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development

Linux, or not Linux, that is the question

Blender! it is a reference point in the CGI industry used by both aspiring artists and veterans. Blender is available for different platforms – obviously Windows – but also Mac OS and Linux.

Why this introduction? because after porting Real HDR to Mac OSX we are now thinking if it is worth the effort (economically speaking since the moral is very high in favor of Linux) to port Real HDR to Linux.

The answer may come first from the question “how many people are using Linux to produce VFX?”, secondly from “how many of these users would agree to pay the price of Real HDR?” and lastly “are there other software that can be used to generate HDR images for renders in Linux?”

Linux HDRI mapsThe first question may find an answer at THIS link of Blender foundation.
This is related to 2005 when Linux was very popular under many different distributions. But what about nowadays? Since this is a reliable statistic we can estimate the amount, according to the growth trends from THIS other article.

In my estimate, they are “many” or at least “a lot”. Although this is not so precise definition, I think it may be worth the attempt considering the possible user base. To the other questions about alternative software, I would say “not so many” (but considering the high tech skill of a Linux VFX user, I think there are many alternative ways). Also, the pricing option is not in our favor, since Linux is an environment where a great pleasure arrives from “doing the impossible by your own” and not by purchasing workarounds… at least this is my perception about it. I share a lot with this philosophy but at the same time, running my company on software R&D in function of sales, I need to have a reliable ROI and. Linux is a source of income considering my video games/VR apps, running on Android, but this is another story…

So, although Linux doesn’t seem to be a proper direction of investment, considering such a small software like Real HDR, I am going to try and I will update this post later in a year or so. Wish me good luck!

CALL TO LINUX USERS: if you have any words to say about this topic, I’d like to start a discussion here below.

 

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

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development

Copy-paste parameters

In our everyday software usage, we constantly duplicate elements (or copy-paste parameters) such as images, text, files and we even forget to think how useful this digital possibility is. I mean, think about being a photographer: you have your 500€ studio light to be used as a key light source and then you need another one to be used as a fill light. The solution is to go and buy another.

In Real HDR, however, it is now finally possible to transfer parameters from one SpriteLight to another. The process is very simple, but a little different from what one may expect since copy/paste is more a “transfer parameters” feature. In short:

Step 1 – Select a SpriteLight
Step 2 – Press CTRL+C to copy the parameters
Step 3 – Select the destination SpriteLight (create it with default values first)
Step 4 – Press CTRL-V to set the copied parameters

copy-paste parameters

Note: DarkMarks cannot be copy/pasted
Note 2: this feature is first implemented in Real HDR 1.3

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

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development

Software reviews

There are sites and posts with software reviews about Real HDR and I think it is proper (and funny) to review these websites in exchange.

3DNCHU
3dnchu – that translated should mean “3D people” – spoke about us HERE the 20th of June 2018.
The site is entirely in Japanese language and they cover a wide spectrum of software and plug-ins for CGI and VFX. They were the first to discover our tool but we knew each-others since the times of early Real IES releases. The authors have also a constantly updated twitter account @ymt3d and is involved in gaming industry since 2007. There was also a previous blog before 3dnchu named Jimdo so the author has a quite long experience in divulgation too.

Real HDR - 3Dnchu

CGPRESS
The king of reviews and press releases about 3D computer graphics. if there is a software worth looking for, it is on CGPress. We got reviewed by them few times for our Real IES releases and recently for our Real HDR. HERE is the link if you want to read their opinion.
In the review they mention the price of Real HDR but with the upcoming release we are going to raise the price since there are new features and possibilities (and this takes more time than before the be updated and expanded). As customers we are used to this, but just in case you’ll notice this difference of price, it is because they referred to the first release of Real HDR, the 2nd of July 2018.

Real HDR released - CGPress

80LEVEL
Seeing the name in uppercase is quite strange, I am more used to to refer them as 80lvl or 80lv.
They are the ultimate source of information about people behind the CGI scene, doesn’t matter if it is for video games, movies or competition.
Personally I don’t understand how they managed to have such a cool and short url for their site. The .lv domain is for Latvia and this is clear, but how they managed to have 2 characters remain an interesting mystery 🙂
About our Real HDR on 80.lv pages, we got reviewed on July 2nd and we got an impressive amount of shares. You can share too fomr THIS url.

to be continued…

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

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development

3D time lapse

This is the first 3D time lapse I created with 3ds Max, V-Ray and Real HDR’s SkyLight maps.
There is still space for improvements but the simplicity is at the first place! 1 click on the time, few clicks on the “surprise me” and the program does the rest.

3D time lapse

The maps I exported are, at the moment 2K, since the sky is mostly based on atmospherical gradient and sun light scattering.
The future plan however, is to add procedurally generated clouds and 3D environments. In that case the 4k resolution will be mandatory to have appropriate reflections.

Also there will be necessary to add some latitude/longitude and timezone (season maybe?) settings, since at the moment the sun rises at 7 am and sets at 7 pm.

By the way this is going to be the first release of this SkyLight module and mostly, this 1.3 version is going to split the work mode, opening a lot of future possibilities in the development of the program – of course – on both Windows and Mac OSX.

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

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development

HDR Sky Maps for 3D Rendering and VFX

Here we go, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce HDR Sky Maps for 3D Rendering and VFX!

Real HDR 1.3 is being baked in this very moment with the new SkyLight fragrance

With this new feature, you can generate unlimited amount of 32-bit HDR Sky images to be used in your CGI productions. Day and night, dusk and dawn, pollution and haze, humidity and clear air – everything you can imagine in one software.

This is the launch release of SkyLight Module for Real HDR, but we already have a bunch of new features in our roadmap as clouds, weather conditions, environment and more. This update will be free for our customers and supporters from all around the world. The release is planned for Sunday 25th November, save the date (or purchase it today for the discounted price).

In the meanwhile, have a look at the new UI

hdr sky maps generated in Real HDR

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

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development

SkyLight module

It is time to make it official: the upcoming release of Real HDR 1.3 will feature new modules! Some of you already know since we were talking about it via e-mail or Messenger, but now this is official for everybody. Skylight module (former Procedural SC or DayLight) is a working prototype for high quality and high-resolution skylight authoring. As said, there will be a small price change for new licenses, while it will be for free for who already purchased and supported me in this R&D period.

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

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development

Diwali – festival of lights

Happy Diwali celebrations to everybody!

Don’t forget to download our Diwali .rhd project created by Arch. Palash Jain and Sudharshana Mittapalli!

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

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development

Real HDR modules

Starting from version 1.3 we are going to add modules in Real HDR. You can imagine modules as workspaces or plug-ins where a user can obtain a totally different EXR. This is a big change and will let us keep simple UI for complex results. Think about interior rendering, product rendering, and architectural arch-viz; it would be quite messy the UI at a certain point. This is why we are splitting the UI in modules, each focused on a different topic.

You may see the upcoming “SkyLight Module” in the first part of this video, where the user logins. We are also going to update our EULA and (probably) there will be a small price change…while of course, the updates are going to be free for who already owns one or more licenses.

In the video, you can also see a user-requested feature that allows the docking of the main panel in the “PhotoBooth Module” (the former main UI). This way it is possible to reach and work in areas below the horizon/ground level

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

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development

Halloween HDR

Are you ready to celebrate Halloween 2018? No, still in the office you say? well, these Real HDR .rhd project and EXR may speed-up your work today 😉

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

Categories
development

Progressive rendering

The progressive rendering mode I’m working on renders in progressive resolution and freezes the blending process, allowing you to drag and drop both SpriteLights and DarkMarks.

The post Progressive rendering appeared first on Real HDR.

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