Rail Clone

[glorybound]

Knowing the new feature in 3DS MAX 2016 (I don't know what it is being called) would you still recommend me adding Rail Clone to my toolbox.

[Itoosoft]

Obviously i cannot be objective with this issue, but sincerely i think MCG is very different from RailClone (although Autodesk used similar samples in their videos).

If that helps, we've added an entry in the RailClone FAQ comparing both products.

[glorybound]

Thanks. It's been on my list of things to add to my toolbox, so I want to make sure its a good investment.

Obviously i cannot be objective with this issue, but sincerely i think MCG is very different from RailClone (although Autodesk used similar samples in their videos).

If that helps, we've added an entry in the RailClone FAQ comparing both products.

[Donald2B]

I'm a little biased here too. I LOVE the MCG stuff in Max, but I don't see it really replacing what I do within Railclone anytime soon. I feel that there are similar, yet they aren't.

I know that makes complete sense! LOL.

[Bathyscaph]

As far as I can tell, MCG seems poorly suited to cloning objects. It seems that all geometry created with MCG must result in a single mesh (I'd be happy if I were wrong about that). Building many copies of a mesh only to collapse them all into a single mesh each time the user changes a parameter is slow.

I can work with maybe 60 objects interactively using the MCG cloner that is part of the Autodesk tutorials. Using old-fashioned maxscript, I can work with 600+ objects at a time, adjusting them interactively, because I don't need to constantly build and collapse them.

I figured maybe I could use my own scattering tools to place clones of MCG modified objects and use MCG to change the way the objects look based on their position in the scene but with anything more than a couple of objects it's too slow to be worth the trouble.

I like the idea of MCG, I'd like to put it to work, but can't see where it excels quite yet.

[lukx]

Nothing beats the IToo support ! So the answer is obvious! But don't listen to me I'm biased, they saved my ass too many times

[Joelaff]

RailClone is very solid, and fast. The developer is very responsive to issues. It is one of my favorite plugins.

[Mokiki]

I love the itoo support. At least inside their Railclone forum. Didn't have any problems with forest pack yet so I don't know if its the same there but I think so. Whenever I posted something I wasn't able to archive in railclone at max a day later someone from itoo would have a few solutions for me or at least pointers that put me in the right direction. They're fantastic.

[Dave_Wortley]

There's stuff that I'd like to see Railclone do which in MCG you'll be able to do, which is basically replace the Loft Compound.

The classic case is a Rollercoaster. At the moment RailClone can't do the banking. There's an example here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TF_R...ature=youtu.be

Showing how MCG will make this possible is really exciting, but I agree the lack of internal instancing will cripple MCG. We must remember however this is version 1 of this tool and we can expect lots of improvements to come!

[Dave_Wortley]

It's also worth remembering the most powerful thing will be to use MCG and RailClone together!

[Bathyscaph]

It's also worth remembering the most powerful thing will be to use MCG and RailClone together!

I think you are correct. I've been experimenting with scattered objects modified with the ARingClone modifier (which unlike some of the MCG tools is quite speedy). It's really fun. It allows for interactively adjusting the scatter and the object in really creative ways.

Attached is just a silly experiment using a teapot.

[ACC:Xess]

It has been said before, but the Itoo support is truly fantastic! I have only experimented with Railclone lite but I use the full version of Forest Pack a lot, if you need and ask for a feature, they will most likely add it in the next release.

[artmaknev]

Rail Clone is great investment and it doesn't cost that much, you can probably wait until some holiday they usually have good discounts (cyber monday was the best)!

MCG is brand new and not sure how buggy it will be, Railclone is already a proven product.

[Vizioen]

You should have bought the Forestpack + Railclone bundle

[theedge]

+1 for itoo products.
Just updated my railclone license : the new uvw XForm operator alone was worth it ! Big Thank you guys.