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Fusion 5.1 Pre-Release Teaser
(Last Updated: August 15th, 2006)
Requirements: Fusion 5
Source files:  F51Teaser.zip (2.4 Mb)
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Introduction
Recently, eyeon Software announced that it would be releasing Fusion 5.1 in the fall of 2006. The update comes almost a year after the release of Fusion 5.0,
and adds significant new functionality. eyeon has chosen to provide this upgrade free of charge to current owners of Fusion 5.0.
The first public showing of Fusion 5.1 was at Siggraph 2006 in Boston. Since only a small percentage of artists are able to attend Siggraph, we have produced
this pre-release teaser page so that those who were not present at the show can see for themselves what is in Fusion's near future.
The following is just a glimpse of some of the awesome new features coming with Fusion 5.1. Stay tuned for this massive release this coming Fall 2006.
Let's start with a simple screenshot.
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Click the image for a full size version.
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FBX Import
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The composition depicted above is almost entirely virtual - the ground, automobile and lighting were all produced in Fusion's 3D environment. The only
exception is the sky, which is a panoramic still.
To start, we imported an FBX model of the automobile. While Fusion 5.0 also has the option of importing FBX geometry, all elements in the scene were imported
as a single object. Fusion 5.1 adds the ability to export separate objects, so that the components that make up the model can be addressed individually.
Once imported, we grouped the mesh objects according to purpose. The objects composing the wheels were placed in a group. The body, interior and headlights
each got their own group as well.
This makes it easier for the compositor to isolate elements and generate passes. In this composition we used the individual objects to :
- generate a pass containing a non-lit black and white version of the front headlights. This was used as a glow mask.
- isolate the body elements so that a projected sky texture would not appear on interior elements.
- assign diffuse and specular colors to each object.
- generate a separated shadow pass.
Two directional lights provide basic lighting, and a spotlight generates the shadow cast on the ground. The ground itself is nothing more than a tiny ashpalt
texture with two painted lines.
By extracting the individual objects that make up the model, it becomes easy to generate custom passes that meet the compositor's needs.
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Another feature of the image above are the highlights found on the vehicle's headlights. Rather than track the motion of the headlights, two Locator
3D tools were placed in the scene and connected to the headlight objects. The locator works out the current 2D position of the object in the rendered result
and makes that available as a Modifier.
The center of a LightFactoryLE tool is then connected to the position modifier. Fast, simple, and no tracking required.
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Fusion 5 already had a locator tool but the tool has been greatly enhanced in Fusion 5.1. The locator now passes scene data through and provides a new
input on the flow to greatly speed up workflow. It will also take into account transformation applied to the connected object downstream from the initial
location.
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Projection
Projection is a technique that casts an image into a 3D scene as light. Fusion 5.1 provides the artist with two projection modes, a standalone
projector tool and a projection mode for cameras. A projected image wraps around geometry, and can be used to apply texture to objects or to create psuedo 3D
moves with perspective from 2D photographs. It is an essential technique for creating digital sets and environments.
The images below show the automobile with and without a projected sky texture applied to the hood.
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Per Pixel Lighting
Fusion 5.1 adds a new per pixel lighting path for OpenGL. Previously, Fusion used a per-vertex model, which would generate chunky and
inaccurate lighting in OpenGL displays and renders.
The following image demonstrates a spotlight cone against an image plane, using both per-pixel and per-vertex models.
The per-pixel lighting path also makes it possible to see projected images directly within the OpenGL display view, as seen in the left
display view of the screenshot at the top of this page.
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Connect Mask Tools to Normal Tools
Mask tools can now be connected directly to any image processing tool. In the example below, a grid warp has been used to adjust a polyline mask.
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Color Selector for Nodes and Groups
Fusion 5.1 provides a script to set tile and text colors for individual nodes, and background fill colors for groups.
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Elbow Nodes
Fusion 5.1 now provides elbow nodes that can be used to shape the path taken by pipe that connect tools in the flow.
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Displace and Bender 3D
Two new tools have been added to the palette of 3D tools. Displace 3D permits displacement or deformation of a 3D object using a 2D displacement
map. The Bender 3D tool can be used to bend, taper or twist objects along any axis.
In the screenshot below, these tools were used to transform an image plane into a complex shape.
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Perturb Modifier
The Peterb modifier can generate random values with control over Strength, Speed, Wobble, and Value. In addition to Positional and Numeric
controls, Peterb can also be applied to polylines and grid meshes. Clicking on the images below will show a short QuickTime video demonstrating the Perterb Modifier's effect.
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Other Changes
- Flipbook previews created in the fixed displays can be viewed in fullscreen mode again.
- The Paint tool's speed has been dramatically improved. Also significant paint workflow improvements.
- New icosohedren 3D primitive, and additional subdivision options for existing 3D primitives.
- Daytime sky generator based on physical models of atmospheric conditions.
- Added second material to Text3D for beveled or extruded edges.
- New tool to apply distortion to images based on a vector channel.
- Script to manage custom hotkeys.
- New file browser with image sequence concatenation.
- Can now copy tools from flow into text editor or vice versa.
- Expanded amount of whitespace around controls.
- Automatic calculation of render range based on selected tool.
- New faster blur algorithm.
- Improved OpenGL playback performance on many graphics cards.
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