Dover Studios co-founder Andrew Hazelden has released PlayblastVR for Softimage.

PlayblastVR

is a new renderer for Softimage that creates hardware rendered panoramic 360 degree images using OpenGL. The PlayblastVR renderer allows you to create immersive previz renderings of Softimage scenes in LatLong, fulldome, cylindrical, and cubic panorama formats.

PlayblastVR supports panoramic rendering output directly to YouTube 360 and Facebook 360 format movies with automatic metadata embedding, and to Google Photosphere spherical panoramas.

PlayblastVR can render Softimage scene elements such as animated polygon and NURBS geometry, lights, ICE, hair and fur, cloth sims, and procedurally generated shading networks.

After a PlayblastVR panoramic batch sequence rendering is complete it can be sent to an Oculus Rift or viewed using a video playback tool like DJV Viewer, Adobe SpeedGrade, Amateras Dome Player, Assimilate Scratch and Scratch Player, Kolor Eyes, Whirligig, VLC, VLCwarp Player, RV, Live View Rift, and the Softimage Flipbook.

PlayblastVR previz renderings will save you time and money because hardware based panoramic renderings make better use of the artist’s time. Using PlayblastVR will also free up your render nodes from having to use a slower software based production renderer to output your animation test renderings into a panoramic format.

Max Crow, Creative Supervisor at NSC Creative in the UK had this to say about the toolset: "I can assure you PlayblastVR is the VR tool for Softimage you have always wanted!"

The PlayblastVR for Softimage renderer is available today starting at $249 USD.  For more information check out:
http://www.andrewhazelden.com/blog/downloads/playblastvr-for-softimage/