Thinkbox Software has released new versions of its cross-platform render farm management and high-volume particle rendering, manipulation and management solutions. Deadline 5.1 and Krakatoa MX 2.0 are now available as no-cost upgrades to current customers.

Deadline 5.1
Deadline’s hassle-free administration and rendering toolkit offers management options for render farms of all sizes, and the flexibility to run the software on a range of platforms and rendering packages. Version 5.1 delivers significant performance improvements and new features including:

• Shotgun production management integration – For a seamless render and review data flow
• Native Python support – Native installation of Python 2.6 is bundled with Deadline; Python.NET integration allows Deadline to run native Python scripts and load CPython modules
• New Thinkbox license server with built in auto-configuration
• Multiple slaves on one machine – Launch/configure a number of slaves on a single machine
• Database statistics – Users can now store Deadline stats in an existing Postgres database

Krakatoa MX 2.0
Krakatoa MX provides an efficient pipeline for particle acquisition, caching, modifying, deforming, shading and rendering inside Autodesk 3ds Max; enabling artists to recreate natural phenomena and solid objects or deliver abstract images in unparalleled detail. New features in V2.0 include :

• Hair rendering support – Conversion of 3ds Max Hair&Fur, Hair Farm and regular Bezier splines into particles
• New atmospheric effect – Allows the direct integration of voxel rendering in any renderer that supports native 3ds Max atmospherics
• Chaos Group Phoenix FD particles rendering support
• Faster, more powerful Magma system – Thinkbox has completely re-factored Magma for V2.0
• PRT Creator fractal designs generation – Combined with Magma, this new object generates complex particle distributions and animations procedurally

Deadline 5.1 is available as a no-cost software update to Deadline customers on active support contracts. Deadline software is priced per slave at an MSRP of $185. Krakatoa MX 2.0 is available as a no-cost upgrade to Krakatoa customers on active support contracts.

About Thinkbox Software

Thinkbox Software provides creative solutions for visual artists in entertainment, engineering and design. Developer of high-volume particle renderer Krakatoa, render farm management software Deadline and Frost particle mesher, the team of Thinkbox Software solves difficult production problems with intuitive, well-designed solutions and remarkable support. The artist-driven company creates tools that help artists manage their jobs and empower them to create worlds and imagine new realities. Thinkbox was founded in 2010 by Chris Bond. http://www.thinkboxsoftware.com