NEWS • OCTOBER 13 , 2000
Pixels 3D Goes Free
Studio 4.0 due out in first quarter

by David Nagel
Executive Producer
dnagel@digitalmedianet.com

Pixels Animation Studios yesterday announced they're making their modeling, animation and rendering package, Pixels 3D 3.6, free for the public. The hope, of course, is that users will upgrade to higher-end or more recent products after experiencing 3.6. The free, downloadable version is not limited in any way, and it's available for the Macintosh only.

Paul Moebius, vice president of PAS, said that since the posting last night, Pixels received 7,000 unique visitors to their site, with 800 product registrations.

Pixels 3D 3.6 features include:

• Interactive modeling tools, including patch and NURBs;
• Organic modeling;
• Fluid dynamics used to simulate the feel of real objects;
• Spline/NURBS modeler Objects are created with smooth surfaces not made up of polygons;
• Boolean modeling for using one shape to cut holes in another shape while maintaining smooth surfaces;
• Object instancing for creating complex systems, such as flocks of birds and hair;
• Real-time manipulation and interaction with characters, light sources and cameras;
• Geometric Objects: Cylinder, Sphere, Cone, Cube, Plane, Spline;
• Surface Creation Tools: Extrude (axis), Extrude (path), Lathe, Loft, Lattice, Extract, Null, Boundary Curve Blends and Trim Curves;
• Splines Types: Linear, Hermite, Catmull-Rom, B-Spline, NURBs, Cardinal, Tau, Tensed B and Beta;
• Advanced NURBS: Full quadratic/cubic modeling support, including trim/project NURBS surfaces and curve extrusion;
• Reshape Tools: Push/Pull, Spline, Pinch, Subdivide, Collide, Join, Insert, Remove, Flip, Disrupt, Invert, 3D Emboss, Clip, Close Ends, Optimize, Reorder, Sculpt and Wrap.

Pixels 3D also includes numerous animation tools, rendering options and texture tools. It's also fully scriptable. The free download offer also includes Pixels 3D extras and some free plugins.

Users who pay $300 for the PAS One-Year Subscription will get Pixels 3D 3.7 now, as well as all plugins and updates that come out over the next year. Moebius told Creative Mac that PAS will be releasing a 4.0 version in the first quarter of 2001, which will be included in the subscription update. The 4.0 version will feature several changes from the 3.x version, including using Tempest as its renderer. The modeler will be a stand-alone application that has integration features with the animation and shading application. Without the subscription, the 4.0 version alone will run somewhere in the $800 range.

For more information or to download Pixels 3D, go to http://www.pixels3d.com. While you're there, check out Tempest, the company's forthcoming renderer, which will likely be available before the end of the year.

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