The LuxRender team are getting closer to the 0.7 release. Here's an overview of the changes since their last 'stable' release, 0.6.1.
abhix wrote:
LuxRender is coming up with lots of improvement with the new 0.7 version including new absorption, new gui... one that stands out for me was new particle support.
Changes since 0.6.1:
- New Qt GUI (not yet packaged for windows, dynamically linked for linux, that's why there's an additional package for a statically linked version of the luxrender executable).
- New version of the QBVH accelerator, should be faster but might still have issues on 64bits.
- New supersample option (default on) to the mitchell filter providing both sharp results and almost no ringing artifacts.
- Lots of improvements to the metropolis sampler.
- Improved bidirectional integrator.
- More direct lighting sampling schemes available for the path integrator.
- The previous glossy material has been renamed glossy_lossy and the new glossy material should give better results by having less energy loss.
- Environment lighting now has importance sampling options to improve convergence.
- Volumetric objects supporting absorption for glass through the new glass2 material and volume properties (more options should be available in upcoming versions).
- Vastly enhanced brick texture.
- New tabulated data texture to allow loading of spectral data from files (including PBRT2 spectrum files).
- Various speed enhancements and lots of fixes.
- Improved and polished Qt GUI.
- Bugfixes in LuxBlend, improving instances export and adding hair support.
- Upgraded image loading to use FreeImage which brings support for more file formats.
Links
11 Comments
awesome! thank you devs!
> New Qt GUI (not yet packaged for windows, dynamically linked for linux
In fact, Qt is linked statically in Linux version (was as an option in RC1 and as an only option in RC2 and beyond).
Great to see all those new and embedded options in this upcoming release. Only I still try to work with it but for me it is difficult to understand that much on buttons and things. Overall I love this hole big project. Thanks for the great boost devs. :)
I love the renderer but to be honest I think the Qt GUI is horrible. I really liked the GTK one, why did they have to go and dump that? Now it's all modal and blocking and all the rest of it.
thankyou devs! :D
SSS?
@Aleksander
Implementation of light scattering is scheduled for version 0.8.
hair rendering was a surprise part and i dug up in other thread. the new absorption can effectively fake SSS now.
oh Bart i forgot... there is a splash screen screen contest for luxrender 0.7. here is the link http://www.luxrender.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=3703
maybe you should add this too :)
I was waiting for SSS but particle is good too of course, I wonder at most about speed. Does anyone know if it will be faster on old computers too.
I noticed it still says SSS scheduled for 0.7 in Lux wiki. I was really excited about that for character and figure work.
> I noticed it still says SSS scheduled for 0.7 in Lux wiki.
This is not the case. Proper light scattering will be implemented in 0.8. However, it's possible to fake SSS already: http://www.luxrender.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=3716