New Product/Affordable Price-> messiah:studio workstation ($299)

#1

By very popular demand, pmG proudly announces messiah:studio workstation edition!

There has been considerable interest in messiah:studio’s very strong character animation tools and high rendering quality. However, for many artists, messiah:studio fell well outside of their price range. Addressing this need, messiah:studio workstation is a new solution with all the powerful core animation & rendering features of messiah:studio professional, at a more affordable price.

Here’s a rundown of what’s included:

Now everyone can take advantage of the power of messiah:studio! Go to the pmG website (www.projectmessiah.com) and click Shop to order.

Note to current messiah:animate/studio users: check this link for update info:
http://www.cgtalk.com/showthread.php?t=193626

QUICK FAQ
We’ve been getting many email inquiries about messiah:studio workstation from people that have recieved the news from this site. I’ve included a small FAQ to address the most common questions.
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Q: Can “workstation” connect to other apps?
A: messiah:studio workstation has no animation host API, this means that it can not be connected to any other application. If you’re only interested in the character animation system to connect to other apps, messiah:animate may be a better fit for you. Alternatively, if you’re interested in the renderer/shading system AND animation connectivity to other apps, you’ll need messiah:studio professional.

Q: Since “workstation” won’t have messiah:develop, can I write plugins for it?
A: Yes, you can write plugins for workstation. While messiah:develop will provide a great environment for development, it is not required for writing plugins.

Q: Will existing plugins be compatible with “workstation”?
A: Yes. Any standard 3rd-party plugin written for messiah:animate and m:s professional (up to 2.1a)will definately work with workstation. If there are plugins that take advantage of certain features not included in workstation in the future, those specific plugins may not be fully compatible.

Q: “workstation” is single node, but will it take advantage of dual processors?
A: Yes, the renderer is multithreaded and will allow you to use both processors on a single machine.

Q: Is “workstation” upgradable?
A: Yes, workstation will be upgradable to professional, but no pricing has been set at this time.

-lyle

#2

This is really cool Lyle It just solved a lot of back and forth issues with a friend. Now he can just pick up a copy. You guys rule.
-Adam

#3

Well done pmg :thumbsup:

#4

Hmm…how are the development tools going to be different from using the APIs? I just ordered workstation but now it looks like I might have to upgrade to pro anyway!

#5

Will PointOven work with this version?

#6

That is a good question. If I remember correctly, the develop feature will provide I believe an IDE(Intergrated Development Environment) within messiah, while the API is just the necessary class files and headers which you use in your C/C++ development software. It has been a while since the last time I heard about the develop section in messiah, so I could be very much off base.
Cheers,

#7

workstation supports all standard messiah:studio/animate plugins (non-host connections). In other words, yes, PointOven works with workstation;)

-lyle

#8

You’re on point, tjnyc. messiah:develop creates/manages your skeleton code. This means that there will be less work in creating your plugins, and interface creation is a snap. There are other benefits, but I’ll wait until we’re close to releasing develop before going into any detail. You’re an m:s professional user, so you’ll get develop as soon as it’s ready. I think you’ll be very pleased:D

-lyle

#9

Heh, this is good news, but cosmically bad timing for me, as I just paid someone $600 for the studio software to check out the rendering engine. That purpose would have been much better served by this version and upgrading to the full software at some point in the future if I needed the functionality.

My luck runs true to form =)

#10

NO better for current users that do want to upgrade but find the upgrade pricing scheme not on par with NEW prices. Get a special going for current users wishing to upgrade to m:a 5 or Studio. Level the playing field, please.

#11

Will it be possible for M:S Workstation users to upgrade later on to M:S Pro?

#12

this is good news! regarding the single render node i was wondering whether it makes use of both processors on a dual cpu-system. i mean, it is called “workstation”-version after all :wink:

Marc

#13

Q: Is “workstation” upgradable?
A: Yes, workstation will be upgradable to professional, but no pricing has been set at this time.

-lyle

#14

oooohh this looking interesting.

if i’m a c4d user would the api’s be needed for me anyways?

i was looking into messiah renderer part of studio really rather than the animate part…
does this seem feasible…anything i need to consider as a c4d user and getting my models/textures into renderer from either c4d or zb2?
tips/advice/watch outs always useful…i know most of ya have probably seen my earlier posts on using the renderer so you’ll know where i’m coming from…seems like a nice deal and a good way to test the water for me.

also does it work with the
FireGL™ X2-256t or are there any known issues?

#15

If you don’t plan to write plugins or your own shaders, you’re not going to miss them… but you actually
DO get the API’s with the Workstation version; what you don’t get is the messiah:Develop module.

That’s from pmG, but I don’t remember whether it was here or on the mailing list.

i was looking into messiah renderer part of studio really rather than the animate part…
does this seem feasible…anything i need to consider as a c4d user and getting my models/textures into renderer from either c4d or zb2?

Yes, there are several tutorials for this. I haven’t tried going from Cinema -> Messiah without the
connection plugin, but several people have reported good results with WaveFront imports using
Riptide. (Assuming memory serves regarding the name of the plugin.)

If you want to port animation back to Cinema, it seems like the PointOven plugin is the way to go.

also does it work with the
FireGL™ X2-256t or are there any known issues?

I think so. It usually works very well on my Radeon, though occassionally I get some graphical glitches,
the most common being the text and text field colors matching. In general, the nVidia cards have put
in a better showing, as usual for OpenGL-intensive applications.

#16

You can buy PointOven Pro and download the MDD plugin for C4D to move animation back and forth from m:S and C4D. This is a great alternative, especially if you want to send baked cloth animation from C4D to m:S for rendering.

Models in C4D need to be scaled either in C4D to messiah. I do it in messiah myself, at a scale of 0.001, but I place all my models in a NULL grouping so I scale just the null and affect all models that I import in. You also have to reverse the normals in C4D before exporting it out as an obj.

You need to re-assign any textures you had in C4D. You can also bake to a texture map from C4D, so you could get some stuff into messiah.

Cheers,

#17

as usual i don’t know how i’d survive without you guys…cheers…thanks a lot.
:thumbsup:

#18

Lyle (or anyone in the know),
does M:S:W use both CPUs in a dual system for rendering? Can I continue to work in M:S:W while that single render node renders? Does the render node work outside the main application or do I have to have M:S:W always open?

Cheers,
Marc

#19

what are the import/export options with this product. i couldn’t find anything on the product website. it’d be nice to have this as an option for rendering CAD files.

#20

Ok… I am thinking of either buying XSI foundation, upgrade my Lightwave to version 8 or buy silo and messiah studio workstation as a gight to myself for XMAS… I am inclined to do the last but i am not sure… What’s your opinion?