As always at the beginning of the year, Ken Pimentel (Director of Visual Communication Solutions within Autodesk) has revealed some details about new features and capabilities of upcoming versions of 3ds Max.

Few words were said about MassFX - PhysX SDK based physics simulation solution, introduced in 3ds Max 2012.

We introduced MassFX and mRigids (based on PhysX and our partnership with Nvidia) in 3ds Max 2012. It was a start on our march to a more unified dynamics experience. We’ve continued that effort with Nvidia and we think you’ll be pretty pleased with the results in general. We’re not done, but definite progress in the right direction, we hope you’re pleased with it.

“Results” will include, at least, the addition of mCloth module for cloth simulation (as revealed at SIGGRAPH 11) and forcefields functionality through standart Force objects (as you can notice from a “teaser” video below).

Update: official description for the video:

This scene is a MassFX simulation that includes mRigids (using a new concave meshes option), mCloth objects, breakable Constraints, and mCloth tearable cloth. A lot of the scene geometry (all the stacks of logs) were stacked running separate simulations, just to get a nice realistic distribution, and then baked into their final positions.

The highlight of the simulation is the use of standard Max forces. The forces used include a spherical Gravity, two PBombs, and a Vortex field. These affect the rigid bodies, and mCloth, which not only reacts to the forces, but is also capable of respecting pinned verts and tearing under the influence of the force.

More tighter integration with Particle Flow was also announced.

As part of MassFX, it was clear we had to do something about Particle Flow and making sure it is on a trajectory to support our unified story. I can now say that we recently formalized a multi-year relationship with Oleg (creator of Particle Flow) so that he can be much more involved in our roadmap.

To set expectations, don’t expect immediate results in the coming year and you shouldn’t be discouraged. This is definitely a longer-term effort and Oleg will continue to offer his solutions via his channel for a long time to come. We’ll announce more at the appropriate time. My point in mentioning this is that we see particle flow in particular as an area of investment and research.

Having something like PFlow Box #2 (which is also using PhysX SDK) as a basic feature of MassFX system would be nice.

We believe that more details will be released in upcoming weeks. Stay tuned !

Along with APEX 1.1 release, NVIDIA has prepared new 2.71 version of PhysX plug-ins for 3ds Max (2009-2012) and Maya (2009-2012).

Update: 2.72 plug-ins available

2.71 PhysX Plug-in for 3ds Max – Release Notes:

• General: Fix a HW check issue for old driver causing crash for some users.
• General: Saving file at the end of a simulation will capture transform all objects in scene.
• General: Sprinting improvement for 3rd party plugins utilizing this plugin.
• General: Exporter locale issue. Force to keep as period instead of comma.
• General: Removed unused materials and shapes in exported XML files.
• General: Fix the crash with previewer, waving flag sample.
• General: Upgrade 3.x mode to use PhysX SDK 3.1.1
• General: Minor toolbar tweaks.
• General: Prevent some convex hull failure cases.
• General: Increase contact buffer for PhysX 3.x.
• General: Fix the bug that when in the middle baking, it restarts from time start. The reason is that Max does occasional preSave event and we prefer to rewind before saving.

• Rigid Body: Fix button based initial motion calculation.

• Ragdoll: Fix biped COM/pelvis matrix issues.
• Ragdoll: Modify constraint limits of new ragdolls to not be fully open and prevent forcing constraints into special mode.  This doesn’t fully fix biped though.  That will be coming in a later patch or next release.
• Ragdoll: Do no not add nubs on biped.

• Clothing: Latch to nearest doesn’t initialize properly.
• Clothing: Fix issue where bone order for LODs do not match. Remap bone IDs.
• Clothing: Wrong APEX colors by not support BRGA color format and expecting only RGBA.
• Clothing: Fix LOD exporting issues.
• Clothing: Fix crash when resetting scene with disabled modifier.
• Clothing: Fix some random crashes while painting certain models.
• Clothing: Fix baking clothing for some user models.

2.71 PhysX plug-in for 3ds Max is available for download at Developer Support Center. Follow the path:

[Online Support] -> [Downloads] -> [APEX DCC Clothing Plugins] -> [Max 2.7.X (beta)]

If you are experiencing trouble with registration of PhysX Developer account, please refer to our registration guide.

2.71 PhysX Plug-in for Maya – Release Notes:

• General: PhysX SDK 3.1.0 => PhysX SDK 3.1.1 upgrade.
• General: If new file does not start at minTime then rewind.
• General: Remove unused materials and shapes in exported XML files.
• General: Remove broken export scale UI. It was only applicable to APEX Clothing and was located in the general section by accident. Generalized scaling will be supported at in a future release.
• General: Toolbar improvement by switching to single click pops up menu instead of right click. Double click executes default behavior. This change is because newer releases of Maya have trouble with toolbars overriding right-click.
• General: Samples make the sample MA file set to 2009 instead of 2012 (someone resaved accidently in newer version).

• Ragdoll: Fixed script errors with ctdm Tutorial file. Also fixed issue with ragdoll helper scroll text height.

• Clothing: Make clothing node start right after skincluster to make skincluster data match.
• Clothing: If topology modifiers are uses after clothing deformer then materials must be left out.
• Clothing: Fix for too many vertices by smart re-welding.
• Clothing: Loading ctw throws script error.
• Clothing: Fix crash when resetting scene with disabled modifier.
• Clothing: Cannot paint new Cloth on older versions of Maya.

You can download 2.71 PhysX plug-in for Maya from Developer Support Center. Follow the path:

[Online Support] -> [Downloads] -> [APEX DCC Clothing Plugins] -> [Maya 2.7.X (beta)]

If you are experiencing trouble with registration of PhysX Developer account, please refer to our registration guide.

Basefount has announced release of Miarmy 1.2 – plug-in for Autodesk Maya that is capable of behavioral animation, crowd simulation, physics calculation and rendering.

Amond other features, physics engine in Miarmy 1.2 is now based on PhysX SDK 3.1 (in previous releases – 2.8.4), which provides faster and more accurate rigid body physics simulation even with high number of complex jointed objects.

In addition, usage of new PxCloth solver allows “100 times faster” simulation of cloth and clothing assets.

With new PhysX 3.1 Engine, The limit on the number of dynaimc agents is gone. On an average home PC, one can easily create a scene with more than 5,000 agents enable dynamics which contains more than 85,000 RBD objects and 80,000 dynamical joints. The cloth simulation will became almost real-time.

Autodesk has presented another video, showcasing some of the new features of MassFX – PhysX SDK based physics simulation system, that is replacing Reactor engine since 3ds Max 2012.

You can observe the process of mCloth object creation (and also it’s settings and interaction with rigid bodies), better support for concave meshes and updated interface.

It was also mentioned previously, that MassFX 2013 will also support standart forces, like PBomb and Vortex.

Autodesk has officially presented 3ds Max 2013 and 3ds Max Design 2013 – popular 3D modelling, rendering and animation packages.

Among other changes and improvements, MassFX, PhysX SDK based physics simulation solution, was upgraded with a number of new features.

Artists can now enjoy a more integrated and accurate dynamic toolset, thanks to a wide range of enhancements and additions to the MassFX unified system of simulation solvers.

Highlights are a new mCloth module that features tearable fabric and support for dynamic ragdoll hierarchies. In addition, improved constraints, better handling of pivot points, and enhanced UI readability help improve overall workflow.

Autodesk and NVIDIA continue their effort to create the universal physics simulation system for 3ds Max package – it is known as MassFX.

What has changed in new MassFX version, that comes with 3ds Max 2013, in comparison to the first release? We have tried to answer this question in our review.

One of the main new features of MassFX 2013 is the addition of mCloth – cloth simulation module, which was co-developed with Autodesk. Despite the rumors, mCloth uses PhysX 2.8.4 cloth solver for underlying physical calculations.

In comparison to APEX Clothing tools in PhysX plug-ins, mCloth is clearly oriented on VFX area: “one click” set up (no need to skin the mesh and apply movement constraints, as for APEX), full collisions with MassFX rigid bodies with two-way interaction, vertex group operations (like pin or attach to object), support for dynamic and kinematic cloth, ability to bake the simulation in keyframes.

Desired cloth behavior can be archived by tuning fabric settings, like density or damping, which can be saved and loaded as presets.

Additional parameters include rigid body collision responce and solver precision settings.

mCloth objects support per-vertex tearing.

Interesting option is ability to visualize material tension within given treshold.

Another feature is so-called “ballon behavior” – closed meshes can be inflated with internal pressure to imitate soft body, jelly-like objects or baloons themselves.

However, if hole in the baloon will be detected (as result of tearing, for example), it will deflate and force will be applied to the point of air outflow.

“Hardware acceleration” option can be enabled for cloth simulation, however, we were not able to spot any performance difference between CPU and “GPU” execution. It seems GPU acceleration is not fully operational yet.

To summarize: mCloth is a strong cloth simulation solution with decent pack of features and sufficient artist control over simulation, however, as a new tool it has not avoided some “childish” problems, like nonoptimal baking process (it is significantly slower than sim in viewports), unstable behaviour of baloon objects or overestimated cloth solver settings (they are set automatically, based on mesh resolution, but for real 3-5 times lower values are sufficient).

Another vital new feature – standart Forces (like PBomb, Vortex or Wind) can now affect MassFX objects, both rigid bodies and cloth.

Being developed in Autodesk, Forces interaction feature is not using forcefields mechanism from PhysX SDK, instead, custom forces are applied directly to actors.

Third major addition – stable auto-generated ragdolls from biped skeletons.

Instead of abomination – jiggling mess of rigid bodies and joints – that may be familiar you from original PhysX plug-ins, “create dynamic ragdoll” option now generates fairly adequate ragdolls, usable even without aditional tuning.

Note: unlike latest PhysX plug-ins, MassFX is only using one version of PhysX engine - 2.8.4.

Apart from all the features described above, MassFX 2013 also contains numerous amount of smaller features, interface changes and bug fixes. Here are some examples:

It is now possible to assign gravity to Forces (or even it completely) through MassFX Toolbar.

Convex decomposition (this tool allows MassFX to support concave objects) has been reworked – it is now using simplified interface and operates faster.

Physical meshes can now be displayed not only as wireframe, but as shaded hulls as well.

Multiple constraints can now be adited at the same time via Multi-object Editor tab (previosly only available for rigid bodies).

And.. more !

To summarize: MassFX has grew up, but still not enough to reach level of Reactor’s feature set. However, with continuing support from Nvidia and Autodesk, MassFX will eventually overcome previous solution from Havok.

NVIDIA has released an updated set of PhysX plug-ins for 3ds Max and Maya, versioned as 2.87.01125.

Update: 2.88 PhysX plug-ins are available.

New plug-ins are offering support for latest APEX 1.2.1 and PhysX SDK 3.2.1 releases, and also are incorporating a massive amount of bug-fixes.

• New Features
  • Updated PhysX 2.8.x and 3.2.1
  • Updated APEX 1.2.1

• Fixes
  • Regenerate does not work on selected nodes.
  • Bone fins create collision shapes on RB ragdoll/RB creation.
  • Fast Previewer doesn’t simulate for LOD 1.
  • Convex cooking bugs with default cooking library which generates best hull. Convex vertex limit is now disabled.
  • Statistics is not refreshed after creating new clothing.
  • Contact report not working with PhysX engine 3.2.
  • CoreDump uses wrong file name.
  • Crashes on file load.
  • Script bug with 3ds Max 2009, related to FBX version check.
  • L2N does not save-load properly.
  • Fix CCD bug. Release NXU Persistent Memory, including CCD skeleton etc.
  • Fix 3dsMax repx unit export problem.
  • Fix Global scaling support.

• New Features
  • Updated PhysX 2.8.x and 3.2.1
  • Updated APEX 1.2.1

• Fixes
  • The attribute editor of clothing doesn’t update after loading CTW template.
  • Issues when adding rigidbody.
  • Ragdoll Mirror not working.
  • L2N is in wrong state when opening previously authored files.
  • Maya errors when creating ragdoll on ctdm_body.
  • L2N control is always disabled.
  • Contact report not working with PhysX engine 3.2.
  • Contact layer doesn’t work.
  • RigidBody cannot be added to joint if the joint is constrained.
  • Backstop offset does not paint no effect value.
  • Saving a ctw also saves an fbx.
  • LOD didn’t show up after deleting another lod.
  • Ctrl + D shortcut adds a physX node when it should not.
  • Ragdoll simulates wrong in Helix file.
  • Saving ctw appends name.
  • Maya paint has bad performance.
  • Simulation is wrong for the scene exported from 3ds Max.
  • Removing Clothing with LOD does not reset meshes.
  • The value of latch to nearest group is not right for the file created with 2.7.
  • Removing lod will make Maya crash.

PhysX plug-ins version 2.87.01125 for 3ds Max (2009-2013) and 2.87.01125 for Maya (2010-2013) can be downloaded through Developer Support Center (registration guide).

Updated versions of PhysX plug-ins for 3ds Max and Maya, 2.88.00227 and 2.88.00222 respectively, are now available for download.

Update: 2.89 PhysX plug-ins released

The release supports latest APEX 1.2.2 and PhysX SDK 3.2.2 and also includes several critical bug-fixes.

• New Features
  • Updated PhysX 2.8.5 and 3.2.2
  • Updated APEX 1.2.2
  • Make 3.x SDK as default.
  • Support exporting without prompt dialog.
  • Rigid Body: expose script support for clothing type shape, radius bone and type.

• Fixes
  • Fix for the crash when 3ds Max Loading if mParticles installed. Also fix the crash when opening a file with mCloth/mParticles content.
  • Fix a bug, if a scene contains a ragdoll, and open the viewer, max will crash when exit.
  • Fix clothing baking script issue, making pxBakeClothing() work.
  • Fix capsule collision with clothing in 3x mode.
  • Fix the bug ‘Pick Ragdoll Shapes’ dialog doesn’t work under 2.8.
  • Fix material and submesh parsing issue for a specific user.
  • Fix the bug save the num of ContactAgent with a size_t value.
  • Fix on a crash defect in weld algorithm.
  • Fix the Bug translating the mesh of a ragdoll in an old file will have doubled translation.
  • Fix Global scaling support.
  • Fix a bug 1745-8317534: Projection mode is not exported correctly to the RepX XML format.
  • Fix Bug #7190: PhysX 3.x connect sphere issue disable in Max 2009 SP1.
  • Fix Bug #7192: Backstop forces See-through mode.
  • Fix Bug #5747: Script error when using “Pick source object” on original object.
  • Fix Bug #5869: Color of rigid body does not differ for kinematic/dynamic ragdoll.
  • Fix Bug #7199: button missing from Root translation dialog.

• New Features
  • Updated PhysX 2.8.5 and 3.2.2
  • Updated APEX 1.2.2
  • Make 3.x SDK as default.
  • Support Maya 2013.5 release.

• Fixes
  • Fix bug #7207: When the viewer is open, launching the viewer makes Maya hang.
  • Fix bug #6051: Contact Layer not initialized when rigid body selected.
  • Fix bug #7191: Constraint with static rigid body doesn’t simulate correctly.
  • Fix bug #7226: Apex cloth disappears in UDK.
  • Fix bug #7125: Ragdoll with reference mode makes Maya crash.
  • Fix a crash when loading a clothing lod scene twice.
  • Improve Clothing Painting Performance.

PhysX plug-ins version 2.88.00227 for 3ds Max (2009-2013) and 2.88.00222 for Maya (2010-2013.5) can be accessed through Developer Support Center (registration guide).

Since 2012 version, Autodesk 3ds Max uses MassFX, PhysX SDK based simulation system, as default physics simulation solution.

New 3ds Max 2014 (and 3ds Max Design 2014) release adds a new MassFX mParticles module to a two existing ones, mRigids and mCloth. Also relaying on PhysX SDK engine, mParticles module is a powerfull and fully controllable particle simulation system.

Previously, mParticles module was know as standlone plug-in – Orbaz Particle Flow Tools: Box #2.

Updated PhysX plug-ins – 2.89.00313 for 3ds Max and Maya – are now available for download.

Apart from PhysX SDK 3.2.3 and APEX 1.2.3 support, only several minor bug-fixes are included in this release.

• New Features
  • Updated PhysX 2.8.5 and 3.2.3
  • Updated APEX 1.2.3

• Fixes
  • Fix GPU Simulation Disabled bug when choosing HW mode.
  • Fix qs tangent space issue.

• New Features
  • Updated PhysX 2.8.5 and 3.2.3
  • Updated APEX 1.2.3

• Fixes
  • Wind is now working with 2.x and 3.x in Maya.
  • Fix #7244: Loading the attached file makes Maya crash.
  • Fix #7249: PhysX -> Rigid Bodies -> Bake All doesn’t work.
  • Fix a hull cooking bug which causes cook failure when system scale is not 1.0f.

PhysX plug-ins version 2.89.00313 for 3ds Max (2009-2013) and Maya (2010-2013.5) can be downloaded throught APEX/PhysX Registered Developer Program (our registration guide) or at Developer Support Center (our registration guide).

New PhysX DCC plug-ins for 3ds Max and Maya are now available for public download.

Both 2.91 plug-ins contain usuall set of bug-fixes and minor improvements, however, 3ds Max version also presents some interesting new features.

One of them is the integrated APEX Destruction module authoring pipeline (previously only available via PhysXLab), which allows artists to create, tweak and test destructible assets right inside 3ds Max.

Another one is so-called Simulation Sets – basically, an advanced collision filtering feature, which works for rigid bodies and cloth objects.

• New Features
  • Using APEX 1.2.4, SDK 3.2.4 and SDK 2.8.5.
  • Support for Destruction using PhysXLab Fracture Tool.
  • Support to create Destruction by importing from .Apx or .Apb.
  • Support for Destruction in Fast Previewer.
  • Destruction: Select Chunk by Parameter.
  • Constraint UI upgrades.
  • Clothing UI upgrades on LOD Rollouts for 2x and 3x.
  • Update Core 3x Clothing UI (Backstop Offset debug visualizer).
  • Simulation Sets.
  • Rename ragdoll to Rig.
  • Ragdoll inheritance properties/mode for constraints and RBs.
  • RB splitting collision hulls off into a separate sub-obj mode.
  • PhysX global settings scaling support.
  • Move global panel “Steps” to a new UI Group “Time”.
  • Fast Previewer camera controls should match Max controls or Maya controls appropriate for all.

• Fixes
  • Fix: The APEX version is not correct.
  • Fix: Paint Color Feedback incorrect.
  • Fix the convex volume calculation.
  • Fix: Simulation is hard to see in Viewer (if select top viewport).
  • Fix: Losing smoothing groups on import of apx.
  • Fix: Use current baked vertex animation does not simulate correctly.
  • Fix: Inconsistent rollout menu header and items in PhysX Tools.
  • Fix: Tooltip for Backstop Radius incorrect.
  • Fix: Preset name under Physical Material rollup allows empty value for APEX clothing.
  • Fix: Mesh name under Physical Mesh rollup allows empty value.
  • Fix: Preset name under Physical Material rollup allows empty value for rigid body.
  • Fix: Duplicate mesh name when adding mesh under physical mesh rollup.
  • Fix: Typo mistake in tooltip for APEX Clothing->Simulation->Wind->Direction.
  • Fix: Renaming physical mesh does name not update mesh name under physical material.

• New Features
  • Using APEX 1.2.4, SDK 3.2.4 and SDK 2.8.5.
  • Add adaptive Force flag to Globals panel in solver area.
  • Interpolation mode.
  • APEX Clothing connected spheres authoring.
  • Support physical material (attributes) per Clothing LOD.
  • Clothing LOD upgrade for inheritance like 3ds Max.
  • Statistics roll out for clothing.

• Fixes
  • Fix: The APEX version is not correct.
  • Fix wind setting for Maya.
  • Fix: “Scale to units” is broken.
  • Fix: Painting always invokes ApexClothingNode::UpdateInheritanceMap.
  • Fix: Opening Ragdoll.mb makes Maya crash.
  • Fix: APEX visualizer doesn’t work.
  • Fix: Flood latch to nearest as value 1 makes Maya crash.
  • Fix: Loop simulation makes Maya crash.
  • Fix: Flood maxdistance as 0 makes Maya crash.
  • Fix: Deform the mesh with the clothing node makes Maya crash

PhysX plug-ins version 2.91.10810 for 3ds Max (2009-2014) and Maya (2010-2014) can be downloaded throught APEX/PhysX Registered Developer Program (our registration guide).

NVIDIA has released 3.0.0 version of the PhysX DCC plug-ins for 3ds Max and Maya with support for latest PhysX SDK 3.3.0 and APEX SDK 1.3

However, in comparison to the major 1.x -> 2.x rewrite, round “3.0″ version number has not brought any significant changes to PhysX plug-ins – remaining 2.9.x digits were simply reserved for possible APEX 1.2.x branch updates.

And if you have missed latest additions to PhysX plug-ins, like introduction of the APEX Destruction authoring pipeline, you can check it here.

• New Features
  • Using APEX 1.3.0, SDK 3.3.0 (SDK 2.8 is not supported any more).
  • Deprecated UI for SDK 2x.
  • Avoid generating multiple materials when they are with the same parameters.
  • Destruction: Behavior Groups Management.

• Fixes
  • Fix: Wrong volume calculation issue in Rigid body.
  • Make exporter dialog from File -> Export also support .Apx and .Apb.
  • Fix: TetherStiffness range. Set tetherStiffness to 1.0 – relax just as ClothingTool uses 1.0 – mTetherStretchiness.
  • Fix: 2 UI updating issue introduced in CL 9122.
  • Fix: Hammer icon.
  • Some fixes for debug render in fast viewer.
  • Fix: Apex render after rewind scene in ccViewer.
  • Fix: Menu bug with Forces part.
  • Fix: Kinematic animation in fast viewer for non-integer start frame.
  • Sort bone list by name, improve bone indices in clothing asset.
  • Fix: After painting on lod, lod node will fail to restore previous shading mode.
  • Fix: LOD crash bug – switching lod during simulation crashes max.
  • Fix: Wrong exporter file name like “C:\export\nc.PxProj.PXPROJ”.
  • Fix: Fast viewer for precision sensitive Domino sample case.
  • Fix: InitialSwing issue with SnailGames’ sample.

• New Features
  • Using APEX 1.3.0, SDK 3.3.0 (SDK 2.8 is not supported any more).
  • Deprecated UI for SDK 2x.
  • Avoid generating multiple materials when they are with the same parameters.

• Fixes
  • Support for clothing collision with ground plane for 3x mode.
  • Suppress extra attributes for rigid body.
  • Fix #8901: Removing graphical lod makes Maya crash.
  • Fix #8644: Simulation results are not consistent.
  • Fix #8616: Undo command for creating rigid body make memory leak.

PhysX plug-ins version 3.00.01116 for 3ds Max (2009-2014) and Maya (2010-2014) can be downloaded through APEX/PhysX Registered Developer Program (our registration guide).

NVIDIA has released an updated 3.0.1 version of the PhysX DCC plug-ins for 3ds Max and Maya.

• New Features
  • Upgrade to APEX 1.3.1, SDK 3.3.1
  • Add SDK 2.x back for mCloth and mParticles. Users can only simulate mCloth and mParticles in 2.x mode. And APEX will not be supported when 2.x mode. It means users cannot edit and simulate Clothing and Destruction assets when using 2.x.

• Fixes
  • Fix: crash which happens when quiting 3ds Max with a biped Ragdoll scene.
  • Fix: bug that Clothing simulates wrong at first frame when system scale is not 1.
  • Fix: bug with APEX Debug Visualizer parameters.
  • Fix: bug that when LOD1 is default LOD, it may not allow to add another new LOD.
  • Fix: bug that Physical Mesh rollout could be too small when it is Custom type.
  • Fix: few bugs with Physical Mesh rollout of Clothing Modifier.
  • Fix: crash when loading .Rag files.
  • Fix: SDK warning message when it fails to output on unicode build because missing one virtual function.
  • Fix: Clothing Velocity control via Script.
  • Improve the simulation of dynamic ragdolls.
  • Make a switch to SDK 3 if creating APEX objects.
  • Support SkinMapActual for APEX Clothing visulaizer.
  • Improve sub-material handling based on Bug #9515: Getting multiple materials when coming back from PhysXLab to 3ds Max.
  • Make Destruction exports Tangent and Binormal with UE3 and APEX 1.3
  • Avoid extra scale (in PhysX Panel dialog) to be zero.
  • Improve debug render scale handling.

• New Features
  • Upgrade to APEX 1.3.1, SDK 3.3.1

• Fixes
  • Fix: apx file doesn’t show up correctly in UE3.
  • Fix: paint attributes of clothing are not loaded correctly.
  • Update cloth skin map visualizer.

PhysX plug-ins version 3.01.10328 for 3ds Max (2009-2014) and Maya (2010-2014) can be downloaded at GameWorks Download Center.