In nuce: Software developer Nevercenter has released Silo 2023 and Milo 2023; Silo is a modelling software, while Milo is a real-time renderer and virtual reality viewer respectively. The two software offerings are priced at just under 160 US dollars in a bundle; Silo and Milo are available for both Windows and Apple operating systems.

In toto: The most important new functions are listed below. The two videos at the end of this article provide a deeper insight into the new functions of Silo 2023 and Milo 2023.

• Silo 2023: The latest version introduces procedural modelling with non-destructive modifiers. These modifiers are user-definable and include the options bevels, extrusions, edge creasing, triangulation, deformation and more.
• Milo 2023: Upgrades to Unreal Engine 5 as part of the release. It also includes improvements to ray tracing, volumetric clouds, global illumination and rendering. In addition to lightbox and ring light lighting rigs (with soft shadows for ray tracing), these are the most important new features of Milo 2023.

Click further: To the official website of Silo and Milo at software developer Nevercenter. On 8.10.2021 , Digital Production reported on the release of the predecessor Silo 2021.3 – including the array replicate tool and randomisation function. A little later, on 3 September 2021, the release of Milo 2021.2 was worth reporting on, as users were delighted with improvements to rendering, ray tracing and a new live turntable feature.

Source: 80.lv ( message from Gloria Levine)

Silo 2023 Released With Major New Feature: Non-Destructive Modifiers

Milo 2023.0 – Now on UE5, Plus Two Powerful, New Lighting Rigs!

The post Real-time rendering and modelling tool in a double pack! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.

In nuce: Epic Games has released the latest version of its Unreal Engine – Unreal Engine 5.1 has been released. This is according to a blog post on unrealengine.com from 15 November this year. Unreal Engine is a game engine or render engine. Many of the newly added improvements build on the functions that were introduced with the release of the previous version, Unreal Engine 5.0. The corresponding blog post states that the update lays the foundation for games with Nanites and Global Illumination to run at 60 FPS – both on games consoles and on the PC.

In toto: Below are some of the most interesting new features that come with the release of Unreal Engine 5.1.

• VFX Editor: Aimed at creative professionals in the field of virtual production. It is a dedicated in-camera VFX editor that has been customised for VFX-specific workflows.
• The Deformer Framework is described as one of the most important newly added functions. Character rigs are created with the help of machine learning, eliminating the need to evaluate complex rigs. The Maya ML Deformer plug-in is used for this (see unrealengine.com/marketplace).
• Nanites: Two-sided materials are now also supported. This is joined by a programmable rasteriser that allows material-controlled animations to be created via World Position Offset. As an example of such a material-controlled animation, cgchannel.com mentions leaves blowing in the wind. Anyone who wants to know how Nanites work and how they can be used to create complex geometries in real time can access the free e-book “Nanite for Educators and Students” (Digital Production reported on 17 October this year).
• Lumen: Two-sided foliage shading models are now supported. This should make the lighting of plants look even more realistic. For an intensive training course on Lumen, we recommend taking a look at the three-hour course by digital content developer Charleston Silverman on The Gnomon Workshop (Digital Production reported on this on 5 September this year)
• World Partition System: According to the blog post, Large World Coordinates are now supported, which makes it possible to create huge worlds – without sacrificing detail. Furthermore, the Hierarchical Level of Details (HLOD) system has been enriched with the ability to render water.

Click further: All further information can be found in the blog post on unrealengine.com or in the release note on docs.unrealengine.com . We have taken the lead image for this news item from the same blog posting.

Sources: cgchannel.com ( message from Jim Thacker), unrealengine.com ( blog posting on the release), docs.unrealengine.com ( release note on the release)

The post Epic Games releases Unreal Engine 5.1! first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.

In nuce: The US company Otoy announces its collaboration with the German company UX3D. This is the result of a recent press release. UX3D is a German-based company that offers software solutions for interactive 3D real-time graphics. UX3D was also involved in the development of gITF, the JPEG equivalent for 3D (Digital Production reported on 10 August 2022). Otoy specialises in cloud graphics, which are increasingly being used in the visual effects industry.

In toto: As part of the collaboration, the UX3D glTF Scene Toolkit will be integrated into the Otoy marketplace. As a result, the Otoys ecosystem will offer 100 per cent native glTF support. The aim of the cooperating companies is to offer a toolkit that is a module for artists – for example, to support multi-engine and similar possibilities along the Octane and render roadmaps. The possibilities mentioned include gITF distillers from OrBX and ITMF. According to the same press release, the UX3D glTF Scene Toolkit will thus be integrated for over 200 Digital Content Creation Tool (DCC) – including: Cinema 4D, Maya, Blender, Unreal Engine and Unity3D. The Scene Tookit is made available via the Render Network.

Speeches: In the press release, UX3D founder and managing director Norbert Nopper describes the cooperation as an important building block for the Metaverse Gesamtkunstwerk. Jules Urbach, founder and chairman of Otoy, agrees with this assessment, describing the cooperation as an important breakthrough “in the development of the open metaverse.”

And what else? The support is intended to help artists on the path between working with DCCs and playing out their 3D scenes. The press release also states that individual assets can be viewed, checked, edited, optimised and merged via glTF. In addition, Otoy is active in the Khronos 3D Formats working group to expand the gITF specifications together with other members – including: UX3D, Cesium, Nvidia, Meta, Microsoft, Google, Adobe or Autodesk.

Click further: to the press release. To the websites of Otoy and UX3D.

The post The glTF Scene Toolkit on Otoys Marketplace? first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Patrick Poti.

With Faceware Live, you can create facial animations in real time through automatic tracking with live transfer to a 3D modelled face. All you need is a camera – whether a webcam, hardware from Faceware Technologies itself or another recording device.

What’s new in version 2.5

• Improved face tracking enables the software to recognise different types of faces (different skin tones, facial hair, glasses, etc.) in different lighting situations – with reduced risk of jitter.
• New animation tuning workflow that allows an animator to customise the live streaming data to change specific movements, such as a smile or eyebrow movements. These animations can be saved in profiles. It is also possible to isolate areas in order to edit only certain areas of the face.
• Animation Preview – Live 2.5 now includes an animation preview that animators can use to see how certain types of movements would look on different faces

You can read the full change log with over 20 changes here.

Learning opportunities

If you would like to learn how to use Faceware Live, you will find a series of tutorials on this page. You also have the option of downloading free training assets. These include ready-rigged faces as well as real recordings with face performance.

Prices & Availability

Faceware Live 2.5 is a free update for existing Live customers. New customers must contact support via this page. Further information on this and the products can be found here. You can also request a free trial version here.

2017 Reel from Faceware Tech

If you would like to see examples of how Faceware technologies have been used, here is the Faceware Reel 2017, including scenes from the opening of“Kingsglaive: Final Fantasy XV” by Digic Pictures, Call of Duty: Infinity Warfare and more. Have fun!

https://vimeo.com/207165649

The post Faceware Live 2.5 first appeared on DIGITAL PRODUCTION and was written by Bela Beier.