New All-in-one fluid dynamics plugin simulates fire, smoke, liquids, splashes, foam, ocean waves and more; adds new FLIP Solver to expanded feature set.
SOFIA, BULGARIA -- Chaos Group has announced a major new release of its versatile, all-in-one fluid dynamics plugin, Phoenix FD 3.0 for 3ds Max. Frequently used to simulate realistic water, fire, and other fluid effects for multiple television 
series such as Game of Thrones and The Flash, Phoenix FD has been significantly upgraded for fast-paced productions. With its new FLIP liquid solver and improved smoke and fire solver, Phoenix FD is now more powerful and able to bring more realism to visual effects projects.
Phoenix FD 3.0 for 3ds Max has been given a full makeover, with new intuitive controls, presets and GPU-accelerated previews, making it a fast and easy way to tackle tight deadlines. The new Phoenix FD integrates seamlessly into Autodesk 3ds Max and renders with V-Ray,Chaos Group’s industry-standard lighting and rendering solution.
“Phoenix FD is like a Swiss Army knife for effects. It can handle everything from flaming arrows and drops of water to erupting volcanoes or an armada of ships,” said Svetlin Nikolov, Phoenix FD Team Lead at Chaos Group. “It’s a handy tool that is fast and easy to use without being overly technical.”
"Phoenix FD is our go-to tool for fluid simulations," said Joern Grosshans, VFX Supervisor at Mackevision. "When working on the new season of Game of Thrones, we needed the wakes coming off the CG ships to look as realistic as possible. Phoenix FD proved to be reliable, fast, and seamlessly integrated into 3ds Max. It was exactly what we needed."
Highlights of Phoenix FD 3.0 for 3ds Max include:
Ocean simulations
- Infinite ocean – Create infinite ocean waves that never repeat.
- Ocean & beach waves – Seamlessly transition from procedural ocean waves to simulated beach waves.
Advanced simulations and controls
FLIP solver – Enables faster, more realistic liquid simulations for splashes, sprays, foam, mist and waves.- Improved fire and smoke solver – Realistic smoke and fire with natural rolling motion and fine details can be created without increasing resolution.
- Cascade simulations – Create a series of simulations that trigger and interact with each other.
- Refine existing simulations – Add detail and increase resolution without changing simulation shape or behavior.
- Simulation retiming – Speed up or slow down simulation playback, perfect for slow motion effects.
- Custom emission sources – Use a wide range of emission sources including animated meshes, texture maps, particles and more.
- New forces – Influence simulations with forces like wind, spline follow, and mesh attraction.
Pipeline and compatibility
- Compatibility – Compatible with top industry tools such as Alembic, Krakatoa, Stoke MX and OpenVDB.
Pricing & Availability
Phoenix FD 3.0 is available now for Autodesk 3ds Max and is a free upgrade for all Phoenix FD 2.x customers. A Phoenix FD 3.0 for 3ds Max Workstation license is $830 and includes one floating user license and one floating simulation license. Additional simulation licenses are available for $210.
Source: Chaos Group
