Insight3d lets you create 3D models from photographs.

Yesterday while surfing on net I found a interesting freeware software "insight3d" which is a opensource  image based 3 d software


About Insight3d:
 You give it a series of photos of a real scene (e.g., of a building), it automatically matches them and then calculates positions in space from which each photo has been taken (plus camera’s optical parameters) along with a 3D pointcloud of the scene. You can then use insight3d’s modeling tools to create textured polygonal model.

Basically, it hopes to be "Photosynth + Canoma". Or "boujou + Imagemodeler". But it's also free and opensource (GNU AGPL 3). Check out the screenshots below or download it already.

Download insight 0.3.2:

    * Windows Installer (.msi) – in some cases (probably not), it might be necessary to update your system by installing this
    * Linux version – at this point, you can download a standalone archive, but it is necessary to follow the instructions in the README.txt file to compile it on your system

Be sure to read the tutorial!

Disclaimer: This software is intended for educational purposes. Potential users in countries that allow software patents must first investigate whether or not this software package uses any algorithms patented in their respective countries and if so, refrain from using it.

But I need help: there are tons of different digital cameras and I've tested my app only on few of them. insight3d should be able to handle all typical cameras, but there's some stuff in the optimization routines that has yet to be tweaked appropriately. Probably. It would be great if you could send me datasets you tried to feed into insight3d. Both the ones that worked and the ones that didn't are imporant! If you want, download the app, read the tutorial (there's important info on what photos should be used and where to eventually send them!), take some photos, have fun with it and please send it to me. Hope that it'll work for you, but don't hold your breath. 

Feel fre to contact Developer on his Email ID

SynthEyes 2011 Now Available!

SynthEyes™ is a camera Tracking and stabilization software application Developed by Andersson Technologies LLC.SynthEyes™ used for animated critter insertion, fixing shaky shots, virtual set extension,3D stereoscopic production, architectural previews, accident reconstruction, virtual product placement, face and body capture, and more.Here is the list of all new features.



You can Buy an New version or request for a demo, You can even subscribe new tutorials via our SynthEyesHQ YouTube channel regularly over the coming weeks. Follow our SynthEyesHQ Twitter channel for up-to-the-second information.

Source

Beta testing of V-Ray 2.0 for Max almost complete.

Chaos Group has announced V-Ray 2.0 for 3ds Max is entering its final stage of Beta testing. The improved version of this rendering technology is set to not only establish new trends in the industry, but most importantly it answers industry calls for a faster, more interactive and reliable tool.

V-Ray 2.0 for 3ds Max is a complete rendering solution, which combines the power of the distinguished V-Ray rendering engine with the flexibility and unprecedented speed of the interactive rendering system V-Ray RT, now running on GPUs. V-Ray 2.0 is now in BETA and official release is planned for 6th December. For more information on upgrade, pre-order and pricing policy, please click here.

V-Ray 2.0 BETA for 3ds Max is now open to all those who have upgraded to the new version of V-Ray or own the Three-in-One Bundle, and to those who have preordered V-Ray 2.0. Until the official release planned for 6th December, these customers are also eligible to contribute to the BETA version with suggestions for the program’s final feature list.



Enhanced features


Faster rendering of VRayProxy objects;
Support for proper motion blur of Thinking Particles;
Proper blending of gizmos for VRayEnvironmentFog;
Improved raytracing precision in certain cases;
Render history for the V-Ray VFB;
Load and compare images directly in the V-Ray frame buffer;
Support for rendering of VRayProxy objects as point clouds;
Better representation of V-Ray lights in the new hardware viewport for 3ds Max 2010
and later;
Retrace threshold for the light cache
...and many other small fixes and improvements

The latest version of V-Ray offers a full list of great new features like:

VRayCarPaintMtl - material with accurate flakes simulation;
VRayLightSelect - render element to extract the contribution of individual lights;
VRayLensEffects - render effect for producing glow and glare with support for obstacle
images আন্দ diffraction;
VRayStereoRig - controller for easy stereoscopic setup;
V-Ray RT and V-Ray RT also available for GPU and many others. 
  
System requirements

Microsoft® Windows® 7 Professional (32- or 64-bit)
Microsoft® Windows Vista® Business (SP2 or higher) (32- or 64-bit)
Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional (SP2 or higher) (32- or 64-bit)

Supported platforms

Autodesk® 3ds Max® version 9.0 or later



Related link: Chaos Group V-Ray 2.0

RenderMan for Maya 4.0

RenderMan® for Maya® 4.0 is the latest version of Pixar's advanced rendering plug-in for Maya, featuring Pixar's award-winning RenderMan renderer. Highlights in version 4.0 include a series of significant performance enhancements, which should be immediately apparent on many scenes.

NEW FEATURES 
Maya Fluids - Maya Fluid are now supported with full support for motion blur and the ability to produce depth maps, for Deep Shadows, etc.  

RenderMan Controls - A new, consolidated user interface provides intuitive, one-window access to the RfM's basic settings and operations.  

Co-Shader Support - RFM now supports tightly bound light/co-shader combiniations.

NEW COMPATIBILITY 

64 bit Vista Support on OSX 
Maya 2011 Support

ENHANCEMENTS

Upgrade to 15.2 - RFM includes a significant upgrade to the core rendering technology, providing substantial out-of-box performance enhancements.
Unlimited Threading - Renderings now can take advantage of unlimited threads per seat.
Enhanced Threading - Significant gains when using multiple processors
Accelerated Ray Tracing - Substantial performance optimizations
Render Layers - The pass mechanisms for both implicit and explicit passes has been improved for Maya Render Layer's. 


To Buy your own  copy go here.

The Foundry announces the release of Mari 1.1 for Windows 7, with 64-bit support.

Mari is the new creative texture painting tool from The Foundry.  Released on Linux earlier in the year, Mari has already proved popular with customers including Framestore, Animal Logic, Double Negative and Digital Domain. Now updated to work in Windows 7, Mari is ready to run in even more studio environments.

New Features

• Windows 7 64-bit support
• Deferred shading mode makes Mari up to 20x faster than 1.0 in some situations
• Animated FBX Camera import for projections
• Perspective view
• Canvas Toolbar
• TGA support
• Normal Shader
• Smart Selection tool
• Better support for GeForce Cards.

...and lots of speed enhancements and bug fixes.


If you'd like to try out Mari please head over to
The Foundry web site and download an evaluation copy.