JangaFX releases EmberGen 0.5.5
JangaFX has released EmberGen 0.5.5, the latest beta of the real-time gaseous fluid simulation tool.
The release adds a work-in-progress GPU particle system to the software, making it possible to generate finer details in smoke and fire simulations than the existing voxel-based simulation.
In related news, Otoy has released EmberGenFX, its version of EmberGen for OctaneRender users, as a free public beta for artists with paid OctaneRender subscriptions.
A promising hardware-agnostic real-time gaseous fluid simulator
Described by JangaFX as the “world’s fastest volumetric fluid simulation platform”, EmnberGen promises to enable users to create smoke and fire effects of a complexity approaching that of offline tools like FumeFX.
As well as simply reproducing the dynamics of gaseous fluids, EmberGen’s combustion system mimics the way that real-world fireballs consume fuel and oxygen.
Simulations can also be affected by wind forces and turbulence, and constrained by collisions with the ground plane and external boundaries.
The resulting data can be exported to other DCC applications in OpenVDB format, or rendered directly within EmberGen as flipbook image sequences for use in game engines like Unity and UE4.
Images can be exported in a range of standard 2D formats, including EXR, TGA and PNG, along with motion vectors, normal maps, and additional data like emissive, albedo and temperature values.
The software is GPU-agnostic, and has fairly low minimum hardware requirements: a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 or AMD equivalent.
New in 0.5.5: support for ‘millions of GPU particles’
To that, EmberGen 0.5.5 adds a new GPU particle mode, intended to generate finer, wispier detail than the standard voxel-based simulation.
It isn’t a ground-up particle simulation – the particles are advected using the underlying simulation data – but it can be rendered independently of the volumetric simulation, or together with it in a hydrid mode.
The particle system is still a work in progress, and can currently only be used to render image sequences: JangaFX says that it is working on the option to export particle data in Alembic format.
New simulation presets, workflow improvement, option to pause renders
The update also introduces 19 new simulation presets, many of them using the new GPU particle system, and improves workflow in the node graph and timeline.
Users can also now pause a simulation once all of the export image nodes have been processed; while support for “basic tiled rendering” should mean that “long renders will stall the UI less”.
Pricing and system requirements
EmberGen is available for Windows 7+ only. It is still officially in beta.
Indie subscriptions, for artists with revenue under $1 million/year, cost $24.99/month or $239.99/year, with users qualifying for a perpetual licence after 12 months of consecutive payments.
Studio subscriptions, for studios with revenue up to $100 million/year, now cost $149.99/month or $1,399.99/year per nodelocked licence, and $239.99/month or $2,299.99/year per floating licence.
Anyone with an active OctaneRender subscription can use EmberGenFX for free during the public beta, including for commercial work, after which, it will become a commercial subscription.
Read a full list of new features in EmberGen 0.5.5 on JangaFX’s blog