Incredibly enough, a sequel toAlien: Isolationis finally in development, but though its nowhere close to launch just yet, fans of survival horrorAliendo have something else to look forward to. Survios first-person survival horror titleAlien: Rogue Incursion is due out imminently for VR devices, and the developer has released a launch trailer to hype up its imminent release. Check it out below.Alien: Rogue Incursionwill see players stepping into the shoes of Zula Hendricks, a former Colonial Marine who embarks on a mission to the uncharted planet Purdan. Infiltrating a research facility, she will face a number of different threats, including corporate controversies and, as you may expect, what Survios is calling the most cunning Xenomorphs ever encountered. In short, shes going to have her hands full.Alien: Rogue Incursionis due out imminently, on December 19, for PlayStation VR2, Meta Quest 3, and Steam VR.

Rendering: KPMB ArchitectsFollowing three years of planning and design, Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC), ArtsCommons and The City of Calgary have announced that the ArtsCommons Transformation (ACT) expansion has broken ground. This marks a significant step forward in the delivery of the arts-focused infrastructure project currently underway in Canada.Since revealing the architectural designs for the ACT expansion in April, CMLC, as Development Manager for the ACT project, has been working with our construction and project management teams to develop a strategic and efficient construction management plan for the project, and to secure approval for our Development Permit this fall, said Kate Thompson, president and CEO of CMLC. A groundbreaking is an exciting moment in any project it represents the culmination of years of advocacy, design, approvals and planning, and marks the beginning of really bringing a project to life. We cant wait for the ACT expansion to begin to take its place in Calgarys iconic skyline.Construction on the ACT expansion, designed by KPMB Architects, Hindle Architects and Tawaw Architecture Collective, will begin in January 2025. Construction will be managed by EllisDon with project management by Colliers Project Leaders, and is expected to be completed in 2028.The ACT expansion is the first of the three campus transformation phases to begin construction. The other two phases include the Olympic Plaza Transformation (OPT) project, which is now fully funded, and the ACT modernization, for which efforts are underway to secure the remaining required funds.Photo credit: KPMB ArchitectsTo finally be able to break ground on this once-in-a-lifetime project, with such an unprecedented level of public and private support, sends a strong message to the world about the importance ofarts and culture to a citys well-being, as well as to Calgarys position on the global stage, said Alex Sarian, president and CEO of ArtsCommons. Earlier this year we were humbled to announce both the Government of Albertas $103 million commitment, and Dave Werklund and familys record-setting $75 million transformational gift which, combined with the $320.5 million of already secured funding, brings us to over 75 per cent of our fundraising goal for this $660 million downtown cultural campus. As we prepare to unveil our rebranding to Werklund Centre in 2025, I am overwhelmed by the sense optimism that comes from building the future of our city together.Design is currently underway for the Olympic Plaza Transformation (OPT) project, which is aiming to create a more modern, inclusive and accessible arts-focused outdoor gathering space as part of the contiguousArtsCommons campus upon its completion in 2028. The design for the Olympic Plaza Transformation project will be revealed in the late first quarter of 2025.CMLC and The City of Calgary have also launched a series of digital experiences to archive Olympic Plazas 1988-2024 chapter, including the Olympic Brick Finder, the Olympic Plaza Interactive Experience and the Olympic Plaza 3D Perspective. All three tools can be found here.The Olympic Plaza will close at the beginning of January 2025 to facilitate construction and site fencing will be installed around the entirety of it at that time before beginning site demolition. 8 Avenue between Macleod Trail and 1 St S.E. will remain open for the majority of construction, and access to the existing ArtsCommonsfacility, the Burns Building, the Public Building and the Dominion Bank Building will be maintained at all times.The City of Calgary will continue to work with event organizers to identify alternate locations for events during construction. The City of Calgary has also launched a resource to help Calgarians find other parks, public washroom and skating amenities in downtown through construction.The post ArtsCommons Transformation expansion breaks ground appeared first on Canadian Architect.

The papaya (Carica papaya), also known as the pawpaw, is a plant species in the family Caricaceae, and also the name of the plant's fruit. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and Central America, and is now grown in several countries in regions with a tropical climate. The papaya fruit is a large berry about 15 to 45cm (5.9 to 17.7in) long and 10 to 30cm (3.9 to 11.8in) in diameter. The fruit is cultivated for food, being typically consumed when ripe and eaten raw without skin or seeds. The black seeds are also edible and have a sharp, spicy taste. This photograph shows the longitudinal cross section of a papaya fruit lying on its side, with orange flesh and numerous black seeds visible. The picture was focus-stacked from seven separate images.Photograph credit: Ivar LeidusRecently featured: 20232024 Sundhnkur eruptionsMauritius fodyCaroline HillArchiveMore featured pictures

December 19Frontispiece to A Christmas Carol1828 Nullification crisis: American vice president John C. Calhoun's South Carolina Exposition and Protest, written to protest the Tariff of Abominations, was presented to the South Carolina House of Representatives.1843 A Christmas Carol (illustration pictured), a novella by Charles Dickens about the miser Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation after being visited by ghosts, was published.1983 The Jules Rimet Trophy, awarded to the winner of the FIFA World Cup, was stolen from the offices of the Brazilian Football Confederation.1997 SilkAir Flight185 crashed into the Musi River in Indonesia, killing 104 people.2013 The European Space Agency's spacecraft Gaia was launched with the goal of constructing the largest and most precise star catalogue ever made.Adelaide of Susa (d.1091)Sakakibara Kenkichi (b.1830)Kristina Keneally (b.1968)Ahmet Emin Yalman (d.1972)More anniversaries: December 18December 19December 20ArchiveBy emailList of days of the yearAbout

Wednesday, December 18th, 2024Article by ReallusionCreate game characters with CC Auto Setup for 3ds Max and V-Rayhtml PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"[Sponsored] Character Artist Rafael Benedicto reveals how CC Auto Setup for 3ds Max, Reallusions free plugin, helped him set up the lead character from a game project for rendering.In this article, I will demonstrate how I used Reallusions CC Auto Setup plugin to quickly import and set up a character created in Character Creator 4 into 3ds Max, for rendering with V-Ray. I will be showcasing the Last Keeper, the main character from Knightly Works Studios upcoming indie game Skars: Rise of the Last Keeper.Before diving into Auto Setup, I will start with a quick overview of how I brought this character to life, transforming a concept illustration into a fully realized real-time character in CC4, and ultimately preparing it inside 3ds Max for rendering with V-Ray.Character creationI began by creating the base model in Character Creator 4, designing his face and body to match the concept art.Next, I used the GoZ Plus plugin available in Character Creator 4 to easily transfer the character to ZBrush, where I modeled the armor and clothing.After modeling each armor group, I used retopology software TopoGun, along with ZBrushs ZRemesher feature, to create low-poly versions of the parts.Next, I used UV mapping software RizomUV for UV unwrapping before importing the parts back to TopoGun to bake the normal and ambient occlusion maps. These maps were integral to the texturing work, which I did in Substance 3D Painter.Once the texturing was complete, I imported the each piece of armor into Character Creator and fitted it onto the base character as an accessory or clothing piece.Below, you can see a simplified flow chart, using the helmet as an example, illustrating the process of transferring the armor from ZBrush to Character Creator 4.The garment pieces like the pants, cape, and loincloth were created in Marvelous Designer and textured in Substance 3D Painter, then imported into Character Creator to dress the character. Finally, I transferred the skin weights from the body to the armor and clothing parts, ensuring they were skinned to the bones and could move in sync with the body.After everything was prepared, I exported the entire character as an FBX file, making sure that 3ds Max was selected as the Target Tool Preset in Character Creators Export FBX panel.Transferring the character to 3ds Max with Auto Setup for 3ds MaxHaving already installed the Auto Setup plugin, the first thing I did in 3ds Max was open the CC Auto Setup window and place it alongside the Command Panel on the right of the interface. I then loaded the FBX file that I had exported from Character Creator, selected V-Ray GPU as my renderer, and clicked on the Import button.After two or three minutes, the character had been imported along with its skeleton and skin weights. All the materials from Character Creator 4 were also converted into V-Ray materials. With the original rig and materials transferred and intact, I was ready to set up for final rendering.Effortless lighting and look developmentMy first task was to test the look dev presets on the Auto Setup panels first tab. This tab features 10 presets that automatically generate sets of lights, a camera, and a background for the scene. To enhance usability, a dummy helper object is included, making it easy to rotate of all the lights in the scene simultaneously.I experimented with various light presets but ultimately chose the first one, as I preferred a more subtle look for this particular character.In my initial test renders, the materials for the armor parts already looked excellent. The colors, reflectivity, roughness, metallicity, and normal and bump maps all looked just right.However, the skin looked too bumpy. To resolve the issue with the normal maps, I had to disable the Auto Setup plugins wrinkle system, which activates when you change the expression of a character. After that, I put the characters helmet back on and continued testing.Simplified material adjustmentsNext, I moved on to the next tab in the CC Auto Setup window. This enabled me to adjust the properties of the materials without needing to access 3ds Maxs Material Editor.The tab includes handy sliders for modifying key settings like subsurface scattering (SSS) intensity, normal intensity, and roughness. When you click on the characters hair, the sliders change to settings relevant to hair. Clicking on the head mesh switches the settings to skin properties, and the same applies to the eyes, teeth, and tongue.The hair materials needed adjustment to eliminate overly bright streaks. Fortunately, it was an easy fix, setting Roughness to 1.00 in the Auto Setup windows Materials tab. I made the same adjustment to the facial hair.Flexible rigging with 3ds Maxs CAT toolsetNext, I wanted to focus on the characters pose. Because the character was pre-rigged in Character Creator, all I had to do was unhide all the objects to view the bones of the rig. However, I prefer to use 3ds Maxs CAT rigging system in my workflow. In the Auto Setup window, I switched to the Body Rig tab to create a CAT rig that overlaid the existing bones.The CAT bones dont replace the regular bones, but are created on top of them and linked to them. This meant that when I manipulated the CAT bones, the regular bones followed, and consequently, the skinned parts of the character followed as well.Heres how I posed the character based on the game directors input.Facial expressions made easyOnce we had settled on a pose, the game director requested a specific facial expression. Since the Auto Setup import process includes all of the facial morphs available in Character Creator, creating facial expressions is straightforward. By navigating to the Face Rig tab in the Auto Setup window, I could use the control panel to manipulate the individual regions of the characters face and create the desired expression.When a characters skin looks realistic, but the polygon-based hair cards dont, it detracts from the overall realism of the rendered character. As much as I wanted to stick with hair cards to avoid extra work, I eventually decided to replace them with hair created in 3ds Max hair and fur plugin Ornatrix for better results.With the materials, pose, and expression finalized, I set up a dome light using a HDRI from the Poly Haven online library. I also created a background environment in 3ds Max and ZBrush, followed by additional test renders. Once the game director approved the setup, I proceeded to render the final turntable and close-up shots.Final thoughtsReallusions CC Auto Setup plugin was a huge time-saver for this project. While it doesnt make everything perfect automatically or act as a complete solution for importing characters from Character Creator 4 into 3ds Max, it significantly streamlined the process.I still had to adjust parts of the CAT rig, adding twist functions to the arm and leg bones, and I spent time tweaking materials in 3ds Maxs Material Editor. But where Auto Setup excels is at handling the initial setup materials, rigging, and other technical details in just a few clicks. It saved me days of work, allowing me to jump quickly into the creative phase of the project, posing the character, adjusting expressions, and fine-tuning skin and hair materials.A big thanks to Reallusion for making this article possible, and special thanks to my client, Knightly Works Studio, for allowing me to use their character. And thank you for reading!Need a more detailed walkthrough?You can find a longer version of this article on the Reallusion website, or watch a recording of the workflow on YouTube.Find out more about CC Auto Setup for 3ds Max on Reallusions websiteAbout the author: Rafael Benedicto is a freelance 3D artist who has worked on indie games and films. He began his career as a generalist, creating everything from props to buildings before finding his niche in character creation, discovering Reallusions Character Creator through his work creating hyper-realistic portraits. See more of Rafaels work in his ArtStation portfolio.

html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"Leopoly has released Shapelab 2025, the latest version of the VR sculpting software.The release updates Shapelabs handling of parametric primitives and kitbashing workflow, and makes it possible to customize the background environment for a sculpt.Leopoly also recently released Shapelab Lite, a lower-cost standalone edition of the software for users of Meta Quest 3 and 3S headsets.A polygon-based digital sculpting tool streamlined enough to use in virtual realityReleased in 2023 after several years in early access, Shapelab is designed for sculpting 3D models primarily organic forms like characters and creatures in VR or on desktop systems.Unlike tools like Adobes Medium and Substance 3D Modeler, it represents 3D models as conventional polygonal geometry, rather than Signed Distance Fields.Shapelab uses a brush-based sculpting workflow, with a base set of brushes that will be familiar to users of apps like ZBrush, plus the option to use alpha textures as stamps.Users can adjust the resolution of the mesh locally, via a brush-controlled dynamic topology system, or via a set of global controls.It is also possible to clone, mirror or perform Boolean operations on geometry to build up more complex forms.For texturing sculpts, Shapelab includes a vertex painting toolset with support for masks; or users can apply a set of readymade materials.Shapelab 2025: customizable background environmentsShapelab 2025 makes it possible to customize the background environment for a sculpt, by importing HDRIs or choosing custom colors to use with the Skybox, Ambient Light and Environment Reflections.Users can also now adjust the orientation of directional lights, and toggle the workspace floor on and off.Better handling of parametric primitivesThe update improves the softwares handling of parametric primitives, which now have their own section of the UI, rather than being available via the Create Tool and Sculpt Stamp Brush.There are new parameters to adjust the form of 3D primitives, including bevel, chamfer, taper and hole; or they can be reshaped using gestures when working in VR mode.Add objects to the shape library for kitbashing 3D formsThe update also extends kitbashing workflow, making it possible to import models in OBJ or FBX format to the shape library, to use as kitbash parts, or to add shapes from the scene.Workflow improvements: snapping, scene alignment and brush scalingThere are also a number of workflow improvements, including support for angle and grid snapping in the Create Tool and Sculpt Tool, and when grabbing and moving objects.When viewing scenes, new scene alignment tools re-orient the scene vertically, automatically adjust zoom so that the entire scene is in view, or reset zoom to its default level.A new brush scaling option dynamically adjusts brush size relative to the scene, ensuring that brush strokes remain a consistent size regardless of zoom level.New lower-cost Shapelab Lite edition for Meta Quest 3 and 3S headsetsIn related news, Leopoly also recently released Shapelab Lite, a lower-cost standalone edition of the software intended for devices with lower processing power.It has the essential features from the full edition, and should maintain a workable frame rate on relatively complex sculpts: Leopoly says that fps begins to drop around 1.5 million polygons.It is currently compatible with Metas Quest 3 and 3S headsets.Price and system requirementsShapelab 2025 is compatible with Windows 10+. Find a list of supported VR headsets here.Perpetual licenses have a standard price of $64.99, down $5 from the previous release; subscriptions now cost $59.99/year, up $10/year since the previous release.Shapelab Lite is compatible with Meta Quest 3 and 3S headsets. It costs $14.99.Read a full list of new features in Shapelab 2025 in the online release notesRead more about Shapelab on the product websiteHave your say on this story by following CG Channel on Facebook, Instagram and X (formerly Twitter). As well as being able to comment on stories, followers of our social media accounts can see videos we dont post on the site itself, including making-ofs for the latest VFX movies, animations, games cinematics and motion graphics projects.

Check out the changes to font browsing in the latest workflow update to the image editing and digital painting software.

Fluoride: a chemical byproduct with a complicated past (and future)Published inThe Medium BlogSent as aNewsletter4 min read2 hours ago-- Welcome back to the Medium NewsletterIssue #231: 2024s video game of the year, a history of hunger strikes, and texting thank yousRecently, government officials and pundits have begun reexamining the use of fluoride in public drinking water. The anti-fluoridation crowd often points to published studies that claim to connect fluoride to a myriad of health risks, including increased cancer rates and, a hot topic right now, lower IQ scores in children.There is plenty about fluorides use in drinking water that can sound like the stuff of conspiracy theories (so much so that it was once invoked in anti-communist propaganda). The fluoride added to our drinking water is often sourced from phosphate companies, which produce fertilizers. Because it is a naturally occurring chemical made of fluorine minerals (its in the periodic table of elements!), fluoride is essentially a byproduct of their mining practices. So, critics are also concerned about the quality of fluoride produced in that way, as well as the pollution caused by those industries. (This also why you may sometimes hear it referred to as an industrial waste.)Fluoridated water is also used to fuel the conversation about governmental overreach or personal choice, as it is difficult or impossible for some to truly opt out of public water that has been fluoridated.Even so, many public health officials are confident that the kind and level of fluoride recommended by regulatory agencies is safe. Critics call those studies about negative health effects and IQ scores unreplicable or irrelevant, as they often are examining a level of fluoride that is at least two times over the suggested maximum amount. (Too much of a good thing may be bad for you? You dont say)Fluoridated water (within healthy limits) is also a public good. After all, the promise of fluoridation was never just about preventing cavities it was about ensuring that everyone, regardless of income, education, or race, could maintain basic dental health, says Dr. Jess Steier, a public health scientist, in a story on Medium.And yet: Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Trump administrations nominee for head of the Department of Health and Human Services, has said one of his first official acts will be to advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water. Heres a punch list of facts and resources Im keeping an eye on in the midst of it all:The recommended amount of fluoride to be added to public water is 0.7 parts per million. Overly fluoridated water (above 1.5 parts per million) is not endorsed by any health professional.Internationally, many cities that have defluoridated their water also provide free dental healthcare or provide fluoride in other ways, such as in salt.The act of fluoridating municipal water is not federally mandated. One way to find out whether your local water system has fluoride is to check the CDCs website, My Waters Fluoride, but some states may have their own resources.Personally, Id love to know more about how fluoride is purified before it enters our water systems. What about you? What concerns do you have about the dental health of our communities, and what solutions do you want to see?More around the webLast week, Astro Bot (a video game about a robot obsessed with reclaiming parts of a Playstation 5 from a green alien) (yes, its that meta) was honored as The Game Awards Game of the Year. Ben Ulansey shares some context as to why it grabbed the gaming communitys adoration in these times: Its a smile-inducing band-aid on a planet that feels sometimes like its bursting apart at its seams. (Fanfare)Ive been watching the FX show Say Nothing, which is based on the real story of two women volunteers for the IRA who performed a hunger strike while they were imprisoned by the British in the 1970s. John Oakes, author of The Fast: The History, Science, and Philosophy of Doing Without, adapted some of his research into a post for the Hell World newsletter. In it, he explores the history of this political action, describing it as jiu-jitsu politics that inverts the power structure and can undermine authority more effectively than a bomb.Sonification is the act of bringing infographics to life through sound. Its a part of pursuing a multi-modal strategy of learning, which can be especially effective in improving memorization skills. Dont believe me? Give a listen to the examples featured in this Medium story by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) for an unforgettable way of learning about the intensity of black holes or how galaxies are formed.A dose of practical wisdomI recently attended a webinar that featured a conversation with Amy Blankson, author of The Future Of Happiness, who shared a few extremely useful strategies for managing stress and increasing optimism in day-to-day life. My favorite: scroll through your phones contact list and find seven people in your social circle that you appreciate and text one person per day to thank them. The list and the scope helps with decision fatigue; once you have the list in front of you, youll find it hard to not do it. (Im on day 5, and its working!)