MODO 901 SP3 is out!

The Foundry has released Service Pack 3, the latest update to MODO 901. Log into your account to download the update.
https://thefoundry.co.uk/


Details on SP3
https://community.thefoundry.co.uk/support/MODO901_SP3_details.aspx

Known Issues Fixed in SP3
https://community.thefoundry.co.uk/support/MODO901_known_issues.aspx
—
Digital Pictures
sales@digitalpictures.com
612-371-4515

Reminder: Late Renewal on Autodesk Maintenance contracts discontinued

Just a reminder that for anyone with a Maintenance Subscription on their Autodesk software, you must renew by the END DATE, at the very LATEST. Otherwise, your Maintenance contract will cancel, and you’ll have to buy a new Desktop seat (rental license) if you want to stay up-to-date with your software.

We’re happy to answer any questions – sales@digitalpictures.com

—
Digital Pictures
sales@digitalpictures.com
612-371-4515

MARI: Review by local 3D Artist Josh Purple!

Local 3D artist Josh Purple has over 16 years experience in the art & design world, with skill sets ranging from 3D character animation, cartoon, engineering & visualization, and more.
He been using MARI, the 3D Painting & Texturing software from The Foundry, as an increasing part of his texturing workflow.
Josh was kind enough to share a few words.

“I’ve been using MARI for a couple of months now.  It’s been excellent, and I’m very interested to see what MARI 3 is like.  MARI seems to work a lot like Photoshop on a 3D model, in all the best ways.  Very intuitive, easy to learn, great results, lots of options & workflows, great real-time in-viewport preview, -and that’s from using on my Windows 7 64bit, 32 GB RAM, i7-4770K CPU@3.5GHz, 1TB SSD, GTX 760.  It eats RAM & disk space aggressively, but it balances and displays system resources very well.  One of the first workflows I tried was PTEX;
ZBrush (with zero UV work done) > Export OBJ > MARI > PTEX, and it worked great.
ZBrush model (one of the dragon head variations) –
ZBrushDragon
Without doing any UV work, I would export each tool from ZBrush, import it (selecting the PTEX dia. box options when importing), and texture it in MARI.  I used photographs of alligators to paint textures on the model (you can see them in the upper right).  Below is an example of the head (as just the individual tool, no eyes, teeth, horns, etc.), screenshot from MARI;
mari 2ScreenShot
​I then import the models into 3ds Max, and render them together using Vray.  Which is what I am currently working on, & Vray has been working perfectly with the VrayPtex map.

Being able to create multi-million polygon count models & texture them without doing any UV work is very nice.”

—
Digital Pictures
sales@digitalpictures.com
612-371-4515

Autodesk Maintenance Subscription: Important Notice

If you use any Autodesk software and have a Maintenance Subscription (also called a Maintenance Contract), please be aware that Autodesk no longer allows any late renewals of Maintenance contracts. They’re “No Late Renews” policy recently went into effect.

If your Maintenance contract is not renewed by the End Date at the latest, the contract auto-cancels. You would then need to purchase a new, Desktop Subscription (a rental license) if you wanted the latest version of your software.

There is no way to re-instate or salvage the Maintenance contract.

So don’t let your Maintenance contracts get near the end date! You can renew them up to 3 months in advance of the end date on the contract.

Not sure when your Maintenance Subscription ends? Log into your Autodesk Account, click on Management at the top, and on the following page, go to the Reporting tab on the left side (see image below).
That will show you any Maintenance Subscriptions you have.

left side
Questions? Getting an error message? Shoot me an email at sales@digitalpictures.com, with “For Nick” in the subject line. I’d be happy to help!
—
Digital Pictures
sales@digitalpictures.com
612-371-4515

Trouble Downloading Your Autodesk Software?

If you were a Maintenance Subscriber, in the past you would simply log into Subscription Center, download an .exe of your software, and install.

Autodesk has made a few changes to its user account structure to make things easier and streamlined. We’ve heard from a number of users that find it a bit confusing.
How To Download Your Autodesk Software

All Autodesk log ins, including the old Subscription Center, are now under one account.
Go to Autodesk Accounts. https://accounts.autodesk.com/

Log in using the same login info you used with Subscription Center. For new customers, follow the login instructions in the email you received from Autodesk with your purchase. NOTE: Most of the installers are now .sfx files, not .exe files.

You’ll see this:

Untitled picture

Click on ALL or PRODUCTS as seen above. You’ll see your software and download links. HOWEVER, scroll to the bottom of the page, until you see this:

more downlds

Click Download Products.

A new page opens up that looks like this:

download version

Click the version of your software you want to download.  A drop down opens.

3

Options:
Download Now = It will download the Autodesk Download Manager. (Very small file.)
It will automatically run and walk you through downloading.

Install Now = After downloading, launches the installer for the software.
If you haven’t downloaded software yet, it will guide you to do so.

Or, you can hit the triangle on the right of the “Download Now” button. It will give you a drop down menu.

asdasdas

You can then choose Browser Download, which is similar to the old way of downloading. It saves the install file(s) on your harddrive. You can then double-click the install files to launch the installer at your leisure.
(Choose Browser Download if you have trouble with the other options above.)

And as always, give us a shout if you have any trouble! We’re always happy to help.

—
Digital Pictures
sales@digitalpictures.com
612-371-4515

Hurry! Autodesk Rebates Promo Ends Soon!

Autodesk is currently offering rebates on new seats of both Perpetual and Desktop licenses. The purchase of a Maintenance contract on Perpetual licenses is required.

See how much money you can save with Autodesk’s rewards estimate site:
https://autodeskbettersubscriptionoptions.pmcprograms.com/estimator/rewardEstimator

More info on the promos can be found here:
http://www.autodesk.com/campaigns/global-promotion?mktvar001=652635&mktvar002=652635

Offer ends October 23, 2015.

Contact us with any questions!
—
Digital Pictures
sales@digitalpictures.com
612-371-4515

Import/CAD tests: MODO, STP files

Here is an update on my test imports using a fairly complex STP file.
My thanks for the artist of the original model, whose work can be found here:
http://www.3dvia.com/models/C7BD6CFDCFE1F3C5/stpfromcaxif-tr7-pm5-hc-214Username: jeanudert
File licensed under Creative Commons: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/

For importing into MODO, The Foundry has an addon called Power Translators.
The Power Translators for CAD (Interactive Geometry Translator Plug-ins for MODO) is an addon to MODO. (Cost is around $1799 normally, but during today’s MODO Flash Sale, it’s $1,079.40.) http://www.thefoundry.co.uk/products/modo/plugins/power-translators/


MODO 901
Did three imports. All default settings on Power Translator, only changed the Output type.
1st Import: Mesh
2nd Import: CAD Item
3rd Import: Static Mesh
import file name: StpFromCAXIF_Tr7_pm5-hc-214_STP
import file type: STP
Mesh Quality: Fine (all 3 imports)

Screen of import as a "regular" Mesh item in MODO 901.

Screen of import as a “regular” Mesh item in MODO 901.

Screen of import as a "CAD Item".

Screen of import as a “CAD Item”.

Screen of import as a "CAD Item". Then changed into a regular Mesh item.

Screen of import as a “CAD Item”. Then changed into a regular Mesh item.

Screen of import as a "Static Mesh."

Screen of import as a “Static Mesh.”

Next I’ll test bringing the same STP file into other packages.
—
Digital Pictures
sales@digitalpictures.com
612-371-4515