Hey all!
The DMM plug-in (previously only available for Maya) can now be downloaded (free 30 day trial) as a beta version for 3dsmax: http://www.pixelux.com
DMM (Digital Molecular Matter) is a technology to simulate material physics based on finite elements. It also works in real-time (first used in the game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed). More info on our website.
If anyone tests it all feedback is much appreciated! 
Thanks!
Wow, that’s so great! I didn’t see that coming! DMM demos are so cool, I’ve been salivating on that for a long time. Great job bringing it to Max guys!
The site is online already,
I have been recently involved( still continues) in a production for breaking some icebergs and some towers on it, I have managed to make the full shot with the free versions of rayfire and pulldownit, rayfire is great for prefracturing and I like the fast ans stable dynamics of pulldownit.
Nice to see more dynamics tools for Max but Which is the definitive nock-out punch of your plugin?
I cannot install it, only for Max 2010, please a 2008 version.
This tool looks very promising. Tried it but in max 2010, it seems a little bit buggy (many crash to desktops).
Max 2009 fine. I dont know why but the performance is very bad (4ghz Quad Core here).
The max version is a beta so it still needs some testing. The only major feature it is missing though is “mesh verify” (which allows you to test if a polymesh can be used as a DMM object).
DMM uses FEM (finite element method) and works in real time. The great feature about FEM is that you can calculate the stress accumulated within an object. So you get deformation and then fracture occurs when the stress is too important. I don’t believe you can get that kind of result with other plug-ins.
As for the 2008 version I am not sure why it is not working but please post a message on the Pixelux forum and someone will certainly help you out.
Thanks! 
If you test it please tell us what you think!
What kind of performance problems are you getting? Is it when creating an object or during simulation? How many tets?
Thanks everyone for your interest!
@szewei: Did many tests, and I have found many (bugs/slowdowns).
If I ddmize a single box with 1x1x1 segs, there is no problem but if I set for example 10x10x10, the performance is almost worst (dont know why). Tested on both Max 2009 and 2010 x64. With this performance (as far as I have it), it is impossible to use this plugin in a correct way. There is also another bug: If I dmmize some objects, simulate it than delete it, i get always a performance slowdown + if I create than a new object, all the dmm layer objects are visible in viewport although they must be hidden (except the object, that is visible for simulation feedback).
There is sometimes also a flipping bug (polys flip)
This is just a visibility bug…the performance makes it unusable for me. I dont know how the plugin works at other max users but as I said, I have horrible performance in both max version.
Using Windows 7, Max 2009 x64, Quadcore 4GHZ + 8GB RAM/GTX 260.
I hope there is a solution.
Best Regards,
SerdarVFX
Regarding the performance issues everything depends on the number of tets you have in your scene.
Size is very important. If you create smaller boxes, by default, DMM will create less tets. If your boxes are very big, you will get more tets. It is the same with divisions. When you divide your box into 10x10x10 segments DMM will use these divisions and create all the more tets. It is always best to use as little divisions possible for the tet cage and to let DMM do the triangulation.
To simulate high poly objects but keep good performance, you can create a surface mesh. The highly detailed surface mesh will be what is viewed while the lower detailed Tet cage will be simulated. For most simulations you really don’t need that many tets. Deformations especially can be simulated with very little tets. For more information about that you can check the DMM documentation.
That being said, it is possible to simulate models with a very high number of tets like this user did: http://www.pixelux.ch/forum/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=95&sid=0860e6d60e3baf03fc2bb44414d24a50
Hope that helps. Thanks for your interest in the plug-in.
If you would like more detailed answers you can post on the pixelux forum.
I have sucessfully installed your plugin in Max 2008,but It seems not working at all.
I create a box in the viewport, select it then open the surftri/netgen tab and click on CreateDMMobject, a popup window appears telling " you have to select a polygonal object" but my box is already a polygonal model!
please tell me if Im doing wrong or this is a bug, Im very interesting in testing this tool.
You have to convert your model to an editable poly. Here is a video that gives you more information about how to do that.
http://www.wonderhowto.com/how-to/video/how-to-convert-an-object-to-an-editable-poly-in-3ds-max-197163/
After that you can just turn it into a DMM object.
Hope that helps! Have fun testing the plug-in and thanks for your interest!
Looks really cool. Maybe I’ll build a scene with it in the next few days.
What I’m missing in the DMM tech in general though is a sort of fractal shatter like RayFire has. Without it, you need stupidly high tetrahedron counts for small fragments (unless I’m missing something).
Well there has been some tallk about something resembling that kind of feature … but I’m not sure how much I can tell… so let’s just say that the next version of DMM will have all sorts of cool new possibilities!
In the meantime, you can use splinters to get more interesting fractures. You can also add different kind of particles where fracture occurs to get smaller fragments, dust and what not.
Hope you have fun testing the plug-in!
Converting the box to an aditable poly works, thanks. I have still problems with the plugin, each time I change from utilities to another tab , DMM ask me for the license, this is annuying.
There is a tutorial somewhere to make simply this?
Hi sekela!
If you have a message telling you to get a licence then I think that means you should get one! The plug-in will not work properly if you do not have a licence. The licence is free for 60 days for the beta version.
We haven’t done any official tutorials yet (as the ones for Maya). But you may find more answers on the Pixelux forums.
Also you might want to check the documentation which comes with the plug-in. It is located in the hierarchy of folders created at installation time, starting with base path you specified (C:\program files\pixelux is the default on win32 machines).
Hope that helps! Have fun!
I think your tool has great potential but it is now too much unstable and without tutorials is hard to get something working.
Thanks for your replies szewei, anyway