Russian cg technology company Exlevel, makers of the Autodesk 3ds Max plug-in GrowFX, has released a new version.  The product allows you to build plants and other objects that grow in various directions. You can find out more about the product by visiting the company’s website at http://exlevel.com/.

News features in this version release include:

• New direction modifier: Spline direction. The modifier allows the user to set the direction of a path along a spline. Moreover, this algorithm can be used to make smooth interpolation between splines. For example, low branches may have one shape while upper ones have another;
• New parameters for Instanced geometry:
• Current time - Sets time for animated objects, which is different from the current time of the animation. Users can influence and animate this parameter on their own. The parameter can be used in animation, as well as in creation of static models;
• Deform along Path - Deforms an object along path directions. The parameter allows the user to create custom geometric shapes by specifying the required direction for them;
• Use hierarchy - Allows using all objects from the hierarchy of a selected object;
• Generate MultiMaterial - Collects all information on object materials, creates a multimaterial and assigns it to itself;
• Display as bounding box - If Combine meshes is not used, objects in Viewport are displayed as boxes;
• One BBox for hierarchy - Displays the entire hierarchy as a single box;
  For example, you can create an animated flower from several associated objects, assign different materials to them. Then, the flower grows on branches / stems at different times. A GrowFX object automatically assigns to itself a new multimaterial where all materials of source objects are collected;
• Improved interface:
• There is an opportunity to resize all lists by moving their bottom border;
• When the user clicks the right mouse button on the Graphics, Affects, Chaos Mat ID buttons, a context menu appears where one can find more control options;
• New option on the main panel called Show x-points on the paths. To make work with graphic parameters more visual, this option enables the mode that displays knot points of a graph as x-points on lines in Viewport;
• Some minor bugs are fixed.