Autodesk has released Autodesk Softimage 7.5 software for visual effects and game production. With this release, Autodesk has renamed the SOFTIMAGE|XSI software - acquired from Avid Technology - Autodesk Softimage.
The 7.5 version offers timesaving new features, such as UV unfolding technology, a multithreaded Syflex cloth simulator and an integrated mental ray 3.7+ renderer. Artists have used Softimage to create numerous movies, commercials and video games, including the Oscar-winning film "Happy Feet," Coca Cola's "Heist" Super Bowl ad, and the "Fable II" video game.
"Our mission at Autodesk is to deliver integrated pipelines for digital entertainment creation and Softimage is an important addition to our portfolio," said Marc Petit, Autodesk Media & Entertainment senior vice president. "It has been three months since we acquired substantially all of the assets of Softimage and its integration into Autodesk is going extremely well. The team has kept Softimage 7.5 on plan and it has shipped without delay. We remain committed to delivering solid future releases of the software."
Key New Features in Autodesk Softimage 7.5
UV Unfolding Technology
Softimage now features UV unfolding technology that enables artists to unwrap polygon models with just a few clicks. This technology works well on complex organic models, which would be difficult to unwrap manually. Softimage 7.5 also provides UV editing tools that help artists quickly create and edit UV maps.
mental ray 3.7+
Version 3.7+ of the mental ray renderer is now integrated into Softimage 7.5. Highlights include improvements to binary space partitioning for faster render times, multiple final gathering refinement passes and new motion-based displacement. These enhancements help users create high-fidelity images faster than ever before.
Multithreaded Syflex Cloth Simulator
The production-proven cloth simulator in Softimage is now multithreaded, enabling artists to use the cores on their machine to iterate faster.