New CityEngine 2009.2 Version Available Now for Download!

Significant improvements in performance allow for the design and modeling of megacities with over 500'000 buildings.



Procedural Inc. today announced the CityEngine 2009.2, the latest version of its groundbreaking software for the fast creation, visualization and analysis of large 3D cities. The software is used by high-profile companies such as Foster+Partners, Microsoft, Navteq, Boeing, IBM, Thales, Blizzard, Square Enix, etc. and was awarded Killer Technology 2009 by 3D World magazine Procedural Inc., an innovative software company located in Zurich, Switzerland, is creator of the world’s foremost procedural modeling technology. With the CityEngine, Procedural Inc.’s graphics experts have developed a radically different 3D application that allows professional users in entertainment, architecture and urban planning to efficiently design cities. "CityEngine 2009.2 introduces significant improvements in performance and overall stability", says Pascal Mueller, CEO Procedural Inc. "Furthermore, with the integration of map projection standards and corresponding accuracy enhancements, the CityEngine is now, together with its unique reporting functionality, the perfect tool for sustainable urban planning such as accurate simulation and evaluation of new city developments."


Key Highlights of the CityEngine 2009.2

• Large Data Set Support (over 500'000 buildings on 64bit)
• Map Projections (over 80 projections are supported)
• Accuracy Enhancements (enabling high-precision at global scale )
• 3DS Export (plus advancements of Collada and FBX export)

Other improvements of the CityEngine 2009.2 include selection-sets handling, interactive editing extensions, GUI refinements, better ATI-support, advanced python scripting and many more details providing a good user experience. For more information, please visit: http://www.procedural.com/cityengine/whats-new.html

Pricing and Availability
A free 30-day trial version is available for download. The software can be purchased via Procedural Inc.’s website, or by telephone order at +41 76 720 3303. The CityEngine retails from a starting price of $ 3’450.

Tags: Modelling, Procedural, Software, Visualizations, 3D

BEEDOCS (Apple only) today announced that Bee Docs Timeline 3D software for Mac OS X will support built-in integration with Basecamp project management software by 37signals. Bee Docs Timeline 3D received an Apple Design Award for "Best Mac OS X Leopard Application - Runner Up" in 2008.

"Project managers have told us that 3D timeline presentations are a great way to communicate project status with team members and customers," said Adam Behringer, creator of Bee Docs Timeline 3D. "Basecamp project management software users can now chart their project messages, to-do lists, and milestones directly from Bee Docs Timeline 3D in just a few clicks.

You can download demo movies and a demo version of Beedocs.

Tags: Software, Productivity, Animation, Macintosh

3D Terrain Printing
by Albert Kiefer

The summer holidays are coming to a close for most of us. Some will have spent some unforgettable days, or weeks, in a fantastic location like the Swiss or French Alps, the Grand Canyon. Some will even have scaled the Mount Everest (although these might be few and far between...).
Most of you will have taken tons of digital photographs, others take a small bottle of soil or a flask of water but now there’s a new way to grab hold of a piece of your holiday locations. A 3D print!

With the advent of commercially and economically viable rapid prototype printing solutions a number of 3D printing services are quickly becoming available to the public. A very interesting niche is now being presented by Terrainprint in the UK.

UK based Terrainprint.co.uk has a 3D printing service hooked up to a kind of Google Earth type of application that quickly allows you to travel to you location of choice, make a selection and press print. After being presented with a 3D preview of the textured terrain you can order it and presto: your holiday memento extraordinaire will be on its way.

These items which have a very clear pricing structure and there should be no surprises with models that are unexpectedly pricey.

There are several types of overlay graphics that you can color your 3D terrain model with, although at the moment the full range of options is only for the USA area. But still, the continents texturemapping will have a great realistic projection of the terrain for you and should be the general choice for the holiday snap memento.

I can well see applications for terrain printing in the fields of location or prototype planning or scouting for motion picture production (although these companies might already have 3D printers hanging around their own facilities), location and site planning and presentation for architects, a special relational gift for traveling agencies, mementos for tourists that want to document and tell about their journeys, etc.

It will be well worth checking out Terrainprint.co.uk and play with the application a while. Have a test print in the smallest footprint and see how that works out.

Tags: 3D, Textures, 3D printing, Exclusive Gift

Maxon Releases Cinema 4D Release 11.5
by Albert Kiefer



Maxon has just released Cinema 4D R11.5 to the general public.

Key Highlights of CINEMA 4D Release 11.5

• Superior Rendering Performance Including New Bucket Rendering
• Enhanced Picture Viewer
• Improved Interoperability and Integration

• Numerous improvements have been made to CINEMA 4D's highly praised connectivity to Adobe® After Effects®, including support for additional object types.
• Support for Apple® Motion now includes the export of 3D data.
• Support for Autodesk® FBX® 2010.0 allows for quick and easy interchange between a variety of 3D applications.

Powerful New Motion Graphics Capabilities

Release 11.5 promises a tighter integration with Apple’s recent Final Cut Studio upgrade, more specifically with Apple Motion3 from that package with its strengthened 3D capabilities.

Support For the New Generation of Operating Systems

• Apple - R11.5 is fully compatible with Mac OS X Snow Leopard, including access to up to 64GB of virtual memory. This is a great relief since it’s always a wait-and-see if a new OS is supported by current products.
• Microsoft - R11.5 is fully compatible with Windows 7, including enhanced file dialog.

Apart from their flagship product Cinema 4D they have also release a new specific version of the product called Cinema 4D Broadcast Edition which, like the Architecture Edition and the Engineering Edition caters to a very targeted market for animation in the broadcast industry.

Tags: 3D, Animation, Modelling, Textures