Recently a user reported a problem in loading a .RHD file into Real HDR 1.4 and we gave high priority to the issue. Turns out that the problem is not in the software itself but in some OS settings (Windows at the moment, have to test on Mac later). In fact for some reasons, we found out that our regional related settings suddenly changed on some computers in the agency. Practically the decimals were not divided with the “.” but by the “,” and the .RHD parser got mad trying to read/write the data stored in the files.
Here some images showing how we restored these values as Real HDR expects them, but I am going to figure out a way to dynamically adapt to user settings (for me and “,” or “-” numerical punctation are wrong but for some other user they can be correct).
So if you are experiencing some problems loading and saving .RHD Project files, here is the solution
Here you can set the date and time division “/” that it is important for the program to start properly:
and finally, the Additional settings panel to define the decimal division:
Starting from today it is possible to purchase Real HDR from our new e-store.
This decision was taken because of multiple reasons including a better UX, a more understandable e-commerce system, EU VAT and GST tax reasons, simpler invoicing methods for B2B, more payment methods, reliable transaction APIs, simpler bundle options for our tools, Country restrictions and the future possibility to include coupons and gifts.
Real IES Mobile is now available as a beta on Google Play.
Although this mobile app is quite limited at the moment, you still have the possibility to participate actively in the development by installing it and giving us some feedback. The app is marked as “early access” in Google Play for this reason.
With it, you can “grab” an existing light by overlaying a custom photometric light. Real IES Mobile produces a very optimized *.rim file, that can be parsed and converted to a *.ies format by Real IES 3.1 (out very soon).
I hope this can be of some help to architects and lighting designers. I already have a full list of new features to be added on “download milestones” and according to users feedback.
Light for realtime is a new focus in the development of Real IES. At PlaySys we are planning to add modules sections to the software in the same way as we did for Real HDR (PhotoBooth and SkyLight).
Our intention is to add a new section to the software where users working on videogames can craft beautiful yet iper-optimised lights for the game engines.
This way Real IES will increase its flexibility in the game development industry as well as the cinema, VFX, architecture and offline rendering in general.
This new massive feature is far from being complete, but we are working on it and any suggestion/feedback/request is much appreciated.
Our latest update of Real HDR 1.4 is finally out and can be downloaded from here.
For some reasons, the very first days of every release are always giving me lot of problems with false positive. I still have to understand why this happens. We purchased a signing certificate to codesign our software and installer; we tested the files both from url and upload using Virus Total service and I also uploaded the .exe files and archives to Microsoft Defender Security Intelligence to obtain a whitelisting of the release.
Today we passed this final step so I assume in 24 hours from now there should be he definition of our software in the new Microsoft thread definition. Microsoft says it may take up to 30 days but I’d like to be more optimistic
Anyway, there is a full list of new features and bug fixes on this link and we all hope you may find this new release useful and it may prove helpful in your CGI production’s pipeline.
There is a new HiDPI option in the upcoming Real HDR 1.4. Since the application is not resizable (at least for the moment, but it is my goal to make it responsive in the future) the UI size in pixels is fixed at 1024×512 pixels. This looked fine on PlaySys’s computers and represented a good and functional compromise in FullHD resolution.
THE PROBLEM: Mac Retina displays and other high-end monitors have an impressive resolution of ~4K and the fixed window size of Real HDR looks very small on them. A user recently wrote to me “it’s quite hard to navigate without a magnifying glass ” and indeed it is.
THE SOLUTION: The solution is quite dumb at the moment but effective. I added a flag to redimension the size of the window and to upsize the UI graphics. At the moment of writing, I am simply doubling the size from 1024 to 2048 and I want to hear some feedback from users before marking this problem as solved. Also note that for the moment Real HDR always starts at 1024 x 512, so a Retina user has to activate the option every time. As said, this option is still experimental and I count to release a patch after receiving users feedback without interfering with whom is using non-HiDPI display.
One idea I have since a long time is Real IES Mobile to generate photometric files on the go, though the main question that stopped me for all this time is “why a person should generate these photometric files in the free time?” I mean, if you have a PC or a Mac you’d use them to generate your file during your working time, saving the free time for other stuff.
Recently however I got an idea: capture a photometric file from the reality and transfer it in your render. Now as always, Real IES is created for simplicity and quick approach. True we have the engineering mode that computes real photometric parameters, but the rendering mode is where Real IES gives its best. What I am trying to say is that if you are a light designer you can, of course, have precise results with Real IES, but the tool has been designed with 3D/CGI/VFX artists in mind.
So, long story short, I decided to develop this mobile version of Real IES to overlay a simplified .ies light above the mobile’s camera image. This way you can imitate a real light that you want to transpose in 3D (or you can use the tool to see how a certain light may fit in your interior) and then fine tune it in the desktop version or Real IES.
The process is much simpler to do than explain but practically:
download and install the free app Real IES Mobile
start it and use the integrated (auto-focusing) camera to frame your walls
craft a beautiful and simplified photometric light using the sliders (or find inspiration through my usual surprise me button)
export the file in .rim; this file is ultra optimized for mobile devices
connect your mobile device to your PC or Mac
navigate in the folder where the device saves the files (at the moment of writing this: 0/Android/Data/com.playsys.realIESmobile/files)
select the .rim files you like; for your convenience, there are two files per each light: a .rim and a .png with a visual preview.
open the .rim file with Real IES 3 both on PC or Mac
edit and improve your light, export the .ies file and proceed in your favorite rendering software
As said, easier to do than to write it down.
I hope this new free app may be useful for your lighting productions!
PS: this is how Real IES Mobile looked in the first prototype version:
We had this long in-house presentation at PlaySys where we reported our Research and Development results of this 2018. Since we purchased new offices in the center of Milan, now finally we have a proper space to do so
My focus was on many projects: Render Academy e-learning platform, Real HDR, Real IES, two virtual reality video games (one we finished recently and one still in progress), an augmented reality small game and an eventual possibility to finally receive the PS4 Devkit (since we are Sony PlayStation approved developers for two years now).
I’m off for vacations and this is my final post for this 2018. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
3D preview and rendering are not new goals on this blog nor in the development roadmap. I already mentioned them for some weeks and actually, I am working on these since the beginning of Real HDR development. On the initial release day, we all knew that this tool was an experimental project, and it was accepted by users for that. It was very motivating to read supportive messages via email or forums and now it is the moment to move Real HDR to a new frontier, let me say, to a new reality.
Yesterday I got framed while sketching the future raw plans for the development of this utility. Indeed 2018 had been the beginning of this new path and new developers joined PlaySys studio to support me. In 2019 we are going to release user-requested features, R&D suggested features, student-requested features, Virtual Reality module, optimizations and improvements of UI and the manuals, multi-language support, better check out and website involvement, extensions and more.
3D Preview
My focus at the moment is the 3D preview: a simple shader ball with Lambertian material that displays a smooth preview of the lighting situation, superimposing it on the usual PhotoBooth module. Users can activate it and perceive how the environment lighting is going to be. Both SpriteLights and DarkMarks placements will remain the same as before, but I am confident that this new preview will increase the level of the user experience.
Click & Go
The other feature I am working on at the same time is a new way to place lights. I created a raytracing system that is capable to resolve the position and quaternion-rotation of a light source, given a click on a three-dimensional surface floating in a space of a defined radius. Since I am not a programmer but a media designer with a background in mechanical engineering, this is very exciting to me, especially to see it in action with such speed.
The feature name is “click & go“…yeah, I know, but I am looking for suggestions :)…but anyway, this is enabled in PhotoBooth and will let the user click on the point where the light must lit, without struggling about the position or the rotation: Real HDR will do the rest. Of course, “click and go“, 3D preview and the other tools are available at any moment and the RHD parser will manage the task of keeping track of the project state.
You will be able to use these new features when ready, and I scheduled the new release of Real HDR 1.4 for the end of January 2019. Thanks a million for your support and Merry Christmas to everybody!
I added a new “Options” panel in the start window. In here I will add the various options for the software. At the moment there is a “GPU intensive rendering” that forces the 3D preview to use very high-end shaders. They look cool but are very heavy compared to the optimized ones (and on some studio’s PC they flicker).
Anyway, it is important to keep in mind that Real HDR is not a rendering tool – at least for the moment, this is not the main goal of the software.
As of today, the UI for 1.4 looks like this. There is a warning on the lower part of the PhotoBooth, appearing if the high-end shaders are in use.
