Luxion releases KeyShot 4, the next generation of Luxion’s groundbreaking rendering and animation solution.
Luxion continues to develop their rendering technology to bring speed and improvements to KeyShot, making it an even more integral part of the product development process, from concept all the way through to sales and marketing. This release builds on the integration and accuracy that sets KeyShot apart from other rendering solutions allowing designers, engineer, marketing professionals, CGI artists, and photographers to create stunning renderings, animations and interactive visuals even faster than ever before.
With KeyShot 4, Luxion announces new approaches to features and greatly improved rendering enhancements. A new 'Live Linking' capability lets Creo, SolidWorks and Rhino users keep all changes made to their models without having to redo any of their work inside KeyShot. Luxion introduces a new method for applying physical lights, with the ability to turn any object in the scene into a point, area or IES light source. New import options give users more flexibility when importing 3D geometry and the ability to work with the actual units of their modeling software. Increased color options are available through the inclusion of PANTONE, RAL and custom color libraries to create, store and share color creations.
More material options come with an exclusive partnership with Mold-tech introducing the first accurate representations of Mold-Tech textures. More realism is seen with improved algorithms for subsurface light scattering within Translucent materials. Increased control over the model and environment is provided with the ability to apply rounded edges to sharp corners, multi-select objects in the real-time window and create ground planes.
KeyShot Pro users now have the ability to apply render layers to objects and create Model or View Sets to explore different configurations of product appearances, camera views and environments. Pro users will also experience enhanced HDR editing capability with dynamic environment highlighting and options to tilt and blur HDRI's. The KeyShot user interface now comes with the ability to dock project, library and animation windows. Optionally, models can now be viewed in full stereoscopic 3D on supported 3D monitors, with the use of any stereo-capable graphics card.
!! KeyShot 4 preview you can see at the of this article!!"
Features
Live Linking
Luxion has developed the ability to connect Creo®, SolidWorks® and Rhinoceros 3D modeling applications with KeyShot in a live session. With this enhancement, users will be able to make a change to the design at any level and send it directly to a running session of KeyShot. The scene inside KeyShot will update automatically and either replace the existing design or add the new design iteration to the existing scene. Live Linking will be included as part of each plugin for KeyShot and can be accessed from the 3D software menu or toolbar area with a single click that transfers the updated SolidWorks model to the KeyShot session. This capability requires a separate plugin which is available free of charge from the KeyShot website.
Physical lights
KeyShot introduces a new approach to creating physical light sources. Import preset studio light models, primitives or any 3D data and turn it into a light with KeyShot light materials. Light materials are easy to apply. Simply double-click on the object and, from the 'Type' pulldown, select Point Light Diffuse, Point Light IES Profile or Area Light Diffuse to apply. Since the light materials are applied to objects, lights may be moved, animated or positioned with all visual changes in the scene updating in realtime.
Improved import
KeyShot 4 brings in more options to import data accurately and keep the geometry updated throughout the product development workflow. Users have the choice of keeping the original size, units and location of the model, adjusting the environment to match. Additionally updates to the model can be applied from the 3D modeling software with a click of a button, while maintaining all materials and animations.
PANTONE® and RAL color libraries
The color standards that define the communication of color across many industries are now inside KeyShot. The new color libraries are available through the KeyShot Library window. The color tab contains all preset color libraries and custom color libraries with the same searchable folder-based directory structure used for Materials. Colors are applied in the same way as Materials with a simple drag and drop of the color onto the object. New colors may be created with the KeyShot Color Picker or imported from a list of colors.
Mold-Tech® textures
In an exclusive partnership, Luxion and Mold-tech deliver the full range of Mold-tech textures for the most accurate representation of Mold-tech textures inside a rendering application. In addition to the accurate representation of the Mold-Tech patterns, Luxion has developed unique technology that will ensure that the scale of the pattern stays true to the size of model to which it is applied. A sample of Mold-Tech plastics is provided with KeyShot with more available via the KeyShot website. Mold-Tech materials feature options to change color, roughness, scale and depth for supported material types along with the existing capability of applying color, specular and opacity maps.
Translucent Material Enhancements
KeyShot's algorithms for subsurface light scattering have been significantly improved for speed and accuracy. Users can now use specular maps with the translucent material to further enhance the realism of the object they are visualizing. In addition, physical light sources can be used for lighting effects. The new subsurface scattering algorithm is about 50% faster than in KeyShot 3.
Rounded edges
Speeding the time it takes to add detail to 3D geometry and reducing the files size of imported models has been addressed with the new Rounded edge feature. With this option, users can apply a small radius to sharp edges creating a more realistic look instantly. This option is a a visual enhancement to the rendered graphics without the increase of file size or render times. The Rounded Edges option is available from the objects property tab and allow control over edge radius and minimum edge angle.
For more info visit: KeyShot