4 new apps every 3D artist should check out

For the last few months, 3D enthusiasts all over the globe have been nominating and voting in the 3D World CG Awards. Now, the results are in, and one of the biggest stirs was caused in the hotly contested 'New Application category in the Technology section.

Read on discover the winner and runners up in this category, and what makes them tick...

01. Redshift (winner)

Redshift was developed from the ground up to be a production-ready renderer. "Redshift was the first commercially-available product to offer out-of-core textures and geometry, and the first to offer both biased and unbiased GPU-accelerated GI algorithms," says Panos Zompolas, chief technical officer at Redshift.

"Key to this was developing a sound technological foundation that allowed us to implement features thoroughly."

02. Autodesk Memento

Want to convert photos or scans of real-world objects or people into 3D meshes? Well now you can with Autodesk's Memento (beta). Memento enables you to streamline tedious workflows to create high-definition 3D models that can be cleaned and optimised for the web, mobile or 3D printing.

As CG Awards judge Cirstyn Bech-Yagher says: "I don’t think it will be long before tools like this will be part of mainstream kits."

03. Nuke Studio

The Foundry has taken Nuke compositing to a whole new level to create an end-to-end collaborative workflow that can be used to make production even more efficient.

"Our goal was to create a solution that was simultaneously all in one and collaborative at the same time. We knew the real power of Nuke was in its collaborative approach and wanted to find a way to bring more power to our existing customer base," says Sean Brice, Nuke product manager.

04. Houdini Indie

Side Effects has worked hard to improve the user experience of Houdini. "With an increasing emphasis on making the workflow simpler and cheaper for new users, the power of Houdini is becoming available to all," says CG Awards judge Mike Griggs.

Houdini Indie has virtually all the features of its commercial version, meaning it "gives artists access to the Houdini Engine, which lets them open Houdini digital assets into other applications," says Robert Magee, product marketing manager.

Find out more about all the winners and runners up of the CG Awards in the latest issue of 3D World – on sale now!