iToo Software releases RailClone 5

RailClone 5 is out now with the ability to distribute lights, control banking, cache objects and much more.

Motion Media is excited to let you know that RailClone 5 has been released. It is now more optimized, versatile and essential than ever before.

RailClone has found a place at the core of many arch viz and VFX pipelines as an invaluable scene layout tool. With version 5, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve added several new features that significantly improve its potential for asset assembly. For example, until now, RailClone was limited to distributing geometry, but not any longer. RailClone is now equally able to instance and distribute several types of non-geometrical objects, including lights and VDBs.

Scene optimization gets a significant boost in this release with a brand new caching system that allows you to bake a RailClone object. The cached object retains all of the features and efficiency of the regular RailClone object but will have significantly reduced compute times making loading and saving much faster. A second mode allows you to save

the cache to an external file that keeps your scene’s file size light. You can also load the caches into another RailClone object, even in a different scene, for the easy and fast re-use of massive pre-computed assets. The new version also adds new features for modelling including powerful new banking controls that allow you to twist and corkscrew the geometry around the spline. The angle is controlled by adding and editing visual markers to the spline exactly where they’re needed! No fiddly curves - much more intuitive!

In addition to these new features, RailClone 5 also includes significant improvements to markers, the ability to lock evenly divisions to odd or even values, drop-down parameter lists, improvements to clipping splines, more flexible options for limiting by materials IDs and much more.

Below is a summary of RailClone 5’s headline features:

Proxy Cache

Optimize scenes that contain complex RailClone styles using the new Proxy Cache system. Bake any RailClone object without destroying instancing or losing access to advanced features. Caches can be stored in the scene or exported to a separate file to prevent scene file bloat and make them easy to reuse.

Support for lights and other non-geometric objects

Distribute non-geometric objects including lights and VDB volumes. Combine them with geometry for hybrid styles and even use RailClone Color to randomize light tints and add variations.

Support for groups

Pre-compose objects into standard Max groups and use them as segments that can be any combination of geometric objects, non-geometric objects like lights and VDBs, or both.

Intuitive banking control

Control the banking angle of geometry at any point along a spline by adding easy-to-manipulate gizmos via the RC Spline modifier. By simply rotating a marker, the geometry twists, turns, and smoothly deforms to match.

New evenly Modes

Distribute geometry at regularly spaced intervals along a spline with more control than ever before. Force an odd number of intervals, an even number, or simply use the original mode where the number is determined by best fit.

Drop-down lists

Make it easier for users to select geometry, change materials, turn on and off elements, or control pretty much any attribute of a graph that takes a numeric input using easy to understand text-based drop-down lists.

Compatible with Arnold 7

Use the latest version of Autodesk’s built-in rendering engine, as well as the latest releases of V-Ray and Corona.

Control generators using marker data

Use markers to control several Generator parameters when using Extend X/Y Size to area mode. Where multiple markers are found on a spline, the value is taken from the first marker found.

Improvements to clipping composed segments and nested generators

Translate or rotate nested generators or composed objects outside the boundary of a clipping area and still retain all the segments. Great for creating 100s of randomized hinged or sliding doors and windows.

Limit by material ID Lists

Limit distribution to parts of a split using material IDs. RailClone 5 introduces a text input to the ID list so that you can select a list of IDs or target a range.

Plus much more

There are plenty more improvements, including the ability to remove segment limits, the ability to force instancing for segments when you need the most optimized objects, improved tangent alignment on curved splines, the ability to use new section count variables in expressions, plus many more fixes and minor improvements.

For a detailed overview, visit the RailClone 5 page on the iToo Software website. A full changelog of all the features, fixes and improvements can be found in the documentation. This release marks the close of a fruitful year of development for everyone in the iToo team. With Forest Pack 7 launched last March, several new The3dGarden collections, the all-new TheParametricLibrary product line, and now a major RailClone version, it's been a busy but rewarding 2021.

Buy RailClone 5