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 !

Following the release of 2.7 PhysX plug-in for 3ds Max, NVIDIA has also uploaded new 2.70.1028.1400 plug-in for Maya (2009 – 2012).

Update [22.11.2011]: Maya PhysX plug-in was updated to version 2.70.1109.2230, that includes various bugfixes and minor updates.

2.7 PhysX plug-in for Maya – Release Notes:

• General: New unified exporter
• General: Improved PhysX shelf GUI
• General: Support for PhysX 3.1
• General: Support for APEX Clothing 1.1
• General: Compatibility with other plug-ins that use PhysX directly (e.g. Thinking Particles)
• General: Scene validation

• Rigid Bodies: Copy/paste multiple physical meshes
• Rigid Body: Kinematic to Dynamic Switching
• Rigid Bodies: Ragdoll improved mass distribution

• APEX Clothing: Support for latch to nearest regions
• APEX Clothing: Support for Graphical LoD and Contact Layers
• APEX Clothing: improved custom physical mesh handling

2.7 PhysX plug-in for Maya is available at Developer Support Center. You can find it under following path:

[Online Support] -> [Downloads] -> [APEX DCC Clothing Plugins] -> [Maya 2.7.X (beta)]

If you are experiencing trouble with registration of PhysX Developer account, please refer to our registration guide.

Next major release of DCC PhysX plug-in for 3ds Max has arrived.

New 2.70.1028.1400 PhysX plug-in for 3ds Max (2009 – 2012, 32- and 64-bit) just have landed on download page at Developer Support Center.

Update: 2.7 PhysX plug-in for Maya is also available

Additionally, updated 2.61.1028.0930 PhysX plug-in was released for 3ds Max - it includes minor bug-fixes for 2.61 version.

2.7 PhysX plug-in for 3ds Max – New Features Overview:

• General: Additional PhysX SDK 3.1 solver

Plug-in now features two different simulation engines – PhysX SDK 2.8.4 and new PhysX SDK 3.1, with an option to switch between them seemlesly, without necessity to restart 3ds Max.

Providing same simulation quality as SDK 2.8.4, SDK 3.1 solver is noticeably faster, especially in specific scenes which contain composite meshes with complex concave geometry.

As a test, we’ve measured a time that is needed to simulate 200 frames of “Chainmail” scene (430+ composite rigid bodies), in a viewport. As you can see, in this case SDK 3.1 solver is ~40% faster.

Notes: #1 APEX Clothing is not yet supported by SDK 3.1 engine.

#2 Current SDK 3.1 implementation has limited contact buffer, so it is not recommended to use it with large number of objects.

• General: Support for APEX Clothing 1.1
• General: Unified exporter

One universal “PhysX Export” window for exporting of PhysX scene content and APEX Clothing assets, depending on selected PhysX engine.

• General: Compatibility with other plug-ins that use PhysX directly (e.g. Thinking Particles)

• Rigid Bodies: Make shapes optionally wrap elements instead of entire mesh
• Rigid Bodies: Mirror rag dolls saves the prefix and suffix which was last typed in
• Rigid Bodies: Transform/copy/paste multiple physical meshes
• Rigid Bodies: Mirror physical meshes on same rigid body
• Rigid Bodies: double sided static rigid bodies/shapes
• Rigid Bodies: Automatic calculation for center of mass
• Rigid Bodies: Rag doll improved mass distribution

• APEX Clothing: Support for latch to nearest regions
• APEX Clothing: Support for bones attached to the skeleton that are not part of the skin
• APEX Clothing: Updated PhysX Visualizer with APEX Clothing visualization

• Fixes: Capsules in wrong location on character after previewing in external previewer
• Fixes: Mirror ragdoll shapes got orientation mirroring way off
• Fixes: LoD budget option is not working properly in Max but works in external previewer
• Fixes: Unable to execute export/import clothing template
• Fixes: Collision volumes are sometimes missing in external previewer
• Fixes: Collision capsules sometimes don’t export to apx

We remind you that 2.7 PhysX plug-in for 3ds Max can be downloaded through Developer Support Center. Just follow the path:

[Online Support] -> [Downloads] -> [APEX DCC Clothing Plugins] -> [Max 2.7.X (beta)]

If you are experiencing trouble with registration of PhysX Developer account, please refer to our registration guide.

Recently, Autodesk has released Service Pack 2 (SP2) for 3ds Max 2012 and 3ds Max Design 2012 – is a cumulative update, that includes various fixes for issues with stability and performance based on customer feedback.

In comparison to previous updates, SP2 now also includes numerous bug fixes for MassFX – new PhysX SDK based physics simulation system, that has replaced Reactor in 3ds Max 2012.

Release Notes

• Fixed rollout state changing to Advance.
• Fixed order of rollout menus.
• Very small objects used in Composite mesh generation no longer cause a program error.
• Changing the high-velocity collision minimum speed value now works correctly.
• The Sleep setting in the World tab no longer causes a MaxScript error.
• An nvpx.ExportPhysXScene error dialog has been updated to be easier to understand.
• Bake now works when the scene contains Bipeds.
• Having the Dynamics Explorer or Scene Explorer open no longer negatively affects previewing the simulation.
• Remove Skeleton now removes all Kinematic Skeletons, not just the first one selected.
• Calculate At Current Frame now works correctly.
• The Rigid Body modifier UI no longer redraws multiple times when opening.
• The inflation value in the Multi-Editor now supports negative values for convex mesh types.
• Selecting and moving MassFX constraints now support the type-in transform.
• Using a Plane with box mesh type now simulates with the correct collision mesh shape.
• You can now Undo the Convert To Custom Mesh function.
• Rigid body collisions now behave correctly with back facing geometry.
• Undo now works after grouping bones in a kinematic skeleton.
• The MassFX SDK now correctly supports contact reports.
• Creation of a new mesh in MassFX rigid body can now be undone.

It was also mentioned that remaining issues, like incompatibility with PhysX engine in Thinking Particles plug-in, will be solved in upcoming hotfix.

You can download Service Pack 2 for 3ds Max 2012 from this page

Note: It is highly recommended to uninstall 2.61 PhysX plug-in (if you have one installed) before applying SP2. It can be safely re-installed after.

After multiple delays and postponements, NVIDIA has finally released updated version of PhysX plug-in for 3ds Max – 2.61.0906.0900

Update [20.09.2011]: updated PhysX plug-in 2.61.0916.1330 for 3ds Max is available (supports 3ds Max 2009-2012). This version includes bug fixes for several problems one may encounter, like crashes while using APEX Clothing functionality in 3ds Max 2012.

Update #2: 2.7 PhysX plug-in for 3ds Max released

New major 2.7 version of the PhysX plug-in is still in development, so this minor 2.6+ release is supposed to resolve compability issues with RayFire, and also add support for 3ds Max 2012. In this case, plug-in installs above default MassFX simulation tool, replacing it and providing additional features, like support for APEX Clothing (and if you’ll uninstall PhysX plug-in, MassFX will be restored).

No information yet on other fixes (since Release Notes are missing), but we were promised to recieve soon.

PhysX plug-in 2.61 for 3ds Max (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 – 32-and 64-bit versions) and 3ds Max Design (2010, 2011, 2012 – 32-and 64-bit versions) is available for download at Developer Support Center.

You can find it in following section: [Online Support] -> [Downloads] -> [APEX] -> [APEX DCC Clothing Plugins].

If you are experiencing trouble with registration of PhysX Developer account, please refer to our registration guide.

Update [20.09.2011]: In addition, new PhysX plug-in 2.61.0916.1700 for Maya was also released.

You can download 2.61 PhysX plug-in for Maya (Maya 2009 – 2012, 32-and 64-bit versions) at Developer Support Center.

Autodesk has published a recorded video of a presentation – “The Latest Advances in NVIDIA PhysX / APEX Technology” – that was performed by Daniel Horowitz, engineering manager for PhysX dev. tools in NVIDIA,  at Siggraph 2011.

Update: MassFX: what is coming in future versions of 3ds Max

This presentation is covering such topics as design principles of PhysX and MassFX plug-ins, relationship between those tools, and is also giving an overview on APEX Clothing authoring process and upcoming features.

Some interesting facts:

• APEX Destruction functionality will be added to PhysX plug-ins in the future. It was also mentioned, that it will be possible to use to use 3d party tools for fracturing (not only default solution in PhysXLab) and also tweak graphical and physical meshes separately.
• Next release – PhysX plug-in 2.7 will support PhysX SDK 2.8.4, PhysX SDK 3.1 and APEX 1.1
• APEX Softbodies module was mentioned.
• Contact Layers feature (basically, collision filtering) will be added in 2.7 plug-in for Maya, and 2.x plug-in for 3ds Max.
• Patner integration program. For example, PhysX based rigid bodies from Particle Flow plug-ins will be able to interact with MassFX rigid bodies.
• mCloth module will be based on ClothFX plug-in from Size8Software, but it will fully interact with MassFX rigid bodies, ragdolls, atachments and so on (nice solution to keep PhysX cloth and APEX focused on clothing simulation for games only).

It was promised that new 2.7 PhysX plug-ins will arrive shortly, in a few weeks, so keep an eye on our website for a full review.

NVIDIA PhysX plug-in for 3ds Max was updated to version 2.60.0413.1900

Update: PhysX plug-in 2.61 released

Release Notes:

Issues Fixed (Present in Previous Releases)

• [#5771] Corrupted Paint Channel when loading some older assets
• [#5770] Compression settings are reset to default
• [#5769] Ragdoll on CAT rig doesn’t save/load properly
• [#5667] Previewer crashes on some CAT files
• [#5761] Cannot save paint channel for some assets

Updated PhysX plug-in for 3ds Max is available for download at Developer Support Center. You can find it in following section: [Online Support] -> [Downloads] -> [APEX] -> [APEX DCC Clothing Plugins]

If you are experiencing trouble with registration of PhysX Developer account, please refer to our registration guide.

NVIDIA has updated DCC PhysX plug-in for Maya to version 2.60.0412.2200

Release Notes:

New Features

• APEX Clothing: External Preview window with APEX debug capabilities

Issue Fixed (Present in Previous Releases)

• [#5779] Crash when loading/applying clothing to some asset files

Updated PhysX plug-in for Maya is available for download at Developer Support Center. You can find it in following section: [Online Support] -> [Downloads] -> [APEX] -> [APEX DCC Clothing Plugins]

If you are experiencing trouble with registration of PhysX Developer account, please refer to our registration guide.

In addition, separate installers for Maya 2012 (x32 and x64-bit) are now also provided.

If you were following Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 development process, you’ve already may know that built-in Havok Reactor physics simulation engine was replaced with a new MassFX unified simulation, using PhysX SDK integration.

However, since only mRigids solver (rigid body and joints dynamics) is available so far, one may say that Reactor was omitted too early, since not all the functionality (cloth, joint motors, forcefields, buoyancy) is present in MassFX currently.

Generally, MassFX is based on modified NVIDIA PhysX plug-in for 3ds Max (likely latest 2.60), and thus, resembles its basic functionality and interface, but several differences can be spotted:

• Simulation in viewports runs much faster and smoother, thanks to new Nitrous graphics core. Performance Viewer tool, that can be found in PhysX plug-in 2.60, was removed.
• APEX Clothing functionality is not available.
• Dynamic ragdolls are not available.
• Minor interface changes.

Note: MassFX does not support hardware acceleration currently.

Note #2: To avoid slowdowns while working with massive amount of objects, it is recommended to disable rendering of physical meshes (MassFX Toolbar > Display > Display Physical Meshes).

Previously, Autodesk has mentioned that future releases of MassFX will support cloth, softbody and ropes simulation, deformable meshes, fluids and forcefields.

Also, according to our knowledge, users will be able to install PhysX plug-ins from NVIDIA over MassFX, to enhance it with additional functionality.

Ongoing (and prolonged) release of NVIDIA APEX framework has not only brought us PhysXLab (authoring tool for APEX Destruction and APEX Particles), but also new versions of PhysX plug-ins for Autodesk 3ds Max, 3ds Max Design and Maya (plug-ins were uploaded just several hours ago).

UPDATE: NVIDIA APEX 1.0 Beta released

Since many developers and VFX artists are waiting for this plug-ins, we decided to provide detailed overview of new features and changes in this versions. New PhysX plug-ins v. 2.60 for 3ds Max and Maya are available for download via Developer Support Center.

If you are experiencing trouble with registration of PhysX Developer account, please refer to our registration guide.

PhysX plug-in for 3ds Max v. 2.60.0314.1641

[supports 3ds Max (2009, 2010, 2011) and 3ds Max Design (2010, 2011), 32-bit and 64-bit versions]

Update: PhysX plug-in for 3ds Max updated

2.60 version of PhysX plug-ins seems to be used as basis for new MassFX unified dynamics system, included in upcoming 3ds Max 2012, as it resembles same interface and basic feature list. However, 2.60 PhysX plug-in supports APEX Clothing, while MassFX does not.

Lets take a view on new features, in comparison to previous 2.40 version of PhysX plug-in:

• APEX Clothing

This long-anticipated feature enhances PhysX plug-in with cloth and clothing simulation capabilitites, and also provides authoring pipeline for APEX Clothing module.

APEX may look different from previous NxCloth implementation in 3ds Max – it is using so-called constrained cloth simulation (cloth modifier can be applied only to skinned mesh), does not support several features like tearing or pressure, and is mostly oriented on real-time simulation for games (but can be backed as vertex animation).

We won’t talk about APEX Clothing much, as all its features were revealed long before the public release. Several in-depth tutorials will help you to start with it (you can also find Clothing tutorial packages in plug-ins download folder at Dev. Support Center).

• Substeps Control

Users can now specify number of physics calculations per frame. Increasing this parameter makes simulation more stable, but decreases performance accordingly.

Substeps control = stable stacking

Previosly, only framerate trick was able to prevent bodies from jiggling and interpenetrating each other, and now simulation results are much more convenient. Recommended setting for real-time preview is 3-5 substeps.

• Composite rigid bodies

New composite physical mesh type allows complex concave rigid bodies (not supported in PhysX SDK) to be represented and simulated as set of convex shapes, using automatic convex decomposition algorithm.

Left object - convex mesh, right object - composite mesh

Composite objects usage decreases simulation performance, but not dramatically.

• Changing PhysX properties for many objects at once

New “Edit” Tab of PhysX Tools panel allows users to change rigid body, physical materials and physical mesh properties for many selected objects simultaneously.

• Performance viewer and MassFX visualizer

Viewer tool allows users to preview simulation performance, not bottlenecked by 3ds Max internal rendering pipeline (thus, it will be mostly useful if you’re setting up PhysX scene meant to be exported into game engine).

Rigid bodies & joints performance: 11 fps in viewport, 72 fps in Viewer Tool

In addition, new “MassFX Visualizer” section was added to “Display” tab of PhysX Tools panel – it contains several debugging options (visualize contact points, collision meshes, etc) for physics simulation in viewports.

• Many minor bug-fixes and features (like ability to specify sleep and CCD options for whole scene).

As interesting note: whoever was responsible for packaging of 3ds Max plug-in has forgot to delete PhysX SDK 3.0 .dlls in plug-in folder

Yes, internal builds are already capable of using SDK 3.0 for simulations.

PhysX plug-in for Maya v. 2.60.0314.1641

(supports Maya 2009, 2010 and 2011, 32-bit and 64-bit versions).

Update: PhysX plug-in for Maya updated

This is first public release of 2.x generation of PhysX plug-ins for Autodesk Maya. Previosly, only old Nima plug-in was available.

Generally, it supports most of the 3ds Max plug-in features (including APEX Clothing) mentioned above.