Bionatics : natFX 3 pour MAYA disponible et téléchargeable

Comme cela était annoncé le mois dernier à la GDC 2005, pour répondre aux besoins de l'industrie de l'Entertainment évoluant toujours plus vite, Bionatics confirme le lancement et la disponibilité immédiate de la version complète de natFX 3 pour Maya 6 et 6.5. Alors que seule une version d'essai était disponible sur le site de natFX au mois de Mars 2005, la version complète peut désormais être commandée et livrée depuis le 6 Avril 2005.

Le communiqué de presse (en anglais)

Bionatics launches natFX 3 for Maya

As announced one month ago to respond to the ever-changing needs of the entertainment industry, Bionatics confirms the launch of natFX 3 for Maya. Following the announce of the availability of a Demo Version of natFX 3 for Maya, the full release version of this major release is now available and can be purchased on natFX website or on demand at Bionatics.

natFX 3.0 has been fully re-architected with a new interface to optimize both production time and workflow. Specifically designed for Maya 6.5, natFX combines the advantages of both technologies to handle polygon-heavy models, large scenes and important animation data. natFX 3.0 can be downloaded at www.bionatics.com/natFXmayaDownload.

A truly “made for Maya” software natFX 3.0 brings new animation capabilities to both animation studios artists as well as videogame developers . Either for a simple generation of photo-realistic static trees or for highly animated vegetation scene, natFX 3 provides fully native objects. Artists will be able to generate and design large quantities of models at an unprecedented pace. natFX also generates embedded animation skeletons for those who would like to make their own custom animation(s).

Unequalled real-time capabilities Videogame developers will appreciate natFX 3 unique advantage to provide native objects and generate automatic LODs: By relying on such seamless tool, developers avoid the risky integration of an outsourced SDK, mandatory in other plant modelers. All natFX-generated vegetation integrates seamlessly into the graphic workflow, and thus into any 3D engine or Game Engine compatible with Maya.

Among the key features, natFX 3 allows to handle heavy vegetation datasets and normal mapping on bark textures. natFX 3 includes a multiple Level of Detail (LOD) generator allowing fast creation of LODs from a high resolution tree. Trees can also be fine tuned based on constraints such as: frame-rate, size, distance display, texture memory, etc.

"natFX for Maya is at the leading edge of exploiting the extensibility of Maya," says Geoff Foulds, Global Industry Manager, Games at Alias. "natFX is seamlessly integrated with Maya's modelling, animation, dynamics and user interface. With a few mouse clicks artists can generate entire forests including seamless LOD blends. Just a few more mouse clicks and artists can simulate wind and seasonal effects. Given the demand for huge, interactive worlds the timing of this announcement is excellent."

“This new version of natFX for Maya has been designed taking into consideration the feedback we received from our Maya partners and customers. They are looking forward to creating and animating both large and complex outdoor scenes”, commented Stéphane Gourgout, Bionatics’ Co-Founder & Vice President for sales & marketing. “Bionatics will continue to serve both Videogame and CG industries and design optimal solutions to overcome the challenges met by our partners and customers”.

Twice more plants in the nursery While natFX 2 had only 150 virtual specie seeds, natFX 3 will be released with 220 specie seeds and will be enriched within the next quarter with 80 more seeds.

Special Launch Price Clients under maintenance will be able to acquire natFX 3 for free for new customers will also have a great opportunity: Until end of June 2005, natFX 3 will be sold at 25% discount. This will be the occasion for those who were looking forward to purchasing natFX to move forward.

After April 2005, the pricing of natFX 3 for Maya will remain unchanged from natFX 2 for Maya – natFX 3 for Maya starts at $1,890 (1,490 €). For customers outside subscription plan, upgrade to natFX 3 is $450 (450 €). natFX 3 for Maya is available for Windows only.

natFX was showed for the first time at GDC 2005 on Bionatics’ Booth, from March 9th to 11th. For more information on natFX, visit www.natfx.com

About Bionatics
Specialized in the technology of 3D simulation and modeling of plants, Bionatics develops a complete lineup of innovative solutions for: Architecture, Video Game, 3D Animation, and the synthetic images for virtual reality. Established in 2000, Bionatics was born from the scientific research lead by CIRAD which brought to life the AMAP technology, known throughout the international scientific community, and today including references such as: Video Games: UbiSoft, Electronic Arts, Vivendi Universal Games, Lucas Arts, EIDOS, Microsoft, Atari, Intrepid Games, Namco, Coresoft, StormRegion, Eugen System. RockStar, Ion Storm 3D Animation: Weta Digital, Sony Picture ImageWorks, BlueSky Studios, The Moving Picture Company, Framestore, Mikros Image, Jelly Television, Attitude studio. Bionatics has offices in France (Paris, Montpellier) and Canada (Vancouver).