MAXON Computer, a leading developer of professional 3D modeling, painting, animation and rendering solutions, today unveiled CINEMA 4D Release 11 (R11), the next generation of its highly acclaimed 3D animation software suite. The super-charged release is packed with advanced capabilities that deliver dramatically improved ease of use and workflow, image quality and integration into any production pipeline. CINEMA 4D R11 highlights include a non-linear animation system, new global illumination render engine and dramatically improved render speed. Customers also benefit from the powerful Projection Man matte painting system, developed by MAXON for Sony Pictures Imageworks, support for the COLLADA™ file format and CineMan - a RenderMan-compliant tool that connects to Pixar's industry-leading rendering solution. Additionally, multiple improvements were made to MAXON's popular texture painting toolset BodyPaint 3D Release 4. All of these capabilities and more serve to underscore MAXON's ongoing and deep commitment to helping 3D digital artists further advance creativity and control.

"MAXON has spent the last 20 years developing some of the industry's most advanced 3D software technologies; continually raising the bar for 3D animation software excellence," said Harald Egel, CEO and co-founder, MAXON. "CINEMA 4D R11 is no exception. This release contains the next-generation features our customers worldwide have come to expect from MAXON."

Expanded integration options, new workflow tools and boosts in performance for both PC and Mac users sit at the heart of the new release. On average, rendering speeds are now more than twice as fast as the previous version. CINEMA 4D R11 also boasts an all-new Cocoa-based architecture supporting 64-bit processing under Mac OS X Leopard.

"We are pleased, that MAXON has created the CineMan connection to Pixar's RenderMan directly from within CINEMA 4D," said Chris Ford, Business Director - RenderMan at Pixar. "Now MAXON customers can benefit from Pixar's Academy Award-winning rendering technology, featured in Ratatouille, The Incredibles and many others."

"Our customers told us what they needed and we listened," said Paul Babb, president and CEO of the MAXON US office . "This exciting new version is as ideal for the novice as it is for the power user who wants to produce compelling imagery in today's fast-paced environments."

SU Podium 1.5 Mac OS X has been released!! The Mac version is identical to the
Windows version of Podium except it works as a plug-in to SketchUp 5 and 6
on Mac OS X. If you are an existing Podium 1.5 users and want to switch to
the Mac version, the conversion is free. Simply download the full program
and use your original serial number distributed to you when you purchased
Podium.

For new users, there is a free Podium 1.5 Mac evaluation version. As with
the Windows version, the free version is limited only in the image
resolution sizes. The sizes are 230 X 120 and 500 X 500 pixels.

What is new in Flamingo 2.0

Enhanced user interface
Content browser with drag-and-drop support
Environment Manager with support for multiple environments and templates
Reflected environment option (global)
Global illumination light dome with HDRI support
Material preview in Rendered display mode
Sun and parallel light soft shadows
Improved soft shadows, blurry transparency, and blurry reflection
New decal interface with preview
Post-render, real-time depth of field
Post-render, real-time glare
Post-render, real-time haze
Materials and plants saved in the 3DM file with pack-and-go.
Foliage density per plant
Batch rendering using scripts
Render views by name
Image size and resolution saved in the file
Save photometric images to file
Support for Piranesi EPix
Multiple camera styles including cylindrical and spherical projections
Texture baking
Larger resolution image management
RPC 3.0 support
Polygonal groundcover
Decal across multiple objects
Clipping planes
Shadow control per object
Missing material/decal bitmap report