Autodesk and NVIDIA continue their effort to create the universal physics simulation system for 3ds Max package – it is known as MassFX.

What has changed in new MassFX version, that comes with 3ds Max 2013, in comparison to the first release? We have tried to answer this question in our review.

One of the main new features of MassFX 2013 is the addition of mCloth – cloth simulation module, which was co-developed with Autodesk. Despite the rumors, mCloth uses PhysX 2.8.4 cloth solver for underlying physical calculations.

In comparison to APEX Clothing tools in PhysX plug-ins, mCloth is clearly oriented on VFX area: “one click” set up (no need to skin the mesh and apply movement constraints, as for APEX), full collisions with MassFX rigid bodies with two-way interaction, vertex group operations (like pin or attach to object), support for dynamic and kinematic cloth, ability to bake the simulation in keyframes.

Desired cloth behavior can be archived by tuning fabric settings, like density or damping, which can be saved and loaded as presets.

Additional parameters include rigid body collision responce and solver precision settings.

mCloth objects support per-vertex tearing.

Interesting option is ability to visualize material tension within given treshold.

Another feature is so-called “ballon behavior” – closed meshes can be inflated with internal pressure to imitate soft body, jelly-like objects or baloons themselves.

However, if hole in the baloon will be detected (as result of tearing, for example), it will deflate and force will be applied to the point of air outflow.

“Hardware acceleration” option can be enabled for cloth simulation, however, we were not able to spot any performance difference between CPU and “GPU” execution. It seems GPU acceleration is not fully operational yet.

To summarize: mCloth is a strong cloth simulation solution with decent pack of features and sufficient artist control over simulation, however, as a new tool it has not avoided some “childish” problems, like nonoptimal baking process (it is significantly slower than sim in viewports), unstable behaviour of baloon objects or overestimated cloth solver settings (they are set automatically, based on mesh resolution, but for real 3-5 times lower values are sufficient).

Another vital new feature – standart Forces (like PBomb, Vortex or Wind) can now affect MassFX objects, both rigid bodies and cloth.

Being developed in Autodesk, Forces interaction feature is not using forcefields mechanism from PhysX SDK, instead, custom forces are applied directly to actors.

Third major addition – stable auto-generated ragdolls from biped skeletons.

Instead of abomination – jiggling mess of rigid bodies and joints – that may be familiar you from original PhysX plug-ins, “create dynamic ragdoll” option now generates fairly adequate ragdolls, usable even without aditional tuning.

Note: unlike latest PhysX plug-ins, MassFX is only using one version of PhysX engine - 2.8.4.

Apart from all the features described above, MassFX 2013 also contains numerous amount of smaller features, interface changes and bug fixes. Here are some examples:

It is now possible to assign gravity to Forces (or even it completely) through MassFX Toolbar.

Convex decomposition (this tool allows MassFX to support concave objects) has been reworked – it is now using simplified interface and operates faster.

Physical meshes can now be displayed not only as wireframe, but as shaded hulls as well.

Multiple constraints can now be adited at the same time via Multi-object Editor tab (previosly only available for rigid bodies).

And.. more !

To summarize: MassFX has grew up, but still not enough to reach level of Reactor’s feature set. However, with continuing support from Nvidia and Autodesk, MassFX will eventually overcome previous solution from Havok.

Remaining presentations from GDC 2012 are now available at GDC Vault.

Particularly interesting detail was revealed during “Mastering DX11 with Unity” (PDF) talk – NVIDIA APEX framework will be added to popular Unity game engine, which is currently using modified PhysX SDK 2.8.3 as physics engine.

A short demo (bus smashing through propane shop) of basic APEX Destruction module usage was presented, followed by promises to expand integration on other APEX modules in the future.

Next presentation, “Enhancing Games with Clothing and Destruction” is absolutely indentical to Game Technology Theather talk of the same name, we have reviewed it earlier.

Finally, it is worth to check a “Solving Rigid Body Contacts” tutorial from Richard Tonge, however, it is a bit technical.

Autodesk has officially presented 3ds Max 2013 and 3ds Max Design 2013 – popular 3D modelling, rendering and animation packages.

Among other changes and improvements, MassFX, PhysX SDK based physics simulation solution, was upgraded with a number of new features.

Artists can now enjoy a more integrated and accurate dynamic toolset, thanks to a wide range of enhancements and additions to the MassFX unified system of simulation solvers.

Highlights are a new mCloth module that features tearable fabric and support for dynamic ragdoll hierarchies. In addition, improved constraints, better handling of pivot points, and enhanced UI readability help improve overall workflow.

Following presentations were held as part of NVIDIA Game Technology Theather event on March 7.

First one is called “3ds Max with MassFX” and was presented by Chris Murray from Autodesk.

Update: recording is now available on YouTube

This talk was mostly focused on features under development, that are expected to be added in future versions of MassFX, like mCloth – new clothing simulation solution.

mCloth is supposed to provide stable two-way interaction with rigid bodies, probably utilize GPU acceleration, support user-controlled tearing (through vertex selection) and include some interesting pressure simulation for balloon-like behaviour (for example, if you have holes in your mesh, balloon will deflate).

Second talk – “IKinema and PhysX – Combining Physics with Kinematics for Realistic Off-Line and Run-Time Animation” – was performed by Alexandre Pechev, IKinema.

Update: recording is now available on YouTube

Presenter has demonstrated several ways to enhance character animation in Maya, produced by IKinema (which is pretty advanced animation and riggid solution by itself, with support for features like IK or retargeting) with additional physically simulated body elements, like APEX Clothing garments or physical constraints, provided by PhysX plug-in.

]]> http://physxinfo.com/news/7700/gdc-2012-using-ikinema-with-physx-and-preview-of-massfx-2013/feed/ 1 http://physxinfo.com/news/7663/rayfire-customer-showreel-2012/ http://physxinfo.com/news/7663/rayfire-customer-showreel-2012/#comments Tue, 06 Mar 2012 06:23:23 +0000 Zogrim http://physxinfo.com/news/?p=7663 #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; } MirVadim has uploaded new impressive promo video of RayFire – fracturing and destruction tool for Autodesk 3ds Max, which is using PhysX plug-in/MassFX for underlying physics simulation. If you are interested in RayFire history and PhysX SDK role in its development, you can read our previous article – PhysX From Inside Out: RayFire Tool ]]> #leftcontainerBox { float:left; position: fixed; top: 60%; left: 70px; } #leftcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; clear:both; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; padding-bottom:2px; } #bottomcontainerBox { height: 30px; width:50%; padding-top:1px; } #bottomcontainerBox .buttons { float:left; height: 30px; margin:4px 4px 4px 4px; }

MirVadim has uploaded new impressive promo video of RayFire – fracturing and destruction tool for Autodesk 3ds Max, which is using PhysX plug-in/MassFX for underlying physics simulation.

If you are interested in RayFire history and PhysX SDK role in its development, you can read our previous article – PhysX From Inside Out: RayFire Tool

Autodesk has presented another video, showcasing some of the new features of MassFX – PhysX SDK based physics simulation system, that is replacing Reactor engine since 3ds Max 2012.

You can observe the process of mCloth object creation (and also it’s settings and interaction with rigid bodies), better support for concave meshes and updated interface.

It was also mentioned previously, that MassFX 2013 will also support standart forces, like PBomb and Vortex.

Basefount has announced release of Miarmy 1.2 – plug-in for Autodesk Maya that is capable of behavioral animation, crowd simulation, physics calculation and rendering.

Amond other features, physics engine in Miarmy 1.2 is now based on PhysX SDK 3.1 (in previous releases – 2.8.4), which provides faster and more accurate rigid body physics simulation even with high number of complex jointed objects.

In addition, usage of new PxCloth solver allows “100 times faster” simulation of cloth and clothing assets.

With new PhysX 3.1 Engine, The limit on the number of dynaimc agents is gone. On an average home PC, one can easily create a scene with more than 5,000 agents enable dynamics which contains more than 85,000 RBD objects and 80,000 dynamical joints. The cloth simulation will became almost real-time.

NVIDIA has revealed presentations schedule for Game Developers Conference 2012 (GDC 2012), taking place on March 5-9 in San Francisco.

As usually, certain talks will be demonstrating latest advances in PhysX and APEX technologies. Let’s take a look:

March 7th, Booth #1424

3dsMax with MassFX

11:00am - 12:00pm. Chris Murray, Autodesk

Autodesk’s implementation of MassFX within 3dsMax will show you just how easy the workflow is for rigid body dynamics and how versatile to the tool can be. Additionally, Autodesk will be giving a technology preview of some aspects of MassFX currently being experimented with in 3dsMax.

IKinema IK for Combining Physics and Animation in Maya

2:00pm - 3:00pm. Alexandre Pechev, IKinema

IKinema is a production-proven solution for animating with inverse kinematics (IK) in Maya. Come see how we combine IKinema IK with NVIDIA’s PhysX Plugin for Maya to produce animations that can capture a character’s intent and physical simulation at with an improved speed and accuracy over handmade animations. Dressing the character with APEX Clothing can add even more dramatic physical effects and secondary motion to your film or game.

March 8th, Room 2011 & Booth #1424

Enhancing Games with Clothing and Destruction

4:00pm - 5:00pm. Aron Zoellner, NVIDIA. Kevin Newkirk, NVIDIA

In this two-part presentation, we will first show you step by step how physically simulated clothing was added to Bruce Wayne in Batman: Arkham City – we will go through the DCC authoring pipeline, importing to UE3, running the asset in a game level and discuss how to avoid common problems when moving from static to dynamic clothing. Next we will demonstrate clothing using the lead character from Epic’s Samaritan demo as a playable character in UE3.

In the second part of the session we will be focusing on the APEX Destruction pipeline using PhysXLab and go through the authoring of recent destruction game examples as well as authoring the massive destruction in the UE3 Art Gallery Demo.

March 9th, Booth #1424

Enhancing games with APEX (Clothing, Destruction, Turbulence)

2:00pm – 3:00pm. Aron Zoellner, NVIDIA. Kevin Newkirk, NVIDIA

APEX has been used in various games to enhance game interactivity. In this session we will show you how APEX Modules (Destruction, Clothing) can be used to add more realistic clothing and destruction into your game. We will provide several APEX examples in current games and guide you through the entire pipeline of authoring, importing and setup of APEX Clothing and Destruction in a UE3 level.

This session will provide an overview of the full NVIDIA APEX suite of tools used in the creation of clothing and destruction as well as an overview of the upcoming APEX Turbulence module.

After the GDC ends,  we expect all recorded sessions to be available for download at NVIDIA Developer Zone or GDC Vault.

As always at the beginning of the year, Ken Pimentel (Director of Visual Communication Solutions within Autodesk) has revealed some details about new features and capabilities of upcoming versions of 3ds Max.

Few words were said about MassFX - PhysX SDK based physics simulation solution, introduced in 3ds Max 2012.

We introduced MassFX and mRigids (based on PhysX and our partnership with Nvidia) in 3ds Max 2012. It was a start on our march to a more unified dynamics experience. We’ve continued that effort with Nvidia and we think you’ll be pretty pleased with the results in general. We’re not done, but definite progress in the right direction, we hope you’re pleased with it.

“Results” will include, at least, the addition of mCloth module for cloth simulation (as revealed at SIGGRAPH 11) and forcefields functionality through standart Force objects (as you can notice from a “teaser” video below).

Update: official description for the video:

This scene is a MassFX simulation that includes mRigids (using a new concave meshes option), mCloth objects, breakable Constraints, and mCloth tearable cloth. A lot of the scene geometry (all the stacks of logs) were stacked running separate simulations, just to get a nice realistic distribution, and then baked into their final positions.

The highlight of the simulation is the use of standard Max forces. The forces used include a spherical Gravity, two PBombs, and a Vortex field. These affect the rigid bodies, and mCloth, which not only reacts to the forces, but is also capable of respecting pinned verts and tearing under the influence of the force.

More tighter integration with Particle Flow was also announced.

As part of MassFX, it was clear we had to do something about Particle Flow and making sure it is on a trajectory to support our unified story. I can now say that we recently formalized a multi-year relationship with Oleg (creator of Particle Flow) so that he can be much more involved in our roadmap.

To set expectations, don’t expect immediate results in the coming year and you shouldn’t be discouraged. This is definitely a longer-term effort and Oleg will continue to offer his solutions via his channel for a long time to come. We’ll announce more at the appropriate time. My point in mentioning this is that we see particle flow in particular as an area of investment and research.

Having something like PFlow Box #2 (which is also using PhysX SDK) as a basic feature of MassFX system would be nice.

We believe that more details will be released in upcoming weeks. Stay tuned !

NVIDIA has published several Game Technology Theater feature talks, which took place at NVIDIA GDC Booth yesterday, March 2.

This particular one, called “3ds Max 2012 including nRigids with Nvidia PhysX” and presented by Shawn Hendriks from Autodesk, mostly contains general overview of 3ds Max 2012 features (despite of the title), but also provides some information on new mRigids rigid body dynamics system (starting 39:53).

You can view recorded “3ds Max 2012 including nRigids with Nvidia PhysX” presentation here