RailClone Lite

Win64, English

ITOOSOFT

Artist-friendly parametric modeling tool for Autodesk® 3ds Max®.

Version History

General Usage Instructions

RailClone is a parametric modeling plugin for 3ds Max that fits naturally into any production pipeline. It replaces repetitive manual tasks with smart, rule-based workflows that respond to changes instantly. Here's how it supports a wide range of uses:

Interior design

RailClone is your essential tool for creating interior environments in architecture, VFX, and games. Whether it's the floor, ceiling or everything in between, it offers hundreds of ways to help you model and design beautiful spaces.

Architecture

Modeling the basic structure of buildings is easy; it's the details that take the time. Let RailClone save you hours of tedious work by automating the modeling and placement of common architectural elements.

Mechanical, Electrical, And Plumbing

Model mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems with RailClone's powerful deformation tools. Whether it's routing ductwork, placing electrical sockets, or positioning HVAC, RailClone allows you to quickly adapt to changes in building design.

Building Elements

When a simple textured plane isn't enough to represent a wall, ceiling, or floor, RailClone has you covered. Create these elements using real geometry in seconds, thanks to the plugin's modular modeling approach

Access

Modeling access elements like stairs, elevators, and escalators can be tricky and time-consuming to model manually. With RailClone's procedural power, you can quickly create these objects and add customizable attributes, making them easy to reuse in future projects.

Buildings

Why spend time modeling individual building elements when you could be modeling entire buildings? RailClone is perfect for populating scenes with procedural structures that can easily adapt to any footprint. Ideal for filling the background of your renders.

Specialized And Civic Spaces

Model a wide range of public and civic spaces. Whether it's laying out parks, airports, stadiums, or leisure facilities, you can quickly create custom environments using adaptable assets created with RailClone's parametric tools.

Roads, Civil Engineering, And Infrastructures

Quickly lay out urban infrastructure, from roads, barriers, markings, and signage to bridges, pavements, curbs, and street furniture. Drive it all from a handful of splines to make updates a cinch!

Screenshots

Commands

Installation/Uninstallation

Forest Pack Lite setup program
Read the license agreement and click I agree to continue.
Select Workstation. (If you are installing RailClone on a render node, please select Render Mode)
From the next screen, select the standalone license type and click Next.
The installer will automatically detect the versions of 3ds Max installed on the system.
Next, an update manager will be launched, allowing you to install additional content like libraries and macros. Click Install.
Click Finish to complete the installation

You can find full installation info here.

Additional Information

Known Issues

Contact

Company Name: ITOOSOFT

Company URL: https://www.itoosoft.com

Support Contact: helpdesk@itoosoft.com

Author/Company Information

ITOOSOFT

Support Information

RailClone is easy to use once you understand the principles, and most users don’t need much help beyond a short introductory tutorial. But if you do, we're committed to providing a full and expanding set of resources to support you. Lite users can ask questions in our community forum, watch our many tutorials, join regular livestreams, and read the full documentation. Here are a few links to get you started

Getting Started https://docs.itoosoft.com/railclone/whats-new/getting-started-with-railclone
Lite Tutorial: https://www.itoosoft.com/tutorials/learning-railclone-for-absolute-beginners
Full documentation: https://docs.itoosoft.com/railclone/whats-new/getting-started-with-railclone
Join our community forum: https://forum.itoosoft.com

Version History

Version Number	Version Description
7.0.8	RailClone 7 Lite introduces new spline tools and workflow improvements that make procedural modeling in 3ds Max faster and more intuitive. While the new RailClone Systems feature offering a new library of highly adaptable presets is exclusive to the Pro version, Lite users still gain access to every other core upgrade. . Among the most important additions are new Spline Operators. These include tools for transforming, combining, offsetting, catenaries, connecting, applying boolean operations to splines, and more - all directly in the graph editor so they can be edited at any time. These updates make RailClone even more useful for a huge range of tasks, from small scale interiors to facades, building and even enormous civil engineering projects. Viewport performance gets a boost with an optimized Point-Cloud mode and the Style Editor sees several UX improvements as well, including persistent panel widths, macro with multiple outputs, and the ability for RailClone icons to persist in the scene.There’s a new Y Corner input for placing horizontal rows to 2D arrays as well as the ability to use Transform nodes to select sections from a segment prepared with RailClone Slice. To find more about the latest release, please visit https://www.itoosoft.com/blog/introducing-railclone-7-smarter-modeling-in-3ds-max-starts-here
6.3.2	Highlights of RailClone 6 version includes the following new features: - The node-based editor is more user-friendly, allowing continuous editing of the graph while interacting with other elements of the scene. - Additional improvements include new import methods for scene objects, tools to enhance graph readability, simplified macro creation, and advanced randomisation options. - A new RC Slice modifier simplifies the process of converting existing models to RailClone. - RailClone 6 improves library management, allowing quick addition of new objects to a library. - Styles and macros can now be password-protected for confident sharing. - Tthe first phase of a library overhaul initiative, with five collections updated with new geometry, textures, and shaders. To learn more about this release, visit https://www.itoosoft.com/blog/railclone-6-revolutionizing-3d-modeling
6.0.7	Highlights of RailClone 6 version includes the following new features: - The node-based editor is more user-friendly, allowing continuous editing of the graph while interacting with other elements of the scene. - Additional improvements include new import methods for scene objects, tools to enhance graph readability, simplified macro creation, and advanced randomisation options. - A new RC Slice modifier simplifies the process of converting existing models to RailClone. - RailClone 6 improves library management, allowing quick addition of new objects to a library. - Styles and macros can now be password-protected for confident sharing. - Tthe first phase of a library overhaul initiative, with five collections updated with new geometry, textures, and shaders. To learn more about this release, visit https://www.itoosoft.com/blog/railclone-6-revolutionizing-3d-modeling
5.3.0	RailClone has found a place at the core of many archviz and VFX pipelines as an invaluable scene layout tool. With version 5, we’re pleased to announce that we’ve added several new features that significantly improve its potential for asset assembly. For example, until now, RailClone was limited to distributing geometry, but not any longer. RailClone is now equally able to instance and distribute several types of non-geometrical objects, including lights and VDBs. Scene optimization gets a significant boost in this release with a brand-new caching system that allows you to bake a RailClone object. The cached object retains all of the features and efficiency of the regular RailClone object but will have significantly reduced compute times making loading and saving much faster. A second mode allows you to save the cache to an external file that keeps your scene’s file size light. You can also load the caches into another RailClone object, even in a different scene, for the easy and fast re-use of massive pre-computed assets. The new version also adds new features for modelling including powerful new banking controls that allow you to twist and corkscrew the geometry around the spline. The angle is controlled by adding and editing visual markers to the spline exactly where they’re needed! No fiddly curves - much more intuitive! In addition to these new features, RailClone 5 also includes significant improvements to markers, the ability to lock evenly divisions to odd or even values, drop-down parameter lists, improvements to clipping splines, more flexible options for limiting by materials IDs and much more.
4.3.0	RailClone 4.3.0 · Added support for 3DS Max 2022. · Improved performance for complex styles. · Updated License Manager to support Forest Pack 7 licenses. · Added support for 'Instance ID' mode to VRayMultiSubTex and VRayUVWRandomizer. · Added Deform tab to Transform operator. It lets you to override the values of Segment→Deform. · For "Flat Top"/"Flat Bottom", it's applied only when value is not zero. · Added help links to License message boxes. · Fixed: "Generator->Limit by ID" changes the spline order for Markers, when filtering by Spline number. · Fixed crash dragging node category to the Style Editor. · Fixed crash using splines without knots (usually splines malformed by scripts). · Fixed Evenly divisions on closed splines when using 'Sync Offset' or 'Aligned' arrays. · Fixed: Arithmetic->XSplineMatID returns a wrong value when used on arrays with multiple sub-splines. · Fixed issues reading license configuration from environment variables. Style Editor · Added Font selector to Preferences. · Updated look and colors to match with Forest Pack 7 style. · Fixed: RC object is rebuilt just selecting nodes, without any other change. - Fixed error extracting the object from empty Segments.RailClone 4 adds powerful new features making it much easier to use, while unlocking brand new workflows that dramatically expand what is possible with 3ds Max’s leading parametric modelling and layout plugin. About RailClone4 For this release, we focused on making RailClone a simpler and more powerful tool for scene layout. For example, the ability to automatically use materials applied to the source geometry makes it easier than ever to use RailClone to distribute pre-built models, including stock entourage that uses complex multi-sub object materials. Another layout tool, the new RC Spline Modifier, lets you add markers to a path that can be used to position geometry and control nearly any aspect of a graph. Markers can be used on the Y Spline too, fulfilling a frequently requested feature to be able to add arbitrarily spaced divisions on the vertical axis of a two-dimensional array. Great for architecture! It doesn’t stop there, RailClone 4 allows you to nest the output of one generator inside another. This means you can create one parametric model and then use it as an input in an entirely different array. Best of all, it does this while retaining full instancing to generate potential enormous scenes with minimal effort. This innovation fundamentally changes what is possible with RailClone, allowing you to approach creating styles in completely new ways. Huge objects are of limited use if you can’t represent them in the viewports. That’s why we added a fourth display mode called Quick Mesh. In this mode, geometry is instantiated in the viewports making it possible to preview massive polycounts as well as speeding up interactivity when using high-poly assets such as you might find when using RailClone as a layout tool. There are also several improvements to make everyday operators and features more intuitive and easy to use. Of particular note are changes to the Clipping feature which can now cap open edges and UV Map them real-world map coordinates. In fact, RailClone 4 is probably our biggest update since the major rewrite back in 2013.
4.2.0	RailClone 4.2.0 - Added support for 3DS Max 2021. - Fixed geometry issues with interactive render on V-Ray GPU. - Fixed updating bug when RC object is disabled. - Fixed rare freezing bug opening the Library Browser. - Fixed: A2S->Z offset is global instead of per spline. - RailClone Lite objects now can be collapsed to Editable Mesh/Poly. - Fixed crash on expressions when Arithmetic node is connected to more than 18 Array Generators. Style Editor - Fixed error extracting the object from empty Segments.RailClone 4 adds powerful new features making it much easier to use, while unlocking brand new workflows that dramatically expand what is possible with 3ds Max’s leading parametric modelling and layout plugin. About RailClone4 For this release, we focused on making RailClone a simpler and more powerful tool for scene layout. For example, the ability to automatically use materials applied to the source geometry makes it easier than ever to use RailClone to distribute pre-built models, including stock entourage that uses complex multi-sub object materials. Another layout tool, the new RC Spline Modifier, lets you add markers to a path that can be used to position geometry and control nearly any aspect of a graph. Markers can be used on the Y Spline too, fulfilling a frequently requested feature to be able to add arbitrarily spaced divisions on the vertical axis of a two-dimensional array. Great for architecture! It doesn’t stop there, RailClone 4 allows you to nest the output of one generator inside another. This means you can create one parametric model and then use it as an input in an entirely different array. Best of all, it does this while retaining full instancing to generate potential enormous scenes with minimal effort. This innovation fundamentally changes what is possible with RailClone, allowing you to approach creating styles in completely new ways. Huge objects are of limited use if you can’t represent them in the viewports. That’s why we added a fourth display mode called Quick Mesh. In this mode, geometry is instantiated in the viewports making it possible to preview massive polycounts as well as speeding up interactivity when using high-poly assets such as you might find when using RailClone as a layout tool. There are also several improvements to make everyday operators and features more intuitive and easy to use. Of particular note are changes to the Clipping feature which can now cap open edges and UV Map them real-world map coordinates. In fact, RailClone 4 is probably our biggest update since the major rewrite back in 2013.
3.3.0	RailClone 3.3 introduces compatibility with latest render engines, Arnold and 3ds Max 2020, significant enhancements to default scaling modes, a new supermarket library and several improvements to existing features: - RailClone 3.3 (new) adds compatibility with 3ds Max 2020 including support for Arnold, Autodesk's powerful new built-in renderer. - The entire library of built-in presets now include materials for Arnold using Physical Materials, a cross-platform shader compatible with several renderers. - More Powerful Default Modes, Adaptive and Count modes allow you to scale segments to avoid sliced geometry, and they've now seen a significant upgrade with the addition of support for beveled corners. - V-Ray Next and Corona 2 support, RailClone supports the most popular renderers in the industry. - Supermarket Library, a new library that contains 10 new presets for populating food shelves in shops and supermarkets. - Improved Randomization, the Random number node can now be synchronized between different segments and generators, making it much easier to control randomization. - Clipping improvements, use the material IDs assigned to closed splines for conditional effects and the new Auto Align and Hierarchy modes to make it easier than ever to create arrays from multiple closed splines in a single click. - Improvements to RailClone Tools, new options to force instances, generate separate meshes for non-instantiable geometry, or compile them into a single object. - RailClone Color, randomize between up to 20 maps per segment including the ability to tint bitmaps from either a gradient, a random pixel from a texture or a map applied to a surface. - Macros, streamline styles by collapsing complex graphs into a single reusable node that can have its own parameters, inputs and output. - UI Improvements, work more efficiently with the help a rewritten notes node, expandable list boxes, and the ability to export multiple attributes and parameters at once. - Improved UVs, The UVW Xform operator has a new mode that enables it to be rotated around the texture's centre point. See complete list of features in https://www.itoosoft.com/railclone#whats-new
3.0.9	- Added "Separate Meshes" option to RailClone tools. * When enabled, creates separated meshes for the non-instantiable segments, instead attaching all of them. - RailClone Tools generates correct meshes (no instances) for segments using Material or UVW operators. - Fixed crash in Library Browser using libraries downloaded with old version of Update Manager. - Fixed: Clipping Area is not aligned correctly when using Generator->Z Offset. - Fixed crash with some operations after deleting a Note in Style Editor. - Fixed crash in RailClone Lite loading scenes created with Pro version. - Fixed rare crash with Clipping areas. - Fixed behaviour of arrays when using X Rotation and Surfaces (in this case segments are aligned, but not conformed to the Surface). - Fixed endless loop when using circular references between nodes.