Lightmap, developer of HDR Light Studio, has announced version 5.4 of its High Dynamic Range image editing and manipulation software.
The latest version allows you to edit those key HDR images that are central to most physicall-based rendering systems and it includes connections to 3ds Max, Maya, Cinema4D, Modo, VRED, DeltaGen, Rhino, SolidWorks, Lightwave 3D, KeyShot and Maxwell – though, of course, it can work with any system that uses HDR imagery.
Big updates for this release focus on HDR Light Studio’s the addition of adjustable light handles that can be positioned anywhere within the light and are dynamically moved.
This is a real time saver when perfecting the light positions for highlights and gradients as you know exactly where they start and end.
Full 3-axis rotation now allows 3D-mapped lights to be oriented in any direction (x,y and z) and manipulated easily with HDR Light Studio’s existing click and drag lighting controls.
The introduction of four rotation modes (free, vertical lock, horizontal lock and fixed) allow the user to change the orientation characteristics of a light making many tasks such as replicating studio setups simpler, quicker and more accurate.
To give you an idea of how the system works, here’s a pretty nifty intro video:
HDR Light Studio 5.4 – Promo from HDR Light Studio on Vimeo.
Area lights, introduced in v5.3, can now point in any direction enabling lighting to be created, adjusted and positioned in a very creative way. In HDR Light Studio you can focus on the lighting effect in the final shot without worrying about moving lights in 3D space.
In addition to the functional updates, a new set of 32 additional studio light sources have also been added to the Preset Library and v5.4’s Cinema 4D connection now supports R18.
If you’re looking to take your rendering game to the next level then HDR Light Studio is definitely worth a look-see. With the increasing adoption of physically based renderers, that often rely on HDR imagery for basic scene lighting, it’ll find a home in a much large bunch of folks’ toolkit.
If you want to have a look for yourself, then there’s now a trial version (functional for 15 days) and the system starts at £295/€395/$445 for an annual subscription.
