IllusionCatalyst

The free instrument set for 3ds Max

IllusionCatalyst is a free instrument set designed to improve artistic expression and increase productivity in Autodesk 3ds Max. It consists of three independent scripts for specific tasks of the production pipeline. It can be freely downloaded and put into action, give it a try!

IC.Shape	Organic polygonal modeling. Draw and erase mesh edges like tracing lines with a pencil on paper, then deform and relax the surface like shaping clay by hands.

IC.Face	Facial rigging and animation. Bring characters to life letting them express every emotion and mood with a full range of controllers. No more gummy faces allowed.

IC.Mime	Keyframing and animation. Take a step and get the other one for free, control the flow of the action and each pose more easily. Forget about motion brakes.

News

27 April 2009

First IllusionCatalyst year. Well, IC was released about a year ago and caught immediately the cg community attention as the announcement showed on CGTalk. I can remember googling for "IllusionCatalyst" and as the time passed and the globe revolved, the news was reported on many other local forums, in the US first, then Australia, Japan, Russia and so on. I was extremely excited and a bit shocked, but in the end it turned out well. After about a month there was a new release, correcting some glitches overlooked in the very first release. Since then I've been studying modeling and using IC. Summer passed and I started to think to create something better. But I pushed MaxScript to the max in the geometry and topology manipulation field, and any major improvement could come only by getting hands dirty with the sdk. So Fall came and before touching the sdk, got the excellent "Thinking in C++" by Bruce Eckel, and went through the whole first volume. In January the sdk journey began and is still going on. The backbone of a new IC.Shape is built, missing only some minor data, and the undo handling, but it's already scheduled. I can't tell much more than this at this point, but at least it will work on Editable Polys as well as Edit Poly Modifiers, will be faster, with more features and a brand new interface. I wish to take the chance to give again heartfelt thanks to the two guys who supported me with a donation. Thank you.

12 February 2009

New snippets. A new collection of functions to manage Editable Poly sub-objects selection and conversion has been published, along with a simple function that helps to identify right callback events fired by 3ds Max. Take a look into the MaxScript page.

11 February 2009

Script Update. I'm glad to announce the new IC.PolySplitRing version 0.3. The code has been optimized and a new experimental feature added. Let's get it in the MaxScript page. Enjoy!

9 February 2009

New snippets. Geometrical calculations are so common while programming Editable Poly features that I wished to put together and share an essential library of useful function. I'd like to hear from you any opinion and idea, given that there are many ways to get the same results.
Message Board. I'm glad to launch a new message board in the Discussion page. If you like to share any thought, leave a message (even before the beep ;)

6 January 2009

Happy new year. I'd like to greet the new year by adding some content to the MaxScript page. You can find a couple of articles which will hopefully be followed by others about challenging arguments, and a brand new free script called IC.PolySplitRing. Those who know Maya can easily figure out what's that about, let's discover it in the MaxScript page. Enjoy!

10 December 2008

Study time. This is not exactly an IC news, but I'd like to let you know IllusionCatalyst enjoys good health. I'm currently studying C++ to gain access to 3ds Max SDK and code all the nice features I got in mind since the very first release but could not develop because of limitations of MaxScript. At this time I cannot tell very much about what the future holds, but I guarantee I'm doing my best. In the meantime I hope you have fun with IllusionCatalyst. I'd really like to know what you think about it, what you like best and dislike, as well as understand how IC simplified your daily work or passion. Thank you.

6 September 2008

I need your help! I got some reports concerning strange behaviors in IC.Shape Drag Brush. Something like destroying the mesh after some time of use, but I cannot reproduce the error on my system. It may happen the whole script shows some unpredictable results, but nothing that can't be fixed with a couple of undos at most. I really appreciate any feedback about the problems experienced with Drag Brush if possible with some elements, or the whole scene file if you're comfortable to share it with me, and the most detailed explanation of what happened. Don't forget to mention the OS and 3ds Max version. Only reproducible bugs can be tracked and hopefully eliminated. Please contact me through the Bug Report Page. Thank you very much, have fun.
Z-Projection recoding is on standby. The development of a new IC.Shape section dedicated to this useful feature is under evaluation.

28 June 2008

Z-Projection recoding. The first release of Z-Projection feature is based on the intesectRay function provided by MaxScript. After some investigation, it appears as the slowest among three similar functions. I'd like to rewrite the code for intersection checking to make it faster and more reliable. Drawing polygons for retopologization could become a separate optimized tool, rather than being a modification of the standard Draw Tool. Keep an eye on news.
Tools enhancements. Some tools are on their way to become even faster and easier to use, as the Transform, Extrude ad Inset Tool. I'm planning to give a visual feedback about the original and transformed state as well as a sort of manipulation gizmo.

18 June 2008

IllusionCatalyst 1.2 development. The coding phase is going on along with a deeper test of already released features. In example, IC.Shape Z-Projection doesn't work too well in orthographic views, but it is an issue tied to 3ds Max Rays accuracy, which work at a lower level than the scripts. Please use Z-Projection in perspective views. Two already coded function for IC.Shape are Draw Edge Loop originating from the crossed edge point, and brush tooltips. I really wish to hear from you what you think about IllusionCatalyst, to make it better and better, thanks for your effort.

31 May 2008

IllusionCatalyst 1.1.1 released. A dumb bug has slipped through the testing sessions, I fixed it and posted a very small update. Get it form the download page. Sorry for the annoyance.

25 May 2008

IllusionCatalyst 1.1 released. After the coding, debugging and testing sessions, the first update to IllusionCatalyst is ready to rock. Get it form the download page. As always, Enjoy!

15 May 2008

"Mysterious, super useful, ultra gorgeous feature" revealed. As the coding stage turns to the end I can't help but unravel this cool feature. It's not a completely new concept, but developed with the fresh approach of IllusionCatalyst instruments. The optional offset from template surface makes "Z-Projection" even more useful.

Z Projection is already fully functional on many painting tools:

Draw - Vertex / Edge Draw and Create Polygons
Erase - Edge Collapse
Relax / Stress
Pinch / Stretch
Drag / Smudge
Inset

After coding stage end, some time is still required to thoroughly test everything and killing prospective bugs. Another hopefully small amount of time is needed for the docs update. Hang in there, I'll do my best to release IllusionCatalyst 1.1 in this month.

13 May 2008

New IC.Shape feature announcement. Some nights ago, being too tired to code, I was looking at some beatiful works for the Dominance War III contest. I stumbled upon DDS's magnificent artwork and while reading about the construction process the new "mysterious, super useful, ultra gorgeous feature" popped into my mind. Moments later, looking at Lukavi's impressive artwork, the thought took form: "It could work!" like Gene Wilder cries out in Young Frankenstein. No need to say that feature is almost ready. Thank you DDS and Lukavi for inspiration!
Coding time, continued. While writing the code for the new "mysterious, super useful, ultra gorgeous feature" I realized there are some errors in Transforms Math in various tools - I'm sorry. To avoid problems while working with IC.Shape in IllusionCatalyst version 1, keep the model oriented like world axis and do not scale it. Flaws have already been fixed and features tested. The new release will be fully functional. Please wait a little longer for the new release, since I want to put it under stress-test, and there's the tedious job to keep the docs up to date too.

10 May 2008

Still coding time. I resolved to extend the code checking, and in case rewriting, to some other painting instruments I was not completely happy about, like Erase Tool, Transform Tool and Extrude Tool. I won't add features, but apply minor nonetheless significant changes to their behavior. I will need feedback about it, you're warned :)

8 May 2008

Coding time. I decided to rebuild almost from scratch Draw Tool. It was the very first painting instrument I coded for IC.Shape, and it was a bit too green. Unnecessarily complicated and difficult to maintain, I'm in the middle of a rewriting process, cleaning up the unneeded, fixing some small issues and adding a feature hopefully interesting. Please wait a little longer for this new release, it will anyhow come soon.

29 April 2008

Website updates. I had to create a captcha to allow downloads because I got a sort of "denial of service" attack yesterday. In some hours I got about four thousand downloads from a single IP address. If they were real persons I would have been happy, but since it's quite obvious they were fakes, I wonder why someone would do such things, wasting about one point five gigabytes of my monthly bandwidth and making me take back the counter. I hope this won't trouble you. Thanks.

21 April 2008

Internet hosting provider crisis situation surmounted. I got the hosting upgrade that should guarantee enough bandwidth for site consulting and downloads. Enjoy!

19 April 2008

Internet hosting provider crisis situation. I never expected so much attention, and I've surpassed my monthly allowed bandwidth by far in two days. I couldn't get in touch with my internet provider for an upgrade because it's Saturday. I guess the site illusioncatalyst.com could be automatically shut down in any moment. It will be up again on Monday morning (Central European Time). So hang in there! Thanks for understanding.

10 April 2008

IllusionCatalyst first release. It can be freely downloaded and put into action. Give it a try, and let me know what you think about it. I hope you enjoy this toolset, as much I liked to think up, develop and use it. :)