Autodesk Maya 2012 Subscription Advantage Pack

Fresh from Siggraph 2011 -There's more to come shortly with blogs and news full of videos, but I have the following thus far courtesy an update on Autodesk's site.  You only get the following if you are on CURRENT subscription!  Contact us to add or renew your subscription!

The Autodesk® Subscription Advantage Pack for Autodesk® Maya® 2012 software provides new tools to help manage increasing scene complexity required by today’s games, film, and television productions.

Features:

Alembic point caching—Efficiently manage complex simulated and animated data, with the ability to read and write Alembic open computer graphics interchange format.
Bullet Physics—Create highly realistic soft body, rigid body, and ragdoll simulations with high-performance open source AMD Bullet Physics engine.
New Node Editor—Manage and debug complex node networks with a new Node Editor that features drag-and-drop connections, color coding, and three levels of detail.

3ds max Subscription Advantage Pack 2012: Adobe AE interop, render passes, Activeshade Iray

Courtesy of Ken Pimentel's awesome "Maxed Out' blog! Ken gives us the update on the new advantage pack for 3ds Max 2012! The advatage packs are available to subscription customers only - so contact us to make sure you are current if you aren't already!

Here's the brief overview.
Render Passes/State Sets
We're introducing something called "State Sets" to perform the work of render passes
State Sets in 3ds Max 2012

Render Pass System
Segment your scene for downstream compositing more easily with an entirely new render pass system.

Adobe After Effects Interoperability (Yay!)
3ds Max artists whose creative toolsets include Adobe® After Effects® software can now enjoy a level of interoperability that sets a new standard for 2D/3D data exchange.

ActiveShade Interactive iray Rendering
Experience a truly iterative creative process for finalizing renderings, with new ActiveShade support for the iray® renderer from mental images®.

Enhanced Interoperability with Adobe Photoshop

.NET Exposure of the 3ds Max SDK
Effectively leverage .NET enabled languages (such as C#, F#, IronPython, IronRuby, and Visual Basic .NET)

Autodesk SIGGRAPH 2011 VANCOUVER free guest expo passes

SIGGRAPH is around the corner with 46 days left until it begins.

Autodesk is kind enough to offer free expo passes to the event!

Send an email or contact your Motion Media account Representative to get your free Exhibits pass  Code.

We at Motion Media are excited about SIGGRAPH 2011 and  can’t wait see everyone at the show in Vancouver!

Tron Now and Then wih Digital Domain at the LA Chapter of SIGGRAPH January 21

Twenty-eight years ago when the Los Angeles SIGGRAPH Chapter was formed, the first presentation was on TRON. Join the artists at Digital Domain as they discuss the new installment in the story of code writer Flynn. Also, present will be visual effects artists from the 1982 TRON. Two panels will compare and contrast the evolution of the effects employed in this highly successful franchise.

The good folks at CGSociety have posted much more details on the event.

Detailed information in the CGSociety NEWS section

The Foundry with also be there doing a Pre-Show Feature.

Also Check out Digital Domains THE MAKING OF TRON: LEGACY

20th anniversary 3ds Max Siggraph T-shirts

Looking for cool schwag to add to your collection of 3dsmax gear?

Autodesk is giving away limited 20th anniversary T-shirts at Siggraph 2010.

Link with details here

Siggraph 2010 Animation Trailer - Pretty Awesome

Pretty cool video posted by Siggraph of their animation competition this year.  Looks like it will be a good one this year.