The new version of AWB is available for download. It includes improved LightWave models import, new sky model and volumetric light , Max 3.x and Maya 2.0 support. See the list of the new features here. All registered users can download the version upgrade for free. Online registration is available here.

To obtain the latest version (2.2.057) of the WorldBuilder Program please click here.

Note: If you'll find any problems with AWB-MAX Communication plug-in please contact georgi@animatek.in.ru .

Note: Please note that project files from version 2.2.057 can not be read by earlier versions.

Note in order to take part in future beta-testing please provide us with some examples of your artwork done in WorldBuilder. This way you'll become a registered beta-tester. Please send your requests for future beta-testing with examples of your artwork to: support@digi-element.com

All your comments will be greatly appreciated! Please send your feedback to comment@digi-element.com

What’s new in AWB 2.2

Version 2.2.057

• Improved import for LightWave objects.
• Improved export of plants and roads.
• River and flipboard bug fixes.

Version 2.2.056

• Preview of the sun position in viewport.
• *.zbf file export/import support in 3ds max 3.0
• Motion blur batch filter in PMVIEW. Eliminates aliasing artifacts in animation sequences.
• Fix for the rainbow object and other minor bug fixes.

 

Version 2.2.055

• New Compound Sky object. For information please take a look at menu Help\New features\Compound Sky and Volumetric light.
• New Volumetric Light filter. For information please take a look at menu Help\New features\Compound Sky and Volumetric light.
• New Texture Filtering option. For a complete description please press the Help button on the main toolbar and click on Mapping page.0.
• New Flipboard filtering option. For a complete description please press the Help button on the main toolbar and click on Type and Size page among the flipboard properties.

Version 2.2.054

• Support for 3ds max 3.0.
• Reflection from the MAX objects in Communicator can be switched off.
• Support for Maya 2.0.
• Bug fixes for grass and foliage.

Version 2.2.052

• Automatic redirection. If the program can't find the texture or library, then it is now possible to set a new path and automatically add this path for redirection - no more editing of awb.ini file and redirection! Check "add path to redirection" in the file opening dialog.
• New Haze filter and shader.
• Improved support for 3ds max plug-ins in the communicator.

Version 2.2.051

• Max atmosphere effects will work correctly with new communication plug-in.
• Possibility to see Max Gizmos via the communicator.
• New color picker dialog. Now it's possible to pick a color from any place on a screen. It's also possible to open an image file in WorldBuilder and pick a color from it (menu File/Open Image File...)
• Improved shadow map. A new option on the Shadow parameters page - "No interpolation". Check this option if you are getting shadow map artifacts.
• Fixed 3D Clouds. Now it's possible to add Cloud contents to area without using drag and drop from the library.

Version 2.2.050

• Maya import/export utilities. See description.
• A bug with scaled/moved/rotated roads fixed: the grass is now complying with the new road location.
• Frame rate in AVIMaker is now supported.
• Possibility to browse images in PMView ( use PgUp/PgDown ).

Version 2.2.049

• Isolines external modifier. This allows one to recreate any mesh as a part of landscape with skeleton lines. See online help for details.
• Optimized procedure for sorting in areas.
• Shadow mask recorder filter. Shadow mask can be saved in a bitmap image file and can be used in postproduction and compositing.

Version 2.2.046

• Camera Motion Blur Filter (Click the Help button on the main toolbar and, after the mouse pointer has changed its shape to a question mark, click on a property dialog for Help.)
• Support for long file names in camera output and z-buffer composer (Old 8.3 DOS file format can be swirched on via menu File/Preferencies/Compatibility.)
• New landscape modifiers - Footprints in Area, Terrace Maker and Smoothing in Areas (Click the Help button on the main toolbar and, after the mouse pointer has changed its shape to a question mark, click on a property dialog for Help.)
• Possibility of using Erosion and all other skin modifiers in Areas. Select area property page.

Version 2.2.045

• 3D Clouds (See menu Help/New features/3D Cloud link for details and help)
• Improved cloud layers (mixing of several cloud layers is now possible).
• Improved MAX communication plug-in.
• “Place at nodes” check box for array distribution.

WorldBuilder for Maya/NT: Import-export and composing utilities

PRE-RELEASE

Supported features:

1. Coming soon:

Special script for removing z-buffer composing artifacts. Check our web site soon!

Installation

After running the standard installation of the upgrade you have to complete the installation for Maya. You will need to set awbImpExp.mll plug-in for auto load in Maya as described below. The plug-in has to reside in Maya/bin/plug-ins.

1. AWB animation

   If the installation was correct, you will find the new export format in Maya: awbanim. This type of file covers camera and light animation and can be imported into AWB by the File|Import|AWB Animation command. Import and export of awbanim files works in both directions.

   Export of camera and lights animation from Maya into AWB:

1. In Render Globals check Animation option on.
2. Select the File|Export All command and select the awbanim file type. Note that Maya does not add a file extension to the file name automatically so you have to provide file extension awbanim manually.
3. Press Export.

   If everything works OK, then the time slider will run through the entire time range.

   A file with the extension awbanim will be created.

   Export from AWB to Maya:

1. In AWB use the Export|AWB animation command.
2. Select file and then select objects that you want to export. Press ok.
3. In Maya use the Import command and select awbanim file type. Z-buffer composing

   After importing the camera with its animation you can use the z-buffer composing to bring the Maya and AWB parts of the project together.

1. Preview the quality of z-buffer composing.

   Render the Maya part of the scene into iff files with the depth channel turned on. Rename the sequence into the format namexxxx.ext where the file name goes first, then place four digits of the frame number, and finally the extension - iff. Use these images as a background in the Image Composer for the Camera in AWB. The preview quality will have visible artifacts on the edges of most of Maya objects and some AWB objects.

2. Edge Antialising.

   To obtain a higher quality, render the AWB scene without Maya objects. Use these images in the image plane in Maya. You can use medium quality AWB images for this kind of background. This trick eliminates most edge anti-aliasing artifacts.

3. To achieve even higher quality, you have to run a special off-line post process script in AWB that eliminates practically all artifacts of composing. (This will be included into the next update.)

   AWB PolyMesh

   Currently only export of polygonal meshes and animated polygonal meshes from Maya into AWB is supported. File format awbmesh is used for this. You can export static and animated meshes as well. Note that a separate mesh file is saved for each frame so a considerable amount of disk space will be required for long animations or for big models. The only purpose of the mesh export is to generate shadows and reflections in AWB from Maya objects, so simplified meshes can be used instead of the hi-resolution models.

   Animated Polygonal Meshes: export-import from Maya to AWB

   Static meshes

1. Prepare a simplified polygonal model in Maya. There are no limitations on the mesh animation type: all mesh deformations are supported.
2. Select the meshes and run the script to export the meshes for a single frame as in the example:

   AWB_MeshExportCmd -file "c://tmp//my_mesh" -frame 12;

   In the example note that you need to use double back slash in the file name and you do not have to specify the file extension. You can skip the frame option for static meshes.

   When exporting an animation, again select all the meshes that you want to export and run the script as in the example:

   for ($i=1; $i<50; $i++)

   {

   currentTime $i;

   AWB_MeshExportCmd -file "c:\\tmp\\my_mesh" -frame $i;

   }

   In the next update we will include the script that exports group of meshes. Later all these scripts will be available as menu commands or file translators.

   To import meshes into AWB use the Import|AWB PolyMesh command.

   To use the imported mesh for shadow only, you have to hide it in the scene and uncheck the option "exclude hidden objects" in the shadow options. The same applies for reflections.

   AWB PolyMesh files are imported as animated mesh if they have a numeric extension with a frame number. The animation will start at the current frame on the moment of the import operation. So, if you import a 20-frames-long mesh animation while AWB is in its 30th frame, then you will obtain an animated mesh that is static in frames 0...29 and in the 30...50 frame range it will play the animation that you saved from Maya. You can adjust the keyframes for file names in PolyMesh settings in the same manner as was done in the pixel-map files.

   Note that AWB can interpolate in between two phases of the same animated mesh, so you can scale the animation in Maya and export only sparse keyframes. Since interpolation in AWB is linear, you have yet to keep enough frames to avoid visible artifacts. To use this feature you need to re-scale mesh animation in Maya to fewer frames or use the re-scale in the script above while exporting meshes. Example:

   for ($i=1; $i<50; $i++)

   {

   currentTime 3*$i; //we export every third frame

   AWB_MeshExportCmd -file "c:\\tmp\\my_mesh" -frame $i;

   //however file extensions will run with step 1

   }

   Import the meshes into AWB and re-scale the animation to make it three times longer. You can save a lot of disk space for long animations with this trick.

   Up axis

   The up direction will be preserved automatically in all import-export operations. For example, if Maya had 'y' as the vertical direction, then, while importing into AWB, the entire geometry will be rotated 90 degrees to fit AWB settings.

   Shadow Mask

   As a special tool for post-process composing AWB offers the shadow mask filter. It can be used to save shadow masks for the composite scene for later use in other composing packages. The shadow mask filter excludes the shadow from the image itself and saves it into a separate file. The shadow mask image can be used in third party products to control shadow color and depth and for shadow composing in video production.

   Coming soon: a filter that applies a shadow mask to z-buffer.

   Known problems

1. By default in Maya the visible volume of the scene is limited. If you do not see anything from the camera imported from AWB, then you have to check and adjust the parameter for the distance to the back plane of the scene.
2. In Maya/IRIX the setting of the image plane to a big depth (>>1000) leads to an incorrect rendering.
3. In AWB in the edit mode, when sequence option of image composer is on, the zbf image often does not correspond to the current frame. However it works OK while rendering an animation. The bug will be fixed soon.