tyFlow is a plugin for 3ds Max. The latest build supports 3ds Max 2020 and above. Older versions of 3ds Max cannot run the latest build of tyFlow. tyFlow is not supported for any other software packages (Maya, Blender, etc).
The minimum 3ds Max version requirement for tyFlow v1.127+ is 3ds Max 2020. 3ds Max 2018 / 2019 are no longer officially supported.
If you own a tyFlow PRO license with an active maintenance period that started before the release date of v1.127, and you previously used that license to activate tyFlow PRO in 3ds Max 2018 / 2019 within that maintenance period, you can contact support@tyflow.com to request a custom build of tyFlow v1.127+ for 3ds Max 2018 / 2019 - up until the end of that maintenance period.
For example, if you bought a license or renewed your maintenance in July of 2024, and you used that license to activate tyFlow PRO within 3ds Max 2018 / 2019 prior to the release date of v1.127, you can request a custom build of tyFlow v1.127+ for 3ds Max 2018 / 2019 until July of 2025.
These terms ensure that users who paid for a new license and/or renewed an existing license before the removal of 3ds Max 2018 / 2019 support do not lose access to 3ds Max 2018 / 2019 builds they assumed their maintenance period would include, while funneling all other users up to 3ds Max 2020+.
tyFlow’s core simulation loop will run on any CPU configuration, but works best on a machine with many CPU cores. The more CPU cores your machine has, the more performance you can squeeze out of tyFlow’s multi-threaded algorithms.
tyFlow has a CUDA-accelerated PhysX Solver, an OpenCL-accelerated Particle Bind Solver, and a CUDA Cloth Collision Solver.
The PhysX Solver’s CUDA-acceleration requires a NVidia GPU. You can find more information about specific PhysX GPU requirements on NVidia’s website. If a supported GPU is not present, the PhysX Solver will fall back to CPU acceleration.
The OpenCL-accelerated Particle Bind Solver will run on any GPU that supports OpenCL 1.2 or above. If a compatible GPU is not present, the Particle Bind Solver will fall back to CPU acceleration.
The CUDA Cloth Collision Solver (CCCS) requires a NVidia GPU that supports CUDA 11.2 or higher. However, there are some cases where older GPUs that claim to support CUDA 11.2 will still crash when running certain CUDA 11.2 functions. While an exhaustic list of these faulty GPUs is not available, they tend to be GPUs manufactured earlier than 2015. Several of the CCCS’s core algorithms do not have a CPU fallback, meaning that the CCCS will not run on a machine without a CUDA 11.2-compatible NVidia GPU.
tyFlow has no specific RAM requirements, but heavy simulations and caches can use up a lot of RAM very quickly. In general, a minimum RAM recommendation for tyFlow use would be 32gb. For heavier simulations, 64gb or more is recommended. For advanced tyFlow usage, 128gb or more is ideal.