Kerkythea Echo Boost (Release Candidate 2.5.2)

At the end of March, a new version of Kerkythea named "Kerklythe Echo Boost" was announced on the Kerkythea forums.

At last, a release candidate has been release and is available from the Kerkythea Forum.

Please note this version (2.5.2) is not the final, stable relase but a release candidate for people interested in testing the software.

Visit the Kerkythea Forum for more information and download.

SU Podium V2 Trial Released - Public Beta 0.50 Win/Mac

A new version of SU Podium V2 has been released - Beta .50 Trial for Win/ Mac. This V2 Beta version is open to all. There are no requirements to download. Start evaluating, using and producing beautiful, high quality images from your SketchUp models with this new SU Podium version.

This Beta trial version will expire on September 15, 2010. We expect to release the full version of V2.0 on or before August 31, 2010. Purchase Podium 1.7.3 now for $179 and upgrade at no charge to V2 (save $29).

The trial version has one major limitation - rendered image resolution size will not exceed the SketchUp viewport size.

Unlike previous SU Podium V2 betas, there is no requirements to download this trial beta. You do not need a Podium 1.X license to use this trial beta.

Click Here to read about what's new in V2 Beta. Download is here.

Visit the V2 gallery for the latest renders.

Shaderlight for SketchUp free Beta Software

Shaderlight is an integrated, interactive, photo-realistic renderer for Google SketchUp. Shaderlight lets you move objects or camera angles within a scene and see the results instantly as the image refines.

Features

•  Interactive, progressive rendering that updates all changes in the Shaderlight render window
•  Zoom and pan the rendered image
•  Automatic material presets applied to the SketchUp material collection
•  Material finishes controlled via the Shaderlight Material Editor
•  Automatic lighting using SketchUp sun ,sky and shadow controlsImage based lighting (IBL) using preset or custom High Dynamic Range (HDR) images
•  Change background setting with options for SketchUp background colour, IBL environment or custom background
•  Simple quality setting to provide quick previews, or high quality final render

link: [ Shaderlight ]

Recent Render News Items

Twilight 1.4.1 released.

Twilight 1.4.1 was released with a quick bug-fix release addressing 2 minor problems in 1.4.0
 
Podium Render

Look for updates to SU Podium stable version 1.7.3 this week or next fixing problems of multiple accounts on the Mac. Also this week, look for updates of Podium V2 Beta and SU Animate with a new angle path feature.

Indigo adds GPU Acceleration

Indigo Renderer recently announced support for GPU rendering which will mean tremendous performance increases. There may still be time to join the beta team.

RenderPlus nXt Advanced Features Video

Rendplus posted a video on their blog on the advanced fetures of IRender nXt.

CoreFarm.com Launches

CoreFarm.com is a new render farm for users of Blender and Yafaray. (Also check out corefarm.org distributed rendering by the same folks.)

Thea Render Open Beta Launch

Finally, we are here! Thea Render has reached a level that we can safely move forward and publish our work. Our new site has been deployed although there will be improvements and changes in the next weeks for better integration. We want to thank all for your patience and support and we hope that you are going to like Thea and Plugins. We will be waiting for your feedback in the development forums and of course, we are going to answer any question you may have.

Thea Render

SU Podium V2 beta 2

Paraphrasing the information from multiple sources:

This is an interim release with another beta coming after in about 2 weeks. This beta is Windows only.

The V2 engine is multi-threaded. You also need a reasonable amount of RAM to hold 3d scene data. The more RAM you have, the more complex models you can render.

This build represents a stable code base where as far as we are aware, all features are working, although some may need some modification before final release. There will be additional features as well. V2 uses a new, higher-quality render engine. As a result, scenes set up in V1.x will not look the same in V2.


What's New

• In beta2 there is an options dialog box which allows you to choose presets, resolution size for the rendered image, image file format (JPG/PNG/HDR) and Physical Sky vs SketchUp Sky. Point light soft shadows have also been added. Sun turbidity and exposure are controlled in the presets.
• There are several pre made presets that have been crafted for certain rendering environments
• With Beta_34you have the choice of resolutions size or matching the resolution size to the your SketchUp's viewport. You also have the option to choose PNG/JPG/HDR as image formats. We will be adding a option to allow you to save your images to a folder of your choice. Currently the images are saved to where the SketchUp model being rendered is located.
• The Environment option allows you to choose between SketchUp background which could be plain background style or SketchUp Sky color or Podium's Physical Sky. When your SketchUp shadows are on, Podium Sun is on regardless of what background option has been chosen. Clay mode is currently not implemented. Sky turbidity (haziness caused by particles suspended in the atmosphere) and exposure are configured in the presets you choose. The preset files are plain text files which are editable. We will release a preset configuration guide.

Download and more @ su-podium.com

The ASGVIS: ICE Render-Off Contest

To go along with their new release of V-Ray for SketchUp, ASGVIS is sponsoring an ice rendering contest.

Render ice using either V-Ray for Rhino or V-Ray for SketchUp. Be creative with the type of ice you choose to include in your scene (icicles, snowflakes, glaciers, ice sculptures, ice rink, etc.). Ice does not have to be the main focus of the render, however it must be a prominent element in the scene. Judging will be based on technical merit, artistic interpretation, and photorealism.

The winning entry will receive an Apple iPod touch (Digital player, Flash 32 GB, AAC, MP3). Runners up will each receive Sony NC60 Noise Canceling Headphones.

Deadline is March 10th.

Offical rules: The ASGVIS: ICE Render-Off Contest

What's New in SkIndigo 2.2

What IS new in Skindigo 2.2?

• Integrated Indigo Material Database Search
• Sun Position Override Tool
• New Color Picker Interface for Emitter Color
• Custom Light Layer Names
• Save Custom Defaults
• New Interface for Setting Absorption
• Select Camera Response Function
• Network Rendering Settings
• New Material Presets
• New Subdivision Settings
• Support for Surface Color (Absorption Layer Transmittance)
• Support for Preview Thumbnails on Mac
• Support for Back Face Export
• Scene Tab Object Animation Support
• Automatically Check for SkIndigo Updates
• Recalibrated Background Color Gain
• Critical Bug-Fix (Windows)
• Many other bug-fixes and usability improvements
• And a partridge in a pear tree.

And that's a lot of new.

link to [ What's New in SkIndigo 2.2: ]

Cooperative rendering for Yafaray -- Corefarm.org

"Corefarm is a place where you can either submit your Yafaray rendering job or participate to other users' rendering tasks. Corefarm splits your job in several small pieces and distributes them across the internet, leading to impressive rendering times."

Unfortunately, there is no direct exporter for SketchUp (can use Blender,) but there is no reason there couldn't be one. It might even make a good project for a Google Summer of Code project.

[ Link to Yafaray XML spec. ]