Tag: Real HDR

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Windows Regional Settings

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

Windows Regional SettingsWindows Regional SettingsWindows Regional Settings

Here you can set the date and time division “/” that it is important for the program to start properly:

Windows Regional Settings

and finally, the Additional settings panel to define the decimal division:

Windows Regional Settings

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development Software Development

New e-store

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.

In one sentence: OUR NEW E-COMMERCE

New e-storeAlso, stay tuned because a lot is coming out in the next few months.

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Microsoft Defender Security Intelligence and False Positive

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.

Microsoft Defender Security IntelligenceToday 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.

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HiDPI option

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.

high-res image

roadmap

HiDPI option

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Research and Development results 2018

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!

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3D Preview and Rendering

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.

3d preview and rendering

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.

3d light preview

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.

3d light position

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!

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GPU Intensive Rendering

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).

gpu intensive rendering

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.

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3D preview

Time ago I started a 3D Viewer extension for Real HDR but then I left it behind to give more priority to the SkyLight module and other more requested options.
Now it is time to proceed with this 3D preview that, to be honest, is much more difficult than what I could expect.

By the way, difficult or not, I’m on it now and here is a very rough preview of this upcoming feature. This is very far from being acceptable, but let me share my enthusiasm in the development of this new tool.

 

3d preview

The goal is to include this 3d preview in the 1.4 update of Real HDR.
PS: the framerate of this gif is low only because of compression reasons.

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Antivirus false-positive

UPDATE: Today we released version 1.3 and I received some emails regarding the false positive. During the development of Real HDR, we usually test it on 7 different computers and two of them, sometimes, triggers this situation. The software is clean, but the situation is embarrassing…especially after so much hard work. I scanned with VirusTotal, Kaspersky and I request a deep analysis from Microsoft.

HERE is the direct link to the roadmap where I post updates on this situation.

no malware detected by Windows DefenderINITIAL POST (this post was originally written on July 24th, 2018): Some users reported an annoying antivirus false-positive alert.
This is quite embarrassing after all the effort we did in the development of our tool, so we decided to get certificated by a huge authority and global leader in cybersecurity.

Real HDR Antivirus false-positive

Of course, it wouldn’t make any sense to put a harmful code in our software but safe is better than sorry so Real HDR is now certificated by Comodo for PC version and Apple for Mac version. Both our software and installer are code-signed and you can see the certificate in any moment. For security reasons we invite you to download our software only from our website and in case of any suspicions or doubt, drop us a line and we’ll get in touch.

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Real HDR 1.3

Real HDR 1.3 is out and there are many new features we worked on in the latest two months. The major ones are related to the new modules (and everything related to them such as Login redesign, .rhd support and so on), and the progressive rendering mode.

Real HDR 1.3As always the complete feature list is available on the Releases page or scattered around in the Roadmap.

I can disclose that we are working on the 1.4 version, scheduled for January 25th, and we are more and more motivated since the sales of Real HDR are constantly growing. We collect every feedback you share with us and, by time to time, we are flattered reading your warm emails. Thank you.

Real HDR kelvin temperature

So, in 1.4 you may expect a Linux version, new features in Skylight module, a temperature selector for PhotoBooth and an HC cubemap export and – possibly – some juicy surprises.

Real HDR cubemap export

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