Joint WWDC Session with Pixar to Highlight 3D Painting Tool
The Foundry's 3D painting tool, MARI, will be coming to OS X in 2013, the company announced during Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) yesterday.
If you'd like to be one of the first to use Mari on your Mac, The Foundry is allowing early adopters to sign on as Beta users. Hit the company's registration page for more details.
"Bringing Mari to the Mac is without a doubt our most requested innovation," said The Foundry CEO Bill Collis in a prepared statement. "Mari will take full advantage of Apple's current hardware, and we can't wait for the next-generation Mac Pro."
In 2010, The Foundry licensed the proprietary Paint 3D technology developed at Walt Disney Animation Studios for implementation in Mari, at the time a Linux-only package that grew out of technology originally developed at Weta Digital, for Avatar. Version 1.5 debuted at Siggraph last year and added real-time shadow-casting, paint-buffer symmetry, and compatibility with Photoshop brushes.
Mari 2, launched earlier this year, addressed user concerns by adding a new layer system to the software, making the transition easier for experienced users of Photoshop and other layer-based painting tools.
The Foundry also noted that a special lunchtime session at WWDC today will feature Mari Product Manager Jack Greasley and Pixar's Jonathan Hoffman describing Mari's history and capabilities and showing how it was used on the new Monsters University. Registered Apple Developers can watch the session online, and The Foundry has posted more info.
The Foundry: www.thefoundry.co.uk
