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RailClone 4 for 3DS Max Released

October 28, 2019 by CGPress Staff 37

Itoo Software has announced the latest version of its parametric modeling and layout tool for 3DS Max. RailClone 4 introduces several new features focused on enhancing the tool’s usability for scene layout.

This includes the ability to automatically grab the materials applied to source geometry. In previous versions, users had to manually create or assemble multi-sub materials for complex objects. Another new feature that aids layout work is the new RC Spline Modifier, allowing users to add markers on a path to position geometry and control nearly any of a graph’s parameters.

RailClone uses generators to build objects, each acting as a 1D or 2D parametric array with various customizable parts and deformation features. RailClone 4 expands on this by allowing users to nest the output of one generator inside another. This enables users to create a parametric model and then use it as input in a different array.

While this was possible previously through workarounds, RailClone 4 allows this while maintaining full instancing for generating very large polygon counts. Having everything in one graph simplifies the iterative process and makes updates easier.

A new display mode lets users preview large scenes within the viewports. Quick Mesh instantiates geometry in the 3DS Max viewport that hasn’t been deformed (aside from simple transform operations) to preview high polycounts. This promises to speed up interactivity with high-poly assets, which is particularly useful when using RailClone as a layout tool.

RailClone includes several boolean tools that allow users to clip geometry using splines. Until now, this left open edges where the geometry was sliced. RailClone 4 can now automatically cap the open edges and UV map them using real-world map coordinates. The user experience has also been enhanced, with several changes making the node-based editor easier to use.

Other improvements include rewritten and more intuitive group and transform operators, a new statistics window, performance enhancements, new expressions, the ability to retain instancing when using the Material node with Corona, and more.

A perpetual license for RailClone costs €220, and a free lite version is also available. With this release, RailClone Lite has fewer feature limitations. The lite version previously only worked on flat splines, but now, from RailClone 4 onwards, the lite version allows geometry to be deformed on undulating splines and surfaces, unlocking all the deform tools.

For more details on this release, visit the iToo Software website to read the full announcement.