We are back in games biz! The past years we have been working on feature films and commercials primarily. Now we are finally closing the circle and return to our roots.

We have always been gaming geeks and a long time we have been waiting for the right moment to return to the world of game development as an independent studio. Tiny mobile devices nowadays have way more power to run games than the hardware we started with more than 20 years ago. Having a look back at the very beginning, the tools required to develop software and create digital content have evolved drastically and we have been actively supporting this process.

Gene Effect is going to be our first game targeted at iOS and Android mobile devices. Release is scheduled for January 2012. We are going to post more information and content over the next weeks.

For news please check our Facebook page.

L3 Texture provides 15 new nodes to build advanced texture networks in Maya. The plugin contains procedural noise textures, regular pattern generators, coordinate displacement nodes and additional utilities. All texture features are fully animatable and mapable. Combination of procedural textures results in a huge amount of pattern. Examples include regular cell pattern, irregular structures like marble, wood or rock surface, irregular or regular wave pattern and many more.

Originally L3 Texture was designed as an extension to our L3 Deformer toolset. L3 Deformer makes heavy use of texture sampling and the more texture generators you have at your disposal, the more powerful and flexible L3 Deformer will be.

During the development process we decided to make L3 Texture a fully featured solution that also supports rendering of textures and can generate details way beyond the requirements of L3 Deformer. Please note, that L3 Texture contains Maya software renderer nodes only, but you can of course bake all textures to be used with any other renderer.

Content:

L3 Cell 2d (regular 2d cell pattern)
L3 Cell 3d (regular 3d cell pattern)
L3 Cell Noise 2d (irregular 2d cell pattern)
L3 Cell Noise 3d (irregular 3d cell pattern)
L3 Cell Shuffle 2d (cell shuffling (10 input slots) and HSV/rotation randomization)
L3 Cube Noise 2d (randomly shaded cubic 2d cells)
L3 Cube Noise 3d (randomly shaded cubic 3d cells)
L3 File (simple replacement for Maya’s file texture node that fixes some bugs)
L3 Liquid Noise 2d (2d noise specifically designed for liquid surfaces)
L3 Liquid Noise 3d (3d noise specifically designed for liquid surfaces)
L3 Placement 2d (2d coordinate displacement)
L3 Placement 3d (3d coordinate displacement)
L3 Plasma 2d (2d plasma wave pattern using up to 8 emitters)
L3 Plasma 3d (3d plasma wave pattern using up to 8 emitters)
L3 Volume (volumetric falloff)

We are currently beta testing the software. More information will follow within the next weeks.

L3 Texture Teaser from Lightstorm3D on Vimeo.

re:Think just finished a great spot that involved the use of our L3Deformer technology for Maya to assemble a carbon fiber frame.

"By using Lightstorm3D's Collision Deformer, we here at re:Think were able to elegantly create this international flagship spot for Trek, which is currently running during the Tour de France. re:Think would not have been able to pull the job off without these tools. Thanks Dirk! Your deformers saved us!" - Brian Bullock, re:Think

www.rethinkpost.com

L3Deformer Trial Version

You can now download a trial version of the L3Deformer toolset for Maya 2009, 2010 and 2011 Windows. The trial has no time restrictions but we removed advanced features and added some limitations. To download the trial you need an user account (free registration) on our tools website.

The purpose of this trial is to give you a basic idea how these tools can be used. The archives include the complete documentation and the UIs still show the full set of features.

On the L3Deformer trial download page you will also find basic sample scenes specifically created for this trial.

L3Deformer Tutorials

The tutorial section has been redesigned and we added new video tutorials. Some of these tutorials will not work with the trial version, but having a look at both trial and tutorials should give you an idea what this toolset is capable of.

L3Library V1.0.4

A new L3Library update is available for download. This update is required to run the L3Deformer trial version.

The L3Deformer V1.0.1 and L3Library V1.0.3 updates have been released.

Both plugins are now also available for Maya 2009 and 2010. L3Deformer for Maya 2009 and 2010 is sold at a slightly lower price of 139,00€ (no tax included).

We also offer new bundle and discount options to purchase L3Deformer for multiple versions of Maya.

L3Deformer V1.0.1 - Free Update

UI Streamlining

We had a look at all UIs and streamlined some designs that required redundant extra clicks.

Performance Enhancements

We started to replace more Maya API classes and methods with our own technology that supports multithreading. Performance of texture and curve deformer has been increased. We will continue to increase performance with each update cycle. We would like to ask to you request more API multithreading support from Autodesk. This will not only drastically increase performance of our tools, but affect overall Maya performance and that of other custom tools.

New Features

Usually we do not add vast amounts of new features in a minor version update. Nevertheless L3Deformer V1.0.1 comes with some new features that have a huge impact on how some tools can be used.

• Viewport 2.0 Support
  All deformer handles and support nodes now also show up in Viewport 2.0. Please note, that Maya's Viewport 2.0 is still work in progress and missing a lot of functionality from the old viewport.

• Curve Deformer: Per object texture sampling coordinate offsets
  Two new attributes allow to offset 2D/3D texture coordinates per target object attached to a curve deformer. This makes is very easy to apply texture based geometry randomization effects in curve space, without the need to use multiple curve deformers. Lightning effects with multiple streaks are a good example how to apply this new feature.

• Curve Deformer: Tangent Mode
  The tangent computation method can now be set separately from normal mode. This provides a lot more flexibility when omitting the alignment curve.

• Collision Deformer: Relax Iterations
  Relax iterations now use a float value instead of an integer. Thus the next relax cycle can be blended in smoothly. This allows to use varying relax iterations as an animated effect. Originally relax iterations were designed as a static mesh equalization feature.

• Texture Deformer: Slope Vector Mode
  When using geometry space displacement you can now optionally use the polygon normal instead of the actual displacement vector to compute the slope falloff.

For a complete list of changes please refer to the L3Deformer history page.

Bugfixes

Luckily there have been very few bug reports and everything that popped up since release has been fixed.

L3Library V1.0.3

The free L3Library now supports a customizable floating shelf window (Maya 2011 and higher). We have taken our old CPS Toolbox and pimped it with QT features like docking options and 10 shelf tabs.

For a complete list of changes please refer to the L3Library history page.

Maya 2009 & 2010 Support

With the release of L3Library V1.0.3 and L3Deformer V1.0.1 both tools will also be available for Maya 2009 and 2010 Windows. Pricing and new bundle options will be revealed at release time.

L3Library V1.0.3 and L3Deformer V1.0.1 should become available this week.

This is a hotfix release, that should solve a problem with the Library menu entry not appearing in the Lightstorm3D menu.

You can download L3Library V1.0.2 here.

L3Library

L3Library V1.0.1 is available for download in our commercial tools section. This download is free, but you need an user account to access it. We have added a bunch of new features. Here you can find a detailed version history.

New L3Deformer Tutorials

We started adding new L3Deformer tutorials that show some advanced techniques how to rig geometry for animation and how to use the tools for modelling. More videos are in the making.

L3Deformer Pricing Options

A new pricing options page is available. It shows an overview of pricing details including discounts and bundle options. We have added a lot of information throughout the whole tools website.

This is a sneak peek at the procedural textures we are currently working on. L3Texture will contain new texture nodes for Maya's software renderer. They are designed as supplement to our L3Deformer toolset that makes extensive use of shading network sampling. We are currently planning to release some new wave type pattern (like the plasma shown in the video) and a variety of new noise pattern.

Of course you can also use these nodes for standard Maya software rendering, for those who still utilize this renderer.

We are proud to announce the release of the L3Deformer bundle for Maya 2011/2012 on Windows. In its initial version the deformer package includes a surface, curve, texture and collision deformer, each coming with a vast amount of settings and options. For more detailed information please refer to the L3Deformer overview. The price has been set to 149,00€ (plus VAT). Bulk pricing starts at the purchase of 2 licenses. Feel free to contact us for discount details. Licenses are node locked. There is currently neither a student nor a trial version available.

Thanks to everyone who has been following and supporting us during the past six weeks. We got a lot of feedback based on the previews shown during that time and closed beta reports. We have fixed all glitches that popped up, added new features and made a lot of performance improvements.

To all those asking for Linux and OSX versions: Your voice has been heard loud and clear and both version are currently in the planning stage.

We are currently working on support tools and extensions of the L3Deformer package to broaden its range of applications even more. More information will follow in the next few weeks. New tutorial videos and sample scenes are also in the making.