Mirye Software and Tokyo-based e-frontier, Inc announce the immediate availability of Shade 3D ver 14, the next generation of the premier professional 3D modeling, rendering, animation and 3D printing tools.
Shade 3D ver. 14 is available in Professional, Standard and Basic releases. All levels use the same intuitive workflow in the adaptable, configurable interface, making it easy to start with Basic but to upgrade later to Standard or Professional.
Shade 3D for Unity is also available for free, with the Mac OS X version available through the Mac App Store and the Windows version available through Download.com and Mirye Software Store.
Key Features in Shade 3D ver. 14
Unlike previous monolithic releases, new features will be added to Shade 3D ver. 14 throughout the version 14 life cycle. The key features included in the first release of Version 14 include:
- Line Offset Tool (Basic, Standard, Professional). Use a base line with offsets on one or both sides, with variable repetition values, gradients, differing angles, rounded corners and more, especially useful for designing architectural features like staircases, controling wall thicknesses and the like.
- 3D Text Primitive (Basic, Standard, Professional). A redesigned text tool that works with both OpenType and TrueType fonts and better interactive control over text within the Shade figure window.
- LSCM Unwrapping (Standard, Professional). Least Squares Conformal Map unwrapping is integrated into the Unwrap Editor for unwrapping arbitrary surfaces; new support also incorporates unwrapping into multiple UV islands, seams that define points of separation and using pins to control points and avoid unnecessary distortion.
- STL Import / Export (Basic, Standard, Professional). With the availability of 3D printing solutions and services, Shade 3D Version 14 has comprehensive support for the STL format; STL is the format of choice for industrial and commercial 3D printing.
- Granular Render Quality Control (Professional Only). It is possible to set render quality for each light and surface in a scene and superior control over soft shadows, providing significant time savings in render time.
- Line Thickness for Surfaces and Poly Mesh (Basic, Standard, Professional). Select objects and apply thickness in order to build sealed objects for 3D printing and fast architectural drawing.
- Boolean Triangular and Divide Options (Basic, Standard, Professional). Specify how polygons are managed or reduced during boolean operations for better 3D printing exports.
- Display Back Faces by Color (Basic, Standard, Professional). Quickly locate flipped faces by locating them by color rather than directional indicators.
- OS X Retina Display (Basic, Standard, Professional). Shade 3D ver. 14 is optimized for use with Retina displays on Apple Macintosh computers.
- 3D Polarized (Passive) Monitor Support (Basic, Standard, Professional). In Shade 12 and 13, 3D stereo preview is available in Anaglyph and NVIDIA 3D Vision (Win only), but now in Shade 14, Polarized 3D display is also supported in Mac OS X and Windows.
- SketchUp 2013 Import (Basic, Standard, Professional). Now import your models from the most recent release of SketchUp, as well as the legacy Google SketchUp import.
Dozens of additional enhancements, fixes and improvements also make Shade 3D ver. 14 faster and more efficient. Early testers of Shade 3D Version 14 have found much to like in this release.
"The new LSCM unwrapping in Shade 3D ver. 14 is really fast, easy and precise - I really don't need to go outside of Shade any more for unwrapping," said Juan Manuel Bautista Hoepfner, architectural visualization designer, 3D CGI artist and instructor.
Shade 3D has pushed the application of 3D with real time stereoscopy, analglyphic animation rendering, stereograms and more. NVIDIA® 3D VISION™ real time stereoscopy is available with compatible monitor, glasses and graphics card. Version 14 offers improved usability also for designers who are targeting the 3D printing market and 3D prototyping.
Any customer who purchased Shade 13 after June 22, 2013 will automatically receive a free upgrade to Shade 3D ver. 14.
Mirye Software, a division of Proactive International is the worldwide publisher of Shade in English, as well as a distributor and publisher of other professional design and development tools.