e-on software's high quality and botanically accurate vegetation collection for VFX, Games and Architectural Visualization is now accessible to every 3D Artist.

PlantCatalog by e-on software

Paris, France – February 12, 2020 – E-on software, a leading global developer of software for the creation, animation, rendering, and integration of natural 3D environments in the computer graphics, VFX, architecture, and gaming industries, announced the immediate availability of the PlantCatalog offering, including an ever-growing 3D vegetation collection together with specific standalone and plugin tools.

The full information and PlantCatalog Species details are available online at https://info.e-onsoftware.com/plantcatalog.

 

The Collection

Designed by the company’s internal 3D vegetation modeler, botanist and landscape architect, in collaboration with several botanic gardens throughout the world (such as Jardín Botánico “La Concepción” de Malaga, the Bedgebury National Pinetum, Forest England, and Viveros Guzmán), the PlantCatalog species are the most realistic, versatile, customizable and botanically accurate vegetation models currently on the market.

The vegetation models are fully procedural, i.e. they are not mere static 3D models. Generating an instance of a given species will always yield a different model, still, retaining the botanical accuracy of the given genus.

Each species includes preconfigured presets (including maturity, health or seasonal variation) together with a plethora of dedicated parameters allowing the artist to fine tune each model to his liking. All species are also wind and breeze enabled.

The procedural definitions ship as HD (High polygon count) for hero trees, LD (Low polygon count) for mid-range, and widespread populations, and RT (dedicated Real-time specifications) for usage in any real-time engines.

 

The Tools

Together with the vegetation collection e-on software released PlantCatalog Exporter, a dedicated application that allows the artist to browse the entire collection, select the preferred preset, edit any given parameter and export the result to his application of choice.

The PlantCatalog Exporter standalone application allows users to export to any 3D application using generic export formats such as Alembic, FBX, 3DS, OBJ, C4D, LWO, etc. It also offers a variety of export presets, custom tailored for specific host applications such as Unreal, Unity, 3ds Max, Maya, Cinema4D, LightWave, Modo, ZBrush, Blender, LumenRT and more!

Plants are exported fully rigged and fully textured, with UV maps (incl support for UDIMs) and displacement, and with all their preset LODs. Breeze or wind animated plants can be exported as a fully rigged mesh or as a cloud of animated vertices (MDD style).

Additionally, e-on also provides importer plugins for 3ds Max and Maya. These plugins allow for loading, editing health, maturity and season as well as published parameters and converting native PlantCatalog content within the host application, without going through any baking or exporting process.

Finally, the PlantCatalog vegetation assets are natively compatible with VUE and PlantFactory, the company’s flagship solutions, and can be accessed directly within the software content browsers. Loading the PlantCatalog assets within PlantFactory will allow the artists to customize their asset without limits!

 

Pricing and Availability

The PlantCatalog vegetation collection currently comprises a total of 60 species (59 HD, 34 LD, 20 RT), with new batches released every quarter.

The PlantCatalog Exporter is a 64-bit application, designed for 64-bit versions of Windows 8, Windows 10 and Intel Mac OS X 10.15+ platforms.

The importer plugins are currently compatible with 3ds Max and Maya 2019-2020 (windows only). The importer plugins will automatically generate native materials for a subset of renderers:

  • In 3ds Max, the plugin can generate native materials for V-Ray Next, Scanline and ART Renderer.
  • In Maya, the plugins can generate native V-Ray Next materials.

The plugins will also generate host-generic material sets, and therefore should be compatible with any 3rd party renderer (such as RenderMan, Arnold, Corona, Octane, RedShift etc.)

Other host applications and renderers will be supported soon while the company continues to expand its interoperability developments. Any new importer plugin released will be available for free to all PlantCatalog licensees (while their license is still valid).

The PlantCatalog comes in 2 commercial offerings. Both include the entire vegetation collection and subsequent collection updates, but access to the associated integration tools is only part of the uppermost package:

PlantCatalog: the full perks version retails for $249.95 per year. It is dedicated to all CG artists – from the VFX, Gaming or ArchViz industries and includes:

  • the full plant collection in HD, LD and RT quality,
  • new plant species added every quarter,
  • the PlantCatalog Exporter standalone application,
  • all PlantCatalog importer plugins for 3rd party 3D applications.

PlantCatalog Creator is an affordable edition of the PlantCatalog collection, dedicated to VUE and PlantFactory Creator users only. It retails for $99 per year, and includes:

  • the full plant collection in HD, LD and RT quality,
  • new plant species added every quarter.

For environment artists needing full digital environment creation power, e-on software also offers an Enterprise Solution that includes VUE, PlantFactory, the PlantCatalog collection, all importer and integration plugins (for 3ds max, Maya, Cinema4D and LightWave), and 25 seats of network rendering licenses (more information here).

The company also recommends reading the new set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), dedicated to the PlantCatalog products and licensing.

About e-on software
E-on software is the leading developer of solutions for the creation, animation, rendering and integration of natural 3D environments (VUE and PlantFactory). E-on software products are used worldwide by the film, television, architecture, game, science, educational and entertainment industries.
E-on software products were used in feature films such as "Dr. Strange," "Kubo and the 2 Strings," "Jupiter Ascending," "Minions," "Guardians of the Galaxy," "The Croods," "Dragons 1&2," "Hunger Games," "Hugo," "Tintin," "Super 8," "Thor," "Avatar," "Clash of the Titans," "Sucker Punch," "Despicable Me 1&2," "The Wolf Man," "2012," "Lovely Bones," "GI Joe – The Rise of the Cobra," "Land of the Lost," "Terminator 4, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Indiana Jones 4," "Monster Vs Aliens," "Australia," "The Spiderwick Chronicles," "KungFu Panda," "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" and TV series such as "Spartacus," "Smallville," "Battlestar Gallactica," "Caprica," "Stargate Atlantis," "Stargate Continuum," "The Vampire Diaries" and more. Read more on these stories in e-on software's Spotlights section: https://info.e-onsoftware.com/meetourusers 


E-on software was founded on the premise that powerful graphics tools should never get in the way of the designer's creativity. By investing significant resources in research and development, e-on software is able to deliver cutting-edge, user friendly technologies that produce stunning digital nature scenery.
In 2015, e-on software was acquired by Bentley Systems and now operates as an internal venture subsidiary.


E-on software is based in Paris, France. For more information visit https://info.e-onsoftware.com/ 

About Bentley Systems
Bentley Systems is a global leader in providing engineers, architects, geospatial professionals, constructors, and owner-operators with comprehensive software solutions for advancing the design, construction, and operations of infrastructure. Bentley users leverage information mobility across disciplines and throughout the infrastructure lifecycle to deliver better-performing projects and assets. Bentley solutions encompass MicroStation applications for information modeling, ProjectWise collaboration services to deliver integrated projects, and AssetWise operations services to achieve intelligent infrastructure – complemented by comprehensive managed services offered through customized Success Plans.
Founded in 1984, Bentley has more than 3,500 colleagues in over 50 countries, more than $700 million in annual revenues, and since 2012 has invested more than $1 billion in research, development, and acquisitions. www.bentley.com 

# # #
Bentley, the "B" Bentley logo, Be, VUE, PlantFactory, LumenRT, MicroStation, and ProjectWise are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. All other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.

Supporting Resources

Video demonstrations for all available species can be viewed on the company’s YouTube channel for PlantCatalog..

The full information and PlantCatalog Species details are available online at https://info.e-onsoftware.com/plantcatalog

For PlantCatalog Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), visit https://info.e-onsoftware.com/faq#plantcatalog

PlantCatalog Logos: .PNG

For more information about VUE, visit info.e-onsoftware.com/more-info-vue

For more information about PlantFactory, visit .info.e-onsoftware.com/more-info-plantfactory

 

 
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Matt Riveccie I was raised to grow a passion for image science and technologies. After graduating with an Engineer degree in Telecommunications, I joined e-on software back in 2003 as the PR Manager. During my time at e-on, I got involved in many aspects of the company: software business development, product road maps and go to market strategies, technical and customer service, sales and BtoB, project development and delivery, and a lot more. After Bentley Systems acquired e-on software, I have accepted embracing new challenges in becoming the Director of Product Management for e-on software products. On my spare time, I love traveling the world as an avid Landscape photographer, and also enjoy playing guitar.