Newest Rendering Plug-in Offers Seamless Integration in SOFTIMAGE|XSI Rendering Environment

Softimage Co., a subsidiary of Avid Technology, Inc., today announced availability of the fully integrated production renderer, 3Delight (DNA Research), for SOFTIMAGE XSI professional 3D modeling, animation, character creation and rendering software. The 3Delight plug-in brings the quality and speed of the 3Delight render engine, as well as the power and flexibility of RenderMan ® rendering standards and practices as established by Pixar ® to the SOFTIMAGE|XSI user base.
Softimage introduced an open application programming interface (API) for its rendering environment in SOFTIMAGE|XSI 6 in 2007, and immediately caught the attention of third-party rendering partners who provide powerful rendering solutions. 3D artists are now benefitting from expanded rendering choices with direct plug-in integration with the user friendly interface in the new SOFTIMAGE|XSI render environment.

“The workflow between 3Delight and SOFTIMAGE|XSI is nearly identical to the workflow I had already become accustomed to,” said Todd Akita, technical director at PSYOP New York. “This meant that I could immediately gain access to all of the benefits of using the 3Delight renderer with a minimal learning curve. 3Delight’s support for the shading nodes that XSI artists have become familiar with is also quite impressive. It’s amazing to be able to mix and match mental ray and 3Delight render passes literally with the flip of a switch.”

“We are delighted that the 3Delight renderer has been deeply integrated into SOFTIMAGE|XSI using our open render API,” said Bill Roberts, director of product management at Softimage, Co. “3D artists can now extend their SOFTIMAGE|XSI rendering options with this RenderMan-compliant, production proven technology-all without any compromises in workflow.”

Highlights of 3Delight for XSI
  • Complete Render Tree Support – Complete integration means the capacity to work with SOFTIMAGE|XSI shaders, without additional setup. Shading networks are automatically converted to RenderMan shaders that are suitable for 3Delight. Third party RenderMan shaders can also be assigned to geometry if necessary
  • Complete Geometry support – All SOFTIMAGE|XSI geometric primitives are supported. Includes hair and subdivision surfaces. 3Delight renders all surfaces smoothly, no tesselation settings are required.
  • Fast 3D Motion Blur and Depth of Field – The speed of 3Delight's motion blur is as fast as post-process 2D motion blur while being more accurate. Depth of field is equally fast.
  • Fast Displacements – 3Delight will render displacements at almost no additional rendering time. Displacement maps imported from 3D paint packages such as ZBrush and Mudbox will render efficiently and accurately.
  • Subsurface Scattering – Easy to set up sub-surface scattering enables artists to render the subtleties of light scattering inside translucent objects.
  • RIB export and import – Many RIB writing and reading functions are available for advanced pipelines. This includes binary and compressed RIB export, delayed RIB archives, scene caching and RIB boxing.
  • High-end quality, speed and robustness – Built on top of a production proven and weather-beaten render engine, 3Delight For SOFTIMAGE|XSI will bring years of film rendering experience to your studio.
Pricing and Availability

3Delight for SOFTIMAGE|XSI software is available now in the following configurations:
– 3Delight For SOFTIMAGE|XSI – Studio USMSRP $1,450. Includes full feature complete package. Each license runs a maximum of 4 threads.
– 3Delight SOFTIMAGE|XSI – Artist USMSRP $495

Customers can purchase the 3Delight plug-in as a download at: www.3delight.com/renderman_download.htm.
For more information about 3Delight visit: www.3delight.com
For more information about SOFTIMAGE|XSI and to download a FREE 30-day trial of SOFTIMAGE|XSI Essentials, visit: www.softimage.com/downloads/