Category: development

Some users reported that version 1.1 has a different behavior of soft lights and it is true indeed.

Since I changed the rendering method from version 1.0 to version 1.1 to permit the equirectangular projection, I also updated the way stencils are managed. Now this may sound confusing, but if no stencil is applied, a default stencil is being rendered, so practically speaking, having no stencil doesn’t mean there are no stencils rendered.

Anyway, my mistake  here is how the light blending is going to appear in the next update.

I also managed to add a small floating window during the exporting process.

The post Soft lights appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

It is almost mid-August and I spent most of my vacations working on my other tool for the lighting design: Real IES.

In this period I am quite inspired by the success of Real HDR and I want to convert this inspiration in a long-postponed update for Real IES. There are a lot of changes and new features so I leave HERE the link for the public development roadmap.

Real IES development

The post Summer vacations R&D appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

Today is a great day and we are happy to release Real HDR 1.1!

The post Real HDR 1.1 is out appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

Since today was the exam day in SPD – and I had plenty of time to spend in class patroling in the attempt to avoid that my students would copy from each other – I took with me my project to work on the file association for Real HDR and Windows OS. I have never done it before but looks like a key has to be written by the installer in Window’s Registry, and precisely:

Computer\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.rhd [where .rhd is the file format of Real HDR]

. rhd file association

This is the only step to do to associate the file to the program. Now opening a file will invoke the software and this looks cool.

However, it is not possible at the moment to parse automatically the content and open the file directly. I need to find a way to get the OS path were the file got open by the user, store it in the cache and, once the user is logged in, perform the loading. This feature sounds intriguing but I have other priorities for now.

The post File association appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

The previous version of Real HDR was saving the file to the desktop, appending a unique extra string on each file to prevent accidental overwriting. I added now a proper file browser window that starts from the desktop path but that can keep in memory the last used path. This way the user does not need to manually move the files every time.

The post File browser appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

One of the best parts of working on Real HDR is the customer’s requests. My colleagues and I receive daily feedbacks and, by time to time, requests as well.

A user asked how it is possible to resume the work after saving the EXR file. The answer was quite simple: “you can’t”…yet. So we started thinking how to collect every single information of each SpriteLight and DarkMark in the editor since the values are privately stored in each of them. We ended up with a couple of solutions and we created a sort of batch exporter that stores the data in our own custom .RHD file.

The post How to Save and Open a file appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

I recorded some video tutorials about the usage of Real HDR. Unfortunately, this process takes too much time and I prefer to remain focused on the development of the tool (plus I have 20 hours of CGI lectures every week, so I really can’t invest more time in education). if you are interested in sharing your knowledge and recorded a tutorial regarding Real HDR, I will be happy to share it here and on other PlaySys’s channels.

The post Video tutorials appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

How sweet is the new equirectangular projection! Here is how the “windows” stencils look…in pink! We manage to create a real batman generator by the end of the day!

The post Batman generator appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

Equirectangular distortion and polar coordinates were quite hard to implement in Real HDR 1.0 since the editor and the renderer were sharing the same level.

With the help of Elena Kartseva (and Tissot’s indicatrices) we created a new formula capable to get x/y coordinates, convert them in a latitude/longitude format and finally return x/y/z values for the light sources. This way, from the next update, Real HDR 1.1 will feature equirectangular perfection and beauty.

The post Equirectangular Distortion appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)

Finally, we can present Real HDR 1.0 release!

Here is the full list of features:

• 32-bit .exr file exporter
• individual portable license
• double UI environment (cube or cardinal directions)
• seamless horizon line
• “surprise me” button, as used on Real IES
• “Start Here” icebreaker
• unlimited lights amount (SpriteLights)
• linear colors, no gamma correction
• negative light subtractor (DarkMarks)
• selector highlights
• negative light subtractor fades on poles
• custom stencils for SpriteLights and DarkMarks
• optional time-stamp on the filename
• RGB and HSV color sliders
• HEX converter with a copy to clipboard option
• file compression possibility
• software updater
  

The post Real HDR 1.0 released today appeared first on Real HDR.

Article from software development blog – Real HDR (https://www.real-hdr.com)