NokiaShaderlightFinalArtVPS‘s Shaderlight rendering plugin for 3ds Max has a respectible 800 downloads after its first two weeks of availability.  Still in pre-release, the goal was to make the product available to users for additional critique and reviews.  Shaderlight allows users to change key elements of full-resolution rendered images at any stage of the rendering pipeline, without having to repeat the entire render.  Not only can you adjust the camera angles and object locations, but you can adjust materials and lighting effects as well.

It’s still available as a Free Download from their website.  See the full press release of the accomplishment after the break.

PRESS RELEASE
23 June 2009

ArtVPS enjoys great success with first software release

Pre-release debut of Shaderlight rendering plug-in for 3ds Max hits over 800 downloads in its first two weeks

Since entering the software market on 1 June 2009 ArtVPS has notched up over 800 downloads of Shaderlight 0.1, the pre-release version of its interactive Shaderlight rendering plug-in for 3ds Max, the leading 3D modelling tool from Autodesk.

Shaderlight 0.1 delivers significant productivity and creativity improvements over traditional ray-trace rendering engines. Until now a typical workflow for 3D artists and designers would involve spending time creating preview renders before sending the image off to render. Any last minute changes would mean starting the entire process again, an iterative and time-consuming approach which eats into project timelines and inhibits creativity.

Shaderlight is much more that a real-time preview tool, it enables visualisation specialists to change key elements of a full resolution image at any stage of the rendering process without having to re-render, improving efficiency and project turnaround. Users are not only able see the progressive refinement of a scene when objects or camera angles are altered but can also make interactive changes to materials, environments, lights and textures (the MELT elements) on full quality 3D images. Additionally, a new approach to global illumination (GI) enables light, colour and intensity to be updated on screen without the need to re-render.

“Shaderlight has been the most significant product release in our company’s recent history,” says Kate Marshall, Marketing Director at ArtVPS. “We developed the software after extensive research which showed the top pain issues for 3D artists to be rendering speed, lighting and material set-up and fine tuning an image. We believe Shaderlight overcomes these problems and meets the demand for an interactive solution that frees the artist from the linear render-change-repeat workflow and gives them more time to be creative.”

Early adopters of the technology are helping shape the development of the software by providing feedback and sharing experiences in the Shaderlight forum (www.artvps.com/content/discuss) and on Twitter (http://twitter.com/shaderlight).

“We are delighted to see so many people actively participating in the forum and following our progress on Twitter,” adds Marshall. “The 3ds Max plug-in is the first in a series of Shaderlight products. Our aim is that the Shaderlight rendering technology will be available to anyone who needs to generate and edit high quality renders. We are focused on building long-term relationships and for this reason users who download v0.1 will receive every pre-release update for free.”

Shaderlight 0.1 is available as a free download from www.artvps.com <http://www.artvps.com> . To help new users get to grips with this early release of Shaderlight, a number of scenes that demo its capabilities are now available from: http://www.artvps.com/content/resources#sample-scenes

Ends.

About ArtVPS

ArtVPS leads the way in the development of photorealistic rendering solutions that generate visually accurate representations of 3D scenes. Its revolutionary flagship rendering technology, Shaderlight™, is a physically based, progressive ray-tracer that enables interactive, nonlinear changes to the key MELT attributes (materials, environments, lighting and textures) at any stage within the rendering process – even on production-ready images.

Shaderlight is aimed at 3D artists and computer graphics professionals within the product design, architecture, engineering and media industries. The technology will transform 3D visualisation workflows, and represents a dramatic boost to both productivity and creative freedom when compared to traditional linear ray-trace renderers, which require the rendering process to start again whenever image parameters are changed.

Founded in 2002, ArtVPS quickly established itself as the leading developer of dedicated rendering hardware, developing the first processor designed exclusively to accelerate ray tracing of 3D data. ArtVPS is now pioneering the development of rendering software that fully exploits the increased capabilities of today’s processor technology.

www.artvps.com <http://www.artvps.com>