Thinkinetic has released Pulldownit 6, the next major version of Pulldownit, its shattering and dynamics plugin for visual effects and game development work.
Pulldownit 6 for Maya introduces a new Edge Fracture Tool for interactively shattering geometry, and new options for clustering shattered fragments to control how an object breaks apart.
In addition, instanced objects in dynamics simulations are now computed “up to 30% faster”.
At the time of writing, the 3ds Max edition has not been updated, and remains on Pulldownit 5.8.
A well-established destruction plugin for 3ds Max and Maya
First released in 2009, Pulldownit is a destruction plugin for 3ds Max and Maya, with toolsets for pre-fracturing geometry, then simulating how it breaks apart under impact.
The software is used in game development, previz and visual effects, on titles including Santa Monica Studio’s God of War Ragnarök, and the Call of Duty and The Last of Us franchises.
Pulldownit 6: new interactive Edge Fracture Tool
Key features in Pulldownit 6 for Maya include a new Edge Fracture Tool, for shattering the inner borders of existing fragments.
It is iterative, making it possible to play the updated simulation immediately, and non-destructive, making it possible to undo operations or recover the original fracture pattern.
Shattering: better path-based shattering and material replacement
Pulldownit 6 also improves path-based shattering, which now generates more rounded fragments, resulting in more realistic dynamics for stone-like materials, as shown above.
Auto replace cut material, which assigns a separate material to the inner surfaces of fragments, can now be performed even after baking a simulation, and now supports jaggy fragments.
Dynamics: more controllable clustering and better simulation performance
In the dynamics toolset, the Clusterize parameter, which groups fragments into clusters to guide how an object breaks apart, now generates less blocky-looking results.
There are also two new clustering options: Excluded from Cracks Propagation, which forces a cluster to break apart only on direct collision, and Relative to Mass.
The Fracture Body also gets a Relative to Mass option to control hardness, which generates more debris in impact areas by making those parts of the object more brittle.
Simulation performance has also been improved with instanced shapes now computed “up to 30% faster” making it possible to simulate “thousands of shapes” in a few minutes.
Pricing and availability
Pulldownit 6 is available for Maya 2020+ on Windows and macOS only.
The software is rental-only. Node-locked licences cost €290/year (around $300/year), and floating licences cost €360/year ($375/year).
Read an overview of the new features in Pulldownit 6 for Maya on Thinkinetic’s blog
Read a full list of new features in Pulldownit 6 for Maya
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