Guys at Eat3D have just released their latest training DVD on CAT, Slate, and covering many other areas by Michael McCarthy. As a bonus to this DVD there is a 20 minute video giving a great overview of Zookeeper and its capabilities. All owners of this DVD also get a 20% discount off Zookeeper price.
The new build of Max.NET posted yesterday now properly loads .NET 4.0 assemblies as 3dsmax plugins. So feel free to use all that syntactic sugar and VS2010, and note that you can still develop in VS2008 and .NET 3.5 (or earlier) should you choose so.
Autodesk.Max.dll is still .NET 3.5 -based and as such is not VS2010 locked.
We have just updated Zookeeper and Max.NET documentation to include instructions for performing manual installs (without requiring the installer). We welcome any comments and suggestions on this new functionality. The documents can be found here:
http://www.ephere.com/plugins/autodesk/max/zookeeper/docs/1029.html
and here:
New build of Max.NET, 1.2.3, is now available for download. This build features many improvements in exposure and size. We are currently working on making Max.NET faster to load and support the (now relatively small) subset of 3dsmax SDK that is currently not exposed.
If you have any questions or comments please let us know.
With under 2 weeks to go until Siggraph conference in LA we are planning demos, get togethers, and studio visits in the area. We will be at the show floor and would like the opportunity to do private demonstrations for Zookeeper or other projects to anyone interested.
If you are attending Siggraph and would like to meet us please drop us a line!
Update on Max.NET front. New version, 1.2.2, is a big step forward in the project's improvement effort. Not only does it add better backward/forward build compatibility but it also exposes many previously unavailable functions. For a full list of changes see the change log.
As always, feel free to contact us for more info.
Hello everyone,
We'd like to announce a new freebie from Ephere- Hair.Basic tool for 3ds Max! At this point we are in alpha so not everything is complete and/or stable right now. However, we do welcome all your feedback either directly or through the forum.
Stay tuned for a lot more from this project in the near future (this applies not only to 3ds Max users)!
Just a quick update about geometry and controller plugin sample projects now available for download in Max.NET's documentation section. The samples demonstrate how easy and fast it is to write native 3dsmax plugins with minimal code required. If you have more questions about Max.NET please let us know.
In other news, Zookeeper 1.5 will be coming in the very near future with some exciting new features so keep your eyes peeled. We will also be presenting these features at AUG first.
Max.NET 1.2 is now officially out with these changes. The builds are now versioned for our users' convenience so 1.1.9 is still available for download. We will work on also providing online reference to the whole framework in the near future so stay tuned.
As always, any inquiries are always welcome!
We have just updated the project versioning system on this website. With the new system multiple versioned builds are available to download at the same time. You can now download all of our projects (Max.NET and ZK at the moment) in either latest version or revert to an older one. There is more to come in this category in the future!
Zookeeper and Max.NET videos are now available on YouTube and Vimeo. We will be adding more videos to these channels as they become available. These will also be available of our website at all times.
For those attending End User Event 2010 in Utrecht make sure to check out Michael's Zookeeper presentation (at 13:30). There's still a lot of time to register for the event.
If you have any additional questions please contact us!
We are proud to announce the 1.4 release of Zookeeper for 3dsmax. After taking in a lot of feedback we have improved Zookeeper's layout, speed, and ease of use significantly since 1.3. However, the major improvement in 1.4 is the addition of State Sets- a new way of working with your 3dsmax scenes.
Besides providing a robust and easy to use render pass management system state sets go a long way toward generally improving your workflow- from viewport and node layout to rendering and animation setup. We have created a video to help you understand this concept:
We are also pleased to announce that Zookeeper now officially supports 3dsmax versions 2009 through 2011. This update is free to all our current customers and is available immediatealy among our semi-weekly updates.
If you have any questions or comments please contact us.
Heads up to everyone going to AAUGA today at NEOSCAPE. Michael will be demoing Zookeeper in Presentation 2 and showing some cool stuff from the schematic workflow to latest state sets functionality.
As usual, feel free to contact us if you have any further questions or comments!
Yup, its finally here. Although Max.NET R2010 works on R2011 due to backward plugin compatibility in the latest Autodesk release this new Max.NET R2011 version contains all the latest bells and whistles added to the 3dsmax 2011 SDK.
These include SDK access to the new tools in 2011 and also classes like Interface13. As before, the installer will try to auto-detect R2011 installation and install there.
This version is still 1.9.5, with Max.NET 1.2 looming on the horizon.
You can find a full review of Zookeeper in this month's issue of 3d World Magazine. If you have any further questions not addressed in the review please feel free to contact us or leave us a message on the message boards.
We're looking forward to a productive month. Zookeeper 1.4 is on the horizon with some exciting new features as well as a 3dsmax 2011 version! We'll keep you posted.
A (temporary) 1.1.9.5 patch of Max.NET has just been released. It fixes a critical crash that occurs on Windows XP machines first time after a cold start (it does not occur again until the next cold start). It took a while to resolve this but I think we have it pinned down.
1.2 should be out in a not too distant future, this patch is more of an 'emergency' fix for XP users.
Michael will be at PAX East on Friday giving a short overview of Zookeeper, and a demo to anyone interested. One lucky attendee will also be receiving a free copy of Zookeeper! If you are attending make sure not to miss your chance.
Zookeeper presense will also be felt at a number of other events this year and we will keep you posted ahead of time.
Just as we are spending time constantly improving Zookeeper, adding new features, and writing documentation- we are also increasing Zookeeper's value by adding content to Zookeeper's home: The Zoo !
Since its inception we have added a number of new templates to the initial library. Some of these include:
- Fake global illumination shader
- Extended wood texture
- "Fast" ocean color texture
- Ocean/water bump map
- "Spring thing" controller
If you haven't yet, be sure to check out The Zoo and Zookeeper! Lots of exciting features and general improvements will be coming over the next few builds.
Hi guys,
Just wanted to inform you that today and tomorrow (Monday, March 15'th) are the last days to purchase Zookeeper for $199! The prices will go up starting Tuesday so please consider taking advantage of this introductory deal.
Thanks to all of our current customers for the support during these first 3 months of zoo keeping!
Marsel
You can find a good article on Zookeeper in the latest issue of 3d Artist magazine.
There should be more press about Zookeeper in future issues of 3d Artist so make sure to keep your eyes open!
After a month of intense development we bring you another milestone is our project- Zookeeper 1.3! We have focused our development on the stability, usability, and, as always, new features. Containers are now supported in schematic views and templates! Moreover all local resources (such as external bitmaps and data) are also available through templates.
We worked on the schematic GUI, improved parts of tree views, fixed many workflow issues, added efficient searching for objects, and included a very useful select and rename tool. In case you want to see more on that there is a good introduction video and a set of tutorials that can help you get started.
We have also been updating and adding to our documentation and plan to post a lot more material in the upcoming month. This is one of the ways that we are improving the experience of our license owners. We are also constantly refining The Zoo and plan to add many more templates soon.
Please note that our introductory/promotional pricing ends in 5 days! So if you would still like to get a 20% discount make sure to get your license before March 15'th. After that the regular pricing takes effect. As usual we are very grateful for your support and for keeping us going! We are looking ahead and another month of heavy development and, as always, getting the little (and BIG) things right.
Zookeeper appears in the latest 3d World issue (127) under "The Filter" section. Look for more on Zookeeper in future 3d World articles.
After some (relatively) intense development version 1.1.9 of Max.NET is here! This is a 'bridge' release before 1.2.0 comes out, which will be another significant milestone in the project. The most notable improvements in this build are:
- Import/Export plugins now load and work fine. Any crashing and dialog issues were fixed.
- Parameter block support! It is now entirely possible to define your parameters using standard 3dsmax parameter blocks. Previously this was very limited since all parameter IO and UI had to be handled manually.
I have outlines some preliminary steps for setting up your parameters in some new docs. - Automatic UI for parameter blocks For any parameters you define in your parameter blocks Max.NET will generate all the necessary UI if you want it to. It will create spinners for float/int parameters, pick node buttons for node params, color swatches for colors, etc. This should greatly ease development of many kinds of plugins. The steps for using this is described in the aforementioned documentation.
The parameter block implementation is still not complete. Right now only bool, int, float, inode, and rgba parameters are supported (no Tabs, for example). We will be working hard to implementing many more parameter types and their UI for the next build.
I have also started writing up more documentation. This has been lacking in Max.NET so far and we do understand this. Expect many more docs and new videos with the next release!
Please note that Max.NET is only free for non-commercial use. If you would like to inquiry about commercial use licensing please contact us and we will get back to you promptly.
It has been some time since last Max.NET update. As it stands now, R2010 and R2009 versions are at build number 1.1.8 while R9 is older. That is due to the fact that newer builds expose functionality available in Max 2009 and 2010 SDKs such as scene assets and containers. R9 version will be updated once it has significant changes.
We are getting close to 2.0 and we hope that 2.0 will be a major step forward in the framework. It is still uncertain which features will make it in (there are a number of commonly requested features such as full parameter block and auto-ui support, implicit operators for math types such as IPoint3, IMatrix3, etc., and many more) but it will be a significant improvement. So stay tuned!
We have been working hard on bringing you yet another milestone in the Zookeeper project, it is called The Zoo. The Zoo is a web repository of many different procedural templates and assets for use in your scenes through Zookeeper. It is now freely available to all of our current and future customers!
The Zoo is the reason why over the past few weeks we have been concentrating development towards templates and their functionality within Zookeeper. We believe this to be an important feature which could save our customers hours of hard work through readily available parametric highly functional scene asset. Go over them, check out the video, and see for yourself!
Zookeeper 1.2 (now available) boasts a myriad of improvements and additions over 1.1. Some of these include GUI improvements while the majority are improvements related to templates. To make sure that all users get to try The Zoo with Zookeeper's template features we have removed restrictions for template scene nodes. Demo version of Zoo keeper can now import templates from the web the same way fully commercial version does, however, you still need to have the full version to look inside the generated composite nodes. The node limit has also been increased to 10 nodes.
We are planning on growing The Zoo service with new content constantly so check up often and let us know what you think! This is just one of the ways we would like to show our commitment to the Zookeeper project.
If you are interested in Zookeeper please let us know! You can purchase a commercial license before March 15'th at a discounted rate (20% off).
In this first update of the year I wish to update you on our progress with Zookeeper.
The first point release is out! Zookeeper 1.1 fixes a number of issues and adds new functionality like the floating previews, node copying, and faster response times. We are constantly improving Zookeeper with about 2-3 builds a week available to our customers at a click of a button.
To show off some of this new stuff, as well as things previously not seen, we have made a new "Materials Workflow" video demonstrating the power of Zookeeper when it comes to dealing with material creation and editing. Be sure to check it out!
There will be many exciting new things coming for our Zookeeper customers and general public alike this year. First of these will be a Zookeeper community website which will host various templates and scene assets available for Zookeeper users to use at their disposal. We are confident that it will be able to improve many workflows and change the way people think about, and use, 3d Studio Max.
We are currently planning launch of "The Zoo" soon, so stay tuned!
