emPolygonizer4 (version 4.160) |
|
| Type: | Custom Operator |
| File(s): | Addon containing one dll/so file and several VBScripts |
| Current: | v.4.160 April 2013 |
| Compatibility: | Softimage 2012 SP1 and above, Windows 64 bit, Linux 64 bit |
| License Model: | Floating, uses the Reprise License Manager (RLM) |
| Quick Links: | |
"emPolygonizer4 v.4.0 (alpha) - The Stanford Bunny's Nightmare".
Two and a half minutes of meshed particles using the new emPolygonizer4 and its new "texture coordinate (UVWs)" feature.
This video was made to show a bit of what one can do with the new UVW functionality and also to test the new version for stability, bugs, etc.
All simulations (particles and meshes) were done on my workstation 1 x Intel i7). The rendering was done on my workstation as well as on my two little laptops (1 x Intel i5m and 1 x Intel i7m ).
emPolygonizer4 is a custom operator that allows you to create what is typically called "metaballs".
The underlying technique used by this plug-in is called "polygonizing a scalar field" or "marching cubes".
Marching cubes was invented in the mid-eighties by Lorensen and Cline, primary for the visualization of MRI data.
Numerous enhancements and self-developed features make this mesher go beyond the classic marching cube tool:liquid filaments, motion plotting, vertex colors, texture coordinates (UVWs), multithreaded octree, fast smoothing techniques and the ability to use nulls, curves, polygon meshes and point cloud simultaneously as inputs make it a versatile tool for creating meshes.
The plugin consists of an Addon that contains a "DLL" file (Windows) or "so" file (Linux) for the custom operator (compiled C++ code for 64 bit versions of Softimage). Additionally, there are many VBScripts for the custom properties, some custom commands, etc.
This plugin follows the Softimage "workflow policy" and its usage is as easy and straight forward as any other of the tools contained in Softimage.
Some Features
- multithreaded meshing and improved overall meshing performance.
- multithreaded octree.
- the motion vectors, the UVWs, the user normals and the vertex colors are now available as ICE data instead of clusters and cluster properties => more flexibility and better performance.
- liquid filaments.
- motion plotting.
- texture coordinates (UVWs).
- advanced mesh smoothing.
- support of RealFlow .bin file format.
- enhanced workflow for large setups.
- handles millions of input points and creates polygon meshes with millions of polygons without problems.
- support of multiple custom properties per input object.
- capability of meshing a single point cloud with several emPolygonizer4 operators.
- direct memory-to-memory meshing of the internal emFluid4 3D grids.
