for rendering.
Wednesday, March 7th, 2018
Mental Ray: a retrospective
To mark the news that Nvidia is to discontinue the renderer, we look back over the highs and lows of nearly 30 years of Mental Ray.
Monday, November 20th, 2017
Nvidia discontinues Mental Ray
Sales of the standalone renderer and the 3ds Max and Maya plugins stop today. Work on Iray continues via Nvidia's development partners.
Monday, November 20th, 2017
Nvidia releases Mental Ray for Maya 1.2
First version of the renderer compatible with Maya 2018, and with Nvidia's upcoming Volta GPUs.
Wednesday, September 27th, 2017
cebas releases finalRender R4 for 3ds Max
Long-awaited physically accurate hybrid CPU/GPU renderer ships after six years in development.
Wednesday, September 20th, 2017
Autodesk ships 3ds Max 2018
Update replaces the mental ray renderer with Arnold 5, adds new options for customising the interface and editing motion paths.
Thursday, April 13th, 2017